A hopeful, positive perspective on the current situation.

[jackal2]

I think my biggest concern with our situation going forward regardless of who is manager is the recruitment side, there is nothing to say that will change, until that situation is addressed I have no confidence in the seasons ahead. Apart from a handful, the rest have been 'lucky dips' Jatta being the latest.

The standard of recruitment while we were in the National League was very good, self-evidently otherwise we wouldn't have been promoted with more than 100 points. The squad as a whole last season did a great job for that level, as did the Head Coach.

I think it's fair to say the recruitment this season has been much patchier, but Christ, compared with the shocking recruitment record of previous regimes there have still been some pretty good picks - e.g. Crowley, Robertson, Macari, Didzy - as well as some who look poor - particularly the goalkeepers - and some who just never seem to have got started fitness-wise.

I think the club have acknowledged indirectly if not directly that they are themselves still learning about this level, and sometimes you have to make bad mistakes to do that. I'll be surprised if they don't now recognise that they put too much faith in retaining some of the defensive unit, perhaps swayed by loyalty to the players that got us up, the desire for continuity, and the decision to invest in attacking players like Crowley and Didzy while they were on the market.

Whatever the reasons, the big 'need' in the summer is some really good quality, dominant additions to the defensive line and defensive midfield, because the current side lacks height, defensive experience and steel. We're a soft touch at the back basically. It's true that we can't afford to make many/any mistakes in that defensive recruitment, otherwise we'll go into next season seriously undercooked, but the recruitment under the current regime - though clearly not infallible - has been considerably better than several regimes previously.