Interestingly under Thorup after the same number of games we only had 2 clean sheets. The main difference between Thorup & Manning doesn't appear to be defence it's our struggle to score from the chances we create, we are certainly missing the 10 goals Sainz scored up to this point in the season.
2025/2026 Season
- Thread starter RiverEndRick
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Interestingly under Thorup after the same number of games we only had 2 clean sheets. The main difference between Thorup & Manning doesn't appear to be defence it's our struggle to score from the chances we create, we are certainly missing the 10 goals Sainz scored up to this point in the season.
Attanasio is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't then. If he steps in then people will complain with "What does he know? Why is an American owner stepping in?" He has to empower his trusted Sporting Director for all footballing decisions, and if they turn out to make the wrong decisions then of course their job will be on the line. As he also says 2 years is not a long time, Knapper has overseen a complete overhaul of the squad to reduce the average age of the squad, it will take time to see the realisation of potential of some of those players. Ultimately I think he has probably got the balance slightly wrong in terms of youth or foreign/English league experience, we probably needed a 1/2/3 more experienced players in the starting squad to guide and to a degree carry some of the lesser experienced players through and enable them to develop. Whilst acknowledging that this is overall a large mistake, I'm not sure it is a sackable offence.
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Yep and he is probably part of the reason Thorup got the sack. He had lost what speed he had, due mainly to advancing years, has the turning circle of a battleship and whilst being tall and good in the air that applies to every central defender.
But surely producing a squad that is in the relegation zone is a sackable offence. That is entirely the fault of Knapper which is why he should have been sacked giving a new Sporting Director time to assess the squad and the Head Coach before it is too late.
This summer we signed 12 players, 6 of whom are English (Wright, Darling, Grimshaw, Moulden, Schlupp and Makama) which seems reasonably balanced. Last year we signed 14 players in the two windows, 6 of whom are English and 1 is from Northern Ireland. Of the others, Slimane and Marcondes both had previous experience of the English leagues, so the balance wasn't that bad.
IMO it was the overemphasis on youth last season that has caused problems, but that has been balanced somewhat now. I agree with Attanasio that young players need up to 3 years to develop fully, which is one reason current results need to be seen in a long-term perspective, which is why he says we are still in a three year process. The other factor is the injuries we've had. Attanasio is bringing in specialists to examine why our injuries are worse than every other team, but that will take time to make a difference, which is another reason for taking a longer perspective.
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But time is not on our side - we are already in the relegation zone. There is only one person responsible for that squad - Knapper - and that is why he cannot be in charge when the next transfer window comes round. In the short term we have got to have somebody to sort out the squad we have. I truly hope that Manning can but it is hope rather than faith. If he doesn't and we remain in the relegation zone in 2 months time he will undoubtedly be sacked but we cannot possibly have Knapper in charge to find a replacement. As far as I can see the owner is prepared to let matters drift even if it means relegation. Whether that is because he still doesn't appreciate the financial reality of relegation or whether he just looks at the sale of Colney as his financial get out clause nobody can say.
Absolutely if the squad finished there then no doubt.
The majority of the forward line are out injured, it seemed that Manning was very keen particularly on Forson, Diallo and Kvistgaarden and other have not picked up the reigns - Jurasek, Crnac and Marcondes in particular
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It may seem balanced but both Grimshaw and Moulden are back up GKs and therefore dont help guide the first team players. Wright had only played youth football prior to his handful of games in the second half of last season. Makama is another young player who had only had a few games and at a lower level, although he has done well. Schlupp should have been the best option to help add that experience but he has barely been fit. I'm struggling to work out who the 6 English players we signed last season are beyond Chrisene and Mahovo both of whom are young and inexperienced.
I think we needed 1 or 2 more Darlings, which is easy to say in hindsight
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They haven't been injured all season. Sargent is our only regular scorer and he came before Knapper and remind me who bought the players who have not picked up the reins.
Forson was injured in the first league game from what I remember and Diallo and Kvistgaarden were building their minutes into the team and then got injured. Not a lot of minutes between them this season
Forson - 60 minutes
Diallo - 393 minutes - just over 4x 90mins
Kvistgaarden - 200 minutes - just over 2x 90mins
Sargent is undoubtedly our best striker and was bought when we were PL team, is it Knappers fault that we haven't replaced him. Arguably Kvistgaarden was brought in to share the role with him to a degree but he has been injured. I can't disagree on who brought in the players that haven't taken the reigns of course
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What I'd like to know is what exactly are the reins Jurasek, Crnac and Marcondes in particular have failed to pick up. Since Forson, Diallo and Kvistgaarden have barely mustered a handful of games between them, never mind become regulars in the side, can someone explain what reins they were holding until injured? Sainz had scored 10 goals at this stage last season because Thorup set the side up to engineer good scoring opportunities for him. It worked because there was a plan, the players took it onboard, and became better at executing it. What I see watching matches this season is a set of players who give every sign of not knowing what they're supposed to be doing.
You quote minutes but the figures I have just seen indicate that both Kvistgaarden and Diallo have been in the matchday squad for approx half of our league games. Anyway I did say that I didn't want to start another argument along these lines which is exactly what I have done!!. I will just say yet again that in my view nothing, including the future of Manning and our position in the table, will change as long as Knapper remains
Sorry 1950 I dragged you in there!
I'll keep my cup half full and you stay half empty...for now!
Goalscoring and goal creation are what they should be capable of doing. Jurasek I have serious concerns about and he was touted to have the ability to replace Sainz. Marcondes in theory should be perfect for the number 10 role but his passing has been truly dreadful and he has been incredibly weak on the ball. Crnac I rate but he did have a poor start to the season. Forson brings ENERGY, a speed of thought and play, unpredictability, decent long range shooting (Coventry), Diallo would bring pace (which we are massively lacking) and a raw unpredictability - good and bad. Kvistgaarden is a goalscorer and a threat that if not scoring himself may take some of the opponents attention away from Sargent.
After his very purple patch at the start of last season Thorup and Sainz never really managed to rekindle that form in the second half of the season and thus the form dropped and has continued since.
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The other 4 signings last season were Doyle, Wright (15 appearances, by the way), Dobbin, Gordon. I agree about Moulden, but as the backup keeper, Grimshaw is an important signing IMO. I doubted the Makama signing, but he's turned out to be a gem so far with 3 goals in 3 starts and 7 sub appearances. Forson was looking very good in the preseason and the first game until he was injured. The key will be how these and Kvistgaarden and later Diallo can up the support for Sargent and score goals themselves. The potential is there, but we need key inputs soon.
"So it's just talking to the team and trying to find ways that we can create more chances together. It's talking to the manager about it, talking about movements and just trying to find ways where I can put myself in better situations to score goals ......................... Obviously the guys out are good creative players who can create chances, but I think that the guys playing can do the same thing." (Josh Sargent, in the Pink'Un)
Appears Josh isn't waiting for Diallo, Forson and Kvistgaarden to come back ..............
Appears Josh isn't waiting for Diallo, Forson and Kvistgaarden to come back ..............
Ahh of course, I hadn’t included Wright as I was only thinking of him signing this season. Doyle obviously played a lot and had several seasons worth of experience in the league which was valuable - we lost that this year, not that I rated him as a player particularly. Dobbin and Gordon must have appeared in no more than 15 games between them.
I’m not disputing that Grimshaw is an important signing as he is an upgrade in Long IMO and offers league experience, rather that he has little effect in a match to guide some of our in experienced players in the team.
Absolutely agree with your last point re Forson, Kvistgaarden and Diallo