Remember those ticket price rises when we got promoted though! At least TF & Amit reversed them (if I remember correctly)
Sure there's been a **** tonne of mistakes made during TF's tenure and he is ultimately culpable for them. But we can't keep harping on about Redknapp and Hughes and the endless string of mercenaries. We are a few years down the road from those mistakes. The club are making efforts to learn from these, finally. Neither you nor I or anyone on this board really knows exactly the roles people like SLF play. I am firmly in the camp that actually SLF alongside Hoos is making sound progress in ensuring the club is more stable. What do you know about our infratructure? Actualy better question is if we had won 3 in a row would you even be thinking about it. Player recruitment is clearly incredibly challenging for us at the moment and whilst that is as a result of previous mistakes austerity is really the only option. Bhatia has never really had much if an active role has he? I have never procured a site for a new training ground or built a new stadium neither do I know what goes into these ventures. So whilst on the surface it feels very frustrating I don't have the knowledge to criticise the club for a perceived lack of progress. Maybe TF's tweets about these things are the most frustrating as they are routinely chucked out to calm us down about something or other. Ref McLaren, he does need a result on Tuesday as it doesn't take much for things to get nasty.
Anyone watched it yet? Ollie is their pundit. Made a comment about Ned yesterday still not having a job.
All true, Frome. But this is a results-based industry where expectations have to be managed. What do I know about our infrastructure? About as much sitting in Southampton as you probably do sitting in (presumably) in Frome. If you think it unreasonable to question these things then that’s your prerogative. I will be as delighted as the next man when we win the next three games on the spin, with McClaren (capital C, not capital L) having an inferior squad to last year playing a superior style of football to last year. If we lose the next three in a row will I be permitted to criticise the decisions made by the club, or should I wait until Christmas?
If we lose the next 3 in a row, we'll be in the middle of an all-out crisis. Bristol City is huge on Tuesday. We need a win, or at least, a really persuasive performance (and a point).
My previous post pretty much sums up my opinion on this: Past mistakes... but the mistakes are being made today quite potentially. Was the sacking of Ollie really justified when we finished with more points compared to last season all the while having the target of mid table (which was achieved). We saw a bit of an improvement in the football. The feeling of the club was feeling good again. So why did they pull the trigger and gamble on another change of management, leading us back to instability after a period of stability? I'm willing to give McClaren a chance but yesterday was shocking. He said it will take 6 games for the team to play his style. Fine. But I would have rather stuck with Ollie for the stability and hope of a gradual improvement on last season.
I saw a couple of the goals on SSN last night and our defence seemed to go walkabout, certainly lacked effort which really has no excuse. Schteeve is coaching them so he's clearly not getting the message across at present...
Firstly, this "need more experience" line seems like nothing more than an excuse. We had a couple of youth players on the pitch and a couple on the bench. Secondly, I personally can forgive TF for chasing the dream and ending up with burnt fingers but there has been poor decision making even when we're trying to be restrained and sensible. We sack a manager who inched us forward to pursue a greater degree of progress. At this point, contrast Ipswich, who sacked their manager for similar reasons and have similar budget constraints. They were linked to the Blackburn manager, the brothers at Lincoln, the St Mirren manager, a couple of ex-players, Gerrard and Lampard before getting the Shrewsbury manager. What diligence do we show? We go straight for someone who TF liked from 4 years ago. How can we tell that there wasn't an exhaustive list of candidates? Because it was leaked that McClaren would take over before Ollie was even sacked. It was just lazy interference for the sake of feeling like you're doing something when perhaps you shouldn't do anything at all.
This is my point exactly. There was progress. We keep going on about stability. Even Ollie had similar constraints with regards to buying new players. And he still made the progress in terms of points accumulated, match enjoyment, club atmosphere and performance. So this is basically a repeat of past errors... jumping the gun... having a modest target, losing patience with that target and being greedy for more. They still want to rush to the EPL.
I think I did end up repeating a lot of what you already put (you can have a share in the royalties). It annoys me that we ended last season feeling really positive about our youngsters and now they are seen as a millstone around our necks.
Tony has a history of either being impressed with past "names" or doing something whacky like focusing only on a black manager. Rather than really assessing what is needed, because in terms of football, he doesn't have a clue. If football had two wings and a cockpit, he'd do better
Yesterday, 18 August was the 7th anniversary of Mr Anthony Fernandes’ appointment as a director of the R’s. It was celebrated by our shipping seven goals in his honour. I think poor old Tone has presided over the most disastrous football takeover in history. This is in terms of lost money and team progression. I cannot recall how many records we’ve set for ourselves and others over last four years but I remember - longest wait for away win (Notts Forest) worst home defeat, worst defeat in 30 odd years, worst start to a season? Countless times it’s been reported that Mr X has scored against us and its his first goal in xxx years. There’s nothing on the horizon to suggest it is going to get any better any time soon. They should refund the fans who schlepped to Birmingham for yesterday’s debacle.
Agree...only been 3 games, but I think its clear to see the lack of leadership or exprience on the pitch. Ned (however much he was blasted by some), was a capable leader and for my money we will miss the 10-15 pts that Smithies had saved us in the last couple of seasons. It's going to be a desperate game on Tuesday that we at least need to get a point to get us off the mark. I am really hoping that the board can get a few in (but who would want to come).
