I don't hate Hess, far from it, Hess is a club legend, but I can draw a clear line between Hess the player, legend, and Hess the manager, sadly lacking. I feel the financial restrictions placed on Hess in the championship are exaggerated (plus you are starting to sound like Scally on the ITV digital collapse )he was able to bring in a significant number of players, all with the possible Marlon King, weren't up to the task. I don't blame Hess for this, he simply didn't have the connections in the game (apart from Watford) to get the right sort of players. A manager with a better address book and more experience in wheeling and dealing (such a Ternant) would have done a better job, and not rely on the aging stars like Smith, Southall, Cox et al. As for the statistic it is hardly a level playing field, Ternant inherited a poor side, devoid of confidence in a tougher division than both Jepson and Cooper experienced. My opinion does not any negative emotional element involved, it is just how I see things. These may differ from your views, but isn't that the point of a discussion board?
Something we agree on BSG, I only ever give my point of view and respect other peoples right to hold a different view. p.s. I know you don't like stats and except the point about Ternant inheriting a poor team but, with that team Hess achieved 7 wins in 20 games before stepping down, Ternant even with his 2 Premiership loans only achieved 7 from 25.
Thats harsh in the extreme, Paul Shaw and Chris Hope were excellent for us in the championship, and the subsequent careers of Darius Henderson and Mama Sidibe would also suggest that they were good enough too. Hess also signed Wallace and Johnson (probably the most gifted players ever to wear a Gills shirt) OK they were too frequently injured (and as such possibly not up to the task), but good enough from an ability point of view. And I thought that Ian Cox, John Hills and Simon Osborn were all good signings as well.
Dead right AshGill. No manager gets it right every time in the transfer market but Hessy had an incredibly good success rate. He also introduced Matt Jarvis to the first team.
Ok those players stated, didn't improve the team. That is not to say that they weren't good players but the weren't improvements on the squad Hess inheireted. Under Pulis and Taylor the club moved forward and improved, under Hess we stagnated and then declined.
I remember the bookies in 2000 said we would be back down in one year! We lasted five. So no mean achievment really. We did not have enough dosh to attract the likes of Graham Kavanagh, who turned us down in favour of Cardif (who were in a lower div than us) Nothing has changed changed in that dept.
Interesting stats, that is not how I remember it... I can remember an upturn in form under Ternant, what where the points per game comparisons? Of course it being a few years ago I admit my memory maybe a bit fuzzy
Interesting stats, that is not how I remember it... I can remember an upturn in form under Ternant, what where the points per game comparisons? Of course it being a few years ago I admit my memory maybe a bit fuzzy
Interesting stats, that is not how I remember it... I can remember an upturn in form under Ternant, what where the points per game comparisons? Of course it being a few years ago I admit my memory maybe a bit fuzzy
Interesting stats, that is not how I remember it... I can remember an upturn in form under Ternant, what where the points per game comparisons? Of course it being a few years ago I admit my memory maybe a bit fuzzy
BSG, that's silly, just because I did a treble post you had to go one better and do a quadruple post.
People have short memories and unrealistic expectations. On joining the second tier and with the lowest salary budget in that league Gills improved their league position, year on year for four years. I doubt that this will ever be bettered. In year 5 we know there was relegation with Hessy clearly mentally exhausted by mid season and Stan Ternent doing a very creditable job and coming close to keeping the team up. Sadly Scally did not want to pay Stan his salary expectations the following season.
I understand your point bristol407 and agree with what you are saying, I should also point out that your memory is equally short it was 3 years of improving league positions. 2000/2001 13th place. 2001/2002 12th place. 2002/2003 11th place. 2003/2004 21st place. escaped relegation on the last day of the season at Stoke by getting 1 point, Walsall won their game meaning we stayed up by having a better goal difference of 1.
There is no doubt Chris Hope improved the squad, and who in the the promoted side was a better footballer than Paul Shaw? You will be telling me next that Rod Wallace (a league champion north and south of the border) was not an improvement on Andy Thomson who will always be a legend for that goal but was not a championship quality player.
But it not just about league position is it, otherwise Allen would still be in a job, having improved the league position from the season before. There are other factors, like developing the squad, managing finances etc. Also if wanting the club to be the best it can be is unrealistic, then I am unrealistic. All I want to see from the club is improvement, season on season. Not big improvements, I didn't expect Hess to take the club into the Premiership, but establish the club in the championship and steadily build from there, a bit like we did when we reached L1 under Pulis and the progress we made under Taylor the following season. The first few seasons Hess seemed to be doing that, and I was happy, it was only in hindsight that I saw the flaws, predominantly the failure to replace the aging squad. I felt the Hess should have gone after the fourth season when we only just survived as I felt he had gone as far as he could.
OK, lets back back to the topic on hand... Personally I think that Scally has made a correct decision to remove MA. Whether his reasons are the same as what I would argue in order to justify that view is of course debatable. Personally I was not impressed with the style of play last season, and not impressed by the lack of opportunity given to the younger players. I will be eternally grateful to MA for bringing us the league 2 title last season, and am delighted to have my signed 2012-13 shirt with his signature on. But, let's face it the start of the season has not gone well. There is mention on this board of the lack of debt in the club, but as I have mentioned before, that debt that was in the club is now is in the hands of PS. My own opinion is that PS has a medium term plan that involves the building of a new stadium that would be owned, or at least largely owned by him - not by GFC - and moving Gills to the new stadium, and achieving stable Championship status, which under the plan would almost certainly give him a better return on his already significant investment in the club than he is getting at the moment, although it would of course involve further financial outlay. If that is the case, then even at this early stage of the season he could see the plan going wrong, as I'm pretty sure that a return to L2 football did not figure in it. However it would then be the responsibility of the debt-free GFC to at least break even on a year-to-year basis, and not to run up further debt. I also believe that the decision to appoint Peter Taylor on an interim basis is the correct one. The team needs a coach / manager - someone to give it direction and organisation - and at least because of the past relationship PS knows what he is letting himself in for with PT on a personal level. However football is a different matter, and as an interim manager (is there any mention of timescale?) he will have the opportunity to give the matter of a permanent manager more lengthy consideration. It will also enable us as fans to see what style of football PT decides to play. I'm not sure that the style of football will influence PS's final decision too much, but given the general standard even in this division I really can't see hoofball being a formula for success, and certainly not for promotion to the Championship.
