It does sadden me to say that but the events of the last few weeks lead me to that conclusion. When GT returned to the club I was very happy but a bit worried that if things did not go well his standing at the club would be damaged. Well, we had two excellent seasons in League 2 in terms of both results and the standard of footballl played. I did not expect us to win League 1 but I did think we would be good enough to establish ourselves and not get caught up in a relegation battle. The fact that we are (and how much better the other three clubs promoted with us are doing) came as a shock to me and there is only one reason for it - the lack of ambition at the club. We have a few players who are of a good League 1 standard (Weale, Grandison, Summerfield and Macalister spring to mind). We also have a fair few players who can make a decent contribution in this league (I would include Jones, Parry, Richards and Morgan in this category). But the main problem is that we have a sizeable group of players who are not close to being even average League 1 players. That is not meant as a criticism of this group's efforts on or off the pitch (and I know several of them are young players) but it is an indictment of the lack of ambition of the club. GT has massive talent and experience and knows a hundred times more about football than I ever will. It is obvious to me that he knows that a sizeable chunk of our squad is simply not good enough for this league. So to see him spinning the club's line about being ambitious is painful and is very damaging to his reputation in the eyes of us supporters. For example, he denied we are currently threadbare in the strikers department. Well, the best of our current crop (Morgan) is a player I admire because of his effort and attitude but he is no better than an average League 1 striker. I have searched in vain for an explanation of Rodger's absence when he was so desperately needed yesterday - what is going on with him? As for the standard of the loan players we have had this year (with the exception of Mcginn) - words fail me. The constant influx of loan players destabilises the team and is detrimental to the development of our own younger players (Goldson being a case in point - is Gayle an improvement on him?). We are a League 1 club with a League 2 mentality - mix and match and loan is not good enough in this league. I will be amazed if we can attract any striker who could make a difference to the current position but, if we do not, I think we will go down and the management of the club will have to take the blame for that.
I think it's hard to criticise for a lack of ambition - I'm sure everyone involved with the club wants to build and go higher up the leagues. Witness the club's growth over the last decade or so - promotion from conference, followed by scraping survival and slowly building up into one of the biggest sides in the division, and ultimately promotion. I'd imagine that the plan will be a similar one for this division - stay up in the first season, then consolidate and slowly become a bigger side that can challenge for promotion. I know many people have said that this season has been a disappointment. However, I wonder what people were expecting. We have come up, and were most people's and papers' favourites to finish bottom. We have a smaller budget than many teams, and were always going to struggle to attract top quality players who'd view us as relegation candidates. The sides that went up with us last season either have much bigger budgets, or made loads from transfers and have an outstanding youth set-up with a vibrant young team who were the best side in the league from February onwards last season. As things stand, we will stay up. That is good enough for me. I know people will point to plenty of poor performances in recent weeks, but we're grinding out results. We've lost one game at home in about 4 months, and only that to the biggest club in the division, who had to rely on a fluke goal and a wonder strike to break through our desperately threadbare squad (partly down to lack of strengthening, but also to injuries and illness. I believe the latter was the reason for Rodgers' absence). Of course, there have been times when Turner has made big mistakes. The poor run earlier in the season being one, and the lack of arrivals in January another - we needed to be more proactive in trying to bring in a forward. However, I think we'll just about stay up. If we do so, there will be no complaints from me, whatever the circumstance.
Lenny, You make some good points as usual but I wish I could be as optimistic as you. To stay up we will need to win some games at home and we just have not got enough (or any) firepower up front to do that. I was astonished to hear GT say a while back that he had understimated the strength of this league as that was coming from someone with a vast wealth of football experience who no doubt always watches many games in all leagues. I am not sure on your point about the budget - we have a decent average attendance for this league . The main point I am making is that not enough attention has been payed to the problem of attracting a few players (particularly forwards ) of league 1 calibre. Our strategy of getting in many (often cheap ) players and young loanees has been found badly wanting and must be changed if we are to stay up. I was pretty surprised to read (admittedly rumours) on B and A that Rodgers was being paid something like £3.5K a match (or a week depending who you believe).If that is the case we are getting pretty poor value for our money for a player who cannot last ninety minutes and is often quoted as being unavailable due to (usually unspecified ) illness. Perhaps we should have added a bit to that and got in a proven perfromer in this league like Leon Clarke - that is the sort of strategy we will need to survive.
I like to be optimistic, otherwise we don't really have much to be cheerful about! I think that we have to look at teams below us and suggest that Pompey are doomed and Hartlepool will do very, very well to stay up despite some recent good form. Preston are just ahead of us and in freefall; Oldham, Scunny and Colchester seem to be pretty iffy and Bury are starting to get cut adrift and, to me, lack that quality they need to stay up. However, they do have a very nice-looking bunch of fixtures in mid March where they go away to Pompey before hosting Scunthorpe, Colchester and Stevenage. Anyway, I think we have the ability to pick up enough points to get over the line. We may not have a quality striker, but we have the best keeper in the league, one of the best young wingers in the division, some real quality in the centre of midfield and a pretty decent defensive record as well as a knack of being difficult to beat. Hopefully, we can carry on getting results here and there, but we need the whole fanbase to get behind the team. None of the poisonous atmosphere that has occasionally crept into parts of the Meddah at times this year, and none of this "team has to inspire the fans" stuff. We need to give 100% as well, and the fans are needed most when the chips are down (or have been eaten by the fat, odious cretin that is Dave Kitson) to give the team a lift. COYB!
The chairman has constantly mentioned his desire to get the club to the Championship, which I have always seen as a pipe dream as we wouldn't enjoy our time there for sure! Purely on that we must assume that they have tried to make efforts to get decent players in and admittedly some haven't worked out - whether that is a player not coming here or a player who has joined but not made a success of it. I remember thinking back in August that we had a good squad that had strength in depth, bar possibly another striker being needed and that is possibly all that we are truly missing? Most realistic fans would have been happy to say pre-season that as long as we finish in 20th at the end of this season that they'll be happy. That means watching an awful lot of losses or draws, which we have seen! The frustrating thing is to watch a bunch of professional footballers seem to roll over and let the opposition control the game and that needs sorting. We had a good first period to the game on Saturday and I thought we played fairly well, yes they had shots on goal and we didn't test their keeper any way near enough but then they were a big bunch of players who played rougher than we did and managed to fall over quite a lot in all the right places, but they get 17k (10-12k more than us) fans at home and can afford to pay these types of players. So what does GT need to do, bar signing a decent attacker or two, he needs to get the midfield working with what attackers we've got and also make sure that all of the midfield are willing to have a pop at goal - and making Richards to somehow shoot at goal more in a game would be good!
Well said, Lenny - you have cheered me up but I must say we have to cross the halfway line more than twice a half before I start to cheer!
Instead of improving during the course of the season, we have gone backwards. I was at Sheffield Utd on the opening Saturday of the season where we gave a good account of ourselves and should have come away with at least a point. Of that line up only four started on Saturday and three were missing through injury. It was obvious then that the main concern was the lack of strike power and with the sale of Gornell this has been even further reduced. It is inexcusable that none have been signed. Meanwhile all below us, save Portsmouth, are beginning to pick up a head of steam whilst we are not even creating chances for our paltry strike force. At the moment Private Fraser would be calling loudly from the terraces.
I too was at Sheffield and despite the result there was hope......I think it evapourated. BUT as we have all said it's all part of the ups and downs of being a supporter. If you end up where you started then there must be an equal amount of each!!!! So the old Third Division North and South syndrome beckons.....those were the days......we don't even have a coracle at the Greenhous. Perhaps we should buy one for the lobby to remind ourselve of different times.
well in my view..... i have been to most home games and a few away this season, and apart from the Coventry game at home, we have been pretty dismal all season to say the least, why?... its quite simple, the players here just aren't good enough!, most would struggle to get in a BSP team never mind league one, Striker wise, Morgan is absolutely rubbish and should be shown the door, but the problem lies in replacing him, good strikers are like hens teeth, so iv'e a feeling he'll be around for a while yet just because he's tall, lanky and cumbersome and cant be replaced. I also believe Rowland and GT have a bonus structure going on too. something like.... the least GT spends on players coupled with results, the more GT earns, which shows a lack of ambition on Rowland's part!!, the problem being although GT has flourished in the lower leagues, he's out of his depth in league one, its obvious by his poor quality loan signings (that was when we were holding a good crowd at the start of the season) that he hasn't got to grips with this league.....I have been to games in the past when the players have just turned up for their wages and cant be bothered to put a full shift in, and iv'e turned up at games when we have played out of our skin and still lost, but what i'm watching week in and week out now are players that pure and simply aren't good enough for this league and its stands out a mile!!...even the games we have won like Walsall, Carlisle and Crewe we never really look convincing. GT got some hard games coming up, so i hope he's still got a bit of that old magic stuck up his sleeve or by the end of next month things can turn very dire indeed .....
......so what's happened? He used to manage much better teams than us in higher divisions. I will happily make a contribution to buying a coracle.
so private fraser may be crying out from the terraces-ye are all doomed! well i am taking the corporal jones line from the comfort of capt mainwarings box, yes it cost me 2 pounds of sausage. don't panic! we knew this season would be difficult, made worse by a combination of old skinflints locked wallet and gt's inept loanees. shrews are not a championship club, with a bit of luck we might get a lucky promotion, but we would not stay there. we need a couple of decent loanees and we need to recognise what our club is, a lowly inexperienced league one club. graham has a few days to strengthen the side, but i do not believe we will go down, but it will be close. so come on old skinflint pay the wages, graham manage and players, play for your shirts!
Tinned hats.....I worked with Graham's wife at MEB when he was first at STFC, he has had a great career and is a nice bloke. Once you've had it you don't lose it! My suggestion is (and you imply you agree) that football in general may have changed. Now back to my devil's advocate stance......should we all also change? Evolution not revolution? I love my footy and believe that the highs are worth all the lows......that's very strange, that's one of the symptoms of being a depressive!!! STFC 2-0 Man City on a wet 'orrible day against a side with ten internationals.....that lasted me years! There's plenty more but that's one of my favourites.....last season against Arsenal, we may have lost but for a while it was fun!!!
.......one win a month! Who came up with that key fact? So any additional win this month will be good as we have one already! Why do I always remember cold, wet footy days ('cos it's played in the winter, stupid!). Dad came from Swansea and always remember the old Vetch Field preceded by a trip to the market for laver bread......come on AJ you must have tried it????
on these very bitter cold Saturday afternoons its very hard watching a bunch of lads running around the pitch knowing in your heart of hearts that they are just not up to the job, they are simply just not good enough, and the most annoying thing to me that there is an abundance of talent in the leagues below, where GT should know his way round.....but fails to do anything!!
I love a cold, miserable day. Macclesfield away last season was brilliant, even though it didn't stop raining for the whole game and they had only ready salted crisps and Bovril left after about 5 minutes of trading! We swamped the away end, must've been more of us than them, and played some pretty good stuff. Putting the keeper off in the second half was tremendous, he kept slipping or giving the ball straight to Collins every single kick - wonderful day.
Tined Hats, I am with you on this one - as I said at the start we have too many mediocre players who are not able to influence games in this league - we need to loan these players out and pay what is needed to bring in two experienced strikers who can. If we just end up with 19 year old youth team players (even from Premiership clubs) I think we will go down.
the bloody annoying thing is that we are no whipping boys, not many teams come here and give us a good turning over( if any)....but on the other hand we don't look like we are capable of winning many either....go on GT, Aaron O'Connor Newport County on a 12 month contract (when he gets fit) , he's banging them in on ploughed fields!!
