Now the inquest

Quoted from Heisenberg

Jesus, I was suggesting something filthy for a laugh. Over your head, obviously.

I got it but Mrs crusty always says I have a filthy mind lol

Quoted from crusty ole pie

Rumours of an Egyptian and someone from Maidenhead was the talk yesterday

The deal for the Egyptian is off, his mummy wouldn’t let him come here. Not high enough in the pyramid.

Quoted from Northbank Mariner

Not if you speak to Crewe fans..
Yes, he got them promoted, with a team he didn't build, and yes, the club sold a lot of that squad when in lg1..
But, his team he built, the players he signed got them relegated.
So, is Artell a good manager of players that are found to suit him but not a good manager at finding those players?..Thompson, Hume, Tharme where identified by Joe Hutchinson and so was Conteh.

Players were certainly playing for Artell at the end of the season, okay has been messy but time to give him a chance.
Management is like any job, you need experience. I liked the change of style , we were not easy on the eye but we have stayed up by a decent margin
I’ve been an absolutely staunch Hurst fan but I think it would’ve been really 50-50 for relegation. We did not look like winning a game at home and although we were decent away from home, I never felt that we would hold a lead. Look at his record at Shrewsbury. Away, they have been decent but their home form is shocking utm

Quoted from Zmariner

Players were certainly playing for Artell at the end of the season, okay has been messy but time to give him a chance.
Management is like any job, you need experience. I liked the change of style , we were not easy on the eye but we have stayed up by a decent margin
I’ve been an absolutely staunch Hurst fan but I think it would’ve been really 50-50 for relegation. We did not look like winning a game at home and although we were decent away from home, I never felt that we would hold a lead. Look at his record at Shrewsbury. Away, they have been decent but their home form is shocking utm

Hurst didn’t win us a single away game this season.

Quoted from Heisenberg

Hurst didn’t win us a single away game this season.

Can’t argue with that. These away games always seemed to be close (except Wrexham) , we kept losing the lead and conceding late. For me endless hard luck stories tends to smell of a relegation season and so I am very grateful for survival

Quoted from rancido

Hurst never struck me as the kind of guy who would have a meeting with the players, coaching staff and owners if things were going wrong.

He always doubled down with his plans and was soon sussed out by most league managers

Quoted from grimps

He always doubled down with his plans and was soon sussed out by most league managers

With the exception of a great season at Shrewsbury, his EFL record is not very impressive. However, his NL record is outstanding. He got us into the playoffs all five seasons that he was in sole charge. Should become available I would imagine he would be highly attractive to any ambitious NL club.

Christ, has Artell done something to personally upset some people?

He inherited a excrement side.  Look at the run under Hurst in his final 9 games.  Somehow we defied logic to get that win against Barrow but it's still 4 points from 27.  

He came in, went from one extreme to the other (possibly under instruction) and whilst it worked early on it was too much for the majority of this squad.  It got bad and he adapted to suit.  Since the Donny game we've been in good upper midtable form, beat a couple of play-off sides, kept 7 clean sheets and he's done that with his best player (Rose) missing for five of the games.

He's had to work with an imbalanced squad, make key adjustments to his system mid-season and bring in major reinforcements in January.  
Within that he's got the best out of players who were previously struggling (Mullarkey, Rodgers, Green...), found a system that suits the limitations of his players and his transfer dealings are pretty impressive considering it was a January window.  

Donny was bad, I get it. But so were plenty of games in the first half of the season.  Stockport away was the worst 30 minutes of Town football I've seen, had they not stopped playing after half-an-hour we would have lost by a cricket score.  But it was bad and he changed it.  Is that not good management?

It would also be really good if we can stop pulling out the 'the players told him to change' line.  It doesn't matter who said what, it's good management to talk to your staff and get their view.  Ultimately he made the decision.  The Crewe in League One argument I just don't get.  We're in League 2 and at that level he did a good job with Crewe.  If/When he gets us to League One we can worry about his record then.

I'm torn between wanting a complete overhaul of the squad or seeing if Artell can continue to improve those within it.

It's going to be a hard sell to offload anyone under contract from a side that's lingered above the drop into non-league all season.  No-one in the league is wanting too many of our players and I can't see many in non-league having the cash to pay their wages.  

Going on who's out of contract, I think it's probably only Green and maybe Maher I'd look at keeping (not counting Ainley as I can't imagine a scenario where we've not already offered him a deal).  Green has been a different player in the last few weeks and going forward is far more impactful than when he sits,  the question is do we look to improve on that?  

Maher showed on Saturday what he brings to the backline, he was my MOTM and especially on that left hand side I think he's got all the qualities to be very good and effective.  Not convinced Artell fancies him though.  Defence has looked much improved of late but that's largely without him.  

Clifton is the other one.  As a midfielder, definitely not.  We need to upgrade and he doesn't bring that.  As a wingback I would say yes, if we're playing that system.  Winger? No.  Need more impactful players.

In a scenario where all 4 stay (Green, Clifton, Maher and Ainley) that's a big chunk of your midfield retained, plus the returning Hunt.  I think Ainley completely changes the dynamic of the midfield but it's still laced with the legacy of a side that floundered this season.  

Even still, that means Eisa, Gnahoua, Glennon, Hume, Amos, Holohan and Khan going with Cartwright, Smith, Andrews, Wood and Obikwu going back to parent clubs.  Of those released, you've probably got at least 5 on decent money - is that enough to bring about the improvements needed?  

Gut feeling is the axe is swinging and we'll see 2 stay.  

Quoted from Northbank Mariner

Not if you speak to Crewe fans..
Yes, he got them promoted, with a team he didn't build, and yes, the club sold a lot of that squad when in lg1..
But, his team he built, the players he signed got them relegated.
So, is Artell a good manager of players that are found to suit him but not a good manager at finding those players?..Thompson, Hume, Tharme where identified by Joe Hutchinson and so was Conteh.

He got them promoted out of league two after three and a half seasons in charge, and then lead them to 12th in League One after 4 and a half.

That's what, nine transfer windows? But sure it wasn't his team