So we are 3 games in..

Its early days granted but i want to give a quick run down on my assesment or feelings you could say so far..

Well one area i think MJ has got right is the midfield , i love welsh and hessenthaler no doubts there and a real shame about whitehouse as i really think we would have been sorted with arguably  one of the best midfields in our league.

The start of the pre season was for all to see we was going 352 which tbh i had no real issue about and was looking forward to it IF we were to sign the wingback/fullbacks to play it as thats a given for that formation, you need dynamic players there who can run up and down , we didnt have them in fox or dixon RHJ could do that so imo we needed two players bringing in there but we didnt get it so we started the season with dixon and clifton which was never going to work, that was strange as if MJ knew that was the formation he wanted why didnt he make them areas a priority as if you look at rochdale last night for example thats how to play a 352 with attacking yet wingbacks who can get back when needed, i have seen enough of paul dixon to see he is not good enough to be in a L2 team challenging and no one will persuade me any different.

Then there is the striker situation, every striker in the land seems to turn us down , you cant really blame MJ for this as that is the players choice so we go with cook whos preffered position is just behind a striker but like i say we go with what we have got, we play awful against FGR and we quickly switch back to a 433 the formation which arguably kept us up last season and win at macc in an excellent performance against a team after seeing them will imo be relegation contenders but we win and deservedly so but the opposition has to be taken into account , we play rochdale tonight and imo we were shown how if you want to play a 352 thats how you do it , attacking wing backs and a big man playing off a small man up top and they always looked a threat.

My point being MJ put all his eggs in one basket in a 352 hoping it would work it didnt and then changed it to a 433 and again we dont really have the players here for it in example vernam out wide cook up top hooper out wide who i must say has not started this season well at all for me, davis at RB who really is a CB , its a bit all over the place atm and i find it frustrating that we are into the season without a settled first 11 and knowing what we are doing, we got rid of every wide player at the club if that was selling them or not renewing a loan and no wide players were signed but now we are playing a 433 which is were you need wide players not strikers trying to do a job out there, again frustrating and not what you want going into the season with the transfer window closed for permanent signings.

Plenty will see this as me having a dig at MJ here but im not i like the guy but apart from the midfield and cook i dont think we have recruited well at all and the way we look atm i honestly dont know what we are trying to do, i definitely think we must see were we are in the next transfer window and MJ deserves the time to get his team out there but there is no hiding the point we look way off in terms of a team and in how we want to go forward this season.

Fair points Johnny, constructive criticism should always be appraised fairly. I have faith in MJ to slowly, and I mean SLOWLY turn this ship around, but there's so many holes to plug to stop the ship from sinking in the first place. I hope the fans are prepping themselves for this, a season that in all likelihood wont result in a play-off challenge nor an exciting cup run. It's an almost impossible task for the management, it's like asking an artist to come round and restore a stately home to its former glory, oh but first could you glue all the china back together that was smashed by the previous owner.

I'll be patient, but in all honesty asking the Town fans to be patient for 15+ years running is wearing thin. We can talk tactics and playing roles all day long, my gut feeling is that this club might never recover from the idiotically destructive Slade period.
Comparisons to the current Lincoln setup are valid, they too had a rather hapless, out of his depth (though fan-friendly) chairman who finally took a risk in an unlikely foreign investor, before taking a risk on an upcoming management setup. The Fenty boards idea of a risky appointment? Slade. The mind boggles.

Not what you wanted to read, probably, but I'm hanging on to my club out of sheer loyalty, though angry at the realistic conclusion of my post..that after 15+ years of shite we're all desperate to just steady the ship and achieve a safe mid-table position at the season's end. We should be aiming for and achieving so much more.

To Michael, the best of luck I'm completely behind you and your team.
To Fenty and the board, please keep us updated on any attempts to sell to potential new investors.

Michael Jolley worked a miracle last season in turning a rubbish squad put together by Slade into a half decent team,

We can not expect him to perform a miracle every week,

It will take time and we still need 3 or 4 more players in,

John Fenty ( bless him ) will give Michael the time and the money to get us up,

Please let us give him time as well and not call him while he is building for the future.

We have been hammered after pressing the self destruct button by a team I think will flirt with the Play Offs.
Beaten a newly promoted team comfortably.
Lost to a team higher in the league pyramid.

A bit of a mixed bag but nothing really shocking. I am bitterly disappointed with our cup results since getting back in the league we must do better on that front.Our current league position is where I expect us to stay til around Xmas when I see us pushing on and being a good outside bet for the Play Offs.After 2 home defeats a draw or better still a win on Saturday will galvanize the support .Lincoln look a good bet for automatic promotion so any result vs them will be well deserved.MK Dons away another tough game then it eases off a bit and I expect us to start gaining points?

I keep reading that we haven't got the players to play 3-5-2, and we haven't got the players to play 4-3-3. To my mind, we just simply haven't got the players full stop, regardless of formation. Not enough quality throughout the team, or throughout the squad in general. I don't know what goes on behind the scenes, regarding budget and player recruitment, but it's again apparent that the better players just don't want to come here, judging by the ones that have turned us down that we know about. Maybe Jolley will be the one to finally turn this ship around, given time, but we have been waiting a long time now to see this transformation, and i suspect we will have another while to wait yet, should it happen at all.

Can’t disagree with much of what is being said at the moment. We’ve been unlucky with injuries to Fox, Whitehouse, etc but the squad depth isn’t currently there.

I do want to give praise to MJ for instilling trust in the youth players...injuries may have forced his hand, but last night we had 4 youth team graduates on the bench, one just 17 years old. It’s a promising sign...including these players is a process and they will make mistakes, and they won’t always make the right decisions, but they only way to slowly get them involved is by doing just that.

I'd disagree with Jonnyboy that the midfield looks good - we've been comprehensively outplayed there in both of the two home games. Welsh and Woolford just don't have the pace to play together in the middle - it's got to be one or the other. A real pity about Whitehouse as he sounds like the sort of player we have been missing but Hessenthaler looks lively and has been surprisingly good running with the ball at his feet. Just a pity he's not been able to find the man with the final ball after he's dribbled through half of the opposition defenders! Assuming we're going to be playing a midfield 3 against Lincoln, I'd bring Clifton in for Woolford to give a bit more mobility.

We're at least one forward short as last night showed - Robles the only option on the bench and, though he looked game when he came on, I can't really see him being the answer to our problems. Cardwell might not have managed to score during his run in the team last season, but in his absence, you can appreciate the work he did occupying the opposition defenders. Hopefully, Jolley has his eye on a striker before the loan window closes.

At the back, I thought Whitmore did well last night so he looks like he'll be OK after what I thought was a difficult start against FGR. Davis doesn't look a full-back to me so, if we're going to stick with 4-3-3, I'd hope that RHJ will come in and do well. The decision to release Mills was an odd one for me and I disagree with Jolley's assessment of him. I'd much rather have seen him playing right wing-back and full-back in the games I've seen than Clifton or Davis. Collins struggled against Andrew but that just happens from time to time so hopefully Famewo is pushing him in training and whoever is doing best will get the place.

I know Famewo is nominally a central defender, but he's reportedly strong and quick, so it wouldn't be a problem for me to try him at left-back. Dixon did well enough last night, but I think the lack of pace on that side is a real issue, especially if Woolford is also playing. Fox is a decent full-back and I'd be happy to see him on the left if fit.

I was surprised that Vernam was awarded MoTM last night as I didn't think he achieved much other than the odd run in the first half. The key thing is to find a way to get both him and Cook on the ball in good positions as opposed to receiving it under pressure and surrounded by defenders.

Definitely lacking that certain something at the moment. Hopefully one or two loan signings can resolve most of the weaknesses.

Quoted from jonnyboy82

Its early days granted but i want to give a quick run down on my assesment or feelings you could say so far..

Well one area i think MJ has got right is the midfield , i love welsh and hessenthaler no doubts there and a real shame about whitehouse as i really think we would have been sorted with arguably  one of the best midfields in our league.

The start of the pre season was for all to see we was going 352 which tbh i had no real issue about and was looking forward to it IF we were to sign the wingback/fullbacks to play it as thats a given for that formation, you need dynamic players there who can run up and down , we didnt have them in fox or dixon RHJ could do that so imo we needed two players bringing in there but we didnt get it so we started the season with dixon and clifton which was never going to work, that was strange as if MJ knew that was the formation he wanted why didnt he make them areas a priority as if you look at rochdale last night for example thats how to play a 352 with attacking yet wingbacks who can get back when needed, i have seen enough of paul dixon to see he is not good enough to be in a L2 team challenging and no one will persuade me any different.

Then there is the striker situation, every striker in the land seems to turn us down , you cant really blame MJ for this as that is the players choice so we go with cook whos preffered position is just behind a striker but like i say we go with what we have got, we play awful against FGR and we quickly switch back to a 433 the formation which arguably kept us up last season and win at macc in an excellent performance against a team after seeing them will imo be relegation contenders but we win and deservedly so but the opposition has to be taken into account , we play rochdale tonight and imo we were shown how if you want to play a 352 thats how you do it , attacking wing backs and a big man playing off a small man up top and they always looked a threat.

My point being MJ put all his eggs in one basket in a 352 hoping it would work it didnt and then changed it to a 433 and again we dont really have the players here for it in example vernam out wide cook up top hooper out wide who i must say has not started this season well at all for me, davis at RB who really is a CB , its a bit all over the place atm and i find it frustrating that we are into the season without a settled first 11 and knowing what we are doing, we got rid of every wide player at the club if that was selling them or not renewing a loan and no wide players were signed but now we are playing a 433 which is were you need wide players not strikers trying to do a job out there, again frustrating and not what you want going into the season with the transfer window closed for permanent signings.

Plenty will see this as me having a dig at MJ here but im not i like the guy but apart from the midfield and cook i dont think we have recruited well at all and the way we look atm i honestly dont know what we are trying to do, i definitely think we must see were we are in the next transfer window and MJ deserves the time to get his team out there but there is no hiding the point we look way off in terms of a team and in how we want to go forward this season.

Does one reported case in Lee Angol represent every striker in the land?

I agree with many of your points Johnny but we have to have faith in the players and trust Jolley's judgement.

I'm confident he will get in the right loan players. The lad at Cardiff looks a good shout if that comes off.

I agree that with Whitehouse this would have been an awesome midfield.

I was resigned (hopeful?) to being mid table a long time ago. We're at least two seasons behind Lincoln. This will be a year of consolidation and I have no doubt there'll be more players arriving on loan and in January. Hound Jolley out and we're on our backsides. I still think he's the best thing to happen to the club in years. Stick with him. We'll regret it if we don't.

Quoted from marinerdazza

I agree that with Whitehouse this would have been an awesome midfield.

I was resigned (hopeful?) to being mid table a long time ago. We're at least two seasons behind Lincoln. This will be a year of consolidation and I have no doubt there'll be more players arriving on loan and in January. Hound Jolley out and we're on our backsides. I still think he's the best thing to happen to the club in years. Stick with him. We'll regret it if we don't.

Don’t see or hear anyone wanting MJ out, personally I would just like to see him build a competitive squad. We should be able to manage to create a goal threat in 180 minutes of football at Blundell Park but if we have then I must have missed it.