Interesting comments from JS

Quoted from Maringer

Nonsense. If the owners of a business don't decide the direction they want the operation to go, what is the point of them?

If I was running the club, I'd certainly be looking to have a team playing good football, something for which we were known for much of my formative years (i.e. the Buckley eras). People still talk disparagingly of Slade's 'Hoofball' era and were chuntering about Hurst's functional, somewhat dour style of play (in both his spells) for as long as I can remember.

The complaints about trying to play it out from the back have been ridiculous because, as we've seen, reverting to punting it forward hasn't exactly helped things. There's a balance to be made, obviously, but we're not capable of playing a clogging game and nor would I want to see it.

On the assumption that Artell isn't here at the end of the season, I hope that whoever takes over (and at whatever level we are playing), will attempt to play attractive, attacking football. Trying to grind out results in a relegation scrap is understandable. Starting a season with the hope of grinding out enough results for some sort of success (whatever that may be) throughout the year isn't.

I hated Sladeball BUT in fairness to him and Fenty they brought in muscle height and speed to make it work and its the closest we've got to promotion from League 2. On that basis DA needs 10 David Silva,Phil Foden types sounds expensive and difficult not to mention it rarely works lower down.
I'm interested in opinions on how many footballers we think the current squad yields?

For me Hunt,Glennon are footballers neither in the frame

Of the rest Eusa/Hume/Ainley maybe?

Rose picks himself and can fit in anywhere.

Miles off having a footballing side unless we've half a dozen I've missed?

Quoted from 1mickylyons

I hated Sladeball BUT in fairness to him and Fenty they brought in muscle height and speed to make it work and its the closest we've got to promotion from League 2. On that basis DA needs 10 David Silva,Phil Foden types sounds expensive and difficult not to mention it rarely works lower down.
I'm interested in opinions on how many footballers we think the current squad yields?

For me Hunt,Glennon are footballers neither in the frame

Of the rest Eusa/Hume/Ainley maybe?

Rose picks himself and can fit in anywhere.

Miles off having a footballing side unless we've half a dozen I've missed?

I would put Arthur in that . Think he's a good technical player who can look after the ball.

Probably Khouri , unfortunately he's injured Spenymoor pal said he didn't play the other night as pulled up before the game - hoping it's not too serious as he was doing really well there in the 3 or 4 games he's played and potentially has the ability to come back into the frame when he's back/fit imo.

Quoted from 1mickylyons

Sorry I didn't listen to it I just went off previous posts.I am more bothered about my team sleep walking into non league than hearing his views but each to there own.

So you made a comment about a podcast that you hadn't even bothered to listen to !!! FFS

Quoted from 1mickylyons

I hated Sladeball BUT in fairness to him and Fenty they brought in muscle height and speed to make it work and its the closest we've got to promotion from League 2. On that basis DA needs 10 David Silva,Phil Foden types sounds expensive and difficult not to mention it rarely works lower down.
I'm interested in opinions on how many footballers we think the current squad yields?

For me Hunt,Glennon are footballers neither in the frame

Of the rest Eusa/Hume/Ainley maybe?

Rose picks himself and can fit in anywhere.

Miles off having a footballing side unless we've half a dozen I've missed?

As has been discussed elsewhere in the past (and as Artell said), we were a 'Meh' team when he arrived. Not big, not strong, not quick, not particularly-skilful, not dynamic, not this and not that.

His style is to try and play football, but it doesn't appear that we have the players for that. Hurst's style was to keep it tight, try to play a bit when the chance arose and play to percentages. It worked OK to start off with this season, but things went south rapidly which led to his dismissal. I think this was, in part, because teams had worked us out by that point. They knew we were weak at the back and not much cop in midfield where we would lose possession frequently. Our lack of pace was a killer as we struggled to break down an organised defence. Keep our wide men quiet and use pace to get in behind us and we struggle.

Unfortunately, things have become even worse in 2024. We've got the same weaknesses, less Conteh, who stabilised the midfield more than I realised, and everything the opposition hits is going into the net at the moment. If Thompson can stay fit, he ought to be the one steadying the ship but the new defenders haven't yet settled or built proper playing relationships (which is probably understandable), but that certainly hasn't helped. Artell's biggest failure in the transfer window was that he didn't bring in another experienced striker. He probably thought that Pyke and Wilson returning from injury would be enough to support Rose, but I really don't think they are, and it's a rare occasion that an inexperienced kid such as Obikwu can come in and impose themselves in a struggling team.

If Artell goes, I'm not really sure what the future is for this squad. Will a new manager try and batten down the hatches and try to play defensively while nicking a goal here and there? I'm not sure we have the players to be able to do that. Trying to play a bit more football and nabbing enough wins to survive is probably our best hope. Whether or not this squad is up to it, regardless of the manager, remains to be seen.

Quoted from Maringer

As has been discussed elsewhere in the past (and as Artell said), we were a 'Meh' team when he arrived. Not big, not strong, not quick, not particularly-skilful, not dynamic, not this and not that.

His style is to try and play football, but it doesn't appear that we have the players for that. Hurst's style was to keep it tight, try to play a bit when the chance arose and play to percentages. It worked OK to start off with this season, but things went south rapidly which led to his dismissal. I think this was, in part, because teams had worked us out by that point. They knew we were weak at the back and not much cop in midfield where we would lose possession frequently. Our lack of pace was a killer as we struggled to break down an organised defence. Keep our wide men quiet and use pace to get in behind us and we struggle.

Unfortunately, things have become even worse in 2024. We've got the same weaknesses, less Conteh, who stabilised the midfield more than I realised, and everything the opposition hits is going into the net at the moment. If Thompson can stay fit, he ought to be the one steadying the ship but the new defenders haven't yet settled or built proper playing relationships (which is probably understandable), but that certainly hasn't helped. Artell's biggest failure in the transfer window was that he didn't bring in another experienced striker. He probably thought that Pyke and Wilson returning from injury would be enough to support Rose, but I really don't think they are, and it's a rare occasion that an inexperienced kid such as Obikwu can come in and impose themselves in a struggling team.

If Artell goes, I'm not really sure what the future is for this squad. Will a new manager try and batten down the hatches and try to play defensively while nicking a goal here and there? I'm not sure we have the players to be able to do that. Trying to play a bit more football and nabbing enough wins to survive is probably our best hope. Whether or not this squad is up to it, regardless of the manager, remains to be seen.

10 out of the 11 that took Crewe apart (Conteh aside) are still here. Thompson is an Artell signing to, allegedly, fill the Conteh gap. I'm still staggered how we can go from wonderful to woeful in such a short space of time, particularly as he said he was 'pleasantly surprised by the quality in the squad'.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

10 out of the 11 that took Crewe apart (Conteh aside) are still here. Thompson is an Artell signing to, allegedly, fill the Conteh gap. I'm still staggered how we can go from wonderful to woeful in such a short space of time, particularly as he said he was 'pleasantly surprised by the quality in the squad'.

Yep, MK Dons away was the best and most entertaining Town performance I've seen in a while and I left there thinking that we would be heading in the right direction with Artell. It seems a very long time ago now.

Quoted from Maringer

As has been discussed elsewhere in the past (and as Artell said), we were a 'Meh' team when he arrived. Not big, not strong, not quick, not particularly-skilful, not dynamic, not this and not that.

His style is to try and play football, but it doesn't appear that we have the players for that. Hurst's style was to keep it tight, try to play a bit when the chance arose and play to percentages. It worked OK to start off with this season, but things went south rapidly which led to his dismissal. I think this was, in part, because teams had worked us out by that point. They knew we were weak at the back and not much cop in midfield where we would lose possession frequently. Our lack of pace was a killer as we struggled to break down an organised defence. Keep our wide men quiet and use pace to get in behind us and we struggle.

Unfortunately, things have become even worse in 2024. We've got the same weaknesses, less Conteh, who stabilised the midfield more than I realised, and everything the opposition hits is going into the net at the moment. If Thompson can stay fit, he ought to be the one steadying the ship but the new defenders haven't yet settled or built proper playing relationships (which is probably understandable), but that certainly hasn't helped. Artell's biggest failure in the transfer window was that he didn't bring in another experienced striker. He probably thought that Pyke and Wilson returning from injury would be enough to support Rose, but I really don't think they are, and it's a rare occasion that an inexperienced kid such as Obikwu can come in and impose themselves in a struggling team.

If Artell goes, I'm not really sure what the future is for this squad. Will a new manager try and batten down the hatches and try to play defensively while nicking a goal here and there? I'm not sure we have the players to be able to do that. Trying to play a bit more football and nabbing enough wins to survive is probably our best hope. Whether or not this squad is up to it, regardless of the manager, remains to be seen.

Conteh didn't always do the fashionable stuff but when on form was tactically excellent at filling in holes and wouldn't empty out the midfield like we have the last few home games .

We need someone to at least sit like he did even if  they are not as good at it - just retain their position so we don't look so drastically out of shape both with and without the ball ; especially when the ball is turned over quickly ,in the words of Yoda 'we are a mess' when that happens .

Quoted from MuddyWaters

10 out of the 11 that took Crewe apart (Conteh aside) are still here. Thompson is an Artell signing to, allegedly, fill the Conteh gap. I'm still staggered how we can go from wonderful to woeful in such a short space of time, particularly as he said he was 'pleasantly surprised by the quality in the squad'.

The fact that we took Crewe apart in one game would seem to be more an indication that they had a really bad day, given that we've been taken apart by numerous teams since then...

Quoted from BobbyCummingsTackle

Yep, MK Dons away was the best and most entertaining Town performance I've seen in a while and I left there thinking that we would be heading in the right direction with Artell. It seems a very long time ago now.

he'd been here for 1 training session, why's he getting any credit for that performance.

Quoted from Hagrid

he'd been here for 1 training session, why's he getting any credit for that performance.

You'd struggle to find a squad member whose performance has improved after time on the training ground with DA. The new signings went straight into the team at Accrington and mostly gave their best showings. It seems the more DA coaching minutes you undergo the worse you get.