s n h - got this horrible feeling...

Quoted from forza ivano

the thing is that they've done the right things - they've brought in successful, bsp premier players - hatton,thomas, soares, cook, miller and have others like elding and pearson who know what this division is all about.players like wood,pearson and hearn all have a season's bsp experience under their belts they're fitter, younger and hungrier (there's no lack of effort) than woods' no- hopers. all the ingredients are there but they're just  not getting the recipe right

The first half at Southport and both home games?

You are surely having a laugh.

I think fitness and squad quality are there, its the tactics (or lack of sometimes) and motivation that are lacking. I'm probably wrong but i get the impression that the players aren't happy playing constant direct football but maybe aren't being coached to play passing build up stuff for when they're asked to play it. It seems we are to play this style against such and such team and another style against another team, i really would prefer us to have our style and stick to it, let other teams adjust their style to us. There weren't many admirers of slades direct hoofball but it was reasonably successful when the players committed to it. I just don't think our squad, through the managers direction, have committed to any particular style and as such are "lost" come kick off or when games are stagnating a little. With hearn out for a fair stretch and 2 points from 9 so far, i can understand the gentle rumblings but the seasons way from over and stranger things have happened. Oddly enough i feel more confident with this years squad to cope without hearn.

Too early for the sack, too early to be thinking about the sack. The right time to support the squad to pick up their mojos and rip wrexham apart!

For me there is no one vocal enough in the squad to drive the players on, Disley is not captain material, we don't have a midfield general.  Niven from what I have seen is slightly better than Church but I am sure he can play miles better than that.  

Some of us have managed/played at a low level but even at that low level you have someone organising players letting other players know about possible runners and making sure any over lapping play can be cut off.  

The support play also lacks direction, too few players pushing up and supporting or making runs for extra options.  We got a triangle going against Stockport that turned them inside out (this was up towards the Osmond/Findus stands).  That movement was sweet and it got you wanting more, it worked brilliantly but it was never tried again and it seems as the game went on the players became too jaded to stand up against what was poor opposition in Stockport.

Quoted from Marinerz93

For me there is no one vocal enough in the squad to drive the players on, Disley is not captain material, we don't have a midfield general.  Niven from what I have seen is slightly better than Church but I am sure he can play miles better than that.  

Some of us have managed/played at a low level but even at that low level you have someone organising players letting other players know about possible runners and making sure any over lapping play can be cut off.  

The support play also lacks direction, too few players pushing up and supporting or making runs for extra options.  We got a triangle going against Stockport that turned them inside out (this was up towards the Osmond/Findus stands).  That movement was sweet and it got you wanting more, it worked brilliantly but it was never tried again and it seems as the game went on the players became too jaded to stand up against what was poor opposition in Stockport.

Aye, defo need someone to drive the team on and orchestrate the dynamic better. On the fence where disley is concerned, some players lead by example more than screaming and shouting, odd that RS picks a quiet character for his captain though!

Quoted from Chrisblor

It's not surprising he's bitter since they were the ones who released him - which was the right decision given that, even for all his effort, he was hopelessly ineffective during his final season with Town.

But he might be speaking the truth too.

Quoted from Marinerz93

For me there is no one vocal enough in the squad to drive the players on, Disley is not captain material, we don't have a midfield general.  Niven from what I have seen is slightly better than Church but I am sure he can play miles better than that.  

Some of us have managed/played at a low level but even at that low level you have someone organising players letting other players know about possible runners and making sure any over lapping play can be cut off.  

The support play also lacks direction, too few players pushing up and supporting or making runs for extra options.  We got a triangle going against Stockport that turned them inside out (this was up towards the Osmond/Findus stands).  That movement was sweet and it got you wanting more, it worked brilliantly but it was never tried again and it seems as the game went on the players became too jaded to stand up against what was poor opposition in Stockport.

Spot on. Church wasn't up to it buy he had made a large step upwards. Niven is supposed to come with a fine pedigree, as was Disley, but the damned midfield seems to be unfixable. Also there was one moment of great play against Nuneaton when Soares and Thomas combined down the left and resulted in a great cross. Cook will show little until he's getting that type of service. That movement was what I was expecting from the go, all of the time. Which leaves you questioning why Soares managed to grab a hatful of goals at his former club and why Thomas isn't tearing up the ground like he did (against us particularly) for Braintree.
The shape is wrong and, as pointed out in other posts, there seemed no desire to find it and stick with in the pre-season games.

Quoted from kevikov

Aye, defo need someone to drive the team on and orchestrate the dynamic better. On the fence where disley is concerned, some players lead by example more than screaming and shouting, odd that RS picks a quiet character for his captain though!

But your captain also gee's players up when they are dropping or not performing, screaming no, shouting yes, especially encouragement.  Some players ie Bore / Till may start bright but disappear, these type of players always need someone on their case, especially if they are on the opposite side of the pitch as the managers.

Quoted from arryarryarry

The first half at Southport and both home games?

You are surely having a laugh.

Think the poster made a valid point. There is effort, just no structure, style, tactics or teamwork

Quoted from RoboCod

Spot on. Church wasn't up to it buy he had made a large step upwards. Niven is supposed to come with a fine pedigree, as was Disley, but the damned midfield seems to be unfixable. Also there was one moment of great play against Nuneaton when Soares and Thomas combined down the left and resulted in a great cross. Cook will show little until he's getting that type of service. That movement was what I was expecting from the go, all of the time. Which leaves you questioning why Soares managed to grab a hatful of goals at his former club and why Thomas isn't tearing up the ground like he did (against us particularly) for Braintree.
The shape is wrong and, as pointed out in other posts, there seemed no desire to find it and stick with in the pre-season games.

This is a very good post. The only thing I'd disagree about is the midfield area. Whereas I've been seriously questioning what the likes of Colbeck, Cook and G Pearson bring to the table I think that Niven has shown that he is very capable at this level. I'm as sure as I can be that he won't score double figures in goals but I guess he just isn't that sort of player. Part of the reason Town's defence did so well v Stockport for 80 odd minutes was the protection afforded to them(particularly down the middle) by Niven's execution of his role. I believe it was a huge mistake to leave him out of the starting line up on Saturday and can only assume that the managers didn't think he'd enough attacking qualities for a team needing to go all out attack against a team that had conceded nine goals in their opening two fixtures.  

Quoted from BlackBoots

I agree with the opening poster. Badly want them to succeed but cannot see enough signs of progress.

I dont think for one moment that AB will take over and i honestly dont know who we should go for. We have tried experienced , previously succesful, promoting from within and young and up 'n' coming with no change in results.

Need someone with experience but still hungry enough to need to success, who has also achieved promotion, preferably from this division

I think if you go back 10 years or more you will find we haven't really apppointed an experienced league manager with the exception of Buckley and Newell who had both been out of the game for some time.