Hurst Out!

Agree with oldun the January transfer window has been a disaster as it has in previous seasons.However it not too late to get an exciting striker in.
But will Hurst act decisively ? I doubt it as his inertia will prevent him from taking pro-active action,and this is why he will never be a championship winning manager.

Quoted from friskneymariner

Agree with oldun the January transfer window has been a disaster as it has in previous seasons.However it not too late to get an exciting striker in.
But will Hurst act decisively ? I doubt it as his inertia will prevent him from taking pro-active action,and this is why he will never be a championship winning manager.

I cannot see how a good striker will be available now as if they are decent they will be playing. Another one who has been out injured might be about but will have not played much football. We have a selection of those already.

Quoted from Maringer

Happy? Not particularly. But outraged? No.

I'm disappointed that we haven't mounted a better challenge for the title, despite the fact that we thought we had a better squad this season but I don't think we've got a God-given right to be topping the table, just because we have higher attendances that most of the teams in the division. If we were spending more money than everyone else, we'd be right to expect much more but we're not in a position to compete on wages with a number of clubs who are spending a lot more on players than we can. What's Parkin reputedly earning - £3K per week? We can't compete with that. Eastleigh and Tranmere similarly chucking all sorts of money around.

Unfortunately, Amond aside, the strikers haven't done enough this season (1 Conference goal each from Bogle and Pittman in the past 4 months is a pathetic return) and Hurst's inability to sign the extra couple of quality players to take us closer to the top is dismal.

My view remains that getting rid of a manager mid-season is just too risky and, as we're still well-set for the play-offs despite the recent dip in form (though the chances of the title have gone), sacking Hurst with no replacement lined up would be daft.

Let's put it this way, it's not so long ago that we used to laugh at "Massive Wednesday" for getting ideas above their station. If they had sacked their manager when they were well clear in 3rd place (or were just well-set in a play-off position bearing in mind the number of promotion spots available), we'd have mocked them. And rightly so.

This line keeps getting trotted out but even with their parachute payment, i fail to believe we cannot match Cheltenham financially and they are not doing too bad. They have done what many on here argue can't be done, namely bring in a new manager, sign an almost complete new squad and p1ss the league at the first attempt. Then it will be pointed out that they were lucky to get such a good manager and where will we find one? That's not our job, that's the job of the board. We've more than done our bit.

I'm bored with Hurst and his dour excuses. The fact that we are spending a second season trying to sign a striker is frankly unacceptable. Bogle for me was never a frontline signing, but someone to nurture and develop over the season. Like Hurst, he just doesn't have the nous and only produces sporadically. Hopefully, he will learn quicker than his boss.

Also, why couldn't he just say what the fans wanted to hear and apologise for the spoilt comment and the fiasco at Halifax, even if it was a storm in a teacup and didn't warrant one. He just cannot help himself and he will never endear himself to the fans. I just hope we don't go behind tonight because it could get ugly.

Quoted from ginnywings

This line keeps getting trotted out but even with their parachute payment, i fail to believe we cannot match Cheltenham financially and they are not doing too bad. They have done what many on here argue can't be done, namely bring in a new manager, sign an almost complete new squad and p1ss the league at the first attempt. Then it will be pointed out that they were lucky to get such a good manager and where will we find one? That's not our job, that's the job of the board. We've more than done our bit.

There is always the exception to the rule. If you remember, the other year Kiddy were on a great run of form and only just missed out to Mansfield who, of course, were spending a lot. After that, they dropped away completely.

Here are the teams who have been promoted since we were down here:

Crawley (big spenders) as Champions, AFC Wimbledon through the play-offs.
Fleetwood (big spenders) as Champions, York through the play-offs after finishing in 4th.
Mansfield (big spenders) as Champions, Newport through the play-offs after finishing 3rd.
Luton (big spenders) as Champions, Cambridge through the play-offs.
Barnet as Champions, Bristol Rovers (big spenders) through the play-offs.

Will Cheltenham prove the exception to the rule, or lose out as Champions to big-spending FGR and drop away in the play-offs? Who knows, but it's pretty obvious from that list that spending more money than most other teams is the main way you get yourself out of this division. Barnet the only exception to the rule (to some extent) as Champions who were probably being outspent by a few teams.

It would have been nice to compete for the title and Barnet showed it is possible without the absolute biggest budget (probably), but there is no doubt that, if you're being outspent, your best chance is the play-offs. I'm far from happy that we're so far off the pace, but think it is ridiculous to think getting rid of the manager at this point of the season is anything like a sensible idea.

Quoted from Maringer

There is always the exception to the rule. If you remember, the other year Kiddy were on a great run of form and only just missed out to Mansfield who, of course, were spending a lot. After that, they dropped away completely.

Here are the teams who have been promoted since we were down here:

Crawley (big spenders) as Champions, AFC Wimbledon through the play-offs.
Fleetwood (big spenders) as Champions, York through the play-offs after finishing in 4th.
Mansfield (big spenders) as Champions, Newport through the play-offs after finishing 3rd.
Luton (big spenders) as Champions, Cambridge through the play-offs.
Barnet as Champions, Bristol Rovers (big spenders) through the play-offs.

Will Cheltenham prove the exception to the rule, or lose out as Champions to big-spending FGR and drop away in the play-offs? Who knows, but it's pretty obvious from that list that spending more money than most other teams is the main way you get yourself out of this division. Barnet the only exception to the rule (to some extent) as Champions who were probably being outspent by a few teams.

It would have been nice to compete for the title and Barnet showed it is possible without the absolute biggest budget (probably), but there is no doubt that, if you're being outspent, your best chance is the play-offs. I'm far from happy that we're so far off the pace, but think it is ridiculous to think getting rid of the manager at this point of the season is anything like a sensible idea.

Yep, some good points that i can't argue with but i don't agree that it is a ridiculous idea to get rid of the manager at this time of the year. Risky maybe, ridiculous no.

I asked this time last year if we would be having this conversation again at the same time this season and the answer is yes. I'm not expecting he will be removed but for me it's something to consider as i think we are stuck in a rut. Any manager at a club of our relative size that cannot get in a frontline striker 2 seasons running isn't up to the task.

He brought in the striker who's the top scorer in our league and the player widely considered to be one of the hottest prospects in non-league football.

Quoted from Rodley Mariner

He brought in the striker who's the top scorer in our league and the player widely considered to be one of the hottest prospects in non-league football.

Not enough on his own though, and we have been lacking a striker since the beginning of the season.

Yes I'd agree we are definitely a striker short.

Quoted from Rodley Mariner

Yes I'd agree we are definitely a striker short.

As we were last season 'til Palmer came in but by then we were playing catch up again.

We are on 59 points after 32 games. Of the previous Play off winners while we've been down here after 32 games:

Bristol Rovers - 58
Cambridge - 61
Newport County 62
York City 57
Wimbledon 64

So we are pretty much where all the other teams who went up are. My point is we shouldn't panic. Lets win tonight and forget about this turmoil.