Gunning

Quoted from Mariner_09

Difference between Brodie and Gunning (and by extension Hurst and Bignot) is that Bignot picked Gunnning every week mainly a position where we had 35 different players whose specialist position was there and when he played at centre half against Donny, he was dreadful. Hurst quickly saw Brodie was a waste of space and dropped him and sent him back, he admitted his mistake and got rid.

I'm sorry but Hurst has to be the worst at persisting with garbage. Ben Tomlinson and Monkhouse spring to mind.

All managers have signed crap, Bignot actually did alright with signings. Sam Jones, Osbourne and Asante will all no doubt be huge players for us this season.

Quoted from pontoonlew

I'm sorry but Hurst has to be the worst at persisting with garbage. Ben Tomlinson and Monkhouse spring to mind.

All managers have signed crap, Bignot actually did alright with signings. Sam Jones, Osbourne and Asante will all no doubt be huge players for us this season.

Tomlinson started 5 games for us on a month loan.

Monkhouse played 38 games (and scored 6 goals) for us in a promotion winning season. Didn't turn out that bad really, did he?

Think you're gonna have to search a little harder for that stick with Hursty's name on it.

So Tomlinson was persisted with during his loan spell?

Have to totally disagree on Monkhouse, a good pro but a major weak link IMO. The fact he got injured in the play offs was a blessing in disguise.

The point is towards Bignot, he got it wrong with tactics etc but I don't think he can be accused of making bad signings.

To be fair, we did OK when Tomlinson was playing. Three wins and four draws wasn't too bad considering the team we were at the time. Might have done better with someone else in the team but he wasn't all that bad and certainly put a shift in each game.

Bignot certainly made some decent signings but also some pointless/poor ones. I'd say Gunning falls more towards the latter category than the former!

Tomlinson was a decent player for me, very hard working and created some decent opportunities and was probably unlucky to not score on one or two occasions. I got the impression that one goal would have brought about a shed load. He suffered because he was in the team over Podge, which was probably the right decision because it gave a necessary kick up the @rse to him and made him perform better as a result,

Quoted from Mariner_09

Tomlinson was a decent player for me, very hard working and created some decent opportunities and was probably unlucky to not score on one or two occasions. I got the impression that one goal would have brought about a shed load. He suffered because he was in the team over Podge, which was probably the right decision because it gave a necessary kick up the @rse to him and made him perform better as a result,

Give over! Tomlinson was a pile of crapp.

Had to watch him try to control the ball and huff and puff all over the Braintree pitch in a 0-0 draw while Hurst kept Amond on the bench.. Hurst messed Bogle around too.

You build a strong debating position though, because if a player was dropped and returned to the team and played well, it was Hurst's genius kick up the behind that did it, and if the player returned to the side and played shite, Hurst was a genius and right for dropping him in the first place.

Quoted from pontoonlew

I'm sorry but Hurst has to be the worst at persisting with garbage. Ben Tomlinson and Monkhouse spring to mind.

All managers have signed crap, Bignot actually did alright with signings. Sam Jones, Osbourne and Asante will all no doubt be huge players for us this season.

Monkhouse.

Quoted from bradzmilne

Possibly part of a minority group but I'm absolutely certain there's a player in Gunning somewhere. Just needs to channel that aggression correctly

You're a referee though Brad, what the hell do you know about football?  

Bigot did make some astute signings, Clements, Asante, Jones and Osbourne who I think will be key players for us going forward. To a lesser extent I don't think Yussuf was a bad signing, did well early on but it was evident he wasn't fit enough but I think he could have played a part this season had Barrow not come in for him and he looked fit and strong in pre-season. By all accounts he was a high earner too.

The problem with Bignot was that he clearly let the budget and freedom given to him by the board go to his head and he was like a kid in a sweet shop when it came to transfers. That being said, every single manager has made duff signings at some point, Fyfield & Straker anyone?!? Even Fergie got it wrong from time to time in the transfer market!

IMO Bignot signed more good than bad though!

Ben Tomlinson gave me hope of being a professional footballer.