Just Back

Sigh

Again we started okay but that only lasted for about 5 mins

We seem to be playing well; then just shoot ourselves in the foot

There's no communication in the final third or the defence, quite frankly it's embarrassing how often they get in each other's way

The game livened up towards the end but why the intercourse does it take till the 70th minute for us to start playing?

As for Matt's red card, doesn't anyone have any clue what that was for?


All in all, another shite result and performance that sees us continue to slide down the table

SLADE OUT

Does not matter anymore. This cannot go on. Fenty i am
Begging, please get wilko and slade their p45 and them go yourself. It must stop

Just out of interest how did osborne do?

We are extremely lucky Barnet are shite unfortunately chesterfield look like their improving and the veggies will win a few games before the end of the season .. this is real we are in real trouble whatever Slade says

Cannot believe what is going on at my beloved club
The wheels have well and truly come off this wagon.
Can only hope there are two teams more s**t than us!
Remember feeling this way the seasons before we went down...
Always a Mariner

Quoted from monkeyboy

Just out of interest how did osborne do?

He's gone back to Solihull 😉

Quoted from monkeyboy

Just out of interest how did osborne do?

His delfection led to an own goal, nothing he could really do about it to be honest, like most of the squad he was indifferent he was neither in the game nor out of it.

Only players to really earn any praise were Mills and Summerfield, Mills made about 3 or 4 goal line clearances, Summerfield did his usual thing of running his socks off putting himself about beut even he was off today. New lad did well first 5 minutes or so and one moment in the second half, but you couldn't expect him to do anything else as well there was 0 service.

Quoted from gytone

He's gone back to Solihull 😉

the defender i meant lol, bollox to the spelling

Some positives - Vernam looks decent, Zak Mills had another very good game, Berrett was better this week than Rose was last......

The negatives? Summers had his worst game of his run in the team and Woolford??? Well he played three hospital passes that put his team mates in trouble and....I won't go on because any manager that picks him ahead of DJ should be sacked, and we know that's not going to happen.

A team with confidence playing a team with none and of course, when you are down, things go against you. We started ok and the new lad looks a footballer, but their first real shot flies in and it's an uphill battle once again with Newport mostly controlling things without too many panics. We then get a golden chance to equalise, fluff that, and less than 60 seconds later, we are 2 down to a deflected shot. Typical of a struggling side. When we did get one back, with a scrappy goal, we had 18 mins with the injury time to get an equaliser, but Newport just managed the game to it's end without us really getting at them.

Something needs to happen sharpish, or we are going to get dragged into the mire. We have that look about us that i have seen all too often and usually ends in tears.

Not as bad as the Morecambe game and our goal probably took the sting out of the fans a bit, or it may have got ugly. Don't know what the answer is but we are now only 11 off bottom, and the gap is closing, slowly but surely.

I'm listening to Slade right now. We were not the better side Russ. Get your head out of your ar$e

2nd best other than the first 10 minutes. They had 3 cleared off the line 1st half. After that it was a shower. We are in real danger of being relegated.

Hull are trying to sign a winger can we convince them to sign Woolford.

We started fairly brightly first 10 mins, the new man Vernam looked lively and tried to create openings.Vernon and Woolford having scoring opportunities. However after that Newport started to come into the game and scored an excellent goal, Amond creating the assist, but we still defended it badly. A couple of goal-line clearances and we were lucky to go in only 1-0 down. After half-time Vernon had a great chance to equalise but for an excellent save from their keeper. They then broke immediately and scored with an unfortunate deflection off Osborne. The game was then finished, and as they backed off and defended well, we had alot of pressure, and although we scored, we never looked like getting or deserving an equaliser. No tactics again, we just pushed Osborne up as a last resort, and punted balls into the box. I fail to see what Woolford brings to the teams, and we look desperate at the minute. The new lad did OK on his debut, but for all his energy, he was having to come back all the time to receive the ball, and he's another who's not going to solve our goalscoring problems. The games don't get any easier, and the rest of the season looks like an uphill struggle....UTM

Beaten by a better team who were physically stronger and quicker than us. Podge set up the first which was a good strike from the edge of the box. We cleared a couple off the line. Second goal was a deflection off Osborne which flew in. Matt scored a solo scrambled effort before being sent off for elbowing. Vernam had a decent debut showed flashes, clearly used to playing the ball to feet. Kean in goal is a worry, looks like an accident waiting to happen, missed a couple of catches and his kicking was awful. Once in the second half Jaisimi worked his nuts off to track back and win the ball back, laid it back to Kean who smashed it into the stand, not the first time either. Newport dealt comfortably with our late pressure. At the minute we are in a rut and once we concede any confidence disappears. On this form it is going to be a long slog to get to safety. Does not seem to matter who plays the outcome is the same. Finally, yet again I fail to see what Woolford is doing in the team.

What was on that banner that about 10 stewards tried to take off an old bloke?

Quoted from headingly_mariner

What was on that banner that about 10 stewards tried to take off an old bloke?

It was close to us but all I could read was "No Commitment"

Quoted from barralad

It was close to us but all I could read was "No Commitment"

That was all I could make out although I'm sure it had no swearing on it. How embarrassing that they would try to censor the frustrated fans that continue to turn up.

Pretty predictable really. We started brightly and played some decent football for the first 10. In that first ten though was a warning when Kean made a hash of gathering the ball but got away with it and then misjudged a high ball completely with Town very fortunate that Davis was there to whack it clear..eventually. From then on the loanee keeper was up against it. The fans in the Pontoon were on his back and it was clear that the defence didn't have one ounce of trust in him. He got a fair amount of criticism for the first goal (around the fact that apparently a keeper should never be beaten at the near post) but I thought it was a very good finish. I do wonder though whether those who criticised Killip after basically one mistake against Crewe might be reflecting that they were a little harsh. Had it not been for Davis's immaculate positioning on the line and I think Osborne's physical fitness when he took a full bloodied, goal bound effort in the head and never flinched Newport would have been out of sight by half time.
Second half we looked like giving it a go. I "get" the criticism of Vernon but he did absolutely everything right with the effort their keeper tipped magnificently round the post. Less than a minute later it's in our net after what looked like a wicked deflection. Loudest cheer of the day was when Woolford departed. Matt and D.J. at least gave them something to think about and Dembele awoke from a 60 minute "nap" but the lack of confidence showed time after time. Good persistence from the big fellah for his goal. Newport were holding/pulling Town's players all over in the box without any form of punishment from the referee who then found his mojo to send off Matt. The sending off effectively killed the game even with eight minutes time added on.
The new lad showed glimpses of what makes him so highly thought of at Derby and I'll be disappointed if he doesn't start at Colchester next Saturday.

Everybody has summed it up Vernam looks a bit of a player skillful full of energy had a good debut

Vernon looked a lot better and was very unlucky not to score his effort was superbly tipped around the post by their excellent keeper whose superb long throw out led to the second goal.

Now the bad bit sorry but Woolford is awful how the hell he starts in preference to D.J. only Slade knows.

Our keeper... where to start his kicking is the worst I have ever seen. He has no confidence in the box a pass back to him led to a hastily half heated slice that went nowhere or a miss hit the ball along the floor ensuing panic in the defence, he is quite simply RUBBISH.

Saw Macca hobbling about near the dugout he as nothing to fear but will be out for some time. Killip is ten times better than Kean.

The only time we looked threatening was when we had Matt and Jasime up front we should have started with this eleven Slade not when we were two down ffs.

You talk about needing time, unfortunately we are heading out of the league on this form with gates around a thousand less than we had in non league.

How long can we sustain this hemorrhage of income?  Something as to give.

Quoted from Hagrid

Does not matter anymore. This cannot go on. Fenty i am
Begging, please get wilko and slade their p45 and them go yourself. It must stop

Just out of interest who gave this a red cross??

Quoted from TAGG

Just out of interest who gave this a red cross??

Probably John! 😂

Quoted from Mrs Doyle

Everybody has summed it up Vernam looks a bit of a player skillful full of energy had a good debut

Vernon looked a lot better and was very unlucky not to score his effort was superbly tipped around the post by their excellent keeper whose superb long throw out led to the second goal.

Now the bad bit sorry but Woolford is awful how the hell he starts in preference to D.J. only Slade knows.

Our keeper... where to start his kicking is the worst I have ever seen. He has no confidence in the box a pass back to him led to a hastily half heated slice that went nowhere or a miss hit the ball along the floor ensuing panic in the defence, he is quite simply RUBBISH.

Saw Macca hobbling about near the dugout he as nothing to fear but will be out for some time. Killip is ten times better than Kean.

The only time we looked threatening was when we had Matt and Jasime up front we should have started with this eleven Slade not when we were two down ffs.

You talk about needing time, unfortunately we are heading out of the league on this form with gates around a thousand less than we had in non league.

How long can we sustain this hemorrhage of income?  Something as to give.

I don't get on Vernon's back but the chance he had after 5 mins he should have scored.
From where I sit in the lower the angle was great to see his effort. He could have passed it underneath the keeper a d that was just one option. Could have been so different if he had put that away 😥😥

Quoted from TAGG

I don't get on Vernon's back but the chance he had after 5 mins he should have scored.
From where I sit in the lower the angle was great to see his effort. He could have passed it underneath the keeper a d that was just one option. Could have been so different if he had put that away 😥😥

Im pretty sure the flag was up anyway

Yes, keeper took a free kick

Today Newport had better pace, strength, organisation, movement, finishing, confidence, belief, passing, ball retention and tempo but apart from that it was a pretty even game. One that Slade will ultimately try and convince us all by Monday was decided by a deflected goal and a sending off when we where in the accendency - deluded !, remember they had 3 cleared off the line.

So no real blame attached to the players they some can’t help being crap or picked ahead of better players on the bench.

Thought we started ok but after the 1st goal the “we can’t score 1 so we’ll never score 2 mentality kicked in” and it was uphill form there. BTW their 7 should have never had that much time to score.

After half time more of the same, the 2nd came after looking inevitable and even after our goal I still didn’t believe we could snatch a point in all honesty, we just have no structure and our movement is shocking

New lad looked ok but we are still not getting into the box enough and our final ball still looks panic stricken.

So why Vernon & Woolford ahead of DJ & Matt, don’t get it. Why at 2 - 0 did we not go 3 at the back and push another one up front? Why did the new lad end up playing wide left for the last 10 mins. All of witch illustrates Slade’s ineptitude.

Slade said “we looked better in the final 3rd this week” cobblers IMHO this is the worst attack we have had since before we went down to tin pot.

Can’t see where the next point is coming from never mind the next win.

All I can say is we are lucky we got points on the board before Christmas and both FGR and Barnet are at the moment (window’s not closed yet) worse teams than us otherwise based upon the last few games we’d be planning for the National League.

He and Wilco need to go now!!

Quoted from ginnywings

A team with confidence playing a team with none and of course, when you are down, things go against you. We started ok and the new lad looks a footballer, but their first real shot flies in and it's an uphill battle once again with Newport mostly controlling things without too many panics. We then get a golden chance to equalise, fluff that, and less than 60 seconds later, we are 2 down to a deflected shot. Typical of a struggling side. When we did get one back, with a scrappy goal, we had 18 mins with the injury time to get an equaliser, but Newport just managed the game to it's end without us really getting at them.

Something needs to happen sharpish, or we are going to get dragged into the mire. We have that look about us that i have seen all too often and usually ends in tears.

Not as bad as the Morecambe game and our goal probably took the sting out of the fans a bit, or it may have got ugly. Don't know what the answer is but we are now only 11 off bottom, and the gap is closing, slowly but surely.

I'm listening to Slade right now. We were not the better side Russ. Get your head out of your ar$e

Not sure I agree with this and think it lets us off the hook too easily and neatly.

Their first goal was a consequence of very poor defending by ourselves initially followed by a good shot that maybe our keeper should have had covered. No luck there.

Their second came when we failed to convert a chance and within 10 seconds they had scored. An excellent throw out, leading to good and forward thinking link up between two of their players and a deflected shot (granted, lucky) from a player who drove forward with intent. To me, their second goal summed up the difference between the term teams - and I mean the speed, purpose and incisiveness of their attack rather than the lucky deflection.

That was two 10 minutes spells of decent play sandwiched between 70 minutes of shite. This side is seriously in trouble at the minute. It takes all our effort to even score a goal, we can't keep a clean sheet and look like conceding every time average sides have an attack.

Slade is completely turning fans off so this can't go on much longer. Even if we did manage to stay up, who the hell is going to want to buy a season ticket to watch this?

Quoted from cardiffmariner

Not sure I agree with this and think it lets us off the hook too easily and neatly.

Their first goal was a consequence of very poor defending by ourselves initially followed by a good shot that maybe our keeper should have had covered. No luck there.

Their second came when we failed to convert a chance and within 10 seconds they had scored. An excellent throw out, leading to good and forward thinking link up between two of their players and a deflected shot (granted, lucky) from a player who drove forward with intent. To me, their second goal summed up the difference between the term teams - and I mean the speed, purpose and incisiveness of their attack rather than the lucky deflection.

Totally agree and you do make your own luck. The first goal he had too much space to shoot and the second shouldn't have happened as we switched off after nearly equalising. Things go against when you are down because pressure and lack of confidence makes you do things incorrectly, and you end up getting punished for them.

First 15 minutes we were quite positive - moved the ball quickly, looked sharp and played some decent football.
Then we conceded. And again it looked like we capitulated mentally. That's a worrying thing for me, we don't look like we can cope, psychologically, when something goes wrong. We don't react, don't recover from it, and don't find a way to deal with it.

For the rest of the 1st half we were sluggish, didn't move the ball quick enough, didn't work hard enough to show for the ball, and resorted to longer balls.

2nd half Newport just played out time fairly comfortably. Had a bit of a go and the game started to be played in their half even if we weren't creating loads of chances. Then Matt got sent off and killed off any hope we might have had for what was 8 minutes of injury time.

Kean - don't know why he was becoming a target for the fans, has the same weaknesses as Macca but don't see everyone getting on his back. Poor distribution and a bit indecisive when ball in the air in the box.

Mills - decent game. Cleared 2 or 3 off the line.
Osbourne - did what was expected of him. Maybe some clumsy distribution.
Clarke - again, did what was expected of him defensively, same as K.Osbourne.
Davies - Didn't do a lot wrong.

Dembele - poor
Summerfield - tried to get us going and looked to play forward or switch it wide when possible. Couple of diagonal's into the box didn't come off.
Berrett - poor. gives away too many free kicks, takes too many touches, anonymous for large parts.
Woolford - some neat touches and interplay during the 1st 15mins when we had movement off the ball. Anonymous from then on and wasted a couple of opportunities to cross.

Verman - bright enough debut under the circumstances I thought. looked to get on the ball and was comfortable in possession under pressure. Not shy of letting shots go.
Vernon - Should've scored 2nd half. Other than a couple of lay-offs I don't think he contributed enough over 90 minutes though and severley limits our attacking threat.

Quoted from headingly_mariner

What was on that banner that about 10 stewards tried to take off an old bloke?

No Commitment
No Desire

The word is that the stewards had to confiscate it because..........it wasnt fire retardent !!  Honest.

We are just so predictable. You know every game how we'll set up, who we'll pick bar a few either/ors such as Woolford or DJ, Vernon or Matt etc You then know what the subs will be and at roughly what time. One thing an appauling run like this should do is free him up to try something different. Try Jones in a midfield three and push DJ and Dembele further up. Play Matt and Vernon together. Play DJ up front. Just do something different because we keep doing exactly the same thing despite the fact it clearly doesn't flipping work.

Quoted from Rodley Mariner

We are just so predictable. You know every game how we'll set up, who we'll pick bar a few either/ors such as Woolford or DJ, Vernon or Matt etc You then know what the subs will be and at roughly what time. One thing an appauling run like this should do is free him up to try something different. Try Jones in a midfield three and push DJ and Dembele further up. Play Matt and Vernon together. Play DJ up front. Just do something different because we keep doing exactly the same thing despite the fact it clearly doesn't flipping work.

Great post mate but Slade wouldn't have a clue what your on about.

Quoted from Tommy

First 15 minutes we were quite positive - moved the ball quickly, looked sharp and played some decent football.
Then we conceded. And again it looked like we capitulated mentally. That's a worrying thing for me, we don't look like we can cope, psychologically, when something goes wrong. We don't react, don't recover from it, and don't find a way to deal with it.

For the rest of the 1st half we were sluggish, didn't move the ball quick enough, didn't work hard enough to show for the ball, and resorted to longer balls.

2nd half Newport just played out time fairly comfortably. Had a bit of a go and the game started to be played in their half even if we weren't creating loads of chances. Then Matt got sent off and killed off any hope we might have had for what was 8 minutes of injury time.

Kean - don't know why he was becoming a target for the fans, has the same weaknesses as Macca but don't see everyone getting on his back. Poor distribution and a bit indecisive when ball in the air in the box.

Mills - decent game. Cleared 2 or 3 off the line.
Osbourne - did what was expected of him. Maybe some clumsy distribution.
Clarke - again, did what was expected of him defensively, same as K.Osbourne.
Davies - Didn't do a lot wrong.

Dembele - poor
Summerfield - tried to get us going and looked to play forward or switch it wide when possible. Couple of diagonal's into the box didn't come off.
Berrett - poor. gives away too many free kicks, takes too many touches, anonymous for large parts.
Woolford - some neat touches and interplay during the 1st 15mins when we had movement off the ball. Anonymous from then on and wasted a couple of opportunities to cross.

Verman - bright enough debut under the circumstances I thought. looked to get on the ball and was comfortable in possession under pressure. Not shy of letting shots go.
Vernon - Should've scored 2nd half. Other than a couple of lay-offs I don't think he contributed enough over 90 minutes though and severley limits our attacking threat.

Really? I thought he should have at least got a hand to their first, not at fault with the second but looks dodgy to me every time a ball is put in our 6 yard box.

Looks no better than Killip.

We might be 11 points from relegation but most of the teams below us have a game in hand.

Fortunately for Russ the goal eased tensions a little bit today.

About 5 minutes before the double substitution the ground was virtually silent and someone in the main stand was shouting words to the effect of "change the formation, make a substitution, just do something!

Easy to see why Kean has not been taken on by other clubs. Poor communication, fannies around taking goal kicks and kicking from his hands. Poor at coming for crosses. Did anyone scout him or was it on a pal's say so? Just another shocking signing.

At least Slade had worked with Vernam before. This lad has good touch and vision. When we played it to feet today it was briefly possible to see a way forward but I lost heart as soon as I parked up and heard JT say that Woolford and Vernon were starting. Abject selections and tactics.

Was there a captain today? Summerfield seemed to be doing most of the talking.
Glad I had other reasons to do another 150 mile round trip.

Agree, Luke Summerfield's transformation has been incredible, and he's starting to look a bit 'gung-ho', which is good to see.  Also pleased to see Zak Mills starting to get back to his old self.  Otherwise ... depressing.

Quoted from Croxton

Easy to see why Kean has not been taken on by other clubs. Poor communication, fannies around taking goal kicks and kicking from his hands. Poor at coming for crosses. Did anyone scout him or was it on a pal's say so? Just another shocking signing.

At least Slade had worked with Vernam before. This lad has good touch and vision. When we played it to feet today it was briefly possible to see a way forward but I lost heart as soon as I parked up and heard JT say that Woolford and Vernon were starting. Abject selections and tactics.

Was there a captain today? Summerfield seemed to be doing most of the talking.
Glad I had other reasons to do another 150 mile round trip.

The keeper will be fine. He hasn't had a great start, but he's got decent experience and a good reputation. A run of games and he'll get better.

Nice to see you posting marinette. Been a while.

Quoted from Tommy

First 15 minutes we were quite positive - moved the ball quickly, looked sharp and played some decent football.
Then we conceded. And again it looked like we capitulated mentally. That's a worrying thing for me, we don't look like we can cope, psychologically, when something goes wrong. We don't react, don't recover from it, and don't find a way to deal with it.

For the rest of the 1st half we were sluggish, didn't move the ball quick enough, didn't work hard enough to show for the ball, and resorted to longer balls.

2nd half Newport just played out time fairly comfortably. Had a bit of a go and the game started to be played in their half even if we weren't creating loads of chances. Then Matt got sent off and killed off any hope we might have had for what was 8 minutes of injury time.

Kean - don't know why he was becoming a target for the fans, has the same weaknesses as Macca but don't see everyone getting on his back. Poor distribution and a bit indecisive when ball in the air in the box.

Mills - decent game. Cleared 2 or 3 off the line.
Osbourne - did what was expected of him. Maybe some clumsy distribution.
Clarke - again, did what was expected of him defensively, same as K.Osbourne.
Davies - Didn't do a lot wrong.

Dembele - poor
Summerfield - tried to get us going and looked to play forward or switch it wide when possible. Couple of diagonal's into the box didn't come off.
Berrett - poor. gives away too many free kicks, takes too many touches, anonymous for large parts.
Woolford - some neat touches and interplay during the 1st 15mins when we had movement off the ball. Anonymous from then on and wasted a couple of opportunities to cross.

Verman - bright enough debut under the circumstances I thought. looked to get on the ball and was comfortable in possession under pressure. Not shy of letting shots go.
Vernon - Should've scored 2nd half. Other than a couple of lay-offs I don't think he contributed enough over 90 minutes though and severley limits our attacking threat.

Have you not been on here lately? Macca was given loads of stick for many goals since he had his health scare a few year ago.

Kean is a very poor keeper his footwork is atrocious at best he is a poor mans Macca.

Killip has better footwork and handling just another panic signing by Slade.

The defence passed it back to him and even under little pressure hopelessly sliced it high up with no distance at all or scuffed it along the floor.

His goal kicks sailed out of play regularly and the lack of command on crosses were criminal sorry seen him a few times now and he is not good.

I’ve given myself some time to calm down/recover before posting my thoughts tonight.

Football wise: We started well and looked bright for ten minutes but only really dominated possession and territory stats in that time.  Vernam looks like he’s up for it and that will be useful in the next few games because I fear we’re going to extend the run rather than end it. Other than a handful of exceptions I’m seeing startling resemblances to the 2008-2010 Town squad and I am concerned that the powers that be haven’t learned anything since.

I’m not even mad with the current state the club is in - I’m further on that that and I’m depressed with it all. I feel that the fanbase as a whole has probably skipped a couple of stages too. Usually there is a fairly prolonged period of attempted mediation of the “X out” crowd by those willing to give him a chance but I don’t think we’ve really had one this time. I felt after the Morecambe match that we were on the brink of the support tipping over the edge but they’ve finally gone against Mr Slade now.

This bad run couldn’t have really come at a worse time. Had it been a month ago we had a realistic chance that decisive action could have had a positive impact as we had a full window to work with but any action now will surely end in disaster. I can’t imagine many managers or players will want to come here for anything other than a quick buck either which is exactly how we found ourselves in non-league previously.

That said I can’t see any other option than getting rid of Slade. We have a squad capable of putting a reasonable run together probably finishing midtable. If we can finish the season in this league we can get rid of the abundance of dead wood we appear to acquired and we can start again with a new man in the summer.

I’ve reined in my thoughts on the ownership of the club on this post but I urge the board to take a day tomorrow to really think about the message you sent out to the fans and media last week. Backing Slade could have very serious repercussions for the club in the short term which as you well know could be very damaging for the long term. You (and it appears only you) have not learned your lesson from our last spell in the league. Take decisive action immediately.

Quoted from LH

I’ve given myself some time to calm down/recover before posting my thoughts tonight.

Football wise: We started well and looked bright for ten minutes but only really dominated possession and territory stats in that time.  Vernam looks like he’s up for it and that will be useful in the next few games because I fear we’re going to extend the run rather than end it. Other than a handful of exceptions I’m seeing startling resemblances to the 2008-2010 Town squad and I am concerned that the powers that be haven’t learned anything since.

I’m not even mad with the current state the club is in - I’m further on that that and I’m depressed with it all. I feel that the fanbase as a whole has probably skipped a couple of stages too. Usually there is a fairly prolonged period of attempted mediation of the “X out” crowd by those willing to give him a chance but I don’t think we’ve really had one this time. I felt after the Morecambe match that we were on the brink of the support tipping over the edge but they’ve finally gone against Mr Slade now.

This bad run couldn’t have really come at a worse time. Had it been a month ago we had a realistic chance that decisive action could have had a positive impact as we had a full window to work with but any action now will surely end in disaster. I can’t imagine many managers or players will want to come here for anything other than a quick buck either which is exactly how we found ourselves in non-league previously.

That said I can’t see any other option than getting rid of Slade. We have a squad capable of putting a reasonable run together probably finishing midtable. If we can finish the season in this league we can get rid of the abundance of dead wood we appear to acquired and we can start again with a new man in the summer.

I’ve reined in my thoughts on the ownership of the club on this post but I urge the board to take a day tomorrow to really think about the message you sent out to the fans and media last week. Backing Slade could have very serious repercussions for the club in the short term which as you well know could be very damaging for the long term. You (and it appears only you) have not learned your lesson from our last spell in the league. Take decisive action immediately.

I would tend to agree with most of that, the only part I may disagree with is the quality of the squad, I think with McKeown out neither of the other two options are filling me with confidence.

Defensively we look poor, midfield isn't creating much and the less said about our forwards the better.

I’d agree with you on keepers (Kean was a keeper at Wednesday wasn’t he?!) and whilst we’ve been poor defensively the squad as a whole was within one win of the play offs under a month ago. We are still a fair way off the relegation places. Everything about the squad screams midtable at me but recent form is VERY worrrying.

It seems pretty obvious to me that the only thing keeping Slade and Tonto from being sacked are their contract clauses. We must have put all our eggs in one basket when we [the board ?] took them on. The board say they give Slade their backing-what else can they say-they will realise their mistakes but their hands are tied. The only thing I can think of is for a certain person who put us in this mess to put the recently repaid £200k back and try to use this in negotiations for a pay off.  

Quoted from LH

I’d agree with you on keepers (Kean was a keeper at Wednesday wasn’t he?!) and whilst we’ve been poor defensively the squad as a whole was within one win of the play offs under a month ago. We are still a fair way off the relegation places. Everything about the squad screams midtable at me but recent form is VERY worrrying.

REALLY?? Think you better look at the table again we have Luton next at home can you honestly see where our next win is coming from??

This is not knee-jerk but reality we are in free fall Slade is in panic mode looking for defending rather than attacking to save his friggin job.

WTF has Woolford got over Slade he does nothing D.J. is twice the player he is.

Quoted from golfer

It seems pretty obvious to me that the only thing keeping Slade and Tonto from being sacked are their contract clauses. We must have put all our eggs in one basket when we [the board ?] took them on. The board say they give Slade their backing-what else can they say-they will realise their mistakes but their hands are tied. The only thing I can think of is for a certain person who put us in this mess to put the recently repaid £200k back and try to use this in negotiations for a pay off.  

I can see it costing JF that little bit extra by convincing RS to agree to a "mutual consent" sacking in a vain attempt to spare the board's blushes..

Quoted from ginnywings

Nice to see you posting marinette. Been a while.

Thanks Ginny.  I'm out of the habit, but very worried about the situation at BP now.

Certainly our defence is no where near as tight as it was under Hurst. Since the summer we have constantly leaked goals and I wonder if this is no coincidence since Clarke joined us. I'm not saying he is a bad defender but I would have expected somebody with his experience to be more commanding and dominant at the back.

Quoted from Mrs Doyle

REALLY?? Think you better look at the table again we have Luton next at home can you honestly see where our next win is coming from??

This is not knee-jerk but reality we are in free fall Slade is in panic mode looking for defending rather than attacking to save his friggin job.

WTF has Woolford got over Slade he does nothing D.J. is twice the player he is.

I said recent form was worrying and I didn’t say that the squad is good enough to make a late surge for automatic promotion. Up to now we have averaged 1.21 points per game that projected over a season is 55 points. Midtable is therefore very achieveable for this squad. Is the manager good enough to get it out of them? On this season’s points haul you’d have to say yes but I do think the tide has turned against him and I don’t think he’s got the ability to turn this form around.