So we are 3 games in..

Whitemore had a header that hit the post and a header cleared off the line last night (when I thought he ought to have scored). That counts as a goal threat for me, albeit not one from open play. Collins also blazed a shot over in the penalty area near the end.

I thought we did better against Rochdale last night than against FGR which was an improvement over the first game, at least.

Suppose hitting the bar and the odd goal mouth scramble does not count as goal threat then, we need a target man up front for others to feed off then we will look better

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Don’t see or hear anyone wanting MJ out, personally I would just like to see him build a competitive squad. We should be able to manage to create a goal threat in 180 minutes of football at Blundell Park but if we have then I must have missed it.

My comments more related to supporting him, expecting (and accepting) more bumps, rather than just throwing our collective boll0cks at the clock and saying "we're shite, we'll never get anywhere, we're going down etc etc".

Quoted from ginnywings

I keep reading that we haven't got the players to play 3-5-2, and we haven't got the players to play 4-3-3. To my mind, we just simply haven't got the players full stop, regardless of formation. Not enough quality throughout the team, or throughout the squad in general. I don't know what goes on behind the scenes, regarding budget and player recruitment, but it's again apparent that the better players just don't want to come here, judging by the ones that have turned us down that we know about. Maybe Jolley will be the one to finally turn this ship around, given time, but we have been waiting a long time now to see this transformation, and i suspect we will have another while to wait yet, should it happen at all.

I am sure our league position last year will put some players off. Everyone wants trophies and promotions on their CV, plus playing in a winning side has to be a better crack than facing a relegation battle and getting stick from the stands every game. Rome wasn't built in a day, we really need to give Jolley time to turn things around. If you build it [a side that looks like they are going places] they will come!

Well this season has largely started of how I anticipated it would.

Inconsistent performances. It's to be expected with a new manager, new systems and new players. Sometimes teams just click from day one most of them take time to gel.

I suspect we will have a few months of these types of performances but I also think we will slowly improve as the season goes on. We'll spend a few months in the lower half of the league before ending the season in reasonable fashion. Finishing somewhere around mid table.

That for me was always our most likely destination, people thinking MJ was a miracle worker who was going to turn us into promotion contenders in a single season where always going to end up disappointed in my opinion. He's just a young promising manager who will make mistakes but in the long term I think will improve us.

Having a reduced squad at this stage after the past 2 Season`s is a good thing in my eyes.The money we wasted on wages for people not getting anywhere near kicking a football was nothing short of criminal.MJ has done great in sorting that problem out and he will have money to spend when he needs it where he needs it.I fully expect 1-2 loanees in over the next week or so and promoting our own youngsters like last night is a step in the right direction also.We need to show patience as fan`s clearly MJ is building some proper foundations after his 2 predecessors had used a wrecking ball with the budget.

Managers at this club can't win. Jolley seems to only want to sign players he thinks will add to the squad whereas some of those before him would panic and sign any player.

Healey looks like a good prospect and we could just do with someone up front who has been described as a rash. Vernam and Cook aren't afraid to close down and we know Cardwell is the same; but Hooper appears a bit slower at this part of this game.

Quoted from 1mickylyons

Having a reduced squad at this stage after the past 2 Season`s is a good thing in my eyes.The money we wasted on wages for people not getting anywhere near kicking a football was nothing short of criminal.MJ has done great in sorting that problem out and he will have money to spend when he needs it where he needs it.I fully expect 1-2 loanees in over the next week or so and promoting our own youngsters like last night is a step in the right direction also.We need to show patience as fan`s clearly MJ is building some proper foundations after his 2 predecessors had used a wrecking ball with the budget.

Every year we start the season saying we are going to have a squad of 25 and end up with 40. It's so much more sensible giving everyone a chance and then slowly recruiting than it is just signing dozens of players for the sake of it and barely using them. I have no problem with the odd failure, as no recruitment process is perfect, but to pay people to sit in the stand from day one is pointless.

Quoted from GrimRob

I am sure our league position last year will put some players off. Everyone wants trophies and promotions on their CV, plus playing in a winning side has to be a better crack than facing a relegation battle and getting stick from the stands every game. Rome wasn't built in a day, we really need to give Newell, Woods, Hurst, Bignot, Slade Jolley time to turn things around. If you build it [a side that looks like they are going places] they will come!

After 3 games this is my take. We are a midtable league 2 team that will probably look over our shoulder at the relegation battle more rather than looking up to the promotion battle.

We've got a good manager, a good keeper and good midfield. This will be enough to keep us up. Our defence is ok but we won't score enough to trouble top teams.