In Jolley we trust

Quoted from Ipswin

Blaming Fenty (as usual) for not investing in better players is one thing but the manager has to be able to use those players to the limits of their abilities (be it the current lower Div 4 bunch or a world class group) by employing the right tactics

If Jolley had Man City's squad could he do anything with them?

I take it Jolley hasn’t bought your book then ?

At times when everyone (most) where fit this seasons squad before players started drifting off or where discarded was an improvement on last terms.

Jolley is learning his trade but with a valuable and delicate commodity an EFL club that in reality is a bit of a basket case. Managers at his level of experience in reality shouldn’t be entrusted with a club that will now always be earmarked for the drop.

In reality MJ is operating at a very precarious level where managers generally have a short life expectancy and the impact of a relegation could ruin a club for decades. A big gamble by JF? Possibly but no more than a gamble if we’d appointed another manager who’s career was in regression.

I still think he’s the man for the job as anyone in the GTFC hot seat would need time but it feels like he’s completely over thinking it and at times not having a bank of experience to fall back on really exposes some of his decision making.

I get why he’d go with starting Thomas ahead of the raw talent A Rose but would like to have seen more of Akheem rather than just the odd cameo, especially when we’ve been behind in so many games.

I get why we discarded some players but I think we should have kept M Rose and find it bonkers that Cardwell hasn’t been loaned out. During this season there has been a few too many comings and goings in one way shape or form. An inordinate amount of a red cards is also a concern in my mind.

So to 3 at the back, if that’s what you want to do don’t change the 3 CB’s depending on whom your playing stick with the same 3 improve the discipline and minimise the suspension s and allow them to gel. Ironically the most potent we’ve looked in attack was the odd times we’ve gone 4-3-3 but there you go.

The list could go on but with a rookie manager at a club in the state we’re effectively in can anyone expect anything different?

We can all carp on about it should be better, I’d replace the “should” with “could” as in reality after that long in non league, no stability or significant investment & making a complete f**k up of the first 2 seasons back on and off the pitch we’re an output of a club that has had no real plan.

Jolley has a plan one that as it appears to depend heavily on youth and loaning in better quality so ladies & gents it ain’t going to change much for a while but at least it’s a plan so who knows.

The loyal 3,000 and a strong away support do deserve better I agree but Town supporters are now faced with a challenge that’s hard to deal with ..... managing expectation.

Jolley should be given time as in reality I’m not sure we have any credible alternative.

Quoted from Civvy at last

I take it Jolley hasn’t bought your book then ?

Bloody hope not, he'd probably change the plot every week or so so it doesn't work at all

It's no surprise that so many are questioning Michael Jolley. There were manu fans calling for Solskjaer's head after the midweek defeat at Wolves. Patience has never been in such short supply among football supporters as it is these days.
However, in my opinion it would be a massive mistake to get rid of MJ.
Think back to that wonderful day at Selhurst Park in early January and the pride in that battling performance. Yes, three defeats followed then four successive wins which practically secured League Two status. Two points from the last seven matches is a dreadful run but it's happened once safety has been achieved. It's far from the first time Jolley's ability has been doubted in the last year, but every time he's turned things round and silenced the doubters.
If, and it's a big if, he's given a reasonable budget this Summer I believe he can mount a promotion challenge next season. The extraordinary season Norwich City are having is evidence of how things can improve dramatically. Farke had all last season including pre-season but couldn't manage a top half finish. Five matches into this season you wouldn't have found many Norwich supporters who'd have been upset if he'd got the bullet. Look at The Canaries now.
Come August Jolley will have had more than a full season and three transfer windows to mould the squad as he'd wish. If things are going badly by late October he'll have few excuses, but I believe Grimsby Town would live to regret ditching him before then. Watching Jolley succeed elsewhere, particularly if he's sacked rather than leaving Blundell Park of his own accord, would be a very bitter pill to swallow.

Quoted from ROKERITE

It's no surprise that so many are questioning Michael Jolley. There were manu fans calling for Solskjaer's head after the midweek defeat at Wolves. Patience has never been in such short supply among football supporters as it is these days.
However, in my opinion it would be a massive mistake to get rid of MJ.
Think back to that wonderful day at Selhurst Park in early January and the pride in that battling performance. Yes, three defeats followed then four successive wins which practically secured League Two status. Two points from the last seven matches is a dreadful run but it's happened once safety has been achieved. It's far from the first time Jolley's ability has been doubted in the last year, but every time he's turned things round and silenced the doubters.
If, and it's a big if, he's given a reasonable budget this Summer I believe he can mount a promotion challenge next season. The extraordinary season Norwich City are having is evidence of how things can improve dramatically. Farke had all last season including pre-season but couldn't manage a top half finish. Five matches into this season you wouldn't have found many Norwich supporters who'd have been upset if he'd got the bullet. Look at The Canaries now.
Come August Jolley will have had more than a full season and three transfer windows to mould the squad as he'd wish. If things are going badly by late October he'll have few excuses, but I believe Grimsby Town would live to regret ditching him before then. Watching Jolley succeed elsewhere, particularly if he's sacked rather than leaving Blundell Park of his own accord, would be a very bitter pill to swallow.

I got a sense yesterday when I saw the team sheet that there was a bit of panic about it. Several players unavailable so the youngsters on the bench was not a surprise. But then changing the shape of the side as well and putting a defender into midfield to cover up the 2 central defenders made the side look more like 5 at the back. For a side which doesn't know where the next goal is coming from this wasn't exactly an attacking move.

The comparison with Norwich is fair in one way but not in others. Farke was unpopular last season because he signed a number of very average foreign players and persisted with a Huddersfield style of playing the ball around midfield and not having a cutting edge up front. Norwich couldn't score to save their lives so similar to Town there. This season he started off the same and results were bad but salvation came when they had an injury crisis and he was forced to play 3 or 4 juniors all at the same time in the League Cup. They won and he had the sense to keep those players in and bring in more youth. It was they more than him who changed the way City play, more pace and much more direct. He rode on the wave.

There may be a lesson for Jolley there but he'd better learn it fast.

Could probably post this on several threads at the moment , is it Jolley's fault vs is it Fenty's fault ....is management style the issue or budget the issue ?

Realistically lets think back....Jolley was appointed at a time when we had an awful style of play, poorly organised squad, transfer window gone and the club was in turmoil and staring down at a potential relegation....not an easy sell to any prospective new manager.....

MJ was desperate for a chance to manage....

From interviews with Jolley at the time there was a clear indication that he had the job on a temporary basis, he wouldnt comment on any future based questions, batted off any talk about the following season and there were rumours of him working for nothing !

He came with a youth ideology, a coaching ideology ....younger squad, smaller squad supplemented by quality loans.

All of that to me talks John Fenty's language....cheaper than an experienced football league manager.

Jolley did make an improvement to that failing Slade side, some tinkering made us harder to beat and we kept the ball better, yes we relied on penalties to secure those wins but he did it.

I think his inexperience and the JF budget strings did for him in the summer though, he retained experienced players that probably have gone a season too far, recruited an aging captain that had gone a season too far and probably been over generous with "potential" player contracts. I think he also under estimated how difficult the transition from UEFA text book coaching of youth players to Division 4 club management would be.

I have seen some good things under Jolley in both seasons so far...i have also seen some very frustrating things. I think he will learn alot from this first full season himself and should be better for it in the future. Not only playing coaching style but also regards the wider aspects of club management.

Now regards the budget...there has been an acknowledgement from JF that the budget requires review....what that actually means who knows. If we have the 4th, 10th, 15th , 20th biggest budget at the moment i dont know, but will any such review propel the budget to a top four budget for next season ? Of course it wont, top 10 ? mid table ? Again who knows other than JF.

My only hope regards next season, and it is only hope, is that MJ has learnt quickly and JF realises that whilst he is the custodian of the club that shouldnt just mean that surviving alone is some sort of ambition fulfilled.

UTM

It's been blindingly obvious from the first few weeks of the season that we were lacking pace throughout the squad and didn't have anybody other than Vernam who can run at players. 3-5-2 can be a fantastic formation but if you don't have mobility across the pitch, particularly at wing-back and your three defenders then it falls apart.

Jolley's recruitment this season has not been that great. He is without doubt working within budget constraints and hopefully he'll learn lessons from this year which he can put right next year. My main concern with his recruitment was he tried 3-5-2 all pre-season despite not signing any recognised wing-backs which effectively meant we might as well not have bothered with any pre-season at all after it was scrapped so soon. He also didn't recognise the fact that it's a formation that relies on mobility in the areas highlighted above which is most concerning. If you're going to aim to play a particular formation more often than not then your recruitment must reflect that. The other worry is that despite not properly recruiting for 3-5-2, the lack of any wide players meant we couldn't really play any other formation effectively either. The result being that we've spent all year never being properly cohesive. Hopefully he'll learn. He's clearly intelligent but Jolley has to have learned his lessons because if he fails with recruitment again this summer then he'll not get another chance in management.

This summer he needs to go out and buy some players with some pace, some athleticism and players who can run at the opposition.. We need to have the ability to scare defenders. Teams are more than happy to let us pass it around the back and in the middle of the pitch because they know we've got precisely nothing to worry them with in behind. I can't remember the last time we had a properly quick player but for years Town have been too cumbersome compared to other sides.

Quoted from moosey_club

Could probably post this on several threads at the moment , is it Jolley's fault vs is it Fenty's fault ....is management style the issue or budget the issue ?

Realistically lets think back....Jolley was appointed at a time when we had an awful style of play, poorly organised squad, transfer window gone and the club was in turmoil and staring down at a potential relegation....not an easy sell to any prospective new manager.....

MJ was desperate for a chance to manage....

From interviews with Jolley at the time there was a clear indication that he had the job on a temporary basis, he wouldnt comment on any future based questions, batted off any talk about the following season and there were rumours of him working for nothing !

He came with a youth ideology, a coaching ideology ....younger squad, smaller squad supplemented by quality loans.

All of that to me talks John Fenty's language....cheaper than an experienced football league manager.

Jolley did make an improvement to that failing Slade side, some tinkering made us harder to beat and we kept the ball better, yes we relied on penalties to secure those wins but he did it.

I think his inexperience and the JF budget strings did for him in the summer though, he retained experienced players that probably have gone a season too far, recruited an aging captain that had gone a season too far and probably been over generous with "potential" player contracts. I think he also under estimated how difficult the transition from UEFA text book coaching of youth players to Division 4 club management would be.

I have seen some good things under Jolley in both seasons so far...i have also seen some very frustrating things. I think he will learn alot from this first full season himself and should be better for it in the future. Not only playing coaching style but also regards the wider aspects of club management.

Now regards the budget...there has been an acknowledgement from JF that the budget requires review....what that actually means who knows. If we have the 4th, 10th, 15th , 20th biggest budget at the moment i dont know, but will any such review propel the budget to a top four budget for next season ? Of course it wont, top 10 ? mid table ? Again who knows other than JF.

My only hope regards next season, and it is only hope, is that MJ has learnt quickly and JF realises that whilst he is the custodian of the club that shouldnt just mean that surviving alone is some sort of ambition fulfilled.

UTM

Very true. The message seems to be loud & clear from the boardroom - survival is an acceptable achievement. Let's remind ourselves - May 2006 was the last time we finished in the top half of the lowest division of the Football League. 13 bloody long years ago, all under the same 'custodian'. I think it's time we got a little bit more than that.

It really is groundhog day, each and every season. There is a stigma attached to the club; the rest of the football world sees a low-quality club, run on a shoestring with failed ambitions to get a new stadium. The years in non-league confirm that we are not well run, and the man who oversees it must have something of a reputation within the game.Mr. Fenty saved our bacon all those years ago, and great credit to him for that, but to buy something and then let it deteriorate doesn't really make sense.

20 years we have stagnated whilst clubs like Stevenage (no disrespect) have gone past us. We haven't finished higher than 13th since Fenty took the reins, and 6 of those were stuck in non-league wilderness - and we never looked likely to get out of there without the help of the playoff system.

Managers come and go, players come and go, but hardly any have left on good terms, or have a good word to say about the club and the way it is run. Players are like the rest of us - they want good pay, obviously, but they want the best facilities and working environment they can secure, and of course a sense of purpose and willingness of a club to go places. Despite Jolleys best efforts with his PR skills, the club is not seen as a force to be reckoned with, which is a great shame as we could be so much better.

The obvious solution is the simple matter of changing the owner(!) and completely changing the atmosphere within the club. Clubs seem to change hands all the time, but apparently, it is impossible to find even someone who will invest at all. Until it changes we will have groundhog day each and every season I guess.

Jolley talks "younger" and Fenty thinks 'cheaper'....