Loose lipped leadership?

Haven’t posted this season as I’ve missed a few more games than usual and wanted to have a look before any comment.

What I’m seeing is a set of players who are reasonable 4th Division players who haven’t gelled or aren’t set up properly both in terms of game plan & concentration.

I’m not seeing a team with 5/6 lads each week who are performing consistently at a level above they’re playing which is arguably the starting point for being contenders.

So why aren’t we seeing this after PH had a £1m budget as some believe he did?

I doubt that was the budget and maybe Jason (who has my 100% support) regrets what was could be seen as IMHO loose lipped comments about (paraphrase) all the cup money going into to strengthening the team when at best that would have been a net amount and not £1m gross.

That £1m probably took another hit with the work that needs doing to BP, it may not have been done but I’d be amazed if 1878 hasn’t made provision within the accounts to do it when cash flow is good from the cup money & ST sales.

The budget was no doubt much better nobody on here knows the facts but I suspect many clubs in L2 had better budgets to strengthen better 22/23 squads than we had.

Like many I was overall pleased with our signings especially Eissa & Rose who I’ve seen play well for other clubs but I was also disappointed we didn’t add at the close of the window.

The other signings all have context,

- The keepers, one lad who has ability has never settled and appeared to lack confidence in a relegation side last term. The other a youngster with potential but a lot of development to do.

- Mullarkey has some ability but was playing mid table in the NL & a relegated EFL side last season.

- Rodgers, again has ability but was also relegated last season, maybe that takes longer to recover from mentally.

- Conteh, brilliant mid/long term prospect but he’d never played in the EFL (I think) there was no way he was going to be a midfield general from the off.

- Wilson & Pyke, like many I didn’t know much about them and for different reasons neither have been able to get established.

- Arthur looks like a journeyman but has skill and Andrews scenario is a bit like Conteh

The lads above where added to a squad that had lost Smith who was good for us & Orsi who CDAJATL if not prolific.

Though they never fired last season McAtee & Taylor left and we haven’t found a combination who can do what they did the season we came up.

Add the above to Amos, Glennon, Michee, Hunt, Holohan Khan and Green who are all good lads but whether it’s down to experience, injury, ability or not getting a run of games have all lacked consistency.

Maher is good but Clifton has come on massively but sometimes hasn’t got the X factor when required and this will be controversial for some but I thought the writing was on the wall for Waterfall last season in terms of the sun going down on his EFL career.

Though this post isn’t to debate what PH has & hasn’t done well season to date personally I think he’s made some mistakes, we’ve defended poorly which definitely isn’t his “brand” and I’m not sure why we have our main striker as captain when Waterfall doesn’t play?

That said I’m still broadly supportive of what PH is  trying to do with what he has but when you look at the back story of many of the players who are starting regularly you can see why we’ve not quite gelled.

Like I say my opinion is that Jason probably got a bit carried away in the moment when he talked about the cup money, who can blame him the run was great. Whether or not his comment was “loose lipped” is a matter of opinion too, but maybe it set expectations high for some.

Though it’s listing a bit especially in the second half of games the ship isn’t sinking, at some point it will right and we’ll gain some consistency but unless we have a brilliant January (is there such a thing in reality?) we won’t go up, personally I never expected us to, as there are a good 8/9 maybe 10 teams with better squads that and are further on in their development or indeed gambled to press on.

I must say I’d love to see our first away win at Stockport again though 😉

UTM!

The 1878 mob say a lot about various issues and by and large, the fanbase buy into it. We need to see delivery on things like training grounds or at least hear a time frame. They've been backed with back to back record season ticket sales if this is to continue things need to improve on the pitch and quickly.

At some point, it goes without saying, there will need to be new investment in the club but memories are short. Have  those who make sly swipes at the chairman and his team quite forgotten the years of stagnation under Fenty and the consequent debacle prior to Hurst returning. I have even seen some suggest we were lucky to win promotion from NL another veiled criticism. ‘The 1878 mob’ indeed. The club has rarely been blessed with decent leadership at board level. Now we have it, and gripes about budgets,etc are simply ignorant. And please, please don’t anybody make the excuse of everybody is entitled to an opinion.

Quoted from Dodorondon

At some point, it goes without saying, there will need to be new investment in the club but memories are short. Have  those who make sly swipes at the chairman and his team quite forgotten the years of stagnation under Fenty and the consequent debacle prior to Hurst returning. I have even seen some suggest we were lucky to win promotion from NL another veiled criticism. ‘The 1878 mob’ indeed. The club has rarely been blessed with decent leadership at board level. Now we have it, and gripes about budgets,etc are simply ignorant. And please, please don’t anybody make the excuse of everybody is entitled to an opinion.

Cut it anyway you like but the budget must have almost doubled in the past two Seasons Fenty never saw much of er 3k sth. The FA Cup money on top plus the sale of Mcatee we should be better than 18th in League 2. Our Manager has two left backs yet plays his second choice right back instead of either .He spent a substantial amount of his budget on Hunt a player he had on loan for a lengthy spell but doesn't play him . The gripes about budget are not ignorant they are valid as are the gripes about lack of entertainment or inability to see out games.1878 have the fans backing but what's on offer on the pitch is no better than what we got under Fenty thus far.

Quoted from Dodorondon

At some point, it goes without saying, there will need to be new investment in the club but memories are short. Have  those who make sly swipes at the chairman and his team quite forgotten the years of stagnation under Fenty and the consequent debacle prior to Hurst returning. I have even seen some suggest we were lucky to win promotion from NL another veiled criticism. ‘The 1878 mob’ indeed. The club has rarely been blessed with decent leadership at board level. Now we have it, and gripes about budgets,etc are simply ignorant. And please, please don’t anybody make the excuse of everybody is entitled to an opinion.

So you come on here with your opinion but you don't like others having theirs if it goes against yours?

Quoted from arryarryarry

So you come on here with your opnion but you don't like others having theirs if it goes against yours?

Been a few people like that lately. They do t seem to understand the concept of a forum lol.

Look at the goals conceded this season......this is based on memory so ready to be proved wrong ... but they seem very similar....lack of closing down out wide...lack of tracking runners...

Just yesterday's goals alone....overloaded out wide on both and runners not picked up.  Watch the players reactions throughout the build ups...Efete on the first goal was between a rock and a hard place, close the hole in midfield or stick wide with the runner, he went wide which gave the player the opportunity to put the ball in...then two runners into the box with Waterfall left with both....Mullarkey nowhere to be seen covering in behind.
Second goal...Clifton has triangles played around him, you see him call his teammates out but he chases the ball inside where there are already plenty of players leaves a man wide and then chases him out but too late to stop a cross...plenty of Town players in the box but all ball watching or ball chasing...very little tracking, communication between them.
Have seen that too many times this season, pretty much the visual definition of schoolboy defending.

I think a lot of fans and posters got carried away with the early new signings and longer term deals, without seeing them play.

They assumed they would be much better than we had, but now that we have seem they play they don't look too different from last season.

What is a worry is that so far they don't seem to have the same togetherness. Even mediocre players can be coached into being a successful unit, but we seem to more throw the dice on new players/formations and positions to find the right blend so we can expect a busy January.

Quoted from Dodorondon

At some point, it goes without saying, there will need to be new investment in the club but memories are short. Have  those who make sly swipes at the chairman and his team quite forgotten the years of stagnation under Fenty and the consequent debacle prior to Hurst returning. I have even seen some suggest we were lucky to win promotion from NL another veiled criticism. ‘The 1878 mob’ indeed. The club has rarely been blessed with decent leadership at board level. Now we have it, and gripes about budgets,etc are simply ignorant. And please, please don’t anybody make the excuse of everybody is entitled to an opinion.

I’m sure no one has forgotten the Fenty era and I’m sure no one wants to see the like of it again. By dint of that, no one wants to see the club make promises that it can’t or doesn’t keep.

I think the signings will turn out to be good ones.  I’m already looking towards next season.  Most of this squad are on 2-3 year contracts so there should be less disruption and the chance to build a consistent team over 2-3 seasons