Just Back

Quoted from Northbank Mariner

I said at that time you could see where that ball was aimed and a more experienced keeper runs out to close the gap, then makes himself big, something Peter Schmeichel was an absolute master at

That’s his inexperience showing, not his fault as maybe he was looking to not get beat on his near post, thought he could have had stronger hands.

Was sat right behind that shot - would have been an unbelievable save to keep it out - slo-mo side-on angle is a bit misleading tbf

Quoted from Running like emson

Was sat right behind that shot - would have been an unbelievable save to keep it out - slo-mo side-on angle is a bit misleading tbf

Fair point 👍

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Tharme, Thompson are Hume are better than what we had.

The summer recruitment didn’t work but oddly enough in recent weeks Rodgers & Mullarkey have looked better and it’s Clifton, Holohan & Green that have been exposed for the level they are actually at.

Hurst seems to have got a lot wrong in the last summer but maybe there was more to fix than we anticipated.

I think JS is right you have to & can run a club sustainably, whether that results in performance on the pitch well in the current world of the EFL I’m not sure.

Lots have things about are club have improved, but when you look at our current side & league position it’s hard to identify what in terms of the first team squad & performances where you can say we’ve moved forward.

Like you say Mappers we just need to finish above the line & see what Artell can do.

I think it's difficult to argue now that money doesn't equal success just by looking at the leagues .

Whether league 2 will be slightly easier next season , time will tell I guess but getting rid of the big spenders might help making it a more even playing field hopefully .

I do like the idea of trying to run at a sustainable level tbf , but I don't get why some people are terrified at the thought of throwing money at it - yes there are lot's of bad examples, of bad owners  but using large investment to move the club upto standard and forward on the field whilst being mindful and having the fall back option of going back to running at a sustainable level wouldn't put the club at risk ; it's not like good ownership + heavy capital can't exist together is it . Maybe they just can't find anyone who wants to plough some money in who shares their values /wants to invest in a lowly league 2 team although after our promotion Stockwood effectively said people were wanting to invest 'it's easy to raise investment when you are doing well ' or something along those lines ; they must have either not been the right people or he felt we didn't need it then .

We will stay above the line Herts I am confident of that

Quoted from Mappers

I think it's difficult to argue now that money doesn't equal success just by looking at the leagues .

Whether league 2 will be slightly easier next season , time will tell I guess but getting rid of the big spenders might help making it a more even playing field hopefully .

I do like the idea of trying to run at a sustainable level tbf , but I don't get why some people are terrified at the thought of throwing money at it - yes there are lot's of bad examples, of bad owners  but using large investment to move the club upto standard and forward on the field whilst being mindful and having the fall back option of going back to running at a sustainable level wouldn't put the club at risk ; it's not like good ownership + heavy capital can't exist together is it . Maybe they just can't find anyone who wants to plough some money in who shares their values /wants to invest in a lowly league 2 team although after our promotion Stockwood effectively said people were wanting to invest 'it's easy to raise investment when you are doing well ' or something along those lines ; they must have either not been the right people or he felt we didn't need it then .

We will stay above the line Herts I am confident of that

I think it’s reasonable to claim that money increases your chances of success, for the most part - you look at the current top 4 in L2 and you see the big budgets and the bankrolling, but they’re not all guaranteed promotion. Look at the teams from 5th (Crewe) down to 13th (Harrogate) and these are all teams with comparable and, in some cases, possibly inferior resources to ours and they’re all competitive and with a stake in promotion via the play offs. That tells us a lot.
Then you have Notts, Bradford and FGR - all above average budgets I suspect, but either ‘also tans’ or, in the case of the vegetablists, in the sh1t.

Harrogate are bank rolled, I’m pretty sure of it.

Quoted from chaos33

I think it’s reasonable to claim that money increases your chances of success, for the most part - you look at the current top 4 in L2 and you see the big budgets and the bankrolling, but they’re not all guaranteed promotion. Look at the teams from 5th (Crewe) down to 13th (Harrogate) and these are all teams with comparable and, in some cases, possibly inferior resources to ours and they’re all competitive and with a stake in promotion via the play offs. That tells us a lot.
Then you have Notts, Bradford and FGR - all above average budgets I suspect, but either ‘also tans’ or, in the case of the vegetablists, in the sh1t.

Interesting debate and clearly where Stockport and Wrexham benefit from their financial support is in the quality and numbers of their respective strike forces. Your point about teams down to 13th is also valid. I missed the Barrow match but in all honesty I haven’t seen an outstanding side at BP this season. The teams visiting us have often looked better organised, more athletic and more physical but despite some atrocious results I’ve not sat there drooling over how much better the opposition is. Think most of the sides are bog standard L2 teams problem being we aren’t even that and despite the criticism of the defence on Saturday I believe that most problems came about because of our poor midfield who, other than Thompson, gave our defenders little protection and gave our forwards no decent passes or support to create chances.

We have had difficulty assembling a decent midfield for many years now, best probably being second half of the 2016 promotion season, and this area needs a massive improvement going forwards.

Quoted from 140381

Harrogate are bank rolled, I’m pretty sure of it.

They are. Their owner is the founder and chairman of Strata Homes.

https://thestrayferret.co.uk/harrogate-town-post-1-2-million-loss/

Quoted from Lincoln Mariner 56

Interesting debate and clearly where Stockport and Wrexham benefit from their financial support is in the quality and numbers of their respective strike forces. Your point about teams down to 13th is also valid. I missed the Barrow match but in all honesty I haven’t seen an outstanding side at BP this season. The teams visiting us have often looked better organised, more athletic and more physical but despite some atrocious results I’ve not sat there drooling over how much better the opposition is. Think most of the sides are bog standard L2 teams problem being we aren’t even that and despite the criticism of the defence on Saturday I believe that most problems came about because of our poor midfield who, other than Thompson, gave our defenders little protection and gave our forwards no decent passes or support to create chances.

We have had difficulty assembling a decent midfield for many years now, best probably being second half of the 2016 promotion season, and this area needs a massive improvement going forwards.

Yeah I have to agree they haven't looked great in general have they , we have just managed to be worse the majority of the time ; our inability to stay in games frustrates me I must admit we don't just go 1 or 2 down do we , when we do it's 3 or 4 and game gone .

I am more giving the view about financing based on longer term rather than this season in isolation or teams that are anomalies , in one off seasons .

I sort of get the feeling that when Stockwood says sustainable he means - 'try and go through the leagues without spending much and improve the infrastructure ' it's like it's a project ,maybe experiment where they won't put the club at risk but do it their way . I might be way off , and they are putting money in so can run it the way they want I suppose knowing the clubs safe gives comfort at least but whether it can work (success on the pitch ) consistently I am very very dubious about tbh .

I suppose it's just wait ,see and hope .

Quoted from Mappers

I think that's slightly harsh on Parkinson

I don't think he's a great manager by any means but so many fail to get teams over the line / achieve what their clubs expectations are , even with big resources so I think if he gets them to league one it will be a 'good go ' even if that's as far as he can take them ; he should be given a year or two to try and move them forward there aswell imo . It would be a different level though when they won't be the big hitters up there .

I think they're in their current position in spite of him rather than anything else.

His achievements there are a failed promotion bid with ridiculous levels of backing.
A successful promotion bid with even more backing, massively pushed all the way by a Chesterfield side that weren't paupers but didn't have that level of backing.
An ongoing promotion bid that could go either way, again with ridiculous levels of funding.

No mistake about it, their backing isn't as standout at this level.  Stockport, Mansfield and a few others are capable of throwing cash at it.  But still not to their levels.  But he's got the backing to bring in the likes of McLean and Fletcher this season.  He's already had Mullin, Palmer, Lee et al.   That's not normal for this level and any manager worth their salt would be able to more than get them over the line with that level of resource.  

Elliott Lee is ridiculously good for this level, it's almost embarrassing.

With that level of funding and ability to bring in players who are playing well below their natural level, they should be all conquering and playing champagne football.  Instead they're functional, effective but quite dull.  

He's a dinosaur and when he eventually gets the shove there, he'll well and truly get found out at his next job.