JS where are you.!!!!

Quoted from mariner91

Their vision hasn't helped. But the bulk of the blame lies squarely with Hurst who put together an unbalanced, unathletic and incompetent squad. We weren't brilliant last season most of the time and after a reasonable start when on a run in the league of winning only 4 games from mid September until the end of January. Only the signings of Lloyd and to a lesser extent Emmanuel stopped the rot and if you look at points won after January there's only one game where our goals weren't either scored or assisted by players we lost in the summer notably Lloyd, McAtee, Orsi and Emmanuel.

The midfield was poor last season, there was an issue at left back where teams were targeting us, Waterfall's legs were starting to fail him, Smith would go back and we'd lose the bulk of our attacking threat in McAtee and Lloyd. The midfield wasn't improved other than Conteh but it's a sad situation if you're reliant on a 20 year old in his first full FL season. Clifton, Holohan and Green have no quality on the ball. Hunt is ineffective and something isn't right there. And we signed Andrews who is too green without some competent experienced help around him. The left back situation wasn't rectified and to make matters worse Hurst signed a left winger who may as well not be on the pitch when out of possession. Waterfall wasn't replaced and Rodgers being signed on a three year deal was an abysmal decision. To make matters worse at the back he also signed a first choice right back who is just about competent as a right sided centre back with two others alongside him but gets regularly rinsed at right back and  Hurst replaced a competent goalkeeper with two who are just nowhere near good enough. The only area of recruitment that wasn't completely wretched was up front where without Rose we'd have been relegated weeks ago but even then our number 9 can't play as a central striker, had been played as a wing back for the last two seasons and had managed a grand total of 8 FL goals when he signed for us at the age of 25. Even if you include his goals scored in the NL he'd managed 13 goals in the professional game which equals less than two a season since he started.

Ultimately the squad had severe limitations after the end of last season, existing issues weren't solved and new problems were created from poor recruitment. Why the recruitment was so bad I don't think we'll ever know for sure but if we go down it is more Hurst's fault than anyone else. The worst pre-season recruitment we've ever seen other than Holloway's Covid madness.

Quoted from Maringer

I'm not talking about the current situation. It's the bizarre theory that Stockwood and Pettit only bought the club as a vanity project. It's only 5 minutes since the new ownership was being praised as a breath of fresh air. Now they are somehow conning us?

Utter nonsense, I'm afraid.

Quoted from friskneymariner

People are waking up to realise we have been conned on a massive scale. I sincerely believe this was a vanity project by  Stockwood from the outset,it has badly misfired on him .I realise it's not a comfortable feeling to realise that you have been conned ,but there you have it.

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

It was a shocking recruitment process as you say, but I still think the desire to shift to a more data led recruitment process has brought more problems than its worth. Most of those signings go against common sense, and let's be honest Paul Hurst on his own would not have signed that imbalanced,  slow and unathletic squad.

Obviously he had some input, particularly the players he has previously worked with but if you have owners who have stuck by you who are obsessed with data led decisions it is difficult to say no.

The blend is what matters, and any experienced manager would put together a better squad than this without outside interference from a spread sheet.

Things may have been compounded by a lack of budget, but nobody knows what that was.

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

I've no idea whether you will be proved right, but I haven't warmed to Stockwood at all. He always sound condescending to me, and always talks in such general terms it's not worth listening to.

We know his philosophy; we don't need it repeating ad infinitum but being a practical sort of chap I am interested how his philosophy actually works in practice. You might be right, perhaps it is a vanity project in the sense that he is trying to prove a football club can be run and be successful in using his values as a template but I suppose any owner wants his methods enacted.

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

It was a shocking recruitment process as you say, but I still think the desire to shift to a more data led recruitment process has brought more problems than its worth. Most of those signings go against common sense, and let's be honest Paul Hurst on his own would not have signed that imbalanced,  slow and unathletic squad.

Obviously he had some input, particularly the players he has previously worked with but if you have owners who have stuck by you who are obsessed with data led decisions it is difficult to say no.

The blend is what matters, and any experienced manager would put together a better squad than this without outside interference from a spread sheet.

Things may have been compounded by a lack of budget, but nobody knows what that was.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Do you actually know how the data is actually utilised? You consistently seem very dismissive of that approach so clearly you have an informed view?