A question

The squad last time round was 5 years in the making and had Omar Bogle who we got a very good fee for. This year we have McAtee but his shoulder has prevented us having him for a large portion of the season.

Getting out of the NL within 3 years is a great achievement, never mind at the first attempt. I dare say the likes of Holohan and JMD were signed mid season to be a huge part of a promotion push this season. Ben Fox was a huge part of our team at the back end of last season that was a huge loss that I don't think we've fully replaced.

I do think though that we are doing just fine, I'm very happy with the team of staff Hurst is building that will pay dividends in the medium-long term. The owners proved last year that they trust him and Hurst knows there are very few, if any, clubs in the country that would afford him the time our owners are.

I think some people have very short memories when it comes to stuff like this. We had the most in form striker in L2 at that point probably and the season pretty much ended once we cashed in on him. We lost top players like Amond and Nolan from the previous season and replaced them with jokers like James Berrett, Tom Bolarinwa, Scott Vernon and Shaun Tuton, all of which have gone on to do nothing of note since. We had Kayden Jackson on loan who did go on to better but was pretty ineffective for us. For every bright spark like Danny Andrew you had a Luke Summerfield, Andrew Boyce or Gavin Gunning. Sam Jones looked good but his career fell apart after he left us so maybe we dodged a bullet. Jamey Osbourne I'd maybe take and that's about it.

Failure was mainly blamed on not being able to keep a successful squad together and a successful manager leaving. Both of which didn't happen this season for the most part. The squad as a whole is much better we just have not managed to have that striker up front who scores week in, week out yet.

What the OP did not say was.

How long did it take us to get back in the league last time compared to this time.

Let's see how far we progress in the same period.

I don't think we did very well last time but who knows where we will be in another five years.

League one at least imo.

Quoted from jamesgtfc

The squad last time round was 5 years in the making and had Omar Bogle who we got a very good fee for. This year we have McAtee but his shoulder has prevented us having him for a large portion of the season.

Getting out of the NL within 3 years is a great achievement, never mind at the first attempt. I dare say the likes of Holohan and JMD were signed mid season to be a huge part of a promotion push this season. Ben Fox was a huge part of our team at the back end of last season that was a huge loss that I don't think we've fully replaced.

I do think though that we are doing just fine, I'm very happy with the team of staff Hurst is building that will pay dividends in the medium-long term. The owners proved last year that they trust him and Hurst knows there are very few, if any, clubs in the country that would afford him the time our owners are.

There were only a few players that had been here for a while, I'd say only 4 of our starting line up were there the season before. Last season, there were 8 in the squad who had been here the season before, which I think is similar to the 2015 squad.

When it clicks, it clicks. And realistically, we were lucky more than good last season. This team is better, but I struggle to see us scoring goals even if we signed a good striker, we create very few chances. Bogle was so good he did it on his own, and McAtee will have to do that if we're to stay well clear of danger. The workman like performances aren't enough alone.

Quoted from pen penfras

There were only a few players that had been here for a while, I'd say only 4 of our starting line up were there the season before. Last season, there were 8 in the squad who had been here the season before, which I think is similar to the 2015 squad.

When it clicks, it clicks. And realistically, we were lucky more than good last season. This team is better, but I struggle to see us scoring goals even if we signed a good striker, we create very few chances. Bogle was so good he did it on his own, and McAtee will have to do that if we're to stay well clear of danger. The workman like performances aren't enough alone.

I’d say that is a very stingy assessment. We were ‘Lucky more than good’ last season? Really disagree. We were super strong when it really counted. You think we’ll need McAtee to ‘do a Bogle’ to steer clear of danger?
We’ve done pretty well without him thus far and I don’t think anyone thinks we are at risk of struggling. Could it be that the likes of you, with your loyalties, have an axe to grind, which stops you being objective?

Quoted from grimsby pete

What the OP did not say was.

How long did it take us to get back in the league last time compared to this time.

Let's see how far we progress in the same period.

I don't think we did very well last time but who knows where we will be in another five years.

League one at least imo.

No other factors are up for discussion. It was a simple question that's all. Are we better on the pitch than the last time we came up ?
A few posters have responded with good answers and not deviated to look for an argument

Quoted from chaos33

You would. Mr positive, top laugh at parties. Surprised you’ve not been posting Hurst out garbage and saying it’s the worst ever.

Oh hello stalker again.. No at this moment i dont want Hurst out yet , Will see what he gets in the jan sales first. Any way  hows your lumbago still making you grumpy ???  

Quoted from It Bites

No other factors are up for discussion. It was a simple question that's all. Are we better on the pitch than the last time we came up ?
A few posters have responded with good answers and not deviated to look for an argument

Spot on there. Folk alwase have to complicate things at times , Go in to a shop and ask the price of something. Thats what you want  not a full run down of the company`s structure

Quoted from jamesgtfc

The squad last time round was 5 years in the making and had Omar Bogle who we got a very good fee for. This year we have McAtee but his shoulder has prevented us having him for a large portion of the season.

Getting out of the NL within 3 years is a great achievement, never mind at the first attempt. I dare say the likes of Holohan and JMD were signed mid season to be a huge part of a promotion push this season. Ben Fox was a huge part of our team at the back end of last season that was a huge loss that I don't think we've fully replaced.

I do think though that we are doing just fine, I'm very happy with the team of staff Hurst is building that will pay dividends in the medium-long term. The owners proved last year that they trust him and Hurst knows there are very few, if any, clubs in the country that would afford him the time our owners are.

When you say 5 years in the making I think that was 5 years till we finally got lucky.

The team the year before is generally thought to be better than the one that went up.

This building over time is a bit of misnomer; managers find it very difficult to build teams due to the short term contracts and the minute players get a better offer they leave - Ben Fox being a good example.

Like most clubs we have an enormous turnover of players and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

I think if we had kept some of our better players even over the last few years we would have had a fantastic team but this day and age it isn't possible.

The thing that really makes a difference is money. You can have a list of players as long as your arm but if you cannot match fees/wages it is a waste of time.

Quoted from denni266

Oh hello stalker again.. No at this moment i dont want Hurst out yet , Will see what he gets in the jan sales first. Any way  hows your lumbago still making you grumpy ???  

I’m sat here just poised for misfortune….then I can strike!
What a miserable and pointless life you lead.