Post-Doncaster- Artell: Sack or Keep?

After yesterday's disaster I think we need a new poll. I've made it a simple sack him or keep him poll. Nothing in-between. If you want to give him another game or 2 then vote keep him.

I don't know a fan who has any faith in him or his methods.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

I don't know a fan who has any faith in him or his methods.

I can’t remember a more unanimous opinion across the entire fanbase than this. I suppose Holloway came close but he resigned and was partly Fenty regime collapse collateral too. Most managers have had a small percentage of backers even on the days they’ve been sacked.

Artell’s record is now so shockingly bad it will go down in Town folklore regardless of whether we stay up or not. He has made himself the yardstick for managerial underperformance at GTFC for years if not decades to come. It’s just incredible.

I can see absolutely no argument for sticking with him at this juncture. He has to go, I’m afraid.

We have never in our darkest times endured this - beating after beating , thrashing after thrashing at home .

Makes his position untenable for me - if the owners need any indication of the current situation and feeling they only need to view fans reaction near the end yesterday towards Artell and the requirement for police and steward protection - it might seem dramatic but I think I would fear for his safety if still in situ for the FGR's game and a bad result .

Quoted from Poojah

Artell’s record is now so shockingly bad it will go down in Town folklore regardless of whether we stay up or not. He has made himself the yardstick for managerial underperformance at GTFC for years if not decades to come. It’s just incredible.

I can see absolutely no argument for sticking with him at this juncture. He has to go, I’m afraid.

I fully endorse this message.

Stockwood’s just posted this. If this is an inference that we are allowing Artell to stay on, then he’s got it catastrophically wrong imo.

flipping ludicrous

There’s also a very big difference between “negative” comments and objective opinions endorsing change.

Artell is presiding over the most disastrous managerial spell in living memory, if not the history of the club. I would argue that suggesting that there is no other option than to stick with him is in and of itself profoundly negative.

Quoted from Poojah

There’s also a very big difference between “negative” comments and objective opinions endorsing change.

Artell is presiding over the most disastrous managerial spell in living memory, if not the history of the club. I would argue that suggesting that there is no other option than to stick with him is in and of itself profoundly negative.

The problem is, the poll just last week was a 50-50 split. A bad result against a rival and people lose their excrement. If it was against Morecambe, the response probably wouldn't be anywhere near as visceral. At the end of the day, it's a loss, and will likely be no different to any 1 - 0 loss.

I would be very surprised if we aren't competitive in our next match. As is football.

Quoted from Poojah

There’s also a very big difference between “negative” comments and objective opinions endorsing change.

Artell is presiding over the most disastrous managerial spell in living memory, if not the history of the club. I would argue that suggesting that there is no other option than to stick with him is in and of itself profoundly negative.

I'm actually shocked that the board can, in any way, defend what's happening. The only reason can be that they can't afford to get rid of him.

Quoted from AncientExiledMariner

I would be very surprised if we aren't competitive in our next match. As is football.

Isn’t that what people were saying last week? And we got bent over by an exceptionally average Donny.

I think that statement from Stockwood is astonishing. Sitting on their hands whilst Rome burns. They’ve done some good things but also had a lot of football fortune in a short space of time. This is their first test and by the looks of it they’re just going to watch the ship sink. Extraordinary.

Quoted from AncientExiledMariner

The problem is, the poll just last week was a 50-50 split. A bad result against a rival and people lose their excrement. If it was against Morecambe, the response probably wouldn't be anywhere near as visceral. At the end of the day, it's a loss, and will likely be no different to any 1 - 0 loss.

I would be very surprised if we aren't competitive in our next match. As is football.

I respectfully disagree. People are losing their sh*t over the nature of the performance, another 5 goals shipped and 21 in 6 games. I couldn’t give a flying f*ck who we played, getting hammered 5~1 by a team in the relegation mire with us is bloody awful.

Sorry Jason - I’m not with you if you’re wanting to keep him on. I’ve dug in enough.

Quoted from AncientExiledMariner

The problem is, the poll just last week was a 50-50 split. A bad result against a rival and people lose their excrement. If it was against Morecambe, the response probably wouldn't be anywhere near as visceral. At the end of the day, it's a loss, and will likely be no different to any 1 - 0 loss.

I would be very surprised if we aren't competitive in our next match. As is football.

It’s not just a single, freak bad result, though, is it? That was Walsall on New Year’s Day, and no one wanted him sacked at that point. What then seemed like an aberration has simply become the norm.

In the last 6 games we have conceded a 21 goals, and picked up just 2 points. The theme is clear. We fundamentally lack organisation and the defensive system we are playing is disastrous. Teams just play through us. To suggest yesterday was no different to any run of the mill 0-1 defeat completely overlooks what is routinely happening on the pitch.

We have some huge games coming up. In the next 8, the only 2 that aren’t against top-half sides are those immediately behind us. If we lose to Forest Green and / or Sutton, we are toast. It’s absolutely pivotal that people recognise just how dire the situation is.

Quoted from LH

I can’t remember a more unanimous opinion across the entire fanbase than this. I suppose Holloway came close but he resigned and was partly Fenty regime collapse collateral too. Most managers have had a small percentage of backers even on the days they’ve been sacked.

I’m being pedantic but we need to keep perspective here: 35 votes is not representative of the entire fan base, it’s a very small fraction of them. It may be representative of the wider view but that can’t be proven by this poll.

Effectively 7pts clear with games in hand
Keep the faith  everyone...

Quoted from Poojah

It’s not just a single, freak bad result, though, is it? That was Walsall on New Year’s Day, and no one wanted him sacked at that point. What then seemed like an aberration has simply become the norm.

In the last 6 games we have conceded a 21 goals, and picked up just 2 points. The theme is clear. We fundamentally lack organisation and the defensive system we are playing is disastrous. Teams just play through us. To suggest yesterday was no different to any run of the mill 0-1 defeat completely overlooks what is routinely happening on the pitch.

We have some huge games coming up. In the next 8, the only 2 that aren’t against top-half sides are those immediately behind us. If we lose to Forest Green and / or Sutton, we are toast. It’s absolutely pivotal that people recognise just how dire the situation is.

No it's not every game. Before DA took over, we were losing EVERY game. You don't go from a team of losers to winning or drawing every game. Especially when you cannot change the full squad.

To put it into context, we lost 6-1 to Walsall, and I believe that was our worst defeat in something like 70 years, and but for the width of a post, that would have been repeated yesterday, merely weeks later.

I was also told last night that the 5-5 result was the only time we have had that score in our history, so we have had three exceptional results, mostly to our detriment in the space of a few weeks.

It just cannot be defended.

The only caveat I can add (and I am desperately searching for the tiniest glimmer of hope here) is that this is maybe what it is going to take to finally release us from the death spiral of the last 20 years, and indeed it is a case of it will get much worse before it gets better, and Artell is railing against two decades of entrenched apathy and underperformance, which will finally see us emerge into the light of progressive, attacking, winning football.

Nah! Me neither.

That statement sends shivers down my spine. Looks like we’ve accepted our fate this season and we’ll go down with even more of a whimper off the pitch, than on it.

Dig in? We’ve been digging in every fücking season for 20 years Jason.

Quoted from devs

Effectively 7pts clear with games in hand
Keep the faith  everyone...

If you want to be pedantic, the GD advantage is more like a 6.5 point gap. Our GD is 12 better than FGRs as things stand, but we still have to play them at home in a couple of weeks. A heavy defeat against them not only shrinks the points gap, but also brings about a huge GD swing.

Carry on as we are and there’s no way we’ll maintain a better goal difference come the end of the season.

Quoted from Poojah

Stockwood’s just posted this. If this is an inference that we are allowing Artell to stay on, then he’s got it catastrophically wrong imo.

Tweet 1759184951314915455 will appear here...

Sorry Jason but we have been doing this for years . hopeing things get better in the next game  next window next season and never does.  I know its your money you will have to spend and its not going to be cheap .Like any business you have to have the right product ,and we dont have that.  We dont expect Harrods but christ this is poundland

Quoted from ginnywings

To put it into context, we lost 6-1 to Walsall, and I believe that was our worst defeat in something like 70 years, and but for the width of a post, that would have been repeated yesterday, merely weeks later.

I was also told last night that the 5-5 result was the only time we have had that score in our history, so we have had three exceptional results, mostly to our detriment in the space of a few weeks.

It just cannot be defended.

The only caveat I can add (and I am desperately searching for the tiniest glimmer of hope here) is that this is maybe what it is going to take to finally release us from the death spiral of the last 20 years, and indeed it is a case of it will get much worse before it gets better, and Artell is railing against two decades of entrenched apathy and underperformance, which will finally see us emerge into the light of progressive, attacking, winning football.

Nah! Me neither.

You've made your mind up, and I'm not going to persuade you.

We all know the squad we had wasn't good enough. We've tried to patch it up in January, and some players need to get match fit so we still haven't had enough time to see the fruits of that and if it is or isn't good enough. I know this manager can get the team to compete and if you can compete, you can pick up wins. Not in all matches, but some. Ultimately the owners are sticking with him, and no words are going to change opinions. We'll just have to see what the next match brings, because I expect, it'll be very different. You won't. So only time will tell.

Quoted from AncientExiledMariner

No it's not every game. Before DA took over, we were losing EVERY game. You don't go from a team of losers to winning or drawing every game. Especially when you cannot change the full squad.

Nor was that Artell’s remit. His remit was to improve us from where we were, and he has made us tangibly poorer by virtually every measurable metric. He has the worst record of any Town manager this century (and possibly ever) in terms of win ratio and PPG.

That’s not just my subjective opinion, it’s a matter of cold, hard, facts and figures.

Let’s flip this on its head; what evidence do you see over the last 6 games that suggests Artell can and will turn things around, and keep us up?

Quoted from devs

Effectively 7pts clear with games in hand
Keep the faith  everyone...

It's six points.



Our goal difference has worsened by about 2 goals per game since the start of the year

Quoted from Poojah

Nor was that Artell’s remit. His remit was to improve us from where we were, and he has made us tangibly poorer by virtually every measurable metric. He has the worst record of any Town manager this century (and possibly ever) in terms of win ratio and PPG.

That’s not just my subjective opinion, it’s a matter of cold, hard, facts and figures.

Let’s flip this on its head; what evidence do you see over the last 6 games that suggests Artell can and will turn things around, and keep us up?

I like how you're limiting the scope to 6 games to load the question and I'm not going to play your game, because I have the memory of the full season and not the last couple of matches.

Our biggest problems were defence, full back and DM. I personally think Hume is an improvement. We have comeptition at CB so can bring our Maher or Rodgers. I'd have personally gone with Maher after seeing him refuse a pass and put Cartwright up excrement creek. Smith is young and is still bedding in. I'll personally give it time like I did with Pyke and Vernam when The Fishy wrote them both off.

He can get us to compete with Notts and Accrington. 1 goal would have won it for us, and if he can do the same in future matches, with that squad we had for Accrington and maybe Hunt also fit, I think we have reasonable chances of a result on any day. The problem with this mentally weak squad is we also have reasonable chances of a tanking. Draws ain't going to get us out of this situation. We'd probably want a good 4 wins on the board, and I think we can do that, even if there is several more losses. We do not have the squad to go much past survival right now, but I personally think DA is the best chance of that with this squad.

Oh, and on what metrics, yesterday, we had more possession, more shots, the same number of shots on target and virtually the same amount of corners. Unfortunately they had 4 shots on goal and scored 5. Hot knife through butter. I'm getting Eastwood vibes.

I expected it would be a landslide for Artell Out but early voting has the Artell In percentage even lower than DA's win percentage as Town manager,

Quoted from Poojah

Artell’s record is now so shockingly bad it will go down in Town folklore regardless of whether we stay up or not. He has made himself the yardstick for managerial underperformance at GTFC for years if not decades to come. It’s just incredible.

I can see absolutely no argument for sticking with him at this juncture. He has to go, I’m afraid.

This.

Quoted from Poojah

Stockwood’s just posted this. If this is an inference that we are allowing Artell to stay on, then he’s got it catastrophically wrong imo.

Tweet 1759184951314915455 will appear here...

This is worrying. I am absolutely open to the board trying to do things differently in face of pressure – sticking with Hurst during the promotion season because the data suggested we weren’t far off picking up points, when other clubs might have pulled the trigger, is a great example and really paid off. We are not a rich club – never have been – and anything which might bridge that gap between us and massive over-spenders is welcome in my eyes.

But as others have alluded to, there is simply no metric that offers a reason for us to stick with DA. I have tried really hard to see things from the “let’s stick with him” point of view, but other than simply not being able to afford to get rid of him, I can’t fathom why we would stick. Both the objective and subjective data overwhelmingly support the idea that the wheels have completely fallen off.

If the board sticks with DA then they are essentially living in hope that something will change, in spite of the fact the evidence suggests things are getting significantly worse.

Quoted from BobbyCummingsTackle

I’m being pedantic but we need to keep perspective here: 35 votes is not representative of the entire fan base, it’s a very small fraction of them. It may be representative of the wider view but that can’t be proven by this poll.

I didn’t mean just this poll (I was something like the third vote).

Quoted from AncientExiledMariner

I like how you're limiting the scope to 6 games to load the question and I'm not going to play your game, because I have the memory of the full season and not the last couple of matches.

Our biggest problems were defence, full back and DM. I personally think Hume is an improvement. We have comeptition at CB so can bring our Maher or Rodgers. I'd have personally gone with Maher after seeing him refuse a pass and put Cartwright up excrement creek. Smith is young and is still bedding in. I'll personally give it time like I did with Pyke and Vernam when The Fishy wrote them both off.

He can get us to compete with Notts and Accrington. 1 goal would have won it for us, and if he can do the same in future matches, with that squad we had for Accrington and maybe Hunt also fit, I think we have reasonable chances of a result on any day. The problem with this mentally weak squad is we also have reasonable chances of a tanking. Draws ain't going to get us out of this situation. We'd probably want a good 4 wins on the board, and I think we can do that, even if there is several more losses. We do not have the squad to go much past survival right now, but I personally think DA is the best chance of that with this squad.

Oh, and on what metrics, yesterday, we had more possession, more shots, the same number of shots on target and virtually the same amount of corners. Unfortunately they had 4 shots on goal and scored 5. Hot knife through butter. I'm getting Eastwood vibes.

You are deluded

Smith isnt young btw. He’s 26/27?

Quoted from Hagrid

You are deluded

Smith isnt young btw. He’s 26/27?

My mistake, point taken. I'm not sure I could pick Mullarkey over anyone though. I'd give it time. If it really ain't working, stick Clifton there, with Thompson, Hunt and oh intercourse... maybe recall Khouri....

I'm in the position where I don't really think it matters if we keep or sack Artell - I'm utterly certain that our group of gutless abject players won't perform under any manager. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't exactly be sad to see the back of Artell, but with this squad our league status hinges entirely on the performances of Sutton and FGR between now and the end of April imo.

Quoted from Poojah

Stockwood’s just posted this. If this is an inference that we are allowing Artell to stay on, then he’s got it catastrophically wrong imo.

Tweet 1759184951314915455 will appear here...

The problem with this is that we should’ve been ‘digging in’ long before now. We should be now, and we aren’t. These performances are more ‘caving in’ than ‘digging in’. Sentiment and calls to arms won’t sort this. We can’t pull close now. Not after yesterday’s scenes. Surely this must be seen by the owners. I think JS is emotionally intelligent. He must surely read the room now. Wish it could be done Jason. Nobody likes or wants this. It’s bleak. It’s got to end and be replaced with something that people can actually ‘pull close and dig in’ with.

Quoted from BobbyCummingsTackle

I’m being pedantic but we need to keep perspective here: 35 votes is not representative of the entire fan base, it’s a very small fraction of them. It may be representative of the wider view but that can’t be proven by this poll.

One of our group who doesn't log on here and I can't ever remember him suggesting a manager should be sacked even in our previous dark days just said at the end of the game.   "he has to be sacked now"

Quoted from AncientExiledMariner

No it's not every game. Before DA took over, we were losing EVERY game. You don't go from a team of losers to winning or drawing every game. Especially when you cannot change the full squad.

That’s just factually wrong. Go back and look at the results.

Quoted from AncientExiledMariner

The problem is, the poll just last week was a 50-50 split. A bad result against a rival and people lose their excrement. If it was against Morecambe, the response probably wouldn't be anywhere near as visceral. At the end of the day, it's a loss, and will likely be no different to any 1 - 0 loss.

I would be very surprised if we aren't competitive in our next match. As is football.

I can't remember the last time there was a chorus of fans singing "you're not fit to wear the shirt" Obviously it wasn't all fans as most had drunk off home at that point.

Quoted from chaos33

That’s just factually wrong. Go back and look at the results.

I'm misremembering here. It was bleak, but point taken.

Quoted from AncientExiledMariner

I like how you're limiting the scope to 6 games to load the question and I'm not going to play your game, because I have the memory of the full season and not the last couple of matches.

How else are you going to judge what’s happening in the here and now without looking at the most recent games? What an exceptionally arrogant response “I have a memory of the full season”. If you’d actually been to games you’d see that we are worse now than we’ve been all season and are conceding soft goals against crap teams like there’s no tomorrow. Two draws amongst four absolute capitulations isn’t even close to enough to suggest that there’s any hope under Artell.

Being given asked to dig in with a plastic spoon.Were done

Quoted from chaos33

The problem with this is that we should’ve been ‘digging in’ long before now. We should be now, and we aren’t. These performances are more ‘caving in’ than ‘digging in’. Sentiment and calls to arms won’t sort this. We can’t pull close now. Not after yesterday’s scenes. Surely this must be seen by the owners. I think JS is emotionally intelligent. He must surely read the room now. Wish it could be done Jason. Nobody likes or wants this. It’s bleak. It’s got to end and be replaced with something that people can actually ‘pull close and dig in’ with.

It’s not the only thing we can do, is it? 15 games is a third of a season, it’s plenty of time.

Quoted from mariner91

Isn’t that what people were saying last week? And we got bent over by an exceptionally average Donny.

Average is too flattering for them, they were barely above our pile of shite before the game, they're dreadful but won at an absolute canter. They literally stopped trying at 4 1 and still scored another and could have had 1 more!

JS= "Dig In!" , dig in any more i will be in Australia....To be direct to the point no fancy words or phrases = SACK.
JS  look over the top of laptop and be realistic ,because next season you will be rubbing shoulders with me at Eastleigh ,Dover  and Woking etc
UTM

Quoted from arryarryarry

I can't remember the last time there was a chorus of fans singing "you're not fit to wear the shirt" Obviously it wasn't all fans as most had drunk off home at that point.

I distinctly remember it at Oldham away when we got tonked during league1 relegation, can't really remember it much since then which is a surprise!

Quoted from Balthazar Bullitt

It's six points.



Our goal difference has worsened by about 2 goals per game since the start of the year

We are 6pts clear and have a superior GD - so effectively seven surely?

Quoted from AncientExiledMariner

I like how you're limiting the scope to 6 games to load the question and I'm not going to play your game, because I have the memory of the full season and not the last couple of matches.

Our biggest problems were defence, full back and DM. I personally think Hume is an improvement. We have comeptition at CB so can bring our Maher or Rodgers. I'd have personally gone with Maher after seeing him refuse a pass and put Cartwright up excrement creek. Smith is young and is still bedding in. I'll personally give it time like I did with Pyke and Vernam when The Fishy wrote them both off.

He can get us to compete with Notts and Accrington. 1 goal would have won it for us, and if he can do the same in future matches, with that squad we had for Accrington and maybe Hunt also fit, I think we have reasonable chances of a result on any day. The problem with this mentally weak squad is we also have reasonable chances of a tanking. Draws ain't going to get us out of this situation. We'd probably want a good 4 wins on the board, and I think we can do that, even if there is several more losses. We do not have the squad to go much past survival right now, but I personally think DA is the best chance of that with this squad.

Oh, and on what metrics, yesterday, we had more possession, more shots, the same number of shots on target and virtually the same amount of corners. Unfortunately they had 4 shots on goal and scored 5. Hot knife through butter. I'm getting Eastwood vibes.

I’m not trying to play games; I referenced the last 6 matches because they’re the best insight we have into the short-term future direction of travel. But even if you go back to include the good bits, when it was initially promising in all fairness, he still has one of if not the worst managerial record in GTFC history as things stand.

I have never known a Town side concede 21 goals in the space of 6 games, or 5 home games, however you want to look at it. Has that ever happened happened before in the club’s history? I suspect it probably hasn’t, and certainly not post-war.

Whatever you believe the manager is capable of producing in our upcoming games, is it undeniable that we are seeing managerial underperformance of historic proportions. That tends to outweigh any faith that he might have earned during his early games in charge, especially when it comes at a time when we are at real risk of an unthinkable third relegation to non-league.

Ultimately, your opinion is in direct contrast to the popular view on here and amongst Town fans more broadly, but that doesn’t necessarily make you wrong. We’ve seen throughout history that sometimes the correct or more progressive viewpoint is the unpopular one, but in this particular instance the evidence, to my mind, looks to be seriously mounting against the idea that David Artell is the man to get us out of our sizeable predicament.

Quoted from Poojah

I’m not trying to play games; I referenced the last 6 games because they’re the best insight we have into the short-term future of travel. But even if you go back to include the good bits, when it was initially promising in all fairness, he still has one of if not the worst managerial record in GTFC history as things stand.

I have never known a Town side concede 21 goals in the space of 6 games, or 5 home games, however you want to look at it. Has that ever happened happened before in the club’s history? I suspect it probably hasn’t, and certainly not post-war.

Whatever you believe the manager is capable of producing in our upcoming games, is it undeniable that we are seeing managerial underperformance of historic proportions. That tends to outweigh any faith that he might have earned during his early games in charge, especially when it comes at a time when we are at real risk of an unthinkable third relegation to non-league.

Ultimately, your opinion is in direct contrast to the popular view on here and amongst Town fans more broadly, but that doesn’t necessarily make you wrong. We’ve seen throughout history that sometimes the correct or more progressive viewpoint is the unpopular one, but in this particular instance the evidence, to my mind, looks to be seriously mounting against the idea that David Artell is the man to get us out of our sizeable predicament.

He managed 16 games without a win at Crewe when things went pear ,I'm  genuinely concerned if he stays similiar might be repeated here .

Quoted from Poojah

Stockwood’s just posted this. If this is an inference that we are allowing Artell to stay on, then he’s got it catastrophically wrong imo.

Tweet 1759184951314915455 will appear here...

So JS is sticking with Artell for now (is he too expensive to sack?). I wonder how long he is planning on ‘digging in’? …..the rest of the season? Surely defeat by FGR would be the end.

BTW -  As a regular Grauniad writer he should know it’s not ‘your’ but ‘you’re’.  

Quoted from PB

So JS is sticking with Artell for now (is he too expensive to sack?). I wonder how long he is planning on ‘digging in’? …..the rest of the season? Surely defeat by FGR would be the end.

BTW -  As a regular Grauniad writer he should know it’s not ‘your’ but ‘you’re’.  

Err….except it isn’t. It’s your.  Read it again clever trousers.

I read JS' post as a vote of confidence for one final chance for 3 points next week. I could be wrong.

I guess the difficulties of sacking Artell are:

a) Cost
b) Time in the recruitment process, which we wouldn't be able to do as before (but look where that has gotten us
c) The off chance that the long-term Artell plan may come to fruition.

Answers:

a) Use the Conteh money if there is no contractual clause. Sad waste but majority of the crowd seems to have lost faith and that's no good in a battle.
b) See who is available and move heaven and earth to get whoever is best as quickly as possible on a firefighting mission.
c) sod the long term right now.

I started watching Town in the late 70's.  Just last night I was telling my girlfriend here that I was in the main stand as a child with my cousin and we were playing Doncaster.  A scuffle broke out between the police and the fans.  - A fan chucked a cup of hot tea in a copper's face.  It turned nasty quickly.  Pairs of hands lifted me up and I was passed to the back for my own safety.   It made me feel part of the family.  I neve felt at home much among my real relatives until I was much older. That's maybe why I joined up and then went gallivanting  around the globe.   GTFC, in short has given me a sense of belonging.

So, of course, I hate the fact that we are going through crappy times (again) but how can finding us in position where our manager fears for his physical safety?  We have to put it in perspective, Shankly was wrong regarding his quote re football being more than life and death.   I still think we have the ability to stave off relegation.  However, I am not sure who should be at the helm; I guess I'll leave that up to the owners. Since Waterfall's departure, we are lacking leadership on the pitch. Why can't we provide that leadership?   The players need us more now than during the Southampton game last year.

Quoted from Marinerdeano

I read JS' post as a vote of confidence for one final chance for 3 points next week. I could be wrong.

I guess the difficulties of sacking Artell are:

a) Cost
b) Time in the recruitment process, which we wouldn't be able to do as before (but look where that has gotten us
c) The off chance that the long-term Artell plan may come to fruition.

Answers:

a) Use the Conteh money if there is no contractual clause. Sad waste but majority of the crowd seems to have lost faith and that's no good in a battle.
b) See who is available and move heaven and earth to get whoever is best as quickly as possible on a firefighting mission.
c) sod the long term right now.

I read it as 15games……

Quoted from devs

We are 6pts clear and have a superior GD - so effectively seven surely?

The point I'm making is that goal difference advantage has been very rapidly eaten into and I think it will only get worse . I very much doubt it is worth an extra point. Agree to disagree

Maybe the tweet is the traditional Chairman's Vote of Confidence?

Quoted from ginnywings

To put it into context, we lost 6-1 to Walsall, and I believe that was our worst defeat in something like 70 years, and but for the width of a post, that would have been repeated yesterday, merely weeks later.

I was also told last night that the 5-5 result was the only time we have had that score in our history, so we have had three exceptional results, mostly to our detriment in the space of a few weeks.

It just cannot be defended.

The only caveat I can add (and I am desperately searching for the tiniest glimmer of hope here) is that this is maybe what it is going to take to finally release us from the death spiral of the last 20 years, and indeed it is a case of it will get much worse before it gets better, and Artell is railing against two decades of entrenched apathy and underperformance, which will finally see us emerge into the light of progressive, attacking, winning football.

Nah! Me neither.

Sorry to be padantic (as ever!) but we have had 5-5 draws before.  Three in fact, the last one being v Fulham in January 1954.

Quoted from Chrisblor

I'm in the position where I don't really think it matters if we keep or sack Artell - I'm utterly certain that our group of gutless abject players won't perform under any manager. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't exactly be sad to see the back of Artell, but with this squad our league status hinges entirely on the performances of Sutton and FGR between now and the end of April imo.

It's a very sad state of affairs that you have to rely on this, especially when you're 6 points to the good and a game in hand.

Stumbled across this image on Twitter from when he was at Crewe. How very apt.

Quoted from JK47

Sorry to be padantic (as ever!) but we have had 5-5 draws before.  Three in fact, the last one being v Fulham in January 1954.

It was told to me by someone in the pub last night, and I didn't check it. It's still a remarkable set of results in such a short space of time.

Quoted from davmariner

Stumbled across this image on Twitter from when he was at Crewe. How very apt.

Tweet 1513196610578272261 will appear here...

If he can replicate the first five years he had at Gresty Road there won't be many unhappy with him. But he needed time at Crewe, something in very short supply anywhere these days. Looking over his record at Crewe they had more than one bad run which would have seen him sacked nowadays.  Crewe persisted with him and were rewarded for it.

Quoted from ROKERITE

If he can replicate the first five years he had at Gresty Road there won't be many unhappy with him. But he needed time at Crewe, something in very short supply anywhere these days. Looking over his record at Crewe they had more than one bad run which would have seen him sacked nowadays.  Crewe persisted with him and were rewarded for it.

At Crewe he was dealing with players that were schooled in that style of play relentlessly since they were kids and who have an incredible academy for this level. He won't have that anywhere else at this level.

When he had to recruit at Crewe and not use so many players who came through their academy he was a disaster at league 1 level.

Quoted from toontown

At Crewe he was dealing with players that were schooled in that style of play relentlessly since they were kids and who have an incredible academy for this level. He won't have that anywhere else at this level.

When he had to recruit at Crewe and not use so many players who came through their academy he was a disaster at league 1 level.

Of the sixteen players who made more than twenty appearances for Crewe in that promotion season, nine of them had come through the academy. Of those nine, one is now playing in non league. Three are playing in L2 with James Jones at Wrexham, Callum Ainley with us and Charlie Kirk at Crewe although he was recently in L1. Two are playing in L1 currently and three are playing in the Championship. So he was gifted players in the main that were too good for the level they were playing at and were well versed in playing a particular way.

To his credit he'd made some astute signings of older players like Paul Green and Chris Porter to compliment the younger, talented players but that's one hell of a leg up to get in the first place just through being in the right place at the right time. I would imagine a lot of coaches could have won manager of the season award with those players delivered on a plate.