Our club is in a very poor state

Minus the loan players and Yiadom (who is probably on the way out) we have a shockingly poor squad. We have lost the Head Coach whose talents in the development sphere were an attraction to promising young players, including Premier League loanees. The three full time members of staff responsible for recruitment have much to answer for after the last two transfer windows. Our Chief Exec was largely responsible for a disastrous head coach appointment and may have been involved in our last two substandard recruitment drives. In short, the era of Johnson, Heckingbottom, Mansford and the talented squad of 2015-17 have given way to something considerably poorer in all areas of the club. In addition to that our new owners, whilst apparently the fifth richest set of owners of an English football club appear to be unwilling to invest much in the club or the team on the evidence so far. Of course, all this can change this Summer. But on an objective view the signs are not encouraging, which impacts greatly on our less stoical fans.

 

Sorry to ask but are you one of P.Heckys relatives? You are the only person on this board who's blamed every body and there "fatha" except Paul.We didn't lose the head coach,he chose to leave,and as for transfers you make out that P.H had none or little involvement in his own words he said he signs the players HE wants.I'm a massive P.H fan but he's a lot to answer for after our relegation in my opinion.

 

No connection whatsoever. It's just my opinion. Yes - he chose to leave, but we created an environment where leaving was a more attractive proposition. We did not support him adequately and it is my guess (and only that) that there was a clash of ego's between him and the CEO. If we are not astute enough to realise what we have lost we will end up with more disastrous appointments like Morais.

 

you have absolutely no idea as of the intentions of the new owners
whay gives you the idea that they aren't going to plough money in to the club .Surely you have no clue the only people who do know are the ones with the check book. Ive said it many times YOU ONLY KNOW WHAT THEY WANT YOU TO KNOW. and any financial business is nobodys business but theirs .would you expect the owners of any other multi million pound company to just tell the random public there business and also exactly what there plans are.

I wonder if every other club in the football league has as many fans who know the clubs business inside out
a few words come to mind Bullshiters ,liers and glory hunters

 

You seem to have conveniently overlooked the bit where I say "Of course, all this can change this Summer." And I still maintain that the initial signs are not encouraging.

 

Fair enough.

 

Gally, I'd be the first to admit that they have the resources to change things. And they might. I can't have that this squad is up to scratch though - even for League One.

I very much hope you're feeling better, by the way.

 

We could already have 25 players in our prospective League One squad, that is, if we retain them all.
Of that number four, Bradshaw, Davies, Hedges and Isgrove have featured in full
Welsh International squads. Eight players, Fryers, Hammill, Jackson, Moncur, Mowatt, Pearson,
Potts and Walton have represented England at various Youth International level.
Pinnock has represented England C. McGeehan ( Northern Ireland), Cavare ( France), Mallan (Scotland),
Knasmullner (Austria) and Thiam (Senegal) are also Youth internationals. To make up the numbers, some
of the current U23 squad might also get a game re- Adeboyejo, Bird and Williams, plus Lindsay, McCarthy, Moore
and Pinillos. I haven't seen the squads of the teams that we will come up against, but with players who have played
Premiership football re- Isgrove, Fryers, Hammill and McCarthy and the others who have experience in the Championship,
I honestly believe , that with some quality additions, we have more than enough to mount a realistic challenge for promotion.

 

Not being funny Orsen but when you say that they "appear to be unwilling to invest much in the club or the team on the evidence so far", I am just wondering what you hoped they would have invested so far?.

On the player front we have had one window and they had barely worked out whose seat was whose in the boardroom when it opened and closed, and everybody who is objective about these things knows how difficult it is to bring quality in during the January window.

On the manager front, it appears they have made an awful mistake in appointing Morais, but on the face of it I couldn't call it a sign of a lack of investment because he was, by all accounts, handsomly remunerated for his role in our demise.

For pity's sake, give them a chance. I know its the summer and so we haven 't much to talk about but at least wait until they have appointed the next man and seen what they do in the summer window before passing judgement. Go and watch a film or something.

 

Great news on the results!
Have you started on any box sets yet?

 

I think my short answer to that is enough to have given us a better shot at staying in the Championship - which was their stated aim, after all. There was a crying need for at least one stronger operator in midfield and arguably a leader in defence in the mould of Kevin Long. I totally take your point that they were only just in the door, but if you're investing somewhere between £6M and £20M to buy the thing, surely you do your 'SWOT' analysis?

You are right - it's now close season and there is little activity to comment upon. But over the next 18 days decisions on renewal will be made by some who didn't go for the 'early bird' offer due to the doubts about where we would end up post season and what the club's response would be. They will be swayed by the signs (if any) coming out of the club.

 

I totally agree about Pinnock - let's hope he's still here come August!

Having seen the U23's a time or two this season I can't share your optimism on that one. And let's be right, staying up was a very low bar as far as points were concerned this season.

If I were to look on the more positive side, the owners certainly have the financial clout to improve things, and you struggle to see why they would get involved if they weren't going to do so. But as Gally says above, splashing the cash doesn't look to be their intention at present.

 

With you on that.

 

I don't share your pessimism as I think we have some 'decent' players who have been badly managed this season.

I do however have issues with the CEO. He got the appointment of the previous head coach appalling wrong and now we are trusting him to make the decision again. In addition, and as you say, you could argue that the recruitment over the last 2 windows has been poor not necessary in who we've signed but the type of signings - the squad is ridiculously imbalanced and he should take some blame for that.

What credentials is he being judged on? I have little confidence that he - like the head coach he previously employed - is fit for purpose.