Who thinks Collins was the biggest problem at the club

Because he may have been a part of the problem but if anyone thinks all in the garden is rosy now he's gone I'm afraid your badly mistaken. For me Saturday is no win if them senior pros put it all in because they have got what they want they should be getting pelters like Collins got on Saturday. Most of them are already out of the door, he certainly no Pep but this mess is far from one blokes responsibility

 

Not me

 

He was a big problem, the biggest ? Not sure but he’s the one judged on results and getting rid of the board isn’t easy.

 

Nope. I actually think he's a good coach. Third highest goal scorers in the league with the squad we have is bizarrely over achieving. That's not to say he's without fault. He hasn't, at any time, got to grips with us defensively. I put that largely down to the defenders we have who simply aren't good enough to be top end League 1, but 63 goals conceded is way too many.

Recruitment is shocking. Both the standard of players brought in and the options it gives the manager. Almost everyone they recruited in the summer has been shipped out on loan, most of whom have done nowt at their loan clubs. We've got one full back at the club (Williams) who has to play in a back three as the rest can't run. So we can't play with 4 at the back because the wing backs haven't got a tackle in them. Nor do we have wingers, or anyone who can run with the ball. He's been given a bag of spanners and some broken breeze blocks and been asked to build a house.

 

I totally agree to sum up for me in order of responsibility 1/ recruitment 2/senior pros attitudes 3/Collins comes a distant 3rd

 

No. He was just part of awful recruitment.

3 out of last 4 managers have been beyond awful. Responsibility for that lies with the board. Recruitment in general was poor last summer though steps were taken in January to rectify those errors.

A lack of leaders on the pitch also cost us. Norwood leaving still feels avoidable. He was great at leading the line more valuable than his goals.

so an all round shitshow.

 

Given that our 24-25 strike force will be Watters/Cosgrove/Shaw/Dallas, I would imagine the sacking is sweet relief for Neill.

 

The thing is if those players go all out and attack and beat Northampton why would that be cause to criticise them? They weren't allowed to do it under Collins

For me the players haven't downed tools (with the exception of our top scorer who has definitely not been putting 100% in) it's simply that the manager has not allowed them to play to their strengths.

We've all seen the player that Connell can be but he's playing with one arm behind his back having to spend half the game facing the defenders. We all know how good Cadden can be going down the wing but he's spending half the game standing with his arms in the air watching us make 2 or 3 foot passes. Williams got excellent reviews last season but has been turned into a very poor centre back this year. Phillips just outside the box waiting for half a chance is a player that anyone would want but he's nowhere near the ball because it's in our defence. MDG is cool and composed when he has time but he's being asked to pass the ball across the box and back again even as the opposition closes him down.

I don't think many players have downed tools or played without effort, I think they've just all had their strengths taken away from them by the tactics.

Collins was for me the biggest problem on match days as he enforced the tactics but overall I believe the biggest problem comes from an over reliance on a spreadsheet that isn't flexible enough to allow changing tactics. That's why we had this season players who attack with speed being asked to play a slow game. The biggest mistake was appointing Collins in the first place as his style of football was at odds with that which the club has set itself up to play.

 

I'm not suggesting the board goes I don't think there's a load of people with more money than sense waiting in the wings and it maybe they are putting things in place to make sure a mess like this doesn't happen again but they have to bear most of the responsibility. The senior pros need to take their fair share too three or four have down tools for me and that's unacceptable for me.

 

We both know our strike force next season will be nothing like that.

 

I’m actually indifferent. I just think he was an average coach. Recruitment and player performance have contributed more to the downfall but he’s hardly blameless. I’m not sad he’s gone. I doubt we can easily find anyone better… but we can likely find someone similar with a more enjoyable playstyle. In the end results went badly at the business end of the season and the buck stops there.

 

The problem in part has been the home form , he’s got a record away points total ,some going with this squad , but home it’s been dire , and then there’s luck, injury to Pines must have been gutting for him

 

Please god no

 

I think I'm too embarrassed at the moment to even think about an answer....

 

Sometimes things go well, sometimes they don’t. Leagues full of clubs having varying levels of success, mediocrity and failure.

I’m not sure there always has to be a ‘problem’ or a scapegoat just because things didn’t meet with our expectation and satisfaction.

Collins is just another manager learning his trade and gaining experience, just like many of our player signings. It’s what we do, and as disappointing as it is in cases where it doesn’t work out, I just can’t get involved in the blame game.

There are players and managers throughout football that were written off somewhere, but did well elsewhere. It’s just football. Annoying, disappointing, depressing or frustrating, but part and parcel of football.

 

Agree with that Steve. I do feel really sorry for the guy as I think he was well intentioned and had the interests of the club at heart.
Our tactics seemed very overly cautious. That's been our main problem at home.
Who'd have believed it? After that 7 - 0 win in his first game and 5th in the table, it"s been a bizarre season.
You're right re the Pines injury...a proper blow for the manager.
There's more to this than meets the eye....behind the scenes shenanigans? Guess we'll never get to know.
I do believe the BFC Board have the clubs interests at heart also. Tough decision for them.
Very ballsy.

 

If Connell is back Saturday then potentially it was a lost the dressing room thing.

Benson and Cundy never returning from injury and getting a run in the squad is strange.

Cole, Earl and Roberts massive drop in form

No improvement in Watters game.

What position does Phillips actually play in Collins formation.

OKeefe not getting a regular slot when Williams in the back 3.

Russell should be a solid DCM in this league.

Macatee being subbed early in games or on the bench.

Cosgrove goal return and number of starts, again he should be a decent striker in this division.

Has he ever got the best out of Cadden and Kane.

Should Jalo have had more opportunities to shine.

All the early goals conceeded

All the above show that Collins coaching and leadership wasn't quite up to the task.
Something wasn't quite right.

 

For me, the bottom line is that even though the squad is a far cry from last season, I think the league is also poorer than last season and there was no reason that with the players at our disposal we shouldn't at the very least have got second place fairly comfortably. This isn't me speaking out of bias or ego, it is a fact, the league is pretty dross save one or two teams. We've not played well in a fair percentage of games and have eeked our way into the position we are now which we look damn good for torpedoing right now due to a past few months of absolute ineptness.

Is it fair on Collins to sack him now? Probably not. Anything can happen in the playoffs should be have got us there, but given our poor form at home, the board clearly think a gamble at this stage is better than sticking with what we have had so far, because we are literally clinging on to a playoff spot.

 

Collins was a symptom of the ineptitude and incompetence of the people who are running the football club. He was a problem but by no means the biggest one. The biggest problem is the way the business model employed by the club is implemented with the 2 to 4 yearly squad disassembly and the rebuild with evermore inferior players.

 

Be right interested to see what formation we go with on Saturday because I don’t think we are geared up for any other than he played. Maybe get back to pressing game and hope that works.