A Settled Club

For me, this is where we are struggling.

1) Every year, we’re having a new Head Coach.

2) Every year, we’re having new Assistant Coaches.

3) Every 2-3 years we’ve a new CEO.

4) And over recent history, we’ve a new Board of Directors every few years too.

Everyone of these changes also affects the squad and the views on it - who’s deemed wanted one year, isn’t wanted the year after. Youth players have to keep proving themselves to new managers.

I know Devaney was put in place to allow transitions - but not fully sure how successful this is, albeit makes sense.

Than you have to attract players - players want to know who they’re playing for, and that they’ll be staying.

For good or for bad, the club need stability on and off the pitch now. Look at the first Danny Wilson era - that team was built over a few seasons. I appreciate times are different, but we have to steady the ship.

For all their faults - Bolton have stuck with Evatt - and whilst it’s not been totally without fails, they are there or there abouts each season (yes, I know he’s a minor shareholder too).

That’s all - it’s time to steady the ship. Clarke might not be the best manager in the world, but he’s not the worst either. And sometimes who have to give people time. Give him another summer window to refine the squad further, and see how he goes. It’s been years since we’ve had a manager who’s had 2 summer windows.

 

If that's the criteria for a settled club then we're in the majority of unsettled clubs, very few fit that criteria I'm afraid, even the promised land of the Premiership has more than it's fair share of owner/coach turnover, we're all aware of football's fickleness and there is no such thing as coach/player loyalty, it works both ways.

 

Get everything settled, and that helps attract/retain the players. Course some will come and go, nothing unusual.

Can’t keep changing the coach every year though - unless they are horrific - which Clarke isn’t.

 

We would all of course like to see a settled club, I would however take issue with your take on Clarke, horrific? No, but he is certainly in a job that is too tough for him not only does he boggle his own mind he boggles every mind at Oakwell, he is akin to a person attempting to swim the English Channel after one swimming lesson, rarely does professional football give you the time to settle, if we could collectively see a plan a mindset to give us confidence going forward then perhaps time should be given, I and it would seem thousands of others cannot see any sign of a plan.
To give this coach another transfer window would be an act of folly.

 

No good trying to build a stable squad in League 1 because if you do gain promotion you're platting piss in the Championship. Sign players that will be good enough for the next level.

 

Only one slight problem with that idea. All the players that are good enough to play in the championship are playing in the championship

 

Indeed. The key is finding players that can and will be able to make the step up.

 

I didn’t say a stable L1 squad - I said a stable squad. A sprinkle of solid L1 players, a sprinkle of some ex Champ players who are proven and can go back up, and then some rough diamonds who with work and time can step up.

Think back to Hendrie & Wilkinson. With Bullock and Marcelle as the rough diamonds etc. we’ve done it before.

 

Yes but that was at Championship level. I reckon we're a level too low to plan properly. It's a shame we don't have the finances Ipswich or Southampton had at this level. Clubs who did it properly.

 

Times have changed though. Absolutely no chance of us getting a modern day equivalent of Hendrie or Wilkinson because they will have been earning 50k+ a week, and won't drop down to L1 to play for £4k a week. They'd be multi millionaires and would rather just retire than flog themselves for a relative pittance.

 

Yeah you’re right, of course.

But you get what I mean. Just wants a blended squad, within budget. Couple of gambles, couple of certs.

Think back to Jason Scotland and Marlon Harewood - still do-able with the right characters.

Just need time to build that squad. Yeah, might not work, but what’s happening now ain’t working either.

 

Fair enough. IMO I still think he can do something - I think we’d all agree the squad ain’t fully right and he’s short of a couple of signings. If you resolve that, then of course he can be judged more after that.

 

Sadly, I’m not sure it’s as easy to get a player of Hendries ability and experience like it was. Likewise Thompson and Wilko, especially at this level.

Not impossible, as we’ve managed to get Conor & Roberts back, but with mixed fortunes.

It used to be a thing where players either opened pubs or dropped down the leagues, but the money in the top divisions is too good now, and has been for a good while.

 

There's no way given the current recruitment and retention policy currently in place at Oakwell that you'll get a settled club because as soon as a player shows any promise or a coach has a bit of success there are gone as soon as a bit of money is waved under the boards nose. Unless like at the moment no one is s showing promise then you get change for another reason.

 

We built a strong league 1 squad previously recently that went up and did well didn't we?

Davies
Roberts
Mawson
Hourihane
Scowen
Hammill
Woodrow
Bradshaw

Bottom at Christmas if I remember correctly...

 

Yup - can be done!

 

I’ve no issue if a player or manager goes for the right money, as it means we’re doing well. Success always breeds interest, that’s normal.

It’s the sacking part for the sake of it that sets us back more.

 

Problem is it's not normally just one player or manager, in the past it's been entire sections of the team that have gone or the entire coaching staff apart from Devaney

 

That where perhaps Hourihane and possibly Stead come in - all have links to the club/local area. So perhaps they are more permanent roles regardless, who knows. Only Devaney has been given that publicly.

 

I think stability is important to any club and business. But there is also an equal and opposite argument on change in certain situations. Maybe a new CEO attracts new investment, a new manager fishes in a pool to attract rather than put players off. Btw I’m not advocating sacking anyone right now.

The real question is, would we welcome new owners who do have the wherewithal, investment and ability to push us back to a constant championship level … or above. Make the days fun, enjoyable and affordable and develop the ground. Or do we prefer the stability and the limitations of our current board? For me the whole topic of BFC whether game day experience, club infrastructure, player quality, performances etc seems to be on the decline in comparison to where we were in the recent past.