Here we are having given away a 5 point cushion in two games, having played with hardly a shot on goal. A team that are playing in a totally dispirited manner, and a manager that few of us believe has the capability of saving us from the drop. Add to that, that if the opinions expressed on this board are anything to go by, trust in the chairman and the board are at a low point in recent experience. There seems to be little to celebrate. Was it only six months ago that we all had such a special day in Cardiff? How could they have got it so wrong? If there is £2 million to spend on new players, rather than adjusting the staff by letting our best players and using the money to bring in others to compensate, is it too little too late. Gordon Shepherd appears to be under pressure, if his interviews are anything to go by, but remember he has done the job of running the business very well in reducing the debt. Respectfully my suggestion is that, if we are to run with an inexperienced manager, we should appoint an experienced director of football, and allow Davey to operate as coach. The right person would have to be respected for his knowledge, and have the contacts to attract new players, he would also be responsible for rebuilding confidence with the fans. He would obviously sit on the board, and give the management team the football focus that is sadly lacking. Mr Shepherd you are a business man, your business is under threat, look at your structure.
£2m to spend, no way. The only thing the board did last season to help the promotion push was to sign....... err, no-one they sold Jacob Burns instead. The board are the ones with no ambition. Get those books balanced!
The £2 million comes from earlier threads, and I also have my doubts, but at this time I would want to balance the econimic side of the business with an experienced football brain. From top to bottom we don't have one.
I know that this thread is about shutting the stable door after the horse hase gone, because this appointment could have been made at the start of the season and saved Ritchie's job, but we still need it. All directors are power brokers and want to make decisions unopposed, but the wise one's recognise their weaknesses and appoint people to cover for them. it means that they have to listen to opinions when making decisions, but they get more decisions right. Gordon would not try to run his own IT in a big business, why should he feel he can handle the football element of the clubs business? I don't know if the powers that be read this board, and I doubt whether Gordon will be inclined to bring in anyone who may not agree with him, but Patrick Cryne may see the sense in protecting his investment.
You honestly think we could afford a Director of Football? We wouldn't pay enough in wages to attractDarren Ward, Stephen Foster or even Eddie bloody Johnson!
I don't know about affording one or whether the board have the desire. My point is that there is little sign of a strategy at work other than to balance the books, and they are losing the confidence of the fans by signing inexperienced managers. Given the cost of relegation and inevitable decline can we afford not to? As a board member the job would not necessarily be full time, but would have responsibilities strictly laid out.
If we are paying up AR and RH's contracts in full as PC has said, then given we only have Davey and Kidd (who's running the Academy at the moment?) we're probably paying out more to coaches not to coach than to those who are working. Madness, when we don't have 2 bob to rub together.
