The board

Done nothing wrong this season. If anything goes wrong this season fans will target them.

The signings they have made this season have been best we possibly could of made.

All the new signings have contributed.

I after say well done.

Players that don't even get into our team would walk most into most of the teams in our league

Benson
Cosgrove
Yoganthan

Just proves the improvement from this time last year!

 

Er, what? I’m not a huge basher of the board, they are doing their best, but that is a right load of twaddle.

The signings of Slonina and Craig were poor. Slonina nowhere near good enough and Craig a waste of a wage and squad place, we just didn’t need him at all.

They didn’t sign an out and out centre forward, neither dkd or Humphrys are that. Which means we are reliant on Watters, who is rarely fit three games in a row, and Cosgrove, who is absolute bobbins.

They left us with one left sided wing back and he was at the time 20 years old and yet to make a pro appearance in England, though had played for Motherwell.

As for Cosgrove walking into most teams in this league - even Vimal, that’s just a bit silly.

Benson would - but he’d probably get injured on the walk.

The signings they have made are the best they could possibly have made? Don’t be ridiculous. If that was the case we wouldn’t need to sign anyone this month - and they’ve already gone out and got a left wing back.

DKD is coming good but half a dozen games ago didn’t look worth the fee. Whoever found Nwakali wants a big bonus and a promotion. Roberts has added leadership and coolness at the back.

Hourihane was a tad bizarre, and as mentioned Slonina and Craig were poor choices. Humphrys was last minute in an attempt to get a centre forward and he’s a second striker/ten at best really.

So no I’m not sure we should be on the board’s back but to say they’ve got got nothing wrong and the signings the best we could have made is very clearly off the mark.

 

The board are doing their best and are putting money in to keep things going. Theyve been incompetent in lots of areas but their heart is in the right place. Thats my take-has been since Conway bogged off. We should look long-term and be a bit more judgemental in a year or two

 

Benson would probably pull his hamstring while walking onto the pitch lol.
And Cosgrove would probably fall over him and want a penalty for it.

 

I do mostly agree with that Kam.
Yeah I know they do seem to be genuine and maybe even nice people.
And I'm sure they do indeed mean well, and want the best for this club and for us fans.
And they do seem to have made 100% more effort in the job, than the likes of Lee & Conway ever did.
None of those comments are being questioned.
But, what was that you were saying about incompetence ehh ?.

 

I have no issues with any of the players we signed. Slonina unfortunately just too early for him, though he didnt cost us as many points as people make out.

Craig is a brilliant player, unfortunately can't play with Connell or Nwakali but we were rightfully all very excited when he joined and saw glimpses of his quality, he will have a very good career.

DKD, after a slow start, is finally showing why we paid that much for him- contributing loads now and getting better and better.

Roberts, experienced, physical, dominant in the air. Exactly what we needed and will hopefully share his wisdom with his teammates at the back.

Gent, raw, loves a tackle, slow start but improving. A little inconsistent at times but feisty and looks good going forward. Gets caught out at times at the back, but when they're asked to play so high up, they will run out of steam or switch off at times.

Nwakali. Pure class on the ball, probably so far anyway, one of the best passers we've had in years and years. Anonymous off the ball a lot when defending, but doesn't really bother me as he does so much when we have possession or when he's on the ball.

Humphrys, great close ball control, good finisher, loves to run at opposition, dwindles on ball a bit too much at times but least he's trying to make things happen constantly, works his nads off too and think his fitness is improving

Hourihane, I thought he'd have game time, that's before Kelechi and Craig joined, also thought we'd lose more than Kane in midfield, connell or Phillips, but we didn't so can completely understand why he's stepped back. Looking at our attacking set pieces though, they've improved drastically and he's a huge part of that, so another successful signing imo.

We did a lot of business, and spent a huge portion of our budget on one player. I dont think it was entirely possible, or if it was, wise to do every bit of business we wanted in 1 window - look how it's turned out for Rotherham. But for me the transfers we did make have been hugely positive at it stands.
2 you could argue havent worked out, but guarantee every club has similar if not even more than that number

 

I wouldn’t hold the board responsible for any signings, it’s surely all down to Mladen and the management team.
No doubt someone will come along and blame the board for not fixing the television , not advertising prices etc.

 

100% spot on

 

Think the Board suffer more from the inability to run a football club than they do from anything else. It's a business and all businesses make occasional poor decisions, it's how quickly and ruthlessly you put those mistakes right. Cosgrove, Benson, Slonina and Craig should all be sold/ returned in this window plus any of the fringe squad who we know won't make it (Marsh?) ..Yes these people put money in but if they managed it better it would cost em less. Credit tho, they have got more right this time with signings than they've got wrong.

 

This post is typical of how fickle fans are ! My worry is winning 4 games on the trot they will think we don’t need any signings ( yes we signed a free left back), that would be typical of this board!
A decent team would have scored 7 or 8 yesterday I was so disappointed it only finished 3 don’t think I’ve ever seen a worse team defensively.
It’s clear we have a poor squad overall and not to recruit will see us dropping out of the picture and season ticket sales plummeting, they will anyway with the fixture shambles/TV deal.

 

Nwakali looks like being a brilliant find and will bring us a bit of decent brass into coffers, hopefully not before he helps us to championship mind.

 

I’m grading Sormaz’s time with us as C- , before the latest signing I would say it’s a D+. Leaving us short at LB & a striker short as well as the gaga & Craig signings was criminal! Also the whole Hourihane debacle.

The board are doing poorly, why are we losing so much money? We could be run so much better, so what mistakes are they making?

The whole matchday experience needs to be a priority, it’s been a shambles for ages. Start getting that right & things will start looking better!

 

For me they deserve credit for the behind the scenes changes in terms of splitting what was Khalid's role and recruiting a dedicated sporting director. I think we had quite a poor summer 23 transfer window which highlighted the need to change something there. I tend to think Mladen has done quite well so far and our recruitment has improved. Looking at the squad now compared to 12 months ago, when over half the 11 were out of contract or on loan, we look to have assembled a good core of players who are under contract. We just need to build on the recruitment from this summer which on the whole was pretty good for the players we brought in. It probably just needed a couple more in/out but I trust them to do it.

 

You say a decent side would’ve score 7 or 8, I’ve mot seen money bags Birmingham and Wrexham banging 7 or 8 in, both seem to win by 1 or 2 and Wrexham’s trademark is the late goal

 

Agree with alot of this but with signings your not going to get everyone right. A few weeks ago people were slating signing Nwakali now he's great. Slonina and craig looked good additions on paper I think craig is a decent player just not needed.

 

What do you think the board could do to stop losing as much money as you say and make more money?

 

I think the board are learning on the job. None have any experience of running a football club previously and as a result are making mistakes as they go.

What they have recognised is the need to have people with experience and ability in the roles for both commercial and football recruitment aspects of the club. I’ve no idea if John Flatman or Mladen Sormaz are good in their roles but they are there because the board need professionals in those areas.

The on pitch performances have improved and we are seeing players improve under Clarke. Players such as O’Keefe, Russell and MDG all look better recently and performances are certainly more entertaining. The squad still looks unbalanced although the dirth of left sided options has been further addressed early in the transfer window. Add to that another out and out striker and I think we are getting there.

On the financial side things aren’t great but they are not too dissimilar to most football clubs. Look at the recent accounts for Wednesday and Hull, both losing £10m and £19m respectively, Football finances are madness. There is the need to trim the playing squad but that is easier said than done. Players on decent contracts aren’t going anywhere without the club meeting a substantial part of their contract value.

Overall I think they are trying really hard and putting considerable money in. The problem is that they aren’t the only football club owners doing this wanting success.

 

They've done the right thing in splitting the CEO role, and I think Mladen has got more right than wrong. While the loan players haven't worked out, the permanent signings have all shown promise. Cosgrove aside I think everybody in the squad has shown some ability to justify why we've signed them, but they also have weaknesses which is why they are League One players. Clarke has done well getting the best out of Russell, McCarthy, and O'Keeffe, which was one of the major criticisms levelled at Collins. I have confidence that we have a long term strategy, and we need to stick with it. The worst thing we could do is go into the summer looking for another manager.