We need to start again.

You're blinded, mate. Even more than I.

Vaz Te
Davies
Golbourne

That's three more than Robins signed and flogged.

 

You think if the Club sold Cranie or Mellis they wouldn't get money for them?

Cranies got to be worth 500/750k

 

Davies was a Robins signing.

 

Not officially he was not. He signed after Robins left, although he agreed to sign before that, (unofficially of course)

 

He signed when Keith was in charge. Fact. Regardless of any discussions prior to it. He never played under Robins, he played under Keith. Fact.

 

My point exactly. The paperwork just happened to be finalised when the berk joined.

 

Wasn't his signing. He'd agreed to join under a Robins and deal was done.

 

It was , but Dyson is correct he actually signed after Hill became manager and only played under Hill never Robins.

 

Jacob got along with Robins. And Mark really rated him. But he was a safety first manager, and thought it too risky to play the kids, however talented. He knew from above that he had to keep the club up first and foremost. But then by the end of his tenure Mark started to give Jacob, Reuben and the other kids more of a chance, alongside the likes of Trippier and Mellis on loan. The latter two were all set to sign that Summer, permanently. Jacob feels Robins had a plan, and while he grew frustrated initially under him, he really believed Robins was onto something.
I have to be honest, at that time I looked at our squad (prior to his departure) and felt differently. Mark's habit of relying on loans had left us with about 10 players under contract. But as I'm reliably told by those named, Mark had irons in the fire, players wanting/ready to join. Trippier, Mellis, Davies, Forrester and some foreign kid I can't recall the name of at present. Alongside Steele, Hassell, Foster, Shackell, McEveley, Lovré, Haynes, Gray, Doyle, O'Brien. Plus the youngsters, I suppose he had a point.

But then came the boards/owners decision to reduce the spending, then came them announcing Shackell was to be sold, and Robins and they parted ways.



Keith's remit was to play a particular brand of football, and to develop saleable assets, whilst retaining second tier status under a reduced budget on all fronts (wages, transfer fees etc). He took one look at Jacob during pre-season training and decided to build around him. He had him in his office and promised him he'd make him a star. At that meeting Keith promised him also that he'd get the contract extension he wanted. Don Rowing told Keith/Jacob he'd look at contracts before Christmas. And so began the Don and Keith's great and happy relationship, not helped by Keith's right hand man fuelling the paranoia.

Jacob will never credit Keith/Flitcroft for his talent. He believes he's had that since he can remember, and that he honed it at Manchester United first, then later under the coaches at our Academy. But he'll give them both huge credit - and Jon Lucas - for getting him in the best shape he's ever been in. Will Buckley said a similar thing recently at Brighton, that they got an extra 10% of so many players through fitness regimens, and giving players belief where previously they'd been written off.

He witnessed some strange happenings at Oakwell under them, but found most of it to be 'funny' or done with a purpose. He remembers the Vaz Te treatment especially, and can recall him saying his goodbyes the week after the Pompey defeat after the management told him to look for another club. Ricardo took it literally and had to be told to come back until a move was sorted. He then popped off the bench against someone (Burnley?), scored, and the rest is history.

It has to be remembered though, that Jacob experienced - in the main - the good/happy stage of Keith's reign. The stage where we looking up the table, not down. Beating teams. Playing great football. Where everything seemed rosey. Then came January and it all collapsed.
He did exactly what he was asked to do by the board when appointed. Yes, he fell out quite early with the main director and caused all sorts of friction in sections of the club/dressing room. But that's management. It's never easy for everybody. Someone will be upset, hurt, left out or feel victimised.

He served up some awful football through most of 2012. I believe he 'gave in'. He looked for a way out at every opportunity. But instead of seeing good in certain people, letting them help him - fuelled again by paranoia - he attacked the wrong people and stuck blindly with those seemingly happy for him to fail.


Flitcroft seemed a clever bloke after taking over and looked to simply do the opposite of what Keith had done. It worked a treat in general. But there were signs of him being the pillock that he clearly now looks in the middle of his tenure last season. As soon as results went a bit awry, I definitely saw the real 'Flicker'. But thankfully he seemed to snap out of it and was exactly the kind of bloke I think the situation needed last term.
He then - and it's difficult to deny him the right - asked for certain assurances and in my opinion he got them and then some. But in doing that he forgot about the things (or ignored them purposely) that had made him an early success, and pretty much destroyed everything he'd started to build.
I wasn't as sad about his dismissal as I was Keith's. Many reasons, some private. But I'll look back fondly on both of their tenures, certainly in time. And I'm not one for subscribing to the theory that it's all their fault for the current predicament we're in. Flitcroft (way more than Keith) is partly to blame. And so are the board of directors/owner. But more importantly, I believe the buck stops in the main with a lot of our current players.



Quick response to the original point of the thread - I agree. But don't ask me how it'll work. The amount of folk I've already seen criticising Danny for team selection/tactics etc leads me to believe that were results to continue as present they'll be calling him 'Judas' again by March.


Short Term FC.

 

That is probably the best post you`ve ever written on here.

 

Absentee owner who has supported the club financially in the past and still guarantees the club's debts

A board that consists of a top solicitor who doesn't seem to be involved in the decision making

Barry Taylor, no further comment required

Ben Mansford, who made his name as an agent and has no record in being a director of a football club. That's not to say he isn't trying but the 're branding' farce and the new scoreboard proves that he doesn't have an easy job.

To sum up we have a club that has no direction, a bit of a rudderless ship.

The answer ? ****** if I know.

 

I'm maturing. Like cheese.

Sorry. I 'smell', like cheese.

 

Would be better if tha produced haif as much cheese.

Us oldies need a piss stop haif way through reading thi posts a lately. Summarise pal.

 

Once Sky get off their arses and sort our broadband out, I'll go back to putting my more lengthy opinions into the blog.

So blame Sky.