Match Thread Away V Scunthorpe - Tuesday 23 March@ 7pm

I'd just make clear that they have the job till the summer, and a final decision will be made then. The uncertainty isn't any good. but neither is there a need to make a decision when we have time on our side for once. T&S have done great over a very short period of time. But they wouldn't be the first management team to make a sudden, short impact after taking the reigns only for it to be a false dawn. They have very, very little management experience in the professional game. That in itself isn't something that should be used to write them off, but its reasonable to want to judge them over a longer and fuller test. Not least, to see how they manage under the sort of pressure they'd face next season and whether they can manage a bigger, better squad rather than being limited to polishing turds and sending out a team that's just hard to beat.

 

bit nosey aren’t you oh and say hi to hoochie for me

 

Yes he could have arrived in the taxi paid for by the Middlesbrough fans

 

Yes, Tindall was doing a good job at one point, made them 40 million in player sales, not sure they've been out of the play offs, now they're trying Woodgate.

Clearly that's a well run club, but perhaps they're going overboard in their search for the next young manager ala Eddie Howe?

 

Shall we just call it a draw and a point each? Doesn't seem like we'll ever get this game played!!!

 

Totally agree and I think we’ve agreed from the start that we need a larger sample size before committing to any long term contracts. I’m a bit worried tbh, as their first 3 games were far better than the most recent 3 or 4 and I’m wondering if it’s due to the worldy goals we were scoring then drying up, although I’m sure a few will make excuses. I’ve said it all along they’ve done great to get us the points we have, but other than making us hard to beat by playing one up top and having plenty behind the ball I’m not sure how we’ve improved. We still have less chances than the majority of opposition and eventually that starts to tell as I’m worried we are beginning to see.

We have some difficult fixtures coming up and if we don’t improve I can see us losing them all, if results go against us on top of that we could be right back in trouble.

I just hope we can improve our performances because the warning signs are starting to show. February will tell us far more about this duo so any decision on their futures should be in March at the earliest.

 

Watt has picked up 2 yellows in consecutive games. Both for cynical, but necessary fouls because players running through. He seems off the pace again and is close to getting a ban. Could this be because of the changes to personnel and lack of tucking in to support midfield?

 

Agree that Watt has looked a little overrun recently. Doesn't overly concern me, given the amount of enforced changes on Saturday is have been surprised if it had all slotted together immediately. Giving him a break and putting Cooke in his place is an option. We've plenty of cover in his advanced midfield position.

 

Trouble is we don't have anyone to replace Watt in the deeper position?

 

I'm not sure if we tried, but the lack of a new central midfield player was the negative aspect of the January window for me. Let's hope this will rectified in the summer when we continue the rebuilding of the squad good enough to challenge for promotion next season

 

Not wanting to get confrontational with you but surely comparing how we playing now with what went before shows what an improvement a draw at Cambridge who were top of the league a 3-1 win at Southend and a win over Barrow who were an a great run. The only blot is a defeat to a very good Exeter side with a weakened side.
Nobody is or should be claiming that we are the finished article. Yes the improvement is based on a solid defence but forward reinforcements have come in recently and just look how just one Rowe started. It will take a bit of time for these to bed in
Had these results been achieved by an incomer we would have been delighted. I agree as far as the club is concerned there is no rush but in fairness they should be given to the end of the season with a permanent decision

 

I don't see how it makes any sense at all to carry on with this interim stuff.

Give them a contract to the end of the season with an extra year clause, and give them the extra security and gravitas.

Feels like we're just waiting for a proper manager, and I've no idea why.

 

I said at the time that the interim thing was bollocks. Just appoint them till the end of the season, then review.

 

Watts yellow yesterday wont count will it ?

 

I actually back sparks on this one. His next permanent appointment has to be someone who is capable of providing promotion next season, whether that be T&S or someone else.

Whilst the change in titles from caretaker to interim was pointless, he's right with taking his time. We're currently doing enough to make relegation look unlikely which is the sole aim for the rest of the season, so T&S are having an extended audition period, where, if they can improve performances whilst getting results, he'll have much more evidence and reason to back a full time appointment.

I keep saying it but they've had less than 10 games as managers at professional level (the last two being average at best), which is still far too small a sample size. Give them the rest of the season, pressure free. See if they can make us a more complete outfit rather than just 'hard to beat' and make a decision early in the summer.

 

Spot on. Its a huge decision. We simply have to move forward and challenge for promotion next season. We should take every opportunity to use the time we have, to consider that decision carefully. Not least, because the pool of available managers may well be of better quality come the summer, should we need to look elsewhere.

 

Yes.

 

You are comparing something totally different to me, I’ve never argued the results and have said they’ve done a great job. I’m specifically talking about performances which usually highlight where a team is going long term. In my opinion our first 3/4 performances were far better than the last 3/4, Cambridge was a decent performance tbf bit after that I thought if Southend hadn’t missed a couple of big chances the game could have easily been different. As for Barrow and Exeter and even the 30 minutes against Scunthorpe where other than a cross I don’t remember us having possession in their half we have been very poor. Bowyer still got results which is why we were as high as 8th when he was sacked, if he were in charge still now people would be having kittens over how we are playing, the pass completion rate recently is down there with Sunday league stuff as we are constantly just clearing it to the opposition.

 

As long as the clause is in our favour I agree and couldn’t understand at the time why we put out such a meaningless statement, it’s no different to caretakers. That said I don’t agree with people saying give them 18/24 months now when they have 9 professional games under their belt. We did similar with players like Patrick and Devine, until we see evidence we will improve long term long term contracts should be off the table, at this level rolling contracts are a more sensible way imo anyway as a 4th division club can’t afford to keep paying contracts off as we have done and managers at this level are rarely in demand at a higher level.

For once the club hold the cards.

 

It was interesting to hear the commentators talk about the lack of pace for Canavan and how he wouldn’t want to be taken out to the wings too often. Might restrict Woods bombing forward too often.