Is the season over

Two or three wins on the trot and we are back in there and we have just come off a three match win and a draw sequence

 

Simple answer. No

 

Hasn’t he spent most of the last few weeks in the States with the USA squad, or summat? So wasn’t available for selection by us. If so, it seems a bit soon to be writing him off.

 

Could not agree more and the blame is Rupp and Sparks yet the amount of apologist is alarming. They’re better clubs, with better structure and ambitions. They want out of league 2- often think we love league 2 so we can tweet about attendance

 

Also best post on this forum captures the problems perfectly. What a shambles (queue all the bantam talk apologist jumping in)

 

We nearly lost heaps of fans due to Hughes-ball. If the Cowleys come in, the fans will turn. Their dark age football has no place in the modern game and I would be disappointed if we end up with those dinosaurs in charge of the club. It's a hard NO!

 

No..

We've signed players that are too old, legs have gone or simply not good enough.

League 2 football for the foreseeable I'm afraid.

Heads should roll.

 

Seriously!

Do you honestly think that this is a good squad? You think we have enough?

Honestly, nearly 1 -11 we are shite. Even Cook is shite so far this season.

You can dream and hope all you want! Unless we get a decent manager in and Sparks goes as CEO then this club will be in Div 2 next season.

 

Ive seen you post this a few times now.
What do you mean by “awful” or “dark age football”?

Fans have been getting behind a more direct approach under McDonald and Parky was direct. It’s the passing for passings sake under Hughes which created zilch in terms of a chances that fans couldn’t stomach.

Most City fans don’t care how it’s done in terms of directness, they just want tempo and lots of attempts on goal.

Oh and who do suggest as an alternative?
The Cowleys are the only decent and realistic options from the out of work bunch.

 

Totally agree. Where is our plan to get out of this league? If we have one it isn’t working. This has been happening for 5 years now.

 

Of course the chances of promotion have gone and the squad isn’t good enough. Even with a big budget Hughes managed to put together a mid table squad

 

So if we say 'we need to go up' we go up?

 

But we have dark age supporters!!

 

It doesn’t have to be over. Get the right manager, approach the January window with ambition and proper planning, and we could still go up. But it needs a comprehensive overhaul in January. 7 or 8 need to go, and at least 3 or 4 quality signings need to be made. We’ve needed a proper midfield playmaker for a while, we need at least one wide forward with proper quality, another striker, probably a centre half too. Full backs we have a couple of steady options, but we’ll need better to be a promotion outfit.

But all of the above, starts with having a strength, clarity and ambition of leadership that we’ve lacked for years. Until this club is sold to more capable owners, and reset properly, we’ll continue to drift.

 

B*****s. We have one of the most loyal and hardy fan bases in football. The sh*te we’ve been served for years, and despite being one of the most impoverished parts of the country with a city dying on its arse, we turn up in numbers home and away, with little more ‘demanded’ than a team that gives its all and approaches each game on the front foot.

 

I think he's referring to the preferred style of play of our supporters.

 

The plan doesn’t even need to be that complicated. I’ve been saying it for years - the key thing in terms of playing style, is creating a ‘playing philosophy’ that engages the crowd. Passive football won’t work here. The identity of the city is working class, hard graft. In relative terms, the style we’ll always connect with is more Liverpool and Newcastle than it is Man City or Brighton. It just is. Any manager we bring in has to subscribe to that, without it being aimless long ball guff. And we’ve seen it first hand in the last few games. Engage this crowd and VP is a fortress and an asset. Disengage the crowd, its a millstone.

Focus squad assembly on quality over quantity, somewhere in the region of 20 strong players with 2 or 3 youth loans/young pro’s. Bulk of the squad between 23-27, a couple of older pro’s for leadership, and if we hit an injury crisis then its tough sh*t. Have one Dan Kemp instead of a Tulloch, Afoka and Wilson.

 

Even that, I disagree with. See my post above. You can play aggressive, direct, front foot football without it being ‘dark ages’ in approach. I think back to 99. That team was direct. It got the ball forward quickly and was a joy to watch. The most enjoyable City side we’ve ever had. Ipswich were the technical side in the Championship. And Sunderland were probably more akin to stereotypical long ball to Quinn, knock for Phillips. It worked a treat, but we were different. Direct, aggressive, penalty box action stuff. Engage the crowd. Doesn’t have to be aimless, and shouldn’t be aimless.

 

At last an understanding of what a business plan is and as you say doesn’t have to be complicated or go into a lot of financial detail.