Match Thread Away v Colchester Utd Easter Monday April 18 @3.00pm

Reality is we’ve had poor recruitment for a long while. Ryan Sparks has overseen 4 managers, turnover of c40 players coming and going in past 18 months and more sound bites than home wins this season.

We have the one of the worst squad of players (barring Scunthorpe) in this League.

when you look at the accounts of Sutton, Forest Green, Newport and Northampton - their budgets are much lower than ours and in Sutton’s case significantly lower. All are outperforming us on the pitch.

Until we have good leadership and a culture that supports a winning mentality, we’ll continue as is. I hope the update coming summer provides time for proper thought, reflecting and player planning. Some of the players we’ve signed in past 6 months (Robinson, Delfonso, Elliott etc) we should be no where near yet they are in our squad.

 

Not huge money about 3k a week, but he's always invested in property and has a more than decent portfolio.

 

Im surprised it’s as low as that.
Thanks for the insight.

 

He was on a lot more at Ipswich before he went back.

 

Absolutely Dave. If there was a silver lining in that performance…that was it. I suggested earlier he was “ taking a look” and those brought in answered the question.

 

The ball boys at Ipswich were on silly money when they were trying to buy their way out of the CC, year after year and what nearly £90m in hoc to the owner?

 

I remember Sparks reaction when he signed Robinson right at the end of the summer window - 'heres a player with a point to prove ' and acting as if he had pulled off some kind of cunning worldly. How easily conned!
But blow me, we bloody repeat the scenario at the end of the winter window with Delfouneso!
Now that shows how shit our recruitment and planning really is, no lessons learnt

 

Yer, i tend to agree. Decent enough players who will usually come in and do a job if needed. Need some decent pro's in the squad and we cant/won't be signing 22 new players!

 

Reality is we’ve had poor recruitment for a long while. Ryan Sparks has overseen 4 managers, turnover of c40 players coming and going in past 18 months and more sound bites than home wins this season.

We have the one of the worst squad of players (barring Scunthorpe) in this League.

when you look at the accounts of Sutton, Forest Green, Newport and Northampton - their budgets are much lower than ours and in Sutton’s case significantly lower. All are outperforming us on the pitch.

Until we have good leadership and a culture that supports a winning mentality, we’ll continue as is. I hope the update coming summer provides time for proper thought, reflecting and player planning. Some of the players we’ve signed in past 6 months (Robinson, Delfonso, Elliott etc) we should be no where near yet they are in our squad.

and we have one or the highest agents costs in L2. Go figure that for sighing total dross!

 

Delfouneso will be a quiz question for sure.

Even now I'm forgetting we've signed him, and it's still the same season.

 

Yep. Ditto Tom Elliott as well as Robinson. All 'players who had something to prove' and then didn't have either the motivation or the desire to do it at VP. Another day, another dollar, ho hum.

 

Sparks should be nowhere near footballing decisions, business yes but football no chance. That’s why we need a director of football or equivalent someone with some footballing knowledge higher up than the manager.

 

What a joke Elliott was, goes down at the start of a game after absolutely nothing has happened and out for the rest of the season, seemingly.

 

18th in the fourth division. Shameful. Just watch us lose to Scunny on Saturday. That has to be one of the most inept, lacklustre, pitiful performances that I have seen by a City team, and, boy, there have been some shocking ones lately.

 

I view today as a successful exercise. Hughes will have learned lots about these players and will judge them accordingly. I’ve not seen the game but the result says everything. No hiding place for those who wore city shirts today.

 

Where's Daly at?

 

Why …He’s XXX as well!

 

You won’t find players who are the finished article in League 2. He does make mistakes but he is still young an has time on his side. He’s still in the better half of league two keepers despite his flaws

 

Sutton runs around a lot an has odd flashes of brilliance but there are times when he reminds me of Gillead i.e. running around aimlessly an chasing shadows