Competitive Budget.

we should have never signed scannell , just a look at his injury record ,should have stayed clear .

 

The one big lesson we should have learnt this season;

Budgets (like so many other things in life) - it's not the size it's how you use it.

 

Like any 'budget shopping' ........... Buy what you need, first and foremost, before treating yourself to something you fancy.

 

Did O'Connor play more for Aberdeen in midfield or defence? From day one here, I thought he looked more like a defensive midfielder than a centre back. Searching the internet, he seemed to play midfield more for Aberdeen and we've seen him drive into midfield sometimes. It must annoying for him if he would prefer to play defensive midfield yet has seen our midfielders often fail to perform their defensive duties well, leaving him and NKP to sometimes carry the can with fans for losing games. I'm always wary when we are told new players can play more than one position. Which one are they good at and which one do they want to play? It affects their motivation.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39678584

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/43770145

https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2017/12/03/confirmed-aberdeen-v-rangers-lineups/

 

perception is everything.

which players were we really getting?

Riley- The player Man Utd fans were raving about or a gamble who had only proven himself at non league standard?

Wright- The player with Championship experience who had also won Gillinghams POTS ahead of Dack or the player who both Gillingham and Southend could wait to get rid of?

Akpan- The player who had played al of his career at Championship level or the player who was nicknamed hopeless?

O'Connor- The player Aberdeen fans were lambasting or the player who was also offered a 3 year contract there?

etc etc

Most of us trying hadn't even heard of these players- we knew next to nothing about them so trying to establish whether they were any good required a huge amount of guesswork and Hence, it's perfectly acceptable for us the fans to look back with hindsight. I'm not sure Rahic and Abbott should get the same amount of leeway. We can look at it in any way we want , the fact remains that we're currently the worst team in the division, will more than likely get relegated and both of them failed miserably in their attempts to build a promotion building squad.

 

Precisely, Fordy. You, I and many others were truly mystified by our 'recruitment', and we're now suffering from those failings.

 

Butterfield was a last minute one, which happened only because he's a local lad and we're contributing very little in terms of wage %. It was 'opportunitistic', which in itself showed the distinct lack of planning. I said it at the time - unless we knew that we had the money and means to go and get the 4 or 5 players we desperately needed, Payne should have been returned. A proper centre back, hard midfielder, left winger and striker were absolutely essential. A decent left back would've been good - but we could've limped through if the rest of the team was strengthened.

What the thinking was in January I've no idea. I can understand why the summer was a shambles, but there's no excuse for January.

Another reason why keeping Bowyer is essential. It'll allow us to plan for a professional transfer window in the summer. Get some solid foundations in place to stabilise the club - a year of finding our feet again, and then pushing on the following season. If we can do both in the same season then great - but we need to stop the bleeding first of all.

Its the biggest rebuilding job in terms of squad that I can remember us having. There are literally 3-4 first team players, plus 3-4 younger fringe lads that are worth keeping. That's it. We could be looking at needing anywhere up to 15 new players. We're not going to get all those in one summer. Better to focus on getting 7-8 of the right ones and giving a few of those who've under performed another chance - IF we believe they have the right character and the talent to perform in a properly balanced side - an example might be someone like Doyle. Or even Akpan. Stick the right wingers in the side and a battling midfielder (Akpan sure ain't one!) then I think we might see the best of both players.

 

I think that is relevant to every single team in every single division in the world. Get the spine of team right and the bits off that are what will make a mid table team into a promotion chasing team. Goalkeeper included.

Parky had it right. McLaughlin, Davies, Jones and Hanson. If any of these were missing we were always a weaker team (arguably we had a decent back up keeper in those days). This is where Parky won his battles and what he recruited to play off them was what carried us through.

Think of today’s squad and tell me one player who can even come anywhere close to matching either of those four? O’Donnell is the only one IMO and a goalkeeper alone isn’t going to bring success. Absolute priority for Bowyer must be a CB, CM and CF in a similar mould. Then work on what’s around them.

 

People banging on about hindsight, it was clear in the first couple of games of the season and pre season games that it would be a hard struggle. We have won many games this season and even in the early wins we were lucky to come away with a win. Shrewsbury away, they should have been a couple up at half time, Burton at home, jeez how bad was that. You didn't need hindsight to see where this shitshow was heading.

 

I think we have to be up within 2 years.

Very few clubs go from the shambles we are in to promotion candidates over a summer.

 

The Collins appointment had the alarm bells truly ringing. It was the sign that told us who was running this show, Collins was the puppet that Rahic needed to he able to manage the whoe thing without interference from an experienced manager, to avoid the situation he had struggled so bitterly on with McCall. This was Edins cake and no one else was getting a slice. Unfortunately by the time Hopkin came in the damage was done.

Look mate, i get the players have to accept responsibilty for some of the worst perormances in living memory. But they were thrown together without any idea of how the whole situation on and off the pitch was gonna work. If you don’t prepare the ingredients right for a cake then just hopefully stick it in the oven, what will come out ain’t edible.

 

Totally agree.

Fans can't bang on about its all Edin's fault when you see players ducking out of tackles, missing penalties or not marking etc. That's the players own ability/attitude that's the over riding problem. Edin may have signed most of them and most of them on paper look decent enough but if you don't have the balls for the fight or just simply the ability to step up and do your job then there's only 1 place to look and that's the players. Tbh injuries haven't helped as we've had more long term injuries than I can remember for a long time but we should have enough in our squad to get out of this mess and we haven't, we rolled over and died.

 

Yes he is!! Stop looking at things in chunks. We will still be feeling the repercussions of Rahics vision in 2 years time and beyond. You cannot separate the debacle of the summer to January. Likewise, his inability to build on our Wembley squad was yet another massive mistake. Asking Hopkin to come and try and orchestrate a revival is naive, that would require miracles of the highest order. Go and have a look on the Cows Arse Board, it is all there, fans saying right back in the summer how poor our recruitment was, and fully expecting we would get relegated.

 

I agree players should have personal responsibility. Who recruited these players without a thought about character? Parky wouldn’t have given this lot a second thought, and yes totally agree players need to stop blaming this and that, but I still blame Rahic for the mess we are in.

 

True again, Fordy, and @Rogered Tart . What is most 'sickening' for me is Hopkins' failure to turn it around. We were never going to be promotion hopefuls - But DH had ample time (AND a transfer window !!) to ensure mid table.
As you have mentioned before, Bullying is 'old school', and will no longer be tolerated in the work place. Yes, sometimes a very hard word or two is needed, but how to do it, and good man management is the way to go.
For those reasons alone, I'm comfortable with Bowyers appointment.

 

Hopefully it's a moot point and he manufactures a free transfer somewhere at the earliest opportunity.