Most liked posts in thread: Failure 23/24

No bye from me
Had he not dropped Pointon into oblivion we absolutely would have had a play off spot at the very least
Picking/playing Osadebe over him is inexcusable

 

I think you go overboard a bit sometimes but deep down you are right.
It’s league 2 FFS.
Anything that isn’t promotion is failure.
We keep thinking “next season will be the one” but year after year the same old same old happens and we just don’t seem to learn anything.
To not even get in the playoffs this season is scandalous.

 

Can't argue at all. This season has been a disaster. To still go so close to the play offs in spite of whats happened over the past 9 months highlights just how bad the league is.
It's going to be weaker next year so absolutely no excuses. The last few results have lifted the mood but the club can't get away from the fact that this has been a massive failure.

 

The pressure remains on next season, too.

It's not just a case of 'make a statement and appease the fans', many of us have taken Rupp on his word here. There will be hell to pay if he mugs us off just like he did last time.

We need commitment from Stefan as much as anyone, end of, time to act.

 

The budget wasnt the issue it was the loons that blew it on shite yet again.

We missed out by a couple of points and i could live with that had it been a half decent league but it was rank and for us to finish on the points we did simply show that.

Sadly some will get giddy that our form picked up at the end when the pressure was off and when players where out for new deals
Folk what to look back at our run against Mansfield,Notts County,FGR and Harrogate thats what this squad was really about.

 

Ultimately yeah, it can only be judged as failure after hitting the playoffs last season. Poor ownership and running of the club resigning us to another season at least in league 2.

 

If we drag the dead beast of last season around then it will surely affect our summer. We know what the problems are, now we need an action plan on recruitment. We also need to be thinking of formulating our medium and long term future…..where are we going, what will be the building blocks to get us there, how will we recognise success. Promotion is one very important aspect of success but there are others. Even this season which by anyone’s standards has been a failure we did have a very good January window and end to the season. Plus Bobby Pointon is now a regular. We have employed Sharpe who hopefully will be able to complete some of this planning.

 

There is no doubt there have been some failures in the scouting but we have found some good finds as well permanent and loans players like Kelly Ireland Oyegoke Brentford Tomkinson Norwich Banks Crystal Palace Kavanagh Gent gets unjustifiably maligned at times. I think the team that took the field today with one or two quality signings stands a great chance next season

 

For sure he picked us up, if he hadn't we wouldn't have finished top half.

Nothing against Graham Alexander at all, I still have some reservations, but he's done more than enough now to earn the Summer and Winter transfer windows and prove he can get us promoted.

We're all going to wonder 'what if' with some of those results and why we performed so poorly at points, but that's football, eh? Those things happen. They need to be at a minimum next season, however, as we must once again target the top 3.

 

Where to start:
Summer recruitment - Sparks made a lot of noise in pre-season about being more adventurous in our play for this season with a smaller but more adaptive squad. When this failed miserably we panicked and began frantically hoovering up players, prior to the window closing. Leaving us with a bloated squad that needed culling in January. Who was to blame? Hughes or Sparks? I think Gent was asked to do one thing only to have to about face when Sparks/Hughes hit the panic button.
Hughes sacking - Sparks royally cocked this up. The lack of communication whilst we looked to replace Hughes was a massive mistake. He compounded this with his failure to get 'his man' but then tried to make out GA was his #1 choice when it was as clear as day it wasn't. He had nobody lined up when he could and should have.
Communication - for someone who's come from a marketing background, Sparks has been woeful this season. As I've touched on, his big announcement around recruitment and playing style was then followed by the FUBAR recruitment of the summer. The we had the Hughes replacement debacle. He then really shot himself in the foot with the so called 'fans forum'. You could hear him squirming under questioning and frankly his answers dug a deeper hole. And finally we have complete silence whilst things imploded with protests, letters, articles in the national press.
The big positives from this sh!t show is that it's forced Sparks and Rupp to nail their colours to the mast. The open letter is the document which holds both men to account. We have it in black and white. If they go back on their word there should and will be hell to pay.

 

It is hard to read your post as it is so stark and no dressing it up. You are correct except for GA who gets a bye from me. It is one season after another where every Tom Dick and Harry takes the “p” out of the fans. For me next season it is automatic’s or bust.

 

Agree it has to be top 3. With the right recruitment over what will be a longer off season gives GA the chance to build his own squad so as I said, no excuses.
Tbh I'm not convinced by him though as he has made some monumental howlers in team selection. Smallwood and McDonald in central midfield V Harrogate, Ridealgh as left wing back Osadebe in central midfield to name a few!
He's here to stay for now though, so has my backing. Next season absolutely has to be the year we get out of this league!

 

Disagree.

We got Rupp/Sparks shitting themselves about a fan boycott.

We had the protests you were advocating for a long time. Even though you failed to join them. Nuff said about that.

Since then we are unbeaten.

I would say that is anything but a failure.

Bantam progressivism in full force. Here we go.

You onboard?

 

GA pretty much said after the game that he wants a team with players who give it their all in every game and not on spells. Think there will be some surprise departures next week.

 

To be fair to GA he knows the last 5 games are just a good finish but don't gloss over the failings of the season as a whole - he said as much when Raynor started gushing over the past few weeks!
A good finish has certainly helped with morale over the summer (and season ticket sales) but RC in his own blunt way is right, many people at the club have failed us this season

 

He didnt sack hughes quick enough.

and when he did he took too long to replace him.

 

Not to rain on your parade, but those are overall stats and include the nonsense trophy wins. I think GA got at least 4 in that nonsense competition.

They don't translate to points.

 

The thread starter is definitely right on pretty much all the failures across the board, our scouting set up with Gent and co has come in for deserved stick with some of the duds we've signed recently, but despite this obvious failure in our scouting is what I want to see is our manager step in and say I don't care how much research you've done on this player but I've had a look at him myself and also spoke to my contacts in the game and he's not for me it ain't happening....End of.

 

He seems to be very much of the view that Smallwood has, which I struggle with. I'll admit he's done a decent job on this last little run we've had but prior to that, he's been awful. He's either picked up over the last few weeks because he's after a new contract, or he's looked a better player in the system we've been playing with Pointon and Walker in front of him. I'm prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt and say it's the latter, but if we start next season with him and Gilliead in the centre again I'll be absolutely fuming.