Graham Alexander

Like it not this club is still a shitshow despite GA coming in. With the deep mismanagement from all levels i fear he may need a long time to get everyone on board. If it means the club moving forward we may have to take 2 steps back first, in effect writing this season off. The Jake Young saga could make a big difference, in effect its a win win for us, He stays and contributes to our success or he leaves and the transfer fee gives GA some leeway in the transfer market. Who knows?

 

And maybe the three above him didn't fancy the challenge, fans can read what the like into the situation pure speculation IMO, not a bad word said about Alexander during our mini run, are we a fickle lot, but not different from most football fans.

 

Just for clarity - I personally remain very much behind GA and believe given enough time that he will get it right with his own players. I just sympathise with him if he was 3rd or 4th choice for whatever reason, it cannot be a good feeling deep down

My issue lies with Sparks

 

I agree Sparks doesn't do himself any favours what so ever but he will be getting paid handsomely for doing the job without the big boss in the same building.
As for Alexander he wouldn't be our manager if he didn't want to be regardless of candidate pecking order you can tell he's got his own way of working and of course he will stick to it, but for me the biggest factor lies in a squad both himself and Lucketti inherited from the Premier League Tactical Genius Hughes.

 

My reply wasn't to any individual @SteveC just making the point we were more than happy the way it was going under Alexander until the Crewe, so Alexander being 4th chose wasn't an issue we lose a couple of games and the excuse of him being our 4th choice becomes relevant why ?.

 

Yes i'm not so sure why now it is an issue

I cannot believe certain posters on here are already doubting GA's position given what he has inherited. Not just the players physical capabilities but also the mental attitude of them all, plus the general ethos of the club and how it operates. It is far from a well oiled machine, i'd say it is a rust bucket at best....

 

I was unsure about GA appointment. We have impatient fans, but why you may ask yourself? Well that is because we keep getting bullshit from the Board/Sparks. We want promotion, he states every year without thinking what is required for that to happen. GA style of football is probably what is required to get us out of this league. Suck it up, grit your teeth. Plus I think it will get better when he gets the right personnel. I will literally put up with any style as long as the results say City win on a Saturday afternoon.

The Board can run from fans genuine concerns but they can’t hide! Come ST sales time they will feel the backlash.

 

Therein lies the rub. I support the idea of backing the manager, but that doesn't mean giving the manager anything he wants. It does, or should, mean backing the manager to deliver a plan and strategy set by the club. But we don't have one, so we end up in the ludicrous position of hiring a direct manager like Adams and expecting him to do it on the cheap with a small squad, then going to an ultimate possession based manager in Hughes and doubling the squad size, then pivoting again to a very direct manager in Alexander. Its no wonder we never manage to establish and build on a platform.

 

Ditto. I don’t know whether GA is the right man for the job or not. However I like the way he comes across, he mostly interviews with honesty even though I might not always agree with what he says.

The issues are above him and that’s where my concern sits, for whoever would be manager. I understand another candidate was offered the role ahead of GA without even interviewing!

I’ve said several times there’s been some really great commercial progress off the field - but on it we’re simply a rapidly digressing football club. I genuinely don’t know where the club goes from here and performances like Crewe and Crawley just accelerate the lack of patience supporters already have. When the hope that comes from game of day of something to cheer about, gets dashed away in severe mediocrity on the pitch, supporters will vent and react to whatever is in the firing line. That’s where we are at.

Or you laugh it off and keep some humility to it before it really bogs you down!

 

I echo your thoughts Karl. In January after our poor run I was happy to see him go, he wasn't playing the young lads, just older heads and the football had turned dire. Tbh even in the good run in December the football was poor, but the recent run I found much more entertaining and young lads like Bobby and Kav have shone through.

Hopefully we can take this momentum into next season and kick on and we don't go on one of his awful winless runs again.

 

I've said several times (mostly on this thread) that he has my full backing and he is the man to take us forward, given time. To reiterate my previous posts, it infuriates me that people were already calling for another manager within a few weeks of him taking the reins. Ridiculous & unwarranted criticism - IMO of course

Nobody knows what was going on behind the scenes with certain players, and GA's reasons for playing/not playing certain lads. In any managerial job, it takes a long time to get to know the strengths & weaknesses of your workforce. He clearly has the approach of a "man-manager" type of guy so would rather put his arm round a player (similar to McCall) rather than publicly lambast a player. Speaking from experience, this is certainly my approach to managing my staff, as opposed to the Deluded Derek methodology

 

The good run at the end has got to inspire confidence. If we’d have signed him a few weeks earlier who knows what May of happened. I agree with Steve above, it’s so depressing to hear people calling for another change when he had nowhere near enough time to fully assess and understand what he was dealing with. Looking forward to next season with Alexander in charge.

 

Four players and a few loaned players we may be flying next season. We need quality. X4

 

100% behind GA but this summers dealings are some of the most important in recent seasons.
The end to last season was a big plus but quality not quantity has to be the mantra.
We were 17 points off the top 3.
That sort of gap won’t be bridged with aged journeymen who want a last payday.

Hughes had no idea what was needed at this level and tried to reinvent the wheel when it just needed a tweak.
GA knows this division.
He has no excuses.

 

His biggest error so far has been ignoring Bobby for so long. He has held his hands up about that which is admirable, but I remain convinced if Gilly hadn't got injured, Bobby would not have been starting games in the last few weeks of the season. I hope GA has also recognised how much better Smallwood was with Bobby and Jamie in front of him rather than Gilly alongside him. Blessing in disguise for me that injury.

 

It’s a bit of a weird formation we ended up with but it suits Bobby and makes the most of what Smallwood is good at…breaking up play just in front of the back 3.