Most liked posts in thread: Slowly slipping away………

Without the sort of ambition and spending showed by Bolton last winter - which shouldn't be above us, but clearly is - we won't be getting near those playoffs this season.

 

I very much fear that you are right. A side can afford one 'meh' 10-match segment and still make the autos, let alone playoffs, but we are about to have a second such, even if we beat Colchester. Eventually the gap to the leading pack just becomes too big to overcome.

At the moment, we would need to win 3 in a row just to get back on the 69-point, Ronnie Brown 'Comfort' pace, which can get you into the playoffs. That's not unreasonable. But to get back on the guaranteed playoff pace, we would need to win 6 in a row, and to get onto the guaranteed autos pace, we would need to win 13 in a row. And then, of course, we would need to maintain such paces. (Granted these are the *guaranteed* autos/playoffs paces, not the minimums needed.)

The side as it stands is just not capable of that, alas. Like many others before the season started, I bemoaned the weakness in the scoring department -- even with Cook returning we did not replace the goals we lost from players leaving, and, in general, those who have stayed have not picked up their scoring prowess. Couple that with an inability to keep clean sheets, and we are where we are.

RCB

 

Most of the club's in the top half have PL loan players that boost the quality to challenge at the top. We should have done the same

 

With this club, and its management I’ll believe it when I see it mate

 

There's no getting away from the fact that this has been a disappointing season for you so far. I thought you'd be title challengers and I put a lot of money on you ante-post. Most of my optimism was based on Derek Adams arriving at the club. It isn't a myth that he has won promotion from this division twice, it's a fact. If I thought a new manager replacing Adams would increase Bradford City's promotion chances this season I'd be for sacking him. But I believe Derek Adams offers the best hope for success in 2021-2 and if it doesn't happen this time I'll be backing you again for 2022-23 providing Derek Adams is still in charge and I have some spondulicks left. If you could just turn a few of those draws into wins it would help.

 

The problem with that approach is that if we carry on averaging one point per game, as we are at present, we'll more likely find ourselves in a relegation scrap than pushing for a playoff place.
We have a terrible injury record, a blunt strikeforce and a defence that can't keep clean sheets. We can't assume that we'll remain in safe mid table if we carry on as we are. We need reinforcements.

 

Sadly in my opinion this seasons promotion opportunity has vanished
It was always a tough ask for a new manager to hit the ground running and gain promotion in his first season even for our much hailed leader
What annoys me is all the pre season hype about how we were going to be "Champions by Christmas" and "anything else is failure" I didn't even mind too much the increase in season ticket prices thinking things were on the up
What we have seen so far is extremely poor, we have barring Cook who isn't a patch on Doyle/Vaughan the worst strikeforce I have seen in over 50 years, a manager who thinks chances win games trains the players to within an inch of their lives, and has only one opinion (his own) Every Saturday we have a bench that would struggle in a Sunday pub league
Am really struggling to find a plus to be honest apart from a shiny new club crest is on its way
Good luck to anyone thinking January is going to turn us into anything like a promotion winning side Mr Rupp ain't going to "shake the money tree" that's for sure
So it's another season in the khazi league and pre season hope/hype for next season AGAIN

 

I’ve not lost all hope. People keep mocking but the underlying data suggests we aren’t a bad side. Whether it be xG or shots in the box and chances created….we’re up there with the best in the division.

Yes, we’ve had some dire performances (Hartlepool at home and Tranmere away spring to mind) that need criticising but generally speaking we have usually created better chances than our opponents and deserved to win more matches.

we've just lacked the quality to make our superiority tell. We have not been outplayed by Forest Green, Port Vale, Northampton, Exeter (ignore ET in the cup) so let’s not lose perspective of where we are currently at.

We’re getting undone by the lack of investment in our attacking options at the end of the transfer window, cannot convert our chances, and have paid the price with a high number of draws.

if we weren’t competing with the best teams then Adams should go, but we have competed with them.

im not having any of this ‘the players don’t like Adams’ rubbish Fordy is peddling. We have fought back from losing positions, including at the weekend in tough conditions.

we’re relying on crocks to score the goals and it isn’t happening. Bad recruitment is the cause - i don’t care who is to blame - Rupp, Sparks, Turnbull or Adams. But we need to strengthen in January to make up for lost time - we’ve wasted half a season outperforming teams but not cashing in.

 

Adams will get judged by RESULTS!! What is this rubbish!!

Shall we just pay him a years wage to sit at home while you decide if a signing is good or not. Utter nonsense!

He is paid to get results NOW and he isn't. That simple.

 

People keep manipulating the win stats and including shit cup games we weren’t full strength.

we’ve played 19 in the league and won five. If you wanna quote x wins in last x games at least go off those games.

we actually lost five….same as Northampton in second. But draws without a cutting edge are killing us

 

100 % agreed, when Adams isn't managing things he shouldn't be managing, like scouts, like his CEO, etc, he might be able to focus on the job.

I've been banging the DOF drum for some time.

It is ESSENTIAL given the state of our senior management team, will keep Sparks in his job doing what he CAN do (rather than what he clearly, clearly can't), will take pressure of Rupp, and will allow Adams/AN Other to manage players not personel.

This isn't rocket science. Rupp & Sparks don't know what they're doing. That isn't an attempt to insult them, it's a bare, basic fact of the matter.

 

Lets face it: the owner isn't interested and is not going to give us a massive war chest. What I see realistically happening in January, is that we get a few last minute loans in from clubs above us, once they've sorted out their own transfer incomings.

 

No point sacking Adams, it will cost money the club doesn’t have and likely achieve nothing. He does need a chance to ship out the remaining rubbish, yes ‘his’ squad signings have been poor but we had a recruitment ‘guru’ and a rookie ceo no doubt dabbling on that one.

 

Any new manager should adapt and work with OUR style of play
Oh wait a minute we don't have one
Mr Adams does need time although at the moment I can't see in the long run how we will benefit from it
Until the club develops a "modus operandi" we will continue treading water at best

 

So how long do we actually give Adams ? This was billed as a promotion season, hell we even copied the 1982 promotion kit to emphasise that. How long does he get, if we win one of the next five, taking us up to the window, does he still have a job ?

Not for a second advocating we sack him, I think he should get at the very least two more windows, but with a win percentage of 25% we are heading for 55/56 points. Despite his protestations, I can't see any reason other than the training regime for the proliferation of hamstring injuries and he has to carry the can for that surely ?

 

I could have written much more on the subject, but thought that was enough to start with!

Input: Coach/manager (C/M) certainly has input into recruitment -- I need a CH / X would be a good fit for us / Y is trouble, don't want him -- but that's just one voice in the ?weekly meetings between C/M, DOF, and other relevant staff. The C/M's main function will be to study the opposition and prepare the side accordingly. Recruitment and management are each full-time jobs on their own.

Style: It could be set by the owner/board, provided they are interested and knowledgable enough. But if the football club is just another unit in a big multinational corporation -- or the owner lives abroad and is not really interested in such matters -- it comes down to the CEO and, especially, the DOF/GM. CEO candidates should be able to lay out their vision to the owner/board when that position is being filled; thereafter, they implement it by hiring compatible staff. I'm assuming here the CEO does actually know something about football as well as business; if not, then it all really falls on the shoulders of the DOF/GM. Either way, the DOF/GM then hires appropriately.

Time lag: That'll always be there, to some extent, and maybe you will miss out on a player. But when you have a part of the organisation dedicated to recruitment, this problem should be minimised.

Failure: Eventually, the C/M will leave, one way or another. If the organisation has a set philosophy, then yes, the next C/M should be compatible with that. If there is a run of failure, over many seasons and C/M's, then the DOF/GM's status will have to be evaluated. And so on... the CEO is not immune either, if the failure is bad enough, or prolonged enough. The owner/board will have their say in all this, too, given the financial implications.

Player pool: I suppose it is unavoidable that one might favour players one already knows, but one of the benefits of this kind of organisation will be that recruitment doesn't come down just to the whims of one person.

Much more can yet be said on this...

RCB

 

We do not want any player that wants pineapple on his pizza

 

* Cook - Injured
* Canavan - deteriorated
* Rowe - shipped out
* Crankshaw - sold, likely for a pittance
* Vernam - injured

Looking good ain't it..?

 

Well that worked when most of the signings he made can’t last 5 straight games