The implications of relegation

Yes we do because it will turn around and if it doesn’t at least we have stability!!!

 

Mansfield were crazy sacking their manager and replacing him with Nigel Clough. Surely they must realise that you have to have continuity and stick with the same manager who’s just lost 6 out of the last 8, then of course offer an extended contract.

 

Without knowing the squad at Mansfield, could Clough have done a job with this squad and would he have been a popular choice?

 

He did a magnificent job at Burton first time around but it hasn’t really worked out for him since then.

Judging by their performance when we played them and the results they are now picking up, you would have to say yes.

I guess the real question is, did the Mansfield hierarchy conduct an interview process or was Nigel on the speed dial of one of the directors?

 

I think the issue is we won't look further than our noses. We seem to be in this short term, quick fix mode that never works. I'd love for a younger, experienced manager to be given a chance, but they have to be supported and allowed to bring their own team in. The fact that Hopkins and Bowyer were hamstrung by having to have Drury in the dugout, has probably had a massive influence on where we are today.

 

I agree, it's ridiculous that we are appointing everyone who is within proverbial earshot of the club.

But, there was a strong argument being made for doing just that during the Colin Todd era.

Dispassionate managers with no ties to the club were definitely OUT at that point - I can certainly sympathise with 'the club' for recent appointments (Rhodes and McCall rather than Sparks, to be fair), and it's a little bit hypocritical of the fan base at large to say we don't have to appoint someone with ties to the club, but that's how overly invested football fans work - unless things are going well, the owner is always going to be asked to play whack-a-mole with ever-evolving criticisms.

Having said that, I agree that it's all very short termist. I hope if Ryan Sparks ever reads this forum he doesn't take criticisms too personally - and understands that we are all debating his appointment in the light of the last 10, 20 or more years, and the future 10, 20 or more years. Because in that light, it looks like another lazy appointment in a string of lazy appointments ever since Rupp and Rahic took charge.

 

When GB went, I wanted a manager with potential. Pete Wild was my call and at the time, he was doing an excellent job at Halifax, leading them to the play offs. He did a great job at Oldham after the Paul Scholes debacle. Yes, halifax and Pete Wild have not hit the heights of last season.
Ian Evatt was mentioned, I think by @How whom I concurred with.
Evatt has got off to slow start but is turning things around, though it helps that he has been supported in the transfer market.

Point I'm trying to make is we do need to look beyond the obvious short term fix and it's going to need vision, planning and communication. Some of the names, I hear floated around, are wildly beyond our expectations. The last 12 months has made it crystal clear that the club are being financially prudent, so let's be smart and dangle the carrot, with a decent financial package, to up and coming managers, potentially outside the professional pyramid.
Is it anymore a gamble than McCall for example?

 

Retrospectively, any inexperienced up-and-comer would have been fodder. I don't think either Evatt or Wild would have done well AT ALL if they weren't supported by the club - and by support I don't just mean budget-wise, I mean in terms of putting good, experienced 'club' staff around them to enable them to do their job to the best potential.

As a football club who wouldn't let Bowyer have an assistant and who hasn't got a professional scouting system in place and who didn't even have a permanent CEO in place at the time, I think those appointments could have been even more catastrophic than Stuart's. I think those appointments would have ended up being LESS long-term than Stuart, unfortunately, through little fault of their own.

 

I seem to remember Bowyer making a comment that he was given the choice of bringing in his own assistant/back up team or using that money to strengthen (lol) the squad, and he chose the latter. It should never have been an either or situation. Now we are hearing we aren't prepared to spend 50k on a DOF, a small sum of money in the grand scheme of things but one which might just pay dividends. I honestly cannot believe a man who wouldn't notice 50k leaving his bank account has said no to this, but the alternative would be that someone else has, and given that would be one of the people tasked with getting us out of this mess, is even more worrying.

 

Maybe that explains why Sparks is the CEO. An experienced appointment would've insisted on being backed with the funds to bring in the right people whereas Sparks might has been told to create his own funds and not to ask for anymore.

 

So we wake up this morning 22nd in the bottom tier, 1 point from the relegation zone.

McCall's stubbornness in not entertaining any free agents to strengthen the squad is backfiring on him badly. I believe this stance started in October. You cannot tell me that there wasnt a couple of decent out of contract players that could have come in and be now match fit and have improved our chances of staying clear of the relegation zone before the January window opens.

I cannot see us avoiding being in the bottom 2 now before the window opens. McCall's record of turning us around from a bad run is shocking. Even when he was sacked last time, I seem to remember we had lost 6 games on the bounce and there was no hint of him turning around.

History is repeating itself, just cannot see him turning this around now.

I know it's not going to happen, but we really urgently need a new owner to come in and bring his own CEO and management team in to avoid us sinking into non league oblivion.

Rupp, Sparks, McCall, Black, Drury out

 

Do you believe that was Rupp though? I will hammer Rupp because the man deserves it. He is a joke to this football club. A disgrace!

However, you have to remember that Rupp doesn't know what he's doing and wants to leave it to someone else to run.

Who was the CEO leading the ship and informing how a club should be run.

 

I totally agree with regards to Sparks, I wholly do not agree with the decision to promote him nor his first decision (on the face of it) as CEO but it is nothing personal and I would gladly be proved wrong and hold my hands up.

Your point about the Colin Todd era though, whilst I agree there was a clamor for someone associated with the club, I think this was more out of desperation rather than it being the only solution. We had recent history which had shown that internal type appointments had worked and then gone through a spell of bringing in experienced outsiders - even paying compo for Nicky Law Snr (I think).

 

£50k is peanuts for some one who could have maybe prevented millions being wasted on Wright, Riley, Akpan, Anderson, Guthrie, Reeves and all of the others. Short term thinking at its very very best.

 

How do we turn this situation round as a club? Does anyone have some ideas of how we might do this?

 

Nope, have you ?

 

Isn’t that the job of the owner,ceo,manager and players?

 

There's no quick fix. We need a complete reset from top to bottom.

 

Easy - 4 point plan
1. Sack the current management team.
2. Carry out a proper recruitment process, seeking to identify the best available candidate for the managers job long term - not the easiest appointment.
3. Prepare for January so signings are already lined up to come in immediately, exploring the free agent market if necessary - accepting this will see a short term approach where required.
4. Create a scouting network to work to our new identity which is created under the new managers long term strategy.

 

Easier said than done but at the very least you need a vision and a plan that everyone connected to the club can buy into and feel part of it. Thats from an owner who will support progress at the club, a CEO who has the ability to deliver this vision and the initiative and galvanising impact to lead all the employees at the club and potential commercial opportunities, a Manager and Coaching team who have the skills to develop a style of play that can be successful and motivate the players, players who are committed to doing the best for the club and pride in their own performance, and fans who can see all of the above and get behind it.

I know there is a lot more than this but theres my take - how many of the above points do you think we are currently achieving?!