Most liked posts in thread: The Players

Quite true @Park bantam We had one chance to get out of this mess in the January window and whether it was the owner through lack of money and support or Hopkin signing the wrong players we have blown the one chance we had to give ourselves the best chance of avoiding relegation

 

A lot of this team have played at a better level than at the foot of league 1 and that includes our defence. This team of individuals never stood a chance together and as you allude to its down to the failings of one man and his dog. Rahic couldn’t have got everything more wrong if he tried. Pretty much every decision, from getting rid of Kilgallon but not appointing an experienced replacement, appointing a not fit for purpose management trio or fitness coaches, bringing in the wrong fit of players on ridiculous wages, the list goes on and on.
I also don’t absolve the players of blame, some of the individual performances have been shambolic, but expecting the players to perform as a cohesive unit when everything around them is completely and fundamentally flawed is naive thinking at best.
Truth is this lot never stood a chance and ‘giving them a kick up the backside’ won’t help them it just compounds their woes.

 

Am I getting my goal bonus this week or next.

 

We scored two goals away but no way should we be conceding three against a team in the run they are on with 10 men for 83+ minutes.

I’m not one for scapegoats but Chicksen, NKP, and O’Donnell looked to be particularly culpable on Saturday.

 

Winner to the OP, this is why I wasn’t blaming Hopkin as much as a lot on here. Rahic and those who put the shirt on every week are to blame. We’re going down ladies and gents with or without Hopkin, doesn’t matter who comes in, these players are spineless disgraces, just like the pr1ck who bought them last summer.

 

And useless.

 

Midland Road, take them home
Back to the place of their loan.

 

A lot of what you mention is down to coaching. Hopkin and Drury out of their depth, and McElhone is a fitness coach. Now Hopkin has gone, the sooner we get rid of Drury, the better. As for McElhone, let the new manager decide whether to keep him on as fitness coach, but surely not assistant?

 

His recruitment in January was to blame we almost have a team of midfielders.

 

It's not just about bad atmosphere though is it. Poor management from the top meant that we virtually built a whole new squad over the summer with no thought whatsoever given to how that squad would play together. We then gave the 'head coach' role to a complete novice who thought it was a good idea to use the pre season games to give the youth and fringe players a run out and limit our first team to about 6 minutes game time between them, and if that wasn't bad enough, also thought it was a brilliant idea to get rid of our most experienced defender.
Even though we won our first league game, it was evident that all of the players were struggling with fitness before the end of the game and this was something that wasn't really rectified properly until November. In that interim period, the players not only had to get used to a change of manager but also must have been wondering what the hell they had got themselves into with all the crap going on in the background that ultimately led to Rahic leaving. There was no new manager bounce, players were played out of position and at times, looked utterly confused and clueless about how they were being asked to play. It has also been evident all season that out defence is simply not good enough and that the rest of the team have little confidence in them. Hopkin's answer to this was to bring in a crocked player in Woods, let our only alternative centre back leave, and then bring in a young loanee from Leeds as his replacement that he can't actually use because we already have too may loan players in the team.
I'm not trying to make excuses for the players and I agree that there have been times when some of them have looked like they couldn't care less, but I think it is far too simplistic to say 'they need to go' when the issues run far deeper than that.

 

Can't understand this mentality, even if they don't care about the club, where do they think those kind of performances leave them professionally? Hopefully the conference or Sunday league for some of them.

Unfortunately though, it's a fairly typical mindset of the Instagram generation.

 

Good on Hopkin for telling them. Sounds very poor attitude from some so-called professional footballers. If some found it funny I'm surprised Hopkin managed to keep his self control

 

Apart from Doyle, all our other permanent players that were involved on Saturday are defenders. It's one thing having a few players throughout the team not interested but when 95% of your defence don't care, is it any wonder we are in the position we are in?

 

Over Christmas I read a book " Carlo Ancelotti- Quiet Leadership winning hearts, minds and matches". It isn't a standard autobiography but deals with the fundamental management principles and leadership qualities which led to the Italian's successful career.
In January I wrote to David Hopkin recommending the book and explaining that before retiring I had managed people for over 20 years and during that time constantly read and listened to new ideas. Unfortunately despite telling the interviewers that he worked 12 hours a day he didn't bother to reply.
If what Faithful Bantam says is correct it will take more than a change of manager to sort out the current squad.

 

who would want to sign them after this seasons , pathetic showing .