Wright Returns.

Didn't do any harm bringing Stuart back as a player

 

Amazing how many people want to moan about the signing and seem to have forgotten this!!

 

I think we can be pretty sure we haven't had scouts watching him play week in week out fot Plymouth

 

LOL!! Sparks could have signed Man City's first 11 and you'd still think it's a PR stunt.

I think Sparks has been just OK - terrible at been swayed by fans, hence the Adams sacking, but he's had a 10/10 window so far.

 

I've a good idea. Let's play him in that role where he scored that scorcher against Harrogate, i.e. not as a winger

 

That would have been pretty difficult to do, seen as though he hasn't been playing week in week out for Plymouth.

 

Adams deserved the sack. The football was shit. We started off well when Cook an Angol were playing together, but after Angol's injury, an his subsequent re emergance like 3 months later, Adams never deployed the two together again, unless there was 10 minutes left, at which point, Angol got stuck on the wing. Il give him credit, a couple of his signings were good, ie Walker.

As for Sparks, if you want a man to bring revenue into the club an make it somewhat self sustainable in league two, hes your guy. Considering hes a novice, it could of gone a lot worse. That being said, his biggest issue, as we all know is, his inability to see his own shortcomings. Hes not a football person, but he tries to be. I say that because he refuses to get a director of football in. Maybe this is an ego thing or perhaps he doesnt want to give away power in the club, but for whatever reason, his on the field antics have been naive. He'd of saved himself a whole lot of hassle if he brought someone in to manage the on field affairs. Football fans only care about what happens on the pitch. Yes, having money there to spend on players an managers helps, but if its pissed away, then its futile

 

That's the point I was making

 

Park's far more grounded that your hilarious "PR stunt" nonsense.

Sparks has really undermined your 'they don't want they're doing' narrative this window hasn't he.

1. Stuck two finger up to Young and indicated that he'll go if and when we get the correct bid.
2. Let Lewis go for a profit, when was the 23rd out of 24th for % shots saved
3. Got back the only great loanee we've had since we were relegated

But yes, it's all a PR stunt.

 

The change to a diamond made a massive difference. We stopped conceding poor goals. I think we had Platt an Stubbs to partially thank For that, who only conceded like 7 goals in 11 games? something silly like that. And with Clayton, we controlled the midfield better. It did hamper our attacking output though. We became so reliant on Cook to pull a rabbit out of the hat that we were kind of screwed if he fired blanks. Didnt help when he had the likes of Costelloe alongside him who couldnt hit a barn door with a bazooka

 

A 10/10 window so far? May as well sign a certain retired center half to make it 11/10 eh? Come off it Banbrotam, it might end up being a cracking window but so far that’s a bit of a stretch.

 

But most fans complain that the football is alway shite and anyone who knew anything about Adams, knows he takes two full seasons to get a team promoted.

Never understood why people want a Director of Football, which have mixed success at the lower league level.

Having a good chief scout that works with the manager is the best solution - as shown by Gent who if you actually look at all his signings has brought in more good players than bad.

So whilst I agree that Sparks has dropped the ball a few time, I think it's disingenuous to blame him for everything. Not his fault that Hughes had a tactical meltdown.

 

Given the circumstances, hes done decent in this window so far. But its circumstances of his own making. Weve got our hands tied because weve got so many players on the books an not many slots in the squad availible, nor wages free. So we need to offload the ship before we bring more aboard. But its ultimately his fault for signing off on long contracts to sub standard players that have gotten us into the mess.

If he can help offload some of the deadwood, an provide the resources to allow GA to bring in a much needed LWB, CB, CM an Striker, then id consider it a 10/10 window

 

It's 10/10 because so far he's not put a foot wrong. We seem very keen (and I'm one of them) to moan about Sparks, but less keen to give him credit where credit is due.

Plenty of time for that to change of course!! And it become the usual 6!!

 

In fairness, you've reminded me that if we'd had Wright we'd have easily got 3rd.

 

I understand that with pretty much all managers, youve got to play the long game. Success doesnt come instantly. Klopp at Liverpool for example. The thing with Adams was, his football genuinely put me to sleep. It felt like a chore going to VP to watch city play. Its all well an good to point the finger at the clubs higher ups, but if your playing a 6'1 injury prone striker who can barely run on the wing, Leaving Cook isolated up front, parking the bus infront of 17,000 at home to the likes of Barrow an Sutton, an then losing on top if it whilst at the same time, coming out with post game excuses like "we played well" when we probably had 2 shots on target, then as far as im concerned, its close to impossible to see any progress being made, an therefore a second year in charge cant really be warranted

 

In regards to getting a DOF. Yes, I agree, its not needed. But given the circumstances, we kind of have to at this point. Footballing wise, Sparks hasnt got a clue. Yes, he does get swayed by the fans a lot, an he does make mistakes. Its understandable, hes learning on the job an he is trying his best, but we arent in a position where we can afford to make costly mistakes year upon year.

The Gent signings are a mixed bag. I dont think he is poor at finding players. Lewis, Young, Harratt, Smith, East. Young players who have potential to excel. The issue is, hes on a completly different wavelength to what the manager wants an needs. We saw last year how Hughes wanted to play 1 up front, an we then proceeded to bring in Young, who got pushed onto the wing which pissed him off. Harratt, who was doing god knows what off the pitch, and Oliver, who wasnt suited to the way we played. We brought in Smallwood, who looked out of place last year but looks half decent this season. Its just two people who dont see eye to eye on signings. Sparks shouldve identified that an tried to calm things down a bit, perhaps by bringing a DOF in, who can take charge on certain situations, such as handing out 3 year contracts to upcoming players that arent really needed at that moment in time, or signing off on 37 year old rejects from the Indian league

 

Yes. I agree with anyone who wonders why he did a nodding dog to Hughes when he wanted his emergency wingers (although at least we got the potentially good Wilson)

I think he tries to please managers too much.

 

Yeah, id agree. If Wright was alongside Cook instead of Costello or Nevers or Derbyshire, we'd of turned some of those draws into wins an we'd of comfortably finished in the autos

 

I think the more streetwise GA will work better with Gent. I'm fine with out scout, but a manager has to be clear about what system they are playing so he can get the correct players. Hughes made major changes to his system three times - which made certain signings redundant. No scout can cope fully with that.