|
Post by gone4eva on Dec 24, 2017 0:52:14 GMT
This is what I really struggle to understand. I don't much rate the current board, but what I don't doubt is that they care and hurt in the same way we do when they lose, so how could they have seen the whole McCarthy situation so differently? I mean, McCarthy was a dead man walking for months. The fans knew it, the media knew it, I think even he knew it and had an air of a man who wanted to be put out his misery at times. Fans of other clubs were finding his continued presence as Chester manager strange and amusing. And his legacy speaks for itself. What was he doing behind the scenes that caused the board to see him so differently to the terraces? Other than getting a volunteer to fit a new dressing room. He was quite astute in becoming very good friends with key decision makers on the board. You can already see it with the way the chairman interacts with Bignot at CFU meetings - it is utterly unprofessional. They act like mates who are down at the pub for a pint with each other. And the big problem with that is that the board members, inevitably, are going to have to make a fairly unpleasant decision about that person at some point. When that person is "your mate" it becomes much more difficult to make the decision to sack them. It is just further evidence of how unsuited to their positions the board is - they're too busy making friends with the manager, seemingly completely unaware that their his boss and should retain a sensible, somewhat distanced relationship in order to remain in a position to make the correct decisions. They catastrophically failed to do this and we are know all reaping the whirlwind of abject shite for which they were the principal sowers. should print that out and give it out as a leaflet next game
|
|
|
Post by peterkaysock on Dec 24, 2017 7:56:36 GMT
To be honest I think some of the comments here are way out. I think we all had belief that all the signings pre season were of a good standard. I remember lots on here enthused by the coming season. The board backed the manager and we all got behind it. McCarthy as a fella is a lovely bloke but he was way out of depth, the players fitness and taking the likes of Shaw out of the team was proof he didn't really know what he was doing. Lots of staff in the dugout, who don't really need to be in there, Manager and his assistant,players only. The signs where there preseason for me that we were going to struggle as the way we were setting up and playing. Much the same as the end of the previous season. Yes the board are going to make mistakes but I feel like others have said, we are at the end of our fan owned based tenture, we need proper investment to compete at this level. We don't have a big enough fan base to take it to another level. It's difficult all around as the game is about money, something we don't have much of.
It's time to dig deep and get behind the team on and off the pitch.
I think the writing is on the wall but it would be nice to go down with a fight.
|
|
|
Post by Frank Owen’s Paintbrush on Dec 24, 2017 8:02:39 GMT
Sorry for the copy and paste of my post from another, similar thread, but it applies here. I'll cut some of the irrelevant bits out for this particular question to answe who I think is at fault for all this...
The decisions made by the current "vanguard" and, for me, the decisions made by previous board(s) running before we could walk. I said as much at the time we won the Evostik Prem, that we needed at least two seasons at Conference North to build the club off the field. Obviously you don't sulk at title wins but the incessant throwing money at a blitz through the leagues and the Jeff Banks vanity project meant we ran a world record 100m barely out of nappies and this is where that's left us - we have never been ready for this level ever since 2013 and that remains the case. Sadly, what's done is done but at least relegation may give us a chance to pause and restart at a more sustainable level.
Edit: having read this thread, it is clear there is no one answer as to why we are in this situation, it's a complex mix of previous boards, this board (by far the WORST ever), our own fault for accepting this board in the polling booths, a previous manager, etc etc.
|
|
|
Post by devadiva on Dec 24, 2017 8:44:00 GMT
Easy answer to this thread - it is the fans fault - seems to me that not enough people put survival in this league on their list to Santa this year. 😉
|
|
|
Post by blue4life on Dec 24, 2017 9:34:46 GMT
Anyone got MM email address I would like to send him an email.
|
|
|
Post by billyw on Dec 24, 2017 10:07:55 GMT
I notice he is working his magic already at Southport - they lost 4-0 at home.
|
|
|
Post by Rio Doherty on Dec 24, 2017 10:10:43 GMT
Anyone got MM email address I would like to send him an email. Mark.maguire@chesterfc.com or fans@chesterfc.com (if the second one even exists now).
|
|
|
Post by Lobster on Dec 24, 2017 10:30:17 GMT
I notice he is working his magic already at Southport - they lost 4-0 at home. To be fair he's doomed with that job. Daft to go there from a cushy job at Vale. Great decision making as ever from Mr. McCarthy.
|
|
|
Post by South Wirral Blue on Dec 24, 2017 10:36:00 GMT
Another gripe I have is that away from the pitch Macca was showing all the tell tale signs of totally losing it.
His post match interviews were baffling to say the least. His hostility to reasonable questioning and inability to respond with any substance told you everything.
It got so bad that it went well beyond Macca and reflected so so badly on the board - the man who was clearly struggling on all counts was still totally backed a board who were blissfully unaware of the damage being done. He badly needed to be put out of his misery but the board stubbornly sat on their hands for months.
You didnt even need to understand football to see what was happening and yet they still couldn't.
|
|
|
Post by billyw on Dec 24, 2017 14:09:14 GMT
Another gripe I have is that away from the pitch Macca was showing all the tell tale signs of totally losing it. His post match interviews were baffling to say the least. His hostility to reasonable questioning and inability to respond with any substance told you everything. It got so bad that it went well beyond Macca and reflected so so badly on the board - the man who was clearly struggling on all counts was still totally backed a board who were blissfully unaware of the damage being done. He badly needed to be put out of his misery but the board stubbornly sat on their hands for months. You didnt even need to understand football to see what was happening and yet they still couldn't. And what's worse, , the same people still can't see what's happening.
|
|
|
Post by The Swansway on Dec 24, 2017 15:12:48 GMT
Some very valid arguments here. It seems clear that whatever the reason for us ending up in this mess is that no one person is accountable.
I really wish that the current board would have a figurehead who would have the guts to step up, and accept the blame.
More important now than who is to blame is how are going to reverse the decline.
|
|
|
Post by happyclapper52 on Dec 24, 2017 15:25:35 GMT
Sorry for the copy and paste of my post from another, similar thread, but it applies here. I'll cut some of the irrelevant bits out for this particular question to answe who I think is at fault for all this... The decisions made by the current "vanguard" and, for me, the decisions made by previous board(s) running before we could walk. I said as much at the time we won the Evostik Prem, that we needed at least two seasons at Conference North to build the club off the field. Obviously you don't sulk at title wins but the incessant throwing money at a blitz through the leagues and the Jeff Banks vanity project meant we ran a world record 100m barely out of nappies and this is where that's left us - we have never been ready for this level ever since 2013 and that remains the case. Sadly, what's done is done but at least relegation may give us a hi chance to pause and restart at a more sustainable level. Edit: having read this thread, it is clear there is no one answer as to why we are in this situation, it's a complex mix of previous boards, this board (by far the WORST ever), our own fault for accepting this board in the polling booths, a previous manager, etc etc. Jeff Banks Vanity Project ? How offensive...Jeff with others pulled us out of the Vaughan abyss and as Comms person did fat more to raise our profile via various media then and up til now.Came across totally professional on tv and radio and helped bring on board others to sell the cause such as Colin Murray, Pat Nevin, Perry Groves and the annual diners at Chester Racecourse.Knowing Jeff he will be the first to say it also involved others and only packed in when he had to consider his missus and newly born boys.Your implied criticism offends all volunteers such as Jeff and all I would ask is what have you done for our club on a volunteer many hours a week basis ? Happy Xmas fool !
|
|
|
Post by blue4life on Dec 24, 2017 16:05:27 GMT
The board 100% but Bignot needs to take some of the blame aswell, carry on with his daft team selections and he can clear off aswell.
|
|
|
Post by degsey on Dec 24, 2017 20:26:33 GMT
Anyone got MM email address I would like to send him an email. I hope that you have better luck than I had! I e-mailed both of those 2 addresses 3 times mm 2 and the other once, that was in Sept and still not had a reply, it was about the Eastleigh postponed game travelling expenses, which I did not receive! I was going to donate the expenses to Bignots squad builder fund,
|
|
|
Post by devaboyreturns on Dec 26, 2017 11:42:14 GMT
McCarthy staying in his position at the end of last season was the main fault. Worst set of results and still he kept his job. He then was given a full hand in the summer to recruit and started as he left off leaving the incoming Bignot with the mission impossible task that we currently have.
|
|
|
Post by iandychesterfc on Dec 27, 2017 12:59:55 GMT
I'm struggling to see the bile towards Bignot - after all he signed our best players for f**k all and has been told to work with a group who clearly can't be bothered. I'm not sure what people expect, that Graham Barrow would come in and all these shite journeymen would suddleny start playing?!
|
|
|
Post by bethnalblue on Dec 27, 2017 14:13:32 GMT
I'm struggling to see the bile towards Bignot - after all he signed our best players for f**k all and has been told to work with a group who clearly can't be bothered. I'm not sure what people expect, that Graham Barrow would come in and all these shite journeymen would suddleny start playing?! Remind me who are our best players again? Slew, Udoh, Rainey, Gough?
|
|
|
Post by iandychesterfc on Dec 27, 2017 14:17:16 GMT
Really?
|
|
|
Post by Hannibal on Dec 27, 2017 14:33:26 GMT
I'm struggling to see the bile towards Bignot - after all he signed our best players for f**k all and has been told to work with a group who clearly can't be bothered. I'm not sure what people expect, that Graham Barrow would come in and all these shite journeymen would suddleny start playing?! Best players ... are you on the right thread ...indeed right year.
|
|
|
Post by g1 on Dec 27, 2017 15:11:16 GMT
Really our best players? Spends the builder budget money on some no mark from Crewe who no one has heard of only real decent signing is hall Johnson granted and maybe archer but he's signed 11 players only 2 decent players are them 2 mentioned
|
|
|
Post by iandychesterfc on Dec 28, 2017 10:46:37 GMT
Said on another thread who our best players are, trying to beg borrow and steal and your comparing Rainey with say, Turnbull James etc who are taking huge lumps out of the club. He signed what he could to deal with injuries - Rainey cane in to cover HJ for example and we tried to give a chance to young strikers faced with a mis-firing front line who are constantly injured. Gough, Archer and keeper improved what we had
|
|
|
Post by jb on Dec 28, 2017 11:21:38 GMT
Said on another thread who our best players are, trying to beg borrow and steal and your comparing Rainey with say, Turnbull James etc who are taking huge lumps out of the club. He signed what he could to deal with injuries - Rainey cane in to cover HJ for example and we tried to give a chance to young strikers faced with a mis-firing front line who are constantly injured. Gough, Archer and keeper improved what we had There have been some decent signings. It’s the formation and tactics which are costing us dearly. That 3 5 2 rubbish is a waste of time. Need flair players in midfield for it to work and those three in midfield can’t beat a man.
|
|
|
Post by iandychesterfc on Dec 28, 2017 11:53:31 GMT
I agree we look better with a back 4 but Mahon was injured, waters looked out of depth so playing wing backs only option
|
|
|
Post by imadeva on Dec 28, 2017 12:32:20 GMT
I agree we look better with a back 4 but Mahon was injured, waters looked out of depth so playing wing backs only option The trouble is our back three aren’t mobile enough,so if our wing back do bomb on ,we get caught out on the counter down the channels.so therefore if we haven’t got rapid wing backs(which we haven’t)then we have to play with a back four and at least try to be a bit more solid.
|
|
|
Post by Deva Chanter on Dec 28, 2017 12:33:01 GMT
Could always play Rowe-Turner on the wing with Mahon, he's not been bad going forward this season.
|
|
|
Post by imadeva on Dec 28, 2017 13:05:38 GMT
Archer. akintundi
Mahon Dawson Shaw
James
L Rowe t Anderson. Astle. Hall Johnson
Hornbury
This is the team I’d like to see,still not enough pace at the back but with James sitting deeper in midfield ,hopefully a lot more solid.
|
|
|
Post by northender on Dec 29, 2017 22:28:06 GMT
A major issue is that we appear to have an unsustainable money-generating programme. Over the years the plan has been to expect the same hard core of fans to put their hands in their pockets time and again. This resource is not even finite-it is diminishing and I think people are getting fed up with it.
I am not sure how much financial or in-kind support we are getting from commercial third parties but with the crowds we are getting there is little encouragement for companies to come on board. Against Guiseley we couldn't raise sponsorship for the game or the ball and once that relatively low-level income goes we are in serious trouble. I rather suspect that most of the weekly sponsorships are given by core suppporters anyway, which brings me back to my first point.
Having been a big player in our first three years with everyone wanting to play for us it was perhaps inevitable that once the wage and travelling realities of the National league hit home we would struggle on the playing side and that would inevitably impact on crowd support. A relegation this season to a less costly regionalised league is probably what we need. The challenge then is to re-decide where [if anywhere] we want to go and [with the benefit of hindsight/mistakes made] how best to get there. We know that a club on the move will attract crowds, players and money [thus an upward spiral] but one as moribund as we presently are will certainly not. So, sadly, we may have to suffer a bit more this season in order to come back more strongly.
Crucially, and whatever this season brings,I think the club also needs to evaluate how effective fan ownership has been [perhaps through an independent enquiry] and come to a decision regarding if and when such a model ceases to be appropriate. Many fans are openly contemptuous/suspicious of the CFU and the pulling together of the early years now seems to have been replaced with a form of keyboard civil war which is doing no-one any good. Information from the club in all manner of operational areas, once a great strength, has dried up.
Lets not forget, however, the positives- community work, the success of the junior sides and their player development and the women's team. Some things have gone very well and should be continued but I believe that the flagship has to be the senior men's side-we can't just be a youth and social club that happens to run a works football team. It is no disgrace to say things haven't worked out as hoped and lets think again; it is a strength for any organisation to periodically re-evaluate and have the courage to change operations [or even direction] if necessary.
|
|
|
Post by bing on Dec 30, 2017 21:24:30 GMT
Sorry for the copy and paste of my post from another, similar thread, but it applies here. I'll cut some of the irrelevant bits out for this particular question to answe who I think is at fault for all this... The decisions made by the current "vanguard" and, for me, the decisions made by previous board(s) running before we could walk. I said as much at the time we won the Evostik Prem, that we needed at least two seasons at Conference North to build the club off the field. Obviously you don't sulk at title wins but the incessant throwing money at a blitz through the leagues and the Jeff Banks vanity project meant we ran a world record 100m barely out of nappies and this is where that's left us - we have never been ready for this level ever since 2013 and that remains the case. Sadly, what's done is done but at least relegation may give us a chance to pause and restart at a more sustainable level. Edit: having read this thread, it is clear there is no one answer as to why we are in this situation, it's a complex mix of previous boards, this board (by far the WORST ever), our own fault for accepting this board in the polling booths, a previous manager, etc etc. Blimey mate - incredibly harsh on Jeff! Especially considering that, back to the present day, everyone wants a more visible board.
|
|
|
Post by iandychesterfc on Dec 31, 2017 13:56:36 GMT
A major issue is that we appear to have an unsustainable money-generating programme. Over the years the plan has been to expect the same hard core of fans to put their hands in their pockets time and again. This resource is not even finite-it is diminishing and I think people are getting fed up with it. I am not sure how much financial or in-kind support we are getting from commercial third parties but with the crowds we are getting there is little encouragement for companies to come on board. Against Guiseley we couldn't raise sponsorship for the game or the ball and once that relatively low-level income goes we are in serious trouble. I rather suspect that most of the weekly sponsorships are given by core suppporters anyway, which brings me back to my first point. Having been a big player in our first three years with everyone wanting to play for us it was perhaps inevitable that once the wage and travelling realities of the National league hit home we would struggle on the playing side and that would inevitably impact on crowd support. A relegation this season to a less costly regionalised league is probably what we need. The challenge then is to re-decide where [if anywhere] we want to go and [with the benefit of hindsight/mistakes made] how best to get there. We know that a club on the move will attract crowds, players and money [thus an upward spiral] but one as moribund as we presently are will certainly not. So, sadly, we may have to suffer a bit more this season in order to come back more strongly. Crucially, and whatever this season brings,I think the club also needs to evaluate how effective fan ownership has been [perhaps through an independent enquiry] and come to a decision regarding if and when such a model ceases to be appropriate. Many fans are openly contemptuous/suspicious of the CFU and the pulling together of the early years now seems to have been replaced with a form of keyboard civil war which is doing no-one any good. Information from the club in all manner of operational areas, once a great strength, has dried up. Lets not forget, however, the positives- community work, the success of the junior sides and their player development and the women's team. Some things have gone very well and should be continued but I believe that the flagship has to be the senior men's side-we can't just be a youth and social club that happens to run a works football team. It is no disgrace to say things haven't worked out as hoped and lets think again; it is a strength for any organisation to periodically re-evaluate and have the courage to change operations [or even direction] if necessary. Good post, said elsewhere commercially higher attendances are key - more people, more attractive to sponsors etc.
|
|
|
Post by agl on Dec 31, 2017 15:50:52 GMT
A major issue is that we appear to have an unsustainable money-generating programme. Over the years the plan has been to expect the same hard core of fans to put their hands in their pockets time and again. This resource is not even finite-it is diminishing and I think people are getting fed up with it. I am not sure how much financial or in-kind support we are getting from commercial third parties but with the crowds we are getting there is little encouragement for companies to come on board. Against Guiseley we couldn't raise sponsorship for the game or the ball and once that relatively low-level income goes we are in serious trouble. I rather suspect that most of the weekly sponsorships are given by core suppporters anyway, which brings me back to my first point. Having been a big player in our first three years with everyone wanting to play for us it was perhaps inevitable that once the wage and travelling realities of the National league hit home we would struggle on the playing side and that would inevitably impact on crowd support. A relegation this season to a less costly regionalised league is probably what we need. The challenge then is to re-decide where [if anywhere] we want to go and [with the benefit of hindsight/mistakes made] how best to get there. We know that a club on the move will attract crowds, players and money [thus an upward spiral] but one as moribund as we presently are will certainly not. So, sadly, we may have to suffer a bit more this season in order to come back more strongly. Crucially, and whatever this season brings,I think the club also needs to evaluate how effective fan ownership has been [perhaps through an independent enquiry] and come to a decision regarding if and when such a model ceases to be appropriate. Many fans are openly contemptuous/suspicious of the CFU and the pulling together of the early years now seems to have been replaced with a form of keyboard civil war which is doing no-one any good. Information from the club in all manner of operational areas, once a great strength, has dried up. Lets not forget, however, the positives- community work, the success of the junior sides and their player development and the women's team. Some things have gone very well and should be continued but I believe that the flagship has to be the senior men's side-we can't just be a youth and social club that happens to run a works football team. It is no disgrace to say things haven't worked out as hoped and lets think again; it is a strength for any organisation to periodically re-evaluate and have the courage to change operations [or even direction] if necessary. This is a good, sensible summing up of where we stand. I would ask, however, if we have any alternative to the fan-owned model? Frankly, I doubt it. If we do go down we definitely have to find ways of making supporting Chester more appealing. I'd also add that relegation, while hard to swallow, isn't the failure/disgrace that many on here assume. It's not the failure of the model per se. Lots of clubs go down. We don't have any right to stay up just because we are Chester and fan-owned.
|
|