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Post by Borderlands on Mar 7, 2020 20:27:39 GMT
As I was referenced earlier in this thread, here's what I said at the time: "It's good that the overwhelming reaction on here is that Blues fans are pleased with the contract extension. However - I have to say I think we're crazy to give ANYBODY a two and a half year contract. Have we learned nothing from McCarthy? Personally, I wouldn't give Jurgen Klopp a contract of that length - so it's not about the calibre of the manager(s), it's simply that a club in our position shouldn't be making that kind of commitment. God forbid we go into freefall, and find ourselves having to pay off two managers instead of one. I just hope there are some break clauses based on performance; reaching the play-offs should be the minimum requirement, in my opinion, at the very least next year if not this. And just to clarify - I like the guys, and would extend them for next year, it's just the level of commitment that concerns me. Here's hoping my fears are completely unfounded and it proves to be an entirely positive experience." I wasn't there today, but I stand by all the points above. I thought that the Board that came in two years ago reviewed the whole issue of extended contracts etc. to make sure we didn’t make the same mistakes again. Wasn’t this led by Rich Lynes, as a non-exec Director why has he allowed this to happen again? Wasn’t it Einstein who said that a sign of madness was doing the same thing time after time and expecting different results,
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Post by Harry Lime on Mar 7, 2020 20:31:38 GMT
The common denominator in these depressingly familiar dismal away performances is that we just haven't got the physicality in midfield to get a grip on games and allow our flair players to flourish. As far back as Kettering, where we were very lucky to nick a point, that's been the case too often. Royston was the icing on the cake. We're fine on good playing surfaces, but stick us in a battle on a heavy pitch and more often than not we're just not good enough. We lack height in the middle, we have an ageing midfield and it's no secret that that there's a drinking culture. It looks like we are running on empty, again, as the season gets to the business end and it's not exactly as if we've had a crippling injury list. I've not written off the season but however it ends there needs to be a serious rethink about the type of player we bring in. In these games on a bumpy crap pitch, against a limited side, we struggle. Having two wide wingers is fine when you have the ball. It stretches the game and puts pressure on the opposition. When you haven't, you can get overrun. These teams stay narrow, close you down and then play direct. The two in midfield get overrun. Wingers don't get the ball in the right places, and become ineffective. The defence is then often under pressure. It's happened 8 or 9 times over The last 12-15 months. It's ok playing like Man City when you're better than everyone else. If you're not, it's smarter to play percentages. Recent signings are strange. They've almost forced us to play with 2 wingers and get overrun central. Midseason signings last season were just as bad, as they unbalanced us. What I don't understand is that they keep saying you know what you'll get with our teams. You know what we're all about. This side doesn't look that way. These new signings seem to be them trying to evolve us into a sexy football style, but missing the basics. Hard tackling , committed, physically strong side. That would get results. Consistent 7 out of 10 players. We could do with a dominant central midfield player. Why do we need a left winger when Joel Taylor is playing behind him? The fact that Johnston has been rubbish so far, has just made that decision look worse. It may be coincidence that since Livesey has been missing we've conceded loads of goals. It may be the 2 wingers playing leaving us too open is to blame.
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Post by jb on Mar 7, 2020 21:06:27 GMT
To make an embarrassing day even more embarrassing, we surpassed Bradford’s points tally (before the start of the day) before the end of August. Let that one sink in. Embarrassing days are becoming more and more commonplace under our “celeb” managers. In recent weeks we’ve had Royston, Curzon and now Bradford Park Ave. We’ve got another two years of early cup exits and the annual home defeat to Curzon and away beatings at the likes of Bradford Park, Dunston etc to look forward to. Still the “Twitter” banter from Johnno will more than make up for it.
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Post by yossergolf on Mar 7, 2020 21:08:02 GMT
We should not be surprised by this result, for whatever reason the players do not seem to get up for games like this. Yes the Managers should get them fired up but it does not matter what they say if the players just don’t do it. The managers and players have to take responsibility and not just turn up. As supporters we sometimes expect too much but effort, commitment and a will to win should be a given. Too many fancy dans in the squad who think they are better than they are.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2020 21:13:23 GMT
Tempers are running high today and understandable but some clown threatening Bern on twitter is not on
Not the first time either he's had it with both of them
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Post by g1 on Mar 7, 2020 21:18:02 GMT
Tempers are running high today and understandable but some clown threatening Bern on twitter is not on Not the first time either he's had it with both of them that's one thing i can't be blamed for
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Post by g1 on Mar 7, 2020 21:18:53 GMT
By the way they were all poor apart from waters
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Post by yossergolf on Mar 7, 2020 21:21:06 GMT
That is not acceptable, we are all angry and disappointed but threats to managers is not on.
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Post by Anders on Mar 7, 2020 21:28:49 GMT
Probably the worst actual performance under Bern & Jonno. Blyth basically just put every chance they had away and Stockport were a good side, but this…wow. Completely schooled by a team who aren’t just bottom, but tailed off.
Outfought and second to everything. Body language was appalling all over as well.
Embarrassing.
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Post by tonya on Mar 7, 2020 21:43:11 GMT
The issue of contract extension is not personal. Whether the 2 managers are likeable wasn't the issue. It was the principle of a club in our position making a long term commitment. I can see and understand the arguements for and against but on balance i was opposed to it. I said so on here at the time. Whoever was manager at the time i would have opposed it - unless we were top and promotion was near inevitable. We weren't. I still hope that we go up and those who agreed the appointments can feel they made the right choice. All would be forgotten quickly, even though as stated it was the wrong decision. What is it Henry Kissinger once said about forgiveness..
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Post by spencerwhelanleftpeg on Mar 7, 2020 21:43:42 GMT
Well today’s defeat is yet another low point with our club. I just wonder if the decision to let Griffiths go out until the end of the season has caused some sort of argument rift within the camp. By all accounts didn’t turn up today. We’ve seen this a handful of times recently against teams you would feel we should be beating. So it’s now starting to look like yet more and more of this awful league and extremely poor standard of football. Without Stuart’s input we not even be able to hold down a spot at this level which is extremely sad as this level is nowhere near acceptable in my opinion. Can we get our act together and get a play off spot. Even if we do we can’t string together three or so good performances so it’s against the tide as it stands. As I’ve said elsewhere I’d like to have a chat to the players and explain what I’ve ensured in 30 years plus following us and what the club means. We no doubt may see a response in the next game only to not show up at Alty and get mauled. As has been said by others we probably need to look at physicality in the middle of the park . Slick passing football in lower league works aug-Oct then towards end of season not rocket science . So disappointed tonight but then again I try not to left too disappointed with us anymore
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Post by spencerwhelanleftpeg on Mar 7, 2020 21:45:39 GMT
Probably the worst actual performance under Bern & Jonno. Blyth basically just put every chance they had away and Stockport were a good side, but this…wow. Completely schooled by a team who aren’t just bottom, but tailed off. Outfought and second to everything. Body language was appalling all over as well. Embarrassing. I wonder if the Griffiths thing has caused big split in the camp? It’s difficult to explain today? 🤔
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Post by Borderlands on Mar 7, 2020 21:47:26 GMT
Tempers are running high today and understandable but some clown threatening Bern on twitter is not on Not the first time either he's had it with both of them Absolutely agree that physical threats are totally out of order, and hopefully have not come from someone who is a member of the CFU, and therefore their employer! What we do have to consider however is that when our managers got Salford promoted to the National League the owners dropped them like a stone. Are we seriously saying that our Board could see the hidden potential in these two that four European championship winners could not. It follows that players reach a level at which they are comfortable plying their trade, and managers are no different. I have said it previously, giving two year contracts at our level is foolhardy, 1 year contracts, renegotiated at Christmas gives everybody the security that is needed. Unfortunately we have learnt nothing from three years ago, but I don’t think that the Board are solely to blame for this. The ownership model that we now seem to be following gives all the decision making responsibilities to Stuart Murphy.
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Post by comeoncity21 on Mar 7, 2020 21:49:47 GMT
I can't say "I don't believe it", because I was expecting it. I've sat on the fence with Bern and Jonno but this is shite and they're to blame. Oh dear. What have I been saying about Bill and Ben and you've all took the piss out of me and had me banned. We'll I guess I'm the only one on here who was right. What a pile of crap that was again. I'm sick of it and all the bullshit on here about how good they are. Get them out and let's start fresh for next season.
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Post by Hannibal on Mar 7, 2020 21:53:39 GMT
The issue of contract extension is not personal. Whether the 2 managers are likeable wasn't the issue. It was the principle of a club in our position making a long term commitment. I can see and understand the arguements for and against but on balance i was opposed to it. I said so on here at the time. Whoever was manager at the time i would have opposed it - unless we were top and promotion was near inevitable. We weren't. I still hope that we go up and those who agreed the appointments can feel they made the right choice. All would be forgotten quickly, even though as stated it was the wrong decision. What is it Henry Kissinger once said about forgiveness.. I think even creeping into 7th place might be beyond us now unless we can get back to the sort of form we were in at the start of the season.
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Post by btb on Mar 7, 2020 21:54:57 GMT
The majority felt a two year extension was the right way to go. The majority were wrong! We'll see. It's a poor start and it needs to improve, we can agree on that. Just to clarify I’d feel the same regardless of league positions. Two year contracts aren’t warranted at this level of football.
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Post by Hannibal on Mar 7, 2020 21:55:17 GMT
I can't say "I don't believe it", because I was expecting it. I've sat on the fence with Bern and Jonno but this is shite and they're to blame. Oh dear. What have I been saying about Bill and Ben and you've all took the piss out of me and had me banned. We'll I guess I'm the only one on here who was right. What a pile of crap that was again. I'm sick of it and all the bullshit on here about how good they are. Get them out and let's start fresh for next season. You stupid individual. Their names are Bern and Jonno. They may be inadequate but name calling is not on.
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Post by oldsealandroadender on Mar 7, 2020 22:05:00 GMT
The managers don't seem to know what their best team is. Today's team selection was wrong. After the Cheshire Cup game I said that for today they should start with George Waring and Danny Elliott. Elliott is the form player, albeit in another team, and the two combined well on Tuesday. Dudley is not a target man. When Waring came on I thought we may have a chance with him and Elliott but Danny was also substituted.
As for tactics, today there didn't seem to be any. You know when you play a bottom side its going to be a battle, especially on a bad pitch. Early in the season we started games with a fast attacking style. Today we were playing a team who had already conceded 77 goals so we should have gone all out in the first 15-20 minutes to get a goal or two, demoralise the opposition then manage the rest of the game. But then again we've got no game management. When we play against struggling teams they get a goal if they can then park the bus. We never seem to have an answer to breaking down teams who do that. You can blame the players but they do what the managers tell them. If it doesn't work they don't have a Plan B.
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Post by spencerwhelanleftpeg on Mar 7, 2020 22:06:11 GMT
The issue of contract extension is not personal. Whether the 2 managers are likeable wasn't the issue. It was the principle of a club in our position making a long term commitment. I can see and understand the arguements for and against but on balance i was opposed to it. I said so on here at the time. Whoever was manager at the time i would have opposed it - unless we were top and promotion was near inevitable. We weren't. I still hope that we go up and those who agreed the appointments can feel they made the right choice. All would be forgotten quickly, even though as stated it was the wrong decision. What is it Henry Kissinger once said about forgiveness.. I think even creeping into 7th place might be beyond us now unless we can get back to the sort of form we were in at the start of the season. Work out if winning every other game will be enough because that’s what we are likely to do?
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Post by Hannibal on Mar 7, 2020 22:21:00 GMT
Don't reply to him that is what he wants he got banned because he's a pr*** Thanks ~~~ I think calling the managers Bill and Ben is disrespectful. Whether they are up to it or not they deserve respect.
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Post by Hannibal on Mar 7, 2020 22:22:48 GMT
I think even creeping into 7th place might be beyond us now unless we can get back to the sort of form we were in at the start of the season. Work out if winning every other game will be enough because that’s what we are likely to do? 10 games left and we'll probably need at least 70. That's another 16 points. I feel that may be beyond us, but we'll see.
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Post by Rio Doherty on Mar 7, 2020 22:51:50 GMT
Today is one of those rare days where I feel embarrassed to support my club. I know I shouldn’t as I am proud to be a blue, but we haven’t half thrown up a few howlers lately. To perform in the way we did is simply unforgivable as we never got going at all, and we got what we deserved because we didn’t know what to do. Bradford (Park Avenue) AFC weren’t particularly a good side, but they did the basics right which is a minimum requirement. I always give teams who beat us credit, and today will be no different as they wanted the game more and got in our faces. For us to lose to a side who have won just four matches all season, have a goal difference of -54, and are all but relegated is absolutely unforgivable though. We only have ourselves to blame as in far too many games such as today, against Blyth Spartans, Royston Town, Curzon Ashton, etc. we have failed to perform against teams that we really should be turning over.
I should have made a visit to the local graveyard in the first half, as that would have been loads more interesting than the match itself. Understandably the blustery conditions and a quagmire of a pitch took a toll on the quality of the game, but it was just so excruciating to endure. We did absolutely nothing whatsoever, other than just wallop the ball to wherever we liked, which was mostly to the corner flag. Bradford (Park Avenue) AFC started off as the more brighter, as they were constantly in our half to put us under the cosh. We just gifted them it though as we didn’t have the awareness to close them down, or the cleverness to string a few passes together on the ground. Despite a rocky start we should have easily made it 1-0, and I am still scratching my head about it now. John Johnston was clean through on goal with only Joe Green to beat, but instead of leathering the ball at goal or squaring it to Danny Elliott, guess what he did? Oh yes, pass the ball to Green! At the other end Louis Gray pulled off his first stop, by preventing Billy Priestley, whilst Elliott then slotted wide for us. Tom Clare was then denied by Gray who made a solid block with not long to go before the break. With four minutes to go Bradford (Park Avenue) AFC made it 1-0 in bizarre fashion, as the goal was initially disallowed for what I believe was a foul on Gray. However, the referee then gave the goal as Tom Clare bundled in apparently. Simon Grand was then unable to grab an equaliser as his header was saved. An abject showing saw us deservedly trail at the interval.
The second period wasn’t much better, as we resumed our slow, sloppy play on the ball. To be fair to us we actually had a decent spell in the first ten minutes, which was rewarded as Matty Waters scored a peach of a goal directly from a corner for us to make it 1-1. We were unable to lift off from there though, as our heads surprisingly dropped to gift the hosts the game. Oli Johnson retook the lead to make it 2-1 to Bradford (Park Avenue) AFC in comical circumstances, as he nodded in from a long throw with nobody challenging him. Our lackadaisicalness in possession continued to show as we were so lazy by constantly giving the ball away. Akwasi Asante had more than a good chance to get us a second equaliser, but he blasted over, whilst Gary Roberts then missed the target from a free kick. George Waring then headed wide with time ticking. Despite the small amount of chances we had late on, we were unable to muster an undeserved late equaliser.
The only player who was decent for us today was Matty Waters who didn’t have a bad game in place of Joel Taylor. He of course netted a brilliant goal from the corner spot, so it’s just a shame we never picked up from there. However, the 10 others underperformed massively. Simon Grand had his worst game in a while because he was very nervy on the ball (which is rare for him), and slipped up a couple of times where on a different day another team would punish him. Our midfielders were really disappointing because to be fair I thought our managers made the correct decision in starting Gary Stopforth and Gary Roberts. It’s very unfortunate that Stopforth went off early on which obviously did hinder us, but we still should have got stuck in more and stayed with the flow of the game. Scott Burton (who was comically named as Akwasi Asante by the PA guy) was unlikely to improve us, and he didn’t as he continued his very inconsistent run. It’s quite hard to judge Louis Gray today because to his credit he pulled off a couple of smart stops, although he did play a part in both of the goals. The first one was a bit unclear so I will have to watch the highlights back to make a conclusion, but he certainly should have come off his line for the second. It was very much like Brackley Town’s second goal the other week. Our forwards didn’t step up to the plate again and were not in the game. The goals have dried up a lot lately so they need to get their heads in the game.
I am firmly in the Bern and Jonno ‘in’ camp, but they haven’t half made things hard for themselves lately regarding team selections etc. They got the midfield selection right, but they really should have started George Waring as he is the type of target man we need against physical teams like Bradford (Park Avenue) AFC. A lack of desire has also been evident recently, because a few of our players in particular haven’t looked bothered or shown any commitment, which is the bare minimum. We don’t have a George Horan-type leader either to inspire us, so I really hope our players got a good rollicking today to fire them up, as our confidence taken another halt. Our next match is on Saturday as we host Boston United at home in what will be an interesting one. We usually look pretty comfortable at home, but with Boston being so high up this will be a stinger to immediately get a performance out of. I hope we play like we did against Southport and Darlington etc., but I’m also worried about us having another Brackley Town. You just don’t know what Chester side will turn up, so we will have to wait and see in this soap opera of a club...
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Post by chislenko2 on Mar 7, 2020 23:03:53 GMT
Sack the volunteers!
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Post by devadiva on Mar 7, 2020 23:12:47 GMT
Wasn’t there today but sounds from posts and reports of the managers‘ match interview that we just weren’t “up for it”.
Like everyone else I will be so angry if we aren’t in the play offs - I’m pretty angry now that we are doing a good job of giving up on a 2nd or 3rd place finish. I just don’t get it - we are in a PLAYOFF position and ultimately could get PROMOTED - what more do the players need to be “up for it”, ffs?
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Post by Lobster on Mar 7, 2020 23:22:05 GMT
Don't reply to him that is what he wants he got banned because he's a pr*** Thanks ~~~ I think calling the managers Bill and Ben is disrespectful. Whether they are up to it or not they deserve respect. There's a reasonable debate to be had about their performance and credentials, but anyone coming out with this "Bill and Ben" crap is undermining their own point and is not worth listening to.
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Post by spencerwhelanleftpeg on Mar 7, 2020 23:28:17 GMT
Work out if winning every other game will be enough because that’s what we are likely to do? 10 games left and we'll probably need at least 70. That's another 16 points. I feel that may be beyond us, but we'll see. Well that’s winning more than 5 isn’t it . I wouldn’t be confident in us getting a result against anyone away from Home . Puts a lot of pressure on home games. I wouldn’t want to start trying to work out who we might best etc on the run in as again today we have shown we are capable of being infuriating. Game at a time and we shall see.
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Post by spencerwhelanleftpeg on Mar 7, 2020 23:30:10 GMT
What’s for certain is if we are incapable of making the play offs at this awful Lowly level of football then it’s Avery sad state of affairs.
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Post by chislenko2 on Mar 7, 2020 23:32:33 GMT
I couldn't make it today but picked up two nice Cindy Dolls at a car boot sale. Have to say didn't see anyone selling a car boot.
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Post by utb on Mar 7, 2020 23:37:53 GMT
We've got no leaders whatsoever. No one in that team that can give the rest of them a shake on the pitch and remind them all that no game in this league is a walkover. Someone who can get stuck into them, warning them against complacency, to stay switched on, to bollock someone not doing their job properly. We've got no brains in the side whatsoever. I'm so disappointed in the likes of Gary Roberts and Simon Grand, who should be those leaders but don't show it. It's a shame those Kevin Ellison rumours seemingly came to nothing. How we could a Horan in this team right now!
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Post by tonya on Mar 8, 2020 0:21:22 GMT
We've got no leaders whatsoever. No one in that team that can give the rest of them a shake on the pitch and remind them all that no game in this league is a walkover. Someone who can get stuck into them, warning them against complacency, to stay switched on, to bollock someone not doing their job properly. We've got no brains in the side whatsoever. I'm so disappointed in the likes of Gary Roberts and Simon Grand, who should be those leaders but don't show it. It's a shame those Kevin Ellison rumours seemingly came to nothing. How we could a Horan in this team right now! Kevin Ellison, totally agree.
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