Post by Dave on Feb 13, 2010 8:02:50 GMT
This weeks winner has been the best poster of the week once before way back in week four 6th September 2008(winning post that week added to this post), he always posts very well written posts and is a model poster in so much as he can get his teeth into a good debate and you never have any fears he will fall out with anyone, or upset anyone.
This weeks winner is Crispygull, well done Chris fully deserved for providing some great reading for us all to enjoy.
Post one
It's clear that a few on here, who just a few short weeks ago, were almost "ridiculing" those of us who expressed our concerns on this site, and another come to that, are now beginning to realise that perhaps those concerns (and that is all they are, at least on my part) are beginning to grow in support (not the ideal choice of word, I accept).
Personally, I have been concerned since the start of the season. We failed to add to the squad in the summer like we should have .... you only need to look at Burton to see how they went about their business after gaining promotion to realise that we simply didn't do enough. In fairness Colin Lee (in his programme notes around Xmas time) said as much ... we simply didn't do enough to improve the playing squad at that time.... and now reality has struck home ... we are right in the middle of a relegation dogfight, with a young team that is ill equipped for the battle, I would suggest.
Unfortunately, probably because a few decent results (against mediocre opposition, it must be said) gave us a false sense of security in December, to the extent that we (as a club) felt confident enough to move on nearly all of our most experienced pros ... in the hope (and expectation) that we would have a "much better team in January" to quote our CE.
Of course , Paul Buckle tried extremely hard to bring in better replacements in January, but quite simply it didn't happen. But, it's a fact of life that the January transfer window is a notoriously difficult window to do business in, and of course there is the age old problem of our "budget" and our location ... but surely he knew that anyway?
Some might say, ah but it's all very well coming out with all this stuff "in hindsight" .... unfortunately, I wish I could say that ... but it wouldn't be true.
. I am not anti Buckle, in fact I think we have got to stand by him a least for the next couple of months, but in reality if we do go down, then he will unfortunatley have to pay the price with his job.
It's time for all the "back slapping" to stop. Yes, we will be eternally grateful to the consortium for all that they did in saving us two and a half years ago .... but if ultimately we end up back in the BSP next season ..... where is the progress?
We have made a massive cock up in January, I just hope that there is still time within the next six or seven weeks to put it right.
Post two
It certainly isn't ideal.
One point though, young Cox isn't actually here until the end of the season ... his deal runs out on the 23rd February (Rendell will still be unavailable for selection then anyway) - in just two weeks time and I would think it's a nailed on certainty that he will go back to Spurs when it runs out.
That will still leave us with Barnes, Rendell (when fit), Thomson, Smith, Branston and Poke .. one more than we are allowed in a matchday squad - so someone will have to miss out completely. By the sounds of things, we are still trying to bring in another striker (Ademeno or ?) and a young midfielder (Bridcutt ?) which if we do, will take us up to the maximum number of loanees (8) we are allowed in the building at any one time (assuming Cox is sent back)!
It will certainly cause Paul Buckle some major selection headaches over the remainder of the season ... but surely it is better to have too many options, than too few?
Drastic situations call for drastic measures and this is why we are where we are with all these loanees. It's certainly not ideal, and rather than building a team which hopefully can compete at the other end of League 2 next season, it will mean that almost certainly between now and the end of the season any squad that we put out will only have 6 of our "own" players starting and 7 of our "own" players on the bench.... probably with youth trainess taking their place on the bench ahead of the likes of Poke, and Thomson perhaps.
You have to ask yourself how many of the current players we have borrowed are likely to be here next season? Of course we may try and tie up season long loans for one or two of them, but how many are we realistically going to be able to sign on permanent deals? I cannot imagine the likes of Barnes and Smith would be available and the likes of Poke and Rendell (unless we can stump up £100k apparently!) are probably out of our price range anyway.
I can remember Paul Buckle saying that he wasn't too keen on bringing in loan players when he first came here and it took him a long while before he actually used the "system" to any great extent. Clearly, he has changed his views on that, a case of needs must I suppose, but I am sure that in an "ideal world" he would much prefer to be picking a team full of "permanent" signings rather than what we've ended up with. It seems like the loan players are seen as a "short term fix" but it's fair to say I think that they are not seen as an ideal "long term solutiuon".
If you look at most (not all) League 2 teams there are usually a sprinkling of loanees ... but clearly the way things are going we are one team that is using it to the absolute max!
I thought it would be good to read again the post that won the award for Crispygull on the 6th September 2008
Well you can include me in that group!
Unfortunately, its pretty clear that as things stand though - some of those signings are likely to be a waste of money.
Im not for one moment saying that the players concerned arent decent players, but the fact is that they were brought in to try and make us play more football, and change from the direct style that brought us some success last year.
I reckon it was around January time that Buckle first started to try and change things around, perhaps with some pressure applied from his employers? If you look back at his signings then, Steve Adams, Roscoe Dsane and even Jody Banim - they are all footballers who can play a bit, and in the summer he tried to bring even more in, but what does the future hold for them now?
Given that Hargreaves (who he planned to use at Centre Half) and Mansell (Right Back) now seem to have been restored as his preferred central pairing partnership what now for Adams, Wroe, Brough and Thompson ? If these guys arent going to figure in the first XI, let alone the first XVI in some cases - then they must all be regarded as VERY expensive mistakes. In Thompson and Brough you have two BSP captains from last season, and Wroe cost us a fee (£15k) whilst Adams will not have come cheap, with his pedigree of playing at League One, and above, level.
Another "problem" is trying to get the best out of Matt Green. He came with a very decent reputation having had by all accounts an excellent and very productive (10 goals) loan spell at Oxford at the end of last season, and yet 6 games into the season and he has barely kicked a ball for us this season. His chances of cementing a first team start would probably have also been greater if our "passing game" hadnt been consigned to the bin, as surely now Tim Sills is back to being a "shoe in" in the side given that we are playing a direct style again. This leaves Green, Dsane and Benyon all fighting for that one position alongside Sillsy, given Bucks' prefernce for a 4-4-2 line up.
Personally, I would like us to try 4-3-3 which would allow Green AND Dsane to play alongside Sills, with one of our more creative midfielders (take your pick from Wroe, Adams, Thompson or Brough) to play in the hole, with Hargreaves and Mansell doing what they do best in front of our back four. Of course, this would mean abandoning the use of wingers, but in all honesty Messrs Carayol, Carlisle and Stevens have all been too inconsistent for my liking this season and have failed to deliver enough decent quality crosses into the box, to "feed the Sills".
I doubt it will happen, but 4-3-3 seemed to serve our neighbours up the road quite well last season, albeit theirs was more of a 4-1-2-3 in all honesty.
This weeks winner is Crispygull, well done Chris fully deserved for providing some great reading for us all to enjoy.
Post one
It's clear that a few on here, who just a few short weeks ago, were almost "ridiculing" those of us who expressed our concerns on this site, and another come to that, are now beginning to realise that perhaps those concerns (and that is all they are, at least on my part) are beginning to grow in support (not the ideal choice of word, I accept).
Personally, I have been concerned since the start of the season. We failed to add to the squad in the summer like we should have .... you only need to look at Burton to see how they went about their business after gaining promotion to realise that we simply didn't do enough. In fairness Colin Lee (in his programme notes around Xmas time) said as much ... we simply didn't do enough to improve the playing squad at that time.... and now reality has struck home ... we are right in the middle of a relegation dogfight, with a young team that is ill equipped for the battle, I would suggest.
Unfortunately, probably because a few decent results (against mediocre opposition, it must be said) gave us a false sense of security in December, to the extent that we (as a club) felt confident enough to move on nearly all of our most experienced pros ... in the hope (and expectation) that we would have a "much better team in January" to quote our CE.
Of course , Paul Buckle tried extremely hard to bring in better replacements in January, but quite simply it didn't happen. But, it's a fact of life that the January transfer window is a notoriously difficult window to do business in, and of course there is the age old problem of our "budget" and our location ... but surely he knew that anyway?
Some might say, ah but it's all very well coming out with all this stuff "in hindsight" .... unfortunately, I wish I could say that ... but it wouldn't be true.
. I am not anti Buckle, in fact I think we have got to stand by him a least for the next couple of months, but in reality if we do go down, then he will unfortunatley have to pay the price with his job.It's time for all the "back slapping" to stop. Yes, we will be eternally grateful to the consortium for all that they did in saving us two and a half years ago .... but if ultimately we end up back in the BSP next season ..... where is the progress?
We have made a massive cock up in January, I just hope that there is still time within the next six or seven weeks to put it right.
Post two
It certainly isn't ideal.
One point though, young Cox isn't actually here until the end of the season ... his deal runs out on the 23rd February (Rendell will still be unavailable for selection then anyway) - in just two weeks time and I would think it's a nailed on certainty that he will go back to Spurs when it runs out.
That will still leave us with Barnes, Rendell (when fit), Thomson, Smith, Branston and Poke .. one more than we are allowed in a matchday squad - so someone will have to miss out completely. By the sounds of things, we are still trying to bring in another striker (Ademeno or ?) and a young midfielder (Bridcutt ?) which if we do, will take us up to the maximum number of loanees (8) we are allowed in the building at any one time (assuming Cox is sent back)!
It will certainly cause Paul Buckle some major selection headaches over the remainder of the season ... but surely it is better to have too many options, than too few?
Drastic situations call for drastic measures and this is why we are where we are with all these loanees. It's certainly not ideal, and rather than building a team which hopefully can compete at the other end of League 2 next season, it will mean that almost certainly between now and the end of the season any squad that we put out will only have 6 of our "own" players starting and 7 of our "own" players on the bench.... probably with youth trainess taking their place on the bench ahead of the likes of Poke, and Thomson perhaps.
You have to ask yourself how many of the current players we have borrowed are likely to be here next season? Of course we may try and tie up season long loans for one or two of them, but how many are we realistically going to be able to sign on permanent deals? I cannot imagine the likes of Barnes and Smith would be available and the likes of Poke and Rendell (unless we can stump up £100k apparently!) are probably out of our price range anyway.
I can remember Paul Buckle saying that he wasn't too keen on bringing in loan players when he first came here and it took him a long while before he actually used the "system" to any great extent. Clearly, he has changed his views on that, a case of needs must I suppose, but I am sure that in an "ideal world" he would much prefer to be picking a team full of "permanent" signings rather than what we've ended up with. It seems like the loan players are seen as a "short term fix" but it's fair to say I think that they are not seen as an ideal "long term solutiuon".
If you look at most (not all) League 2 teams there are usually a sprinkling of loanees ... but clearly the way things are going we are one team that is using it to the absolute max!
I thought it would be good to read again the post that won the award for Crispygull on the 6th September 2008
Well you can include me in that group!
Unfortunately, its pretty clear that as things stand though - some of those signings are likely to be a waste of money.
Im not for one moment saying that the players concerned arent decent players, but the fact is that they were brought in to try and make us play more football, and change from the direct style that brought us some success last year.
I reckon it was around January time that Buckle first started to try and change things around, perhaps with some pressure applied from his employers? If you look back at his signings then, Steve Adams, Roscoe Dsane and even Jody Banim - they are all footballers who can play a bit, and in the summer he tried to bring even more in, but what does the future hold for them now?
Given that Hargreaves (who he planned to use at Centre Half) and Mansell (Right Back) now seem to have been restored as his preferred central pairing partnership what now for Adams, Wroe, Brough and Thompson ? If these guys arent going to figure in the first XI, let alone the first XVI in some cases - then they must all be regarded as VERY expensive mistakes. In Thompson and Brough you have two BSP captains from last season, and Wroe cost us a fee (£15k) whilst Adams will not have come cheap, with his pedigree of playing at League One, and above, level.
Another "problem" is trying to get the best out of Matt Green. He came with a very decent reputation having had by all accounts an excellent and very productive (10 goals) loan spell at Oxford at the end of last season, and yet 6 games into the season and he has barely kicked a ball for us this season. His chances of cementing a first team start would probably have also been greater if our "passing game" hadnt been consigned to the bin, as surely now Tim Sills is back to being a "shoe in" in the side given that we are playing a direct style again. This leaves Green, Dsane and Benyon all fighting for that one position alongside Sillsy, given Bucks' prefernce for a 4-4-2 line up.
Personally, I would like us to try 4-3-3 which would allow Green AND Dsane to play alongside Sills, with one of our more creative midfielders (take your pick from Wroe, Adams, Thompson or Brough) to play in the hole, with Hargreaves and Mansell doing what they do best in front of our back four. Of course, this would mean abandoning the use of wingers, but in all honesty Messrs Carayol, Carlisle and Stevens have all been too inconsistent for my liking this season and have failed to deliver enough decent quality crosses into the box, to "feed the Sills".
I doubt it will happen, but 4-3-3 seemed to serve our neighbours up the road quite well last season, albeit theirs was more of a 4-1-2-3 in all honesty.
