What more can the board do?

[CopenhagenBlade]

Realistically and within some sort of sensible business restraints, what more can the board do?
We are a 1st division club and are restricted by who we can buy but the board has backed the manager(s).
We wanted a central defender, we loaned a Intl Championship defender in Edgar and also tried to get Burns from Fulham.
We wanted a central midfielder, they approved the loan for a Premier league player in Hammond.
Pre season they got rid of Clough, which the majority wanted and hired Adkins, which pretty much everyone wanted. These 2 actions weren't cheap.
They bought Sharp and Sammon in, who were both Championship level players.
Previously they backed the manager and bought in Done and Brayford, neither of them were cheap.
The only negatives are that they sold Maguire and Murphy, both of whom wanted to go. We can discuss this until the cows come home as to whether we should have kept them but I personally think that a 1st division club is always going to lose its best players to clubs higher up the leagues.

So, I believe that they have supported the manager. The fans have done their part by supporting them in huge numbers both home and away but it seems as though the fault should either lie with the players or the manager(s). They either can't cope with the pressures of playing at the biggest club at this level or are just not good enough. Both issues lie with the manager s who bought the player to the club, not the board for sanctioning the purchase. It's not their job to scout players, that is the manager and his team, the board just has to make sure that the fees and salaries are paid, which they do

 

[crucialkneeligaman]

Realistically and within some sort of sensible business restraints, what more can the board do?
We are a 1st division club and are restricted by who we can buy but the board has backed the manager(s).
We wanted a central defender, we loaned a Intl Championship defender in Edgar and also tried to get Burns from Fulham.
We wanted a central midfielder, they approved the loan for a Premier league player in Hammond.
Pre season they got rid of Clough, which the majority wanted and hired Adkins, which pretty much everyone wanted. These 2 actions weren't cheap.
They bought Sharp and Sammon in, who were both Championship level players.
Previously they backed the manager and bought in Done and Brayford, neither of them were cheap.
The only negatives are that they sold Maguire and Murphy, both of whom wanted to go. We can discuss this until the cows come home as to whether we should have kept them but I personally think that a 1st division club is always going to lose its best players to clubs higher up the leagues.

So, I believe that they have supported the manager. The fans have done their part by supporting them in huge numbers both home and away but it seems as though the fault should either lie with the players or the manager(s). They either can't cope with the pressures of playing at the biggest club at this level or are just not good enough. Both issues lie with the manager s who bought the player to the club, not the board for sanctioning the purchase. It's not their job to scout players, that is the manager and his team, the board just has to make sure that the fees and salaries are paid, which they do

To me there lies one of the major problems at the club, the scouting system, why go for Leon Clarke when you can have Connor Sammon ?. Results are proving we are going for the wrong type of players.

 

[Jon Bon]

Fund the biggest clearout in the club's history and let Adkins go and get some players who can play the system he wants to play, as it's obvious the majority of the current lot can't. We made all this fuss about getting the new chief scout from scunny and setting up a scouting network. Well, get the fuck out there and scout. Earn your money.

 

[sheffielder]

We don't have many winners / achievers in our squad. Not many had won promotion of any sort no have ambled through their careers. Obviously sharp and Hammond have achieved something and woolford has play off history with Scunthorpe and Edgar with burnley. All players brought in by Adkins.

The rest of the players brought in over the last 3 years have achieved next to fuck all and are happy with life as a division one fuckwit. I even remember thinking how Derby choked towards end of last year with most of cloughs boys.

Something is not quite right in that dressing room to keep losing games like this, especially after pulling level

 

[Coily]

When it boils down to it, our current squad of players are sadly a bunch of useless cunts. And it's got to the point when I really don't care anymore, these defeats are now forgotten in moments whereas it used to ruin weekends.

 

[JohnDenver]

To my mind, the board need to give managers two full years including four transfer windows before they even consider sacking them. Unless they threaten to relegate us like Weir...

Players need time to grow and managers need to be reassured that quick fixes like Barry Robson, Paddy McCarthy, et al are less desirable than up and coming younger players who need more time. It's not a clear cut argument but the fact we lacked a striker for so long after Ched, and a defender for so long after Harry, shows some bad short term thinking.

Many people on here and in the boardroom will be wanting Adkins out if we don't go up. I think that will just perpetuate the cycle.

 

[FATTYFOULKE]

I think the leadership at the top has put us in this position but I do think they are genuinely doing all they can to now get out of it.

Away from the boardroom It's early days for Adkins though and I still think he's the man for us. Surely he can see what's wrong and what he has to do.

 

[rtifati]

They could pay for an expert to come in and help rid us of the curse that's obviously hanging over the club.

After decades of similar bad luck and underachievement, Birmingham City tried it in the 90s and it involved Barry Fry taking a piss all over the pitch.

Could any of our current staff be pursuaded to try something similar?

 

[Jonboy60]

Fund the biggest clearout in the club's history and let Adkins go and get some players who can play the system he wants to play, as it's obvious the majority of the current lot can't. We made all this fuss about getting the new chief scout from scunny and setting up a scouting network. Well, get the fuck out there and scout. Earn your money.

He's out there Jon Bon, but he's scouting for next season,not this one.

 

[axel smeets]

Resign.

 

[Revolution]

They could not sell any of our good players in January.

 

[jt64]

Hire a DoF with scouting remits beyond whatever happens to be in the current manager's mobile phone at the moment? He could get a 16 year old in on minimum wage and just have him play Football Manager all day, would probably be able to get a longer and better shortlist of centre backs in one week than Adkins has managed in five months

 

[spongebobblade]

Fund the biggest clearout in the club's history and let Adkins go and get some players who can play the system he wants to play, as it's obvious the majority of the current lot can't. We made all this fuss about getting the new chief scout from scunny and setting up a scouting network. Well, get the fuck out there and scout. Earn your money.

What a massive gamble financially that would be. See where your coming from and could genuinely work....... But there's more chance of Rupert Bear riding Shergar in this years Grand National

 

[Esablade]

They could pay for an expert to come in and help rid us of the curse that's obviously hanging over the club.

After decades of similar bad luck and underachievement, Birmingham City tried it in the 90s and it involved Barry Fry taking a piss all over the pitch.

Could any of our current staff be pursuaded to try something similar?

We've got plenty taking the piss all over the pitch every week..( sorry, couldn't let that one pass!)

 

[Surrey Blade]

Jt's quip about contacts on the mobile is probably very near the mark. Recent managers, Adkins included, have been to quick to look at players they have previously managed. This perhaps has the unintended effect of making a player's life too comfortable while distracting the manager from casting the net sufficiently wide.

 

[Harry's Game]

Get a proper football man on the board. The McCabes have got every major football decision wrong in the last ten years, Jim seems a nice bloke but knows nothing about 'soccer' and The Prince is an absentee NFL fan who takes advice from others.

A director of Football would be a start.

 

[Rodley]

I wouldn't get a director of football in, I'd look to get a football man to work with Jim Phipps. I don't think it's absolutely imperative right now though.

I know McCabe has tried to get both Graham Taylor and Dalgleish in the past since the passing of Derek. It's clear it's something he's looked at in the past.

For me the key opportunity to break out of the purgatory we're in is to jettison a huge number of the players at the end of the year. We've loads out of contract this summer FINALLY.

Over the last 5 years we've accumulated loads of either (a) honest, hardworking players who don't have the aggression and bite to compete; (b) players who are coming to the end of their careers and lack hunger, or: (c) players who are injury prone and can't put a consistent run of games together.

It's time to clear out all the players who fall under (a), (b) and (c) this summer, even if we get promoted (which is do-able and shouldn't be ruled out). We need hungry players, who are up for it and physically and mentally robust. This doesn't mean to say we revert back to the more agricultural style of football, but you have to recognise that there is a certain profile of player which succeeds at BDTBL.

I guess I've reconciled myself on the following basis:

A) we're currently a playoff side in a poor division. I'm backing my club to see where we end up and not ruling out the top 2.
B) a couple of signings would get us up near the top 2 easily, but they need to be the right kind of players along the lines of the above. If it means waiting until the summer then so be it. No more Higdons please.
C) if we don't do it, there's the opportunity for a radical overhaul of the squad.
D) we've got the best qualified manager we could get to achieve A), B) and C) above. Sacking him is just an extension of the downwards spiral we've been on for years.

 

[dublin 10 blade]

We've got plenty taking the piss all over the pitch every week..( sorry, couldn't let that one pass!)

Beat me to it , twat .

 

[robbiez666]

Instead of dicking about and trying to get better deals (Brayford, O'Grady, Hammond etc) make the money available straight away. 2 seasons running we've delayed bringing people in because "we couldn't get it over the line". These players have eventually come, so what was stopping it going through straight away? The delays with our transfer business have been costly

 

[Bartleby]

not sure when all the contracts expire (be interested if anyone has a summary of that to hand) but it strikes me we have pretty much had a clear out recently and it's been a failure. I remember McCabe quoting Charlton as the model to follow on that aboyt two years ago and looking at it now, with the exception of Howard, Collins and academy players, all of our inflated squad have been signed in the last two years. Not getting my hopes up that that will be the answer.

 

[Bartleby]

Re contracts in last post I've done a quick trawl on wikipedia of some, not all of the squad and looks like contracts expire as follows:
2016 - McEverley, Higdon, Alcock, J Wallace, JCR, McGahey
2017 - McNulty, Basham, Scougall, Freeman, Coutts, Diego DeG
Not sure - Howard, Collins,Harris

 

[Harry's Game]

I wouldn't get a director of football in, I'd look to get a football man to work with Jim Phipps. I don't think it's absolutely imperative right now though.
.

Our lamentable performances in the transfer windows suggest otherwise to me.

 

[Silent Blade]

Re contracts in last post I've done a quick trawl on wikipedia of some, not all of the squad and looks like contracts expire as follows:
2016 - McEverley, Higdon, Alcock, J Wallace, JCR, McGahey
2017 - McNulty, Basham, Scougall, Freeman, Coutts, Diego DeG
Not sure - Howard, Collins,Harris

Collins is 2016

 

[Bartleby]

looks like I'm duplicating stuff from here, http://www.s24su.com/forum/index.php?threads/the-end-of-season-cull.42509/
( soz to the "thread police " )

 

[MobileBlade]

There will be one major change next season that will move the goalposts for every club in the Football League - no more emergency loans.

 

[BushBlade]

We don't have many winners / achievers in our squad. Not many had won promotion of any sort no have ambled through their careers. Obviously sharp and Hammond have achieved something and woolford has play off history with Scunthorpe and Edgar with burnley. All players brought in by Adkins.

The rest of the players brought in over the last 3 years have achieved next to fuck all and are happy with life as a division one fuckwit. I even remember thinking how Derby choked towards end of last year with most of cloughs boys.

Something is not quite right in that dressing room to keep losing games like this, especially after pulling level

I've been thinking the same thing. 'Mid-table players', granted several from a higher league but, as you say, used to the mentality that losing a few games is acceptable.

 

[Silent Blade]

There will be one major change next season that will move the goalposts for every club in the Football League - no more emergency loans.

Blimey.

Where did you read that?

 

[jt64]

There will be one major change next season that will move the goalposts for every club in the Football League - no more emergency loans.

So next season we wouldn't have been able to get Hammond in. Not entirely sure what was emergency about it, we've got plenty of central midfielders

 

[The Vicar]

They could pay for an expert to come in and help rid us of the curse that's obviously hanging over the club.

After decades of similar bad luck and underachievement, Birmingham City tried it in the 90s and it involved Barry Fry taking a piss all over the pitch.

Could any of our current staff be pursuaded to try something similar?

I could come in & do the 'last rites' at BL! For a couple of tickets next to KM with the Directors & and some half time goodies I would be cheap.

 

[judge]

To my mind, the board need to give managers two full years including four transfer windows before they even consider sacking them. Unless they threaten to relegate us like Weir...

Players need time to grow and managers need to be reassured that quick fixes like Barry Robson, Paddy McCarthy, et al are less desirable than up and coming younger players who need more time. It's not a clear cut argument but the fact we lacked a striker for so long after Ched, and a defender for so long after Harry, shows some bad short term thinking.

Many people on here and in the boardroom will be wanting Adkins out if we don't go up. I think that will just perpetuate the cycle.

I dont think many people will want adkins out if we dont go up this year
Its obvious the guy is being asked to make a silk purse out of a bunch of wankers