ZoneManWilf
Woodford Green Blade a long time ago
Paddy Kenny
Kyle Naughton
Matt Kilgallon
Chris Morgan
Kyle Walker
Ian Bennett
Toni Kallio
Kyle Bartley
Nyron Nosworthy
Derek Geary
2 defences there, only just over 8 months between them. I know we are affected by injuries and suspensions, but the point is blindingly obvious.
I have always backed McCabe, and I think he's moved the club forwards off the field but there is a level where you have to question how we can end up in a situation where the standard of the squad has nose-dived so badly.
We are suffering horrendously now from the legacy of the Robson wages, Robson may have gone 2 years ago now, but this current culling of the first team squad is still a result of those decisions. I think we all realise the reality of the situation, however there surely has to be a view that you need to balance the wage management versus maintaining some level of depth in our squad?
It feels like a similar situation to when we invested heavily in players when McDonald came in, only to panic and fire sell them when on the cusp of a decent team. The situations are slightly different, as McCabe allowed us a run last season with the high earners, whereas McDonald cut his losses before the end of that 97/98 season, but the effect 2-3 years looks to be exactly the same and gives me a sense of foreboding about what the next 2 seasons will bring. We are suffering badly now not just for the decision to hire Robson, but also allowing him to overspend incorrectly, just like McDonald and Charles Green did, which led to Bruce's frustrations about lack of spending ability and Warnock having a mess to sort out when he came in.
Fundamentally if you look at those defences at the top - ignoring injuries and suspensions and the probably correct decision to sell Kilgallon at the time - the main differences are the 2 Kyles. The decision to sell BOTH the Kyles is the worst one we made over this time imo. Walker is absolute class and for me he is the key reason we have dipped in the last few games, as not only does his pace get us out of problems in defence, he was actually one of our main sources of attacking play with his overlaps and his ability to take players on. After last year we knew we had to move on without Naughton, but it seems like we had the option to sell him to Everton, but were so concerned with the dosh, that we pushed Walker out too.
So going back to what I said up the page:
"surely has to be a view that you need to balance the wage management versus maintaining some level of depth in our squad?"
Losing Naughton and Kilgallon over a season would be reasonable, selling Walker too was overkill and wrong IMO.
There's a lot of posts having a go at Blackwell, and I don't necessarily disagree with some of the points made. Blackwell picks the players and the tactics, but there must be some recognition that there is more to the current malaise than just him.
The frustration of relegation continues to this day for me as it is that moment and our inability to bounce back which is unfortunately dragging the gap in the level of the clubs, that we had opened between us and the pigs, closer and closer.
Maybe I'm overreacting to a bad run of results and I'm sure my good friend Maidenhead Blade will tell me to have a couple of pints pre-match against Bristol and enjoy my Saturday like I always end up doing anyway, but my level of frustration this morning meant I needed to vent somehow
Kyle Naughton
Matt Kilgallon
Chris Morgan
Kyle Walker
Ian Bennett
Toni Kallio
Kyle Bartley
Nyron Nosworthy
Derek Geary
2 defences there, only just over 8 months between them. I know we are affected by injuries and suspensions, but the point is blindingly obvious.
I have always backed McCabe, and I think he's moved the club forwards off the field but there is a level where you have to question how we can end up in a situation where the standard of the squad has nose-dived so badly.
We are suffering horrendously now from the legacy of the Robson wages, Robson may have gone 2 years ago now, but this current culling of the first team squad is still a result of those decisions. I think we all realise the reality of the situation, however there surely has to be a view that you need to balance the wage management versus maintaining some level of depth in our squad?
It feels like a similar situation to when we invested heavily in players when McDonald came in, only to panic and fire sell them when on the cusp of a decent team. The situations are slightly different, as McCabe allowed us a run last season with the high earners, whereas McDonald cut his losses before the end of that 97/98 season, but the effect 2-3 years looks to be exactly the same and gives me a sense of foreboding about what the next 2 seasons will bring. We are suffering badly now not just for the decision to hire Robson, but also allowing him to overspend incorrectly, just like McDonald and Charles Green did, which led to Bruce's frustrations about lack of spending ability and Warnock having a mess to sort out when he came in.
Fundamentally if you look at those defences at the top - ignoring injuries and suspensions and the probably correct decision to sell Kilgallon at the time - the main differences are the 2 Kyles. The decision to sell BOTH the Kyles is the worst one we made over this time imo. Walker is absolute class and for me he is the key reason we have dipped in the last few games, as not only does his pace get us out of problems in defence, he was actually one of our main sources of attacking play with his overlaps and his ability to take players on. After last year we knew we had to move on without Naughton, but it seems like we had the option to sell him to Everton, but were so concerned with the dosh, that we pushed Walker out too.
So going back to what I said up the page:
"surely has to be a view that you need to balance the wage management versus maintaining some level of depth in our squad?"
Losing Naughton and Kilgallon over a season would be reasonable, selling Walker too was overkill and wrong IMO.
There's a lot of posts having a go at Blackwell, and I don't necessarily disagree with some of the points made. Blackwell picks the players and the tactics, but there must be some recognition that there is more to the current malaise than just him.
The frustration of relegation continues to this day for me as it is that moment and our inability to bounce back which is unfortunately dragging the gap in the level of the clubs, that we had opened between us and the pigs, closer and closer.
Maybe I'm overreacting to a bad run of results and I'm sure my good friend Maidenhead Blade will tell me to have a couple of pints pre-match against Bristol and enjoy my Saturday like I always end up doing anyway, but my level of frustration this morning meant I needed to vent somehow
