Jim Chimmerney
Can hear the 'Cod Army' roar from his back garden
Leaving aside all the JTW furore, gnashing of teeth, accusations, conspiracies etc, I think we need to take a step back and look at what is happening.
When Adkins took over 7 months ago, he had to wait a month before he saw any of our payers in the flesh and had to make do with DVDs and the reports from Morgs et al. He reported, not surprisingly, within those 1st few weeks that we were lacking in defence and attack. He would also have been aware that our squad was far too bloated.
There was every chance he was going to lose Murphy so he brought in Woolford, obviously not a fair swap in terms of ability but a reasonably steady addition to the squad, a player he knew well. In came Connor Sammon, the shoe-in Billy Sharp and David Edgar on loan. All decent looking signings on paper from a higher level and although Hammond took a while, another player he knew well from a higher level and he'd brought in a new spine to the team. Sharp aside, the signings have been hit and miss at best but the fact is, he tried to address the spine of the team, something we all said needed doing. We were / are still missing that creative spark and bit of pace and whilst he's given Adams a chance, that still remains a massive problem.
Aside from the incomings, he has had to address the size of the squad and following the JTW, there's a dozen players who have left or clearly will be leaving by next Summer. There's still work to do in this department and I would still expect a bit of movement yet this month and of course next Summer.
So, where do we stand. The team is still lacking in certain departments and seemingly we haven't done anything to address it. This may be the case but it's also unlikely that Adkins hasn't tried within the confinements he has at the moment. It seems clear that the Board aren't happy with the situation, they are, of course, partially to blame but that doesn't help us where we are now. I think the 1st game of the season was a shock and whilst we had a mini run after that I'm sure Adkins has been surprised about our lack of quality and depth. He can't fix it overnight and whilst the jury will be out on his signings so far and his ability to re-build in the Summer, it seems clear that to all intents and purposes, we are planning for the Summer and next season although there is always the hope of the play-offs.
The main problem now is the fans, ST sales for next season and how this season pans out. It won't take much for the atmosphere to turn toxic, there's been signs already in recent games and who knows, if it gets bad, Adkins may not hang around for the rebuild, nor get the chance.
It's painful, another wasted season and possibly our longest period out of the top two divisions achieved but Adkins has to be given time to sort out the bigger picture and if it takes another 6 months, or longer as Jim P has indicated then so be it. For the record, I'd be reasonably confident of a serious challenge next season if Adkins is allowed to rebuild and is backed accordingly, I'm just not sure he's going to get the chance.
When Adkins took over 7 months ago, he had to wait a month before he saw any of our payers in the flesh and had to make do with DVDs and the reports from Morgs et al. He reported, not surprisingly, within those 1st few weeks that we were lacking in defence and attack. He would also have been aware that our squad was far too bloated.
There was every chance he was going to lose Murphy so he brought in Woolford, obviously not a fair swap in terms of ability but a reasonably steady addition to the squad, a player he knew well. In came Connor Sammon, the shoe-in Billy Sharp and David Edgar on loan. All decent looking signings on paper from a higher level and although Hammond took a while, another player he knew well from a higher level and he'd brought in a new spine to the team. Sharp aside, the signings have been hit and miss at best but the fact is, he tried to address the spine of the team, something we all said needed doing. We were / are still missing that creative spark and bit of pace and whilst he's given Adams a chance, that still remains a massive problem.
Aside from the incomings, he has had to address the size of the squad and following the JTW, there's a dozen players who have left or clearly will be leaving by next Summer. There's still work to do in this department and I would still expect a bit of movement yet this month and of course next Summer.
So, where do we stand. The team is still lacking in certain departments and seemingly we haven't done anything to address it. This may be the case but it's also unlikely that Adkins hasn't tried within the confinements he has at the moment. It seems clear that the Board aren't happy with the situation, they are, of course, partially to blame but that doesn't help us where we are now. I think the 1st game of the season was a shock and whilst we had a mini run after that I'm sure Adkins has been surprised about our lack of quality and depth. He can't fix it overnight and whilst the jury will be out on his signings so far and his ability to re-build in the Summer, it seems clear that to all intents and purposes, we are planning for the Summer and next season although there is always the hope of the play-offs.
The main problem now is the fans, ST sales for next season and how this season pans out. It won't take much for the atmosphere to turn toxic, there's been signs already in recent games and who knows, if it gets bad, Adkins may not hang around for the rebuild, nor get the chance.
It's painful, another wasted season and possibly our longest period out of the top two divisions achieved but Adkins has to be given time to sort out the bigger picture and if it takes another 6 months, or longer as Jim P has indicated then so be it. For the record, I'd be reasonably confident of a serious challenge next season if Adkins is allowed to rebuild and is backed accordingly, I'm just not sure he's going to get the chance.
