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Post by horseshoegas47 on Nov 20, 2017 7:11:43 GMT
I have tried very hard not to get sucked in to the negative threads but after Saturday I am so very disappointed I just have to say that whilst Darrell has been one of our best managers I hear strong rumours from within the club that he has lost the respect and support of some of the dressing room. Apparently it started in January last year when he was felt to have treated several highly valued members of the dressing room and a couple of young pro’s very poorly! The way he handled the disposal of McCrystal, Lawerence, Easter left many of the senior squad uncomfortable. It wasn’t the fact that their contracts weren't renewed but the way he handled it. I hear he didn’t even have the courtesy of taking them in to his office for a proper chat he simply said to them during training in front of everyone, furthermore he was heard boasting to staff and other players that ‘they’ were “Dead To Me”. Whilst fans were applauding his ruthlessness I hear the remaining players were left unimpressed, whether playing or not McCrystal, Easter and Lawerence were senior players and big characters in the dressing room. During the first few seasons of Darrell's reign the team arguably over achieved, that was largely down to a special camaraderie amongst the players and staff, I fear that has been broken and I believe we may struggle to recover that.
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Post by horseshoegas47 on Aug 12, 2017 21:53:05 GMT
Just to be clear I am not Ellis hater he is a funny guy and I will forever be greatful for some of his goals when we were in the conference but I think he has had long enough and had enough chances, IMO he is not quite up to this level and I feel we should have let him leave in the summer. Newport or Forest Green would be a better fit for Ellis. Again IMO we would have been better giving Easter one last year on reduced terms, not just for his cameo appearances on the pitch but his influence on the training ground where I understand he was the main man, kept everyone in check and set the standards on the training field!! Gaffney is for me a good honest pro and was worth another year.
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Post by horseshoegas47 on Aug 12, 2017 21:52:53 GMT
Just to be clear I am not Ellis hater he is a funny guy and I will forever be greatful for some of his goals when we were in the conference but I think he has had long enough and had enough chances, IMO he is not quite up to this level and I feel we should have let him leave in the summer. Newport or Forest Green would be a better fit for Ellis. Again IMO we would have been better giving Easter one last year on reduced terms, not just for his cameo appearances on the pitch but his influence on the training ground where I understand he was the main man, kept everyone in check and set the standards on the training field!! Gaffney is for me a good honest pro and was worth another year.
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Post by horseshoegas47 on Aug 12, 2017 21:40:20 GMT
Today was very poor, not going to go OTT based on one game but as I have said before this year will be DCs toughest test, in my opinion he made some significant mistakes with his squad changes this year, he has made too many changes and I understand the squad has lost some of it's togetherness, I also hear the way he treated some popular senior pro's and one or two of the youngsters has meant he has lost respect from some areas of the dressing room. That said DC is his own man, in for a penny .... time to bring 2-3 more in and set about building the team togetherness that has got us through the past 3 years. Just a shame the season has started, hopefully he will add before we are too far off the pace 🤞
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Post by horseshoegas47 on Jun 20, 2017 1:30:38 GMT
Personally I think one of our strengths over the past couple of seasons is the relative continuity and consistency of the squad, both from a playing perspective and from a team spirit perspective. DC has previously adopted an evolutionary not revolutionary approach.
Last year we weren't too far away, especially as it was our first season back in L1. Had we had a decent keeper and centre half from the outset and/or not lost our main striker I think we would have certainly made the playoffs (at least).
Whilst some were excited by the relatively wholesale changes announced in early January I was nervous, whilst individually you could make an argument to support each decision seldom does making so many changes in one go work. I also hear it was handled badly by DC and the club and this angered and disappointed some senior squad members and left many feeling that colleagues had been treated unfairly.
Just my view but I think this is a sign of immaturity in the manager rather than the much celebrated ruthlessness others have felt. DC still has my full support but, based on activity thus far in the summer I am nervous with rumours about a 'possible' Bodin exit I am starting to get twitchy.
The club will report back for preseason in a week or so, the next month will be a critical period for the club, I hope DC can pull the 10 or so signings out of the bag, that they are of sufficient quality to make the top 6 and that we are able to keep the team spirit and togetherness that is so important.
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Post by horseshoegas47 on May 31, 2017 17:35:19 GMT
Having watched Liam play many times at Exeter and at least 6 times at Oxford I would say he is a solid journeyman Central Midfield player. My concern is that he is no better than we currently have, if as good. I certainly don't think he will improve our first eleven although he will strengthen the squad. What astounds me is that we would pay money for him, even £150K is decent money at our level and I honestly can not see how he is worth that! We have some very experienced players now in midfield, I do think we needed to add to it but with some exciting, fearless young (20/21 year old) talent however I know that's not DC's style. On the plus side Stewy worked with him at Exeter and knows him very well.
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Post by horseshoegas47 on Apr 15, 2017 14:56:14 GMT
Let's be clear it is entirely possible for a club like ours and with the catchment area we have to develop players capable of playing L1, Champ and above but you have to be committed and brave. Look at Locks, Oli Clark (this season), Ellis in previous years and look at a few south of the river. I love what Darrell has done for our club but he is NOT a manager that is committed to youth and bringing young talent in, that in my opinion is his Achilles heal. I do understand it is often the challenge with Managers who are judged on short term results that is why you need a high profile and credible Academy Director and U21 Manager. The worse thing that happened to our club in this area was losing Oram and Fullerton, they were a great combination. I have heard Darrell has no interest in the U21's other than filling the bench occasionally and accuses young professionals of "robbing a living". From what I hear Chris Hargreaves is very poor and when you consider our youth, U18 and U21 results since he came in (and in comparison to the Oram/Fullerton days) they are very poor. Despite the Wael ownership our club is not, and in my opinion never will be, like Man City, Chelsea and as such we must create a viable and self sufficient youth/U21 setup. This needs a fantastic Academy Director, why not take Jon Goodman from the Nike Academy and make Jamie Fullerton an offer he can't refuse to come back as he would work very well with Darrell!
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Post by horseshoegas47 on Apr 15, 2017 14:37:34 GMT
I think Darrell has done fantastically well, better than anyone expected but let's be clear, whilst John Ward left us in a difficult position Darrell was his assistant so can't be blameless and when he took over he had enough time to have an impact and keep us in the league. His immaturity as a manager and his ego (I am the boss I am going to change it) were as much to do with us being relegated as anything BUT that's history and as it turns out it probably did us good in the long term. However we should be careful with any expectation for bigger signings so called higher level players as I honestly believe Darrell is at his best dealing with honest hard working non league lads that are greatful to be playing league football, this is a group that Darrell can get the best out of. I have seen enough and heard enough to convince me that I really don't think he will be able to handle big players who will command big wages it goes against everything he stands for so we should keep going as we are adding the odd non league/low league gem to add to what we have. It is clear Wael is prudent and careful, we are still losing £10k per week and as such whilst we will see a modest wage bill increase next season we won't break the bank and rightly so
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Post by horseshoegas47 on Mar 22, 2017 20:40:17 GMT
I think Darrell has done a great job for us, I question some of his decisions but in general he has got more right than wrong and helped, along with Stewy and Yates to put the pride back into our club HOWEVER I think he is at his best working with non/lower league players and helping them improve, I think he would struggle to deal with bigger name and higher quality players! I have no doubt if Norwich did make him a good offer he would take it but I think that would be a mistake for him certainly at this stage of his development!
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Post by horseshoegas47 on Feb 21, 2017 19:13:20 GMT
Sorry but this was a very poor performance and even the so called more senior players offered very little today. In comparison to the recent Peterborough game this was poor!!
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Post by horseshoegas47 on Feb 8, 2017 5:47:51 GMT
A decent run out, Peterborough weren't the best but that was partly because we were so strong and in control. I thought Harris looked decent, Monty was a constant threat and I was pleased to see Malpas come through 90 minutes after his injuries, he has great potential!
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Post by horseshoegas47 on Feb 1, 2017 20:37:39 GMT
I am told that the players are unhappy with the ownership and management at the club. I understand that as a group they are extremely unhappy at the handling of the recent "not being considered for future selection" debacle, the feeling being that this was an instruction from above to cut costs and that the public nature and timing of the announcement was staged. I understand that the players relationship with the management team is not great and privately many question theirs and the clubs future direction. Personally I believe Darrell is a good manager, potentially a very good manager but he has started to believe his own press and is in danger of losing some important parts of his dressing room. He built this current team and has relied heavily on the team spirit and that unity/bond, if he loses the trust of his squad we could be in for a difficult remaining season and could undo much of what has been built over the past 2 years.
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Post by horseshoegas47 on Jan 19, 2017 21:45:26 GMT
To be fair this is odd timing and I can only conclude this is to try and reduce costs. Macca has just been put in the team and has helped our defence, Lawrence has recently been on the bench and only last week Darrell was praising Easter. I also hear Mansell was told the same but was omitted from the press release At the end of the day unless these lads find another club we have to pay them anyway so why do it now and why make it so public? Darrell could have had a quiet word with them just in case they can try to find a club but also kept them motivated in case we need them. Nobody would have been surprised to see some of these actions in the summer but for me it shows a complete lack of respect and class from Darrell.
Didn't Darrell once tell Mildy that he was not in his plans only to have to bring him back in the help us!!
Re Lyttle I am unsure, he has had a chance and Darrell has had a good look at him if he doesn't fancy him it seems more reasonable to have a quiet word with him just to let him know where he stands however with Malpas I think this is a massive shame, he looked like a real talent, was on the bench several times as a 17 year old, has been unlucky with a few injuries and I hear he is just back into full training this week. I believe he has talent, he will not be paid much and as we have to pay him for the season why not give him some game time between now and the end of the season and then make a considered view!! I love to see talented local lads given a proper chance and I think he deserved the rest of this year.
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Post by horseshoegas47 on Jan 8, 2017 9:14:42 GMT
Puddy 6.5 J Clarke 7 Lockyer 8 McCrystal 8.5 Brown 6.5 Bodin 8 Lines 8 O Clarke 8 Montano 7 Harrison 9 MOTM Taylor 7
Substitutes Moore 7 Easter 6.5 Lawrence Not enough time to mark
Referee 7
Crowd 8 Northampton 4
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Post by horseshoegas47 on Dec 29, 2016 23:01:24 GMT
I complete accept that football is a game of opinions, I find myself largely agreeing with most of the match reports from Stevek192 but to suggest Darrell does not improve players is frankly ludicrous, he has taken a group of under performing and/or conference players and delivered back to back promotions with largely the same squad. He clearly brings in loan players tactically, at times to fill a specific hole and at other times to complete a squad (necessary this season with the new loan rules), obviously he prefers to use our players first, as it should be. Boating had chances, Colkett plenty of chances, they have not been consistently good enough, plus we don't see them in training. We are in a strong position for our first year back in D1, I think Darrell is continuing to build a solid squad and at the same time an outstanding managerial record. What is it now 4 promotions in 5 years! I think he coaches and develops players very well but is equally ruthless, if you don't take on the coaching, don't demonstrate you understand or don't perform he won't suffer fools, from my side excellent attributes, long may it continue!
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Post by horseshoegas47 on Dec 28, 2016 20:21:29 GMT
Great report as always! In the absence of a new signing I would like to see Mansell given a run with Lines in CM and I am also more comfortable with the 442 set up rather than the diamond midfield. BTW I understand Boateng has gone back to Crystal Palace a little early, frustrated at a lack of regular games as with Roberts! PS: I thought Leads had a good battle, gave as good as he got and overall came out on top vs Reid who is a tidy player.
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Post by horseshoegas47 on Dec 26, 2016 18:12:49 GMT
Puddy 5
Leadbitter 8 Lockyer 7.5 Hartley 7.5 Brown 7
Bodin 9 O. Clarke 6 Lines 7 Montano 7.5
Taylor 6.5 Gaffney 6
Subs: Harrison 6.5 Lawrence 6.5 Mansell NOLE
Crowd 8.5 Ref 6 Coventry 5
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Post by horseshoegas47 on Dec 19, 2016 1:26:34 GMT
Steve, A very fair report and reflection on yesterday's game and several previous games, although yesterday was the worse. There can be no doubt we are in the middle of a very challenging period and this is a real test for Darrell and the players. We clearly need to strengthen the squad, I was one who wanted to give last years squad a chance but most have had their chance and after a promising start have faded badly. In my opinion we urgently need some leaders and until DC can do something in January we have what we have. IMO we need to get Mansell & MyCrystal on the pitch, whilst I certainly am not saying they are the most gifted they are leaders, they talk non stop to those around them and demand 100% effort. I have said before that the current squad is at its best with a Lines/Mansell combo and I have no doubt that a match fit Mansell would have won more second ball than the rest yesterday! I also think we have too many loanee's, with the greatest of respect they will never have the level of commitment, especially when the going gets tough. Finally if DC wants to play a midfield diamond (which I wouldn't), Colkett can not play at the top, the only player at the club who can play that role is Easter! Until we can bring in some additional talent I would like to see a settled side/formation of;
Roos Leadbetter Hartley or Lockyer McCrystal Brown Bodin Mansell Lines Monty Taylor/Easter Gaffney
Ideally I would like to rest Lockyer, I rate Tom but he needs a break however, we need a naturally right and naturally left footed CH to ensure balance!
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Manse
Nov 29, 2016 13:15:08 GMT
via mobile
Post by horseshoegas47 on Nov 29, 2016 13:15:08 GMT
It's all about opinions but for me Mansell & Lines have been our best combination for the past two years. I respect Sinclair work ethic but for me he has a lack of quality, and I called out at the time that in both seasons our form improved when Sinclair got injured and Lines/Mansell became the preferred pairing. Clark can be good but lacks consistency and so for me he, like Sinclair is a good squad player but not yet the main man! I fail to see how anyone can assess Mansell's legs as gone, he got injured preseason and has not yet had a chance. I would like to see a Lines/Mansell combo be given a run of 4 or 5 games, we can introduce Sinclair/Clark if we really need fresh legs for the last 20 minutes
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Post by horseshoegas47 on Nov 19, 2016 23:36:48 GMT
Roos 6 Didn't have much to do but handled well and made a couple of decent saves in the first half
Leadbitter 7 Strong defensively and good going forward Lockyer 8 Excellent game, best from him this season Clarke-Salter 6 Steady but not inspiring Brown 6 Steady game
O. Clarke 6 Another who had a steady game, made some good challenges and unlucky with the header Sinclair 7 Worked hard, lacks quality but no doubting his commitment. I would still rather see Mansell in there with Lines Boateng 6 Started strong but faded and right decision to take him off Colkett 4 Has flicks but is proving to be ineffective in the hole and a passenger which leaves us light in midfield. Doesn't look as fit as a typical DC player, doesn't press, doesn't tackle and allows the opposition to play through him too easily.
Easter 7 Great energy/work rate, excellent when in the hole, gave us more than Colkett, quicker, stronger and tackles Harrison 5 Not a good day at the office
Subs:
Lines 8 Changed the game, a class act and we were a different team after substitutions Taylor 6 Looked dangerous but does need to increase his work rate when out of possession Gaffney 8 Getting back to his best, outstanding work rate, win a lot of ball and joins play up well
Crowd 6 Quiet Ref 6 Decent game MK Dons 7 Thought they played good football but didn't create too many chances
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