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Post by orgasmic on Sept 8, 2014 9:37:31 GMT
As someone who is an eternal optimist, the performance against Braintree has left me feeling uneasy about the season ahead. I'm usually full of bright ideas about solving issues but I'm struggling to come up with many at the moment. The main solutions being discussed by fans at the moment are to either sack the board, sack DC or both.
Sacking the board isn't an option at the moment due to the complications with Sainsburys. I don't think a fan owned club is a sustainable business model in the modern game and whilst the UWE stadium complications rumble on I don't believe there is a business man or consortium out there who will meet NH valuation of the club. Likewise I don't think NH should step down and financially lose out by selling the club on the cheap. I do feel that the board needs new blood to provide a more dynamic approach to things but frankly that isn't going to change the on the pitch performances.
The jury is out on DC. I usually fall in with those who say a manager needs to be given time, but a poor result/performance against Wrexham and I think even I would think a new manager might be part of the answer. Even if we do well on Tuesday, watching a performance like Braintree again isn't an option and maybe if we do well it's just papering over the cracks. That said I can't think of 1 person to replace him. Sadly, the sort of manager we need right now is a no nonsense Martin Allen type but I can't see him coming here and I also dislike him! other than MA, I can't think of another manager who would come here/change our on the pitch performances.
So neither of the main things seem to lead to a positive outcome in my head which leaves the conundrum...what's the answer? Does anyone think a board restructure is possible? Can anyone think of a manager out there that could transform our on the pitch fortunes? Can anyone think of anything else that could help our current situation? I'm currently drawing a massive blank!
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Post by mjhgas on Sept 8, 2014 10:12:39 GMT
Let's have some leadership from Mr Higgs. Week in, week out we have lots of words and very little action.
What is our strategy for the future and what has been achieved since 3/5/14 to ensure that we won't be in the same position next year.
Let's hear about the UWE - if it's not happening, get it out of the way asap, and tell us what actions have been taken to move things forward.
Let's hear what Darrell Clarke is doing/ has done to ensure he is getting the best out of the squad. They should have trained yesterday!
Let's hear what our captain and his colleagues are doing to ensure that they are mentally tough enough to cope with the hostility of a pub match v Braintree.
All we get is the usual "keep the fans happy" football talk - trotted out every week. I just don't see that anything has changed since last year - the blame culture remains and someone at the top needs to lead from the front.
If all else fails, announce that the IT man is in the building and things are going to change! If not, go and hire Christian Purslow for a week to take a look at how the club is run. Then get David Mehew/ Gary Penrice on board to look at the playing side (if not them, Alan Walsh or Steve Yates) and then pay for Dr Steven Peters to come in and talk to the weak minded players that have on board. Chuck some money at it!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2014 10:25:43 GMT
and then pay for Dr Steven Peters to come in and talk to the weak minded players that have on board. Chuck some money at it! Whilst I totally agree with a lot of your post, the idea of us not being able to afford a scouting set-up whilst temporarily employing the England football team psychologist seems a little far-fetched for me... Unfortunately, a lot of this stuff should have happened in the summer. More time was spent battling Wycombe, The FA, Sainsburys - you name it - than concentrating on what went wrong at the club. Personally I think the upcoming legal battles with Sainsbury's are a waste of time, and once again detract attention away from the important matters at hand. The next step may well be one which actually affects BRFC on the pitch. I'd like to give Clarke a decent chance of proving doubters wrong, as first half performances against Halifax and Forest Green have shown that there is ability in that side DC has assembled. At the very least until late October, at the very most the end of November. If there is still any doubt that he is the man to take us forward, I'd like to see a relatively experienced manager with recent Conference success brought in, because if nothing else it ensures the players show respect and give their all for the manager. After Saturday, I'm not so sure this group of players will put their bodies on the line for DC. If getting the right man means that we have to put hands in pockets and snatch a manager, like Luton did with Still, then so be it.
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Post by socrates on Sept 8, 2014 10:30:10 GMT
and then pay for Dr Steven Peters to come in and talk to the weak minded players that have on board. Chuck some money at it! Whilst I totally agree with a lot of your post, the idea of us not being able to afford a scouting set-up whilst temporarily employing the England football team psychologist seems a little far-fetched for me... Unfortunately, a lot of this stuff should have happened in the summer. More time was spent battling Wycombe, The FA, Sainsburys - you name it - than concentrating on what went wrong at the club. Personally I think the upcoming legal battles with Sainsbury's are a waste of time, and once again detract attention away from the important matters at hand. The next step may well be one which actually affects BRFC on the pitch. I'd like to give Clarke a decent chance of proving doubters wrong, as first half performances against Halifax and Forest Green have shown that there is ability in that side DC has assembled. At the very least until late October, at the very most the end of November. If there is still any doubt that he is the man to take us forward, I'd like to see a relatively experienced manager with recent Conference success brought in, because if nothing else it ensures the players show respect and give their all for the manager. After Saturday, I'm not so sure this group of players will put their bodies on the line for DC. If getting the right man means that we have to put hands in pockets and snatch a manager, like Luton did with Still, then so be it. Ain't going to happen though is it. Higgs loves having his little puppet there who won't speak out about the problems do anything about he problems and will take the flak until the time comes when Higgs throws away his puppet and gets a new weak yes man in.
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Post by Topper Gas on Sept 8, 2014 10:38:32 GMT
I can't see how we can just let Sainsbury's walk away as who is goping to meet the £10m debt we are left with?
As far as sacking the BoD how can fans who have no voting rights do that? I'd personally like NH to stand down as Chairman and let somebody else try and turn things around, Chris Jelf, NH could easily stay on the BoDin charge of the UWE development/Sainsbury's battle.
Whilst Maddog was my shout for manager last season away from Barnet he also usually fails after a season or so, as usch, there's no guarantee he'd sort Rovers out, other choices do seem limited as we clearly need somebody with Conference experience who can also cope with a club the size of Rovers at this level.
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Post by mjhgas on Sept 8, 2014 10:40:18 GMT
and then pay for Dr Steven Peters to come in and talk to the weak minded players that have on board. Chuck some money at it! Whilst I totally agree with a lot of your post, the idea of us not being able to afford a scouting set-up whilst temporarily employing the England football team psychologist seems a little far-fetched for me... Unfortunately, a lot of this stuff should have happened in the summer. More time was spent battling Wycombe, The FA, Sainsburys - you name it - than concentrating on what went wrong at the club. Personally I think the upcoming legal battles with Sainsbury's are a waste of time, and once again detract attention away from the important matters at hand. The next step may well be one which actually affects BRFC on the pitch. I'd like to give Clarke a decent chance of proving doubters wrong, as first half performances against Halifax and Forest Green have shown that there is ability in that side DC has assembled. At the very least until late October, at the very most the end of November. If there is still any doubt that he is the man to take us forward, I'd like to see a relatively experienced manager with recent Conference success brought in, because if nothing else it ensures the players show respect and give their all for the manager. After Saturday, I'm not so sure this group of players will put their bodies on the line for DC. If getting the right man means that we have to put hands in pockets and snatch a manager, like Luton did with Still, then so be it. Far fetched or showing a lack of ambition! Perhaps the FFS should buy 24 of his books and hand them out to the squad! Whilst I agree that Christian Purslow or Dr Steven Peters might be a touch ambitious, there must be others out there that can do a job? Look at Peterborough - that muppet Barry Fry is still running the show!!!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2014 10:43:56 GMT
Ain't going to happen though is it. Higgs loves having his little puppet there who won't speak out about the problems do anything about he problems and will take the flak until the time comes when Higgs throws away his puppet and gets a new weak yes man in. I'm not even sure it's about having someone who is willing to 'speak out' against Higgs. I'm just a bit concerned that Clarke may not have the experience/presence/whatever to motivate the players to their full ability, because we do have a talented side there who just don't seem to show it on a consistent basis. Hopefully we can bounce back tomorrow night and use the slightly more favourable games in September/October to pick some points up and move up the table a little bit - I don't particularly want to sack Clarke.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2014 10:57:19 GMT
I can't see how we can just let Sainsbury's walk away as who is goping to meet the £10m debt we are left with? As far as sacking the BoD how can fans who have no voting rights do that? I'd personally like NH to stand down as Chairman and let somebody else try and turn things around, Chris Jelf, NH could easily stay on the BoDin charge of the UWE development/Sainsbury's battle. Whilst Maddog was my shout for manager last season away from Barnet he also usually fails after a season or so, as usch, there's no guarantee he'd sort Rovers out, other choices do seem limited as we clearly need somebody with Conference experience who can also cope with a club the size of Rovers at this level. It's been discussed a million times, but if the 'get-out clause' is activated and Sainsbury's can quite easily walk away, hasn't the year of trying to convince Sainsbury's to carry on with the project just been a big waste of time? That's the only scenario I see right now, I'd love to be proved wrong. As for the stadium project as a whole, I said all along that the UWE was either going to be 'the one' or we were never going to build a new, 'state of the art' stadium. Maybe finding a new buyer for the Mem and building something like Rotherham have (with scope for expansion) is the way to go. Unfortunately, we're not even doing the things which I view as necessary, such as employing a scouting network. Whilst psychology is a huge part of sport and particularly in football due to the emotion of the crowd etc. we maybe need to walk before we run. Fry was and still is a joke. It's the influence of Darragh MacAnthony which has seen them become a more successful, profitable club over the years. Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Maybe getting rid of Higgs all together isn't what is needed...
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