Max

[Ian g f]

Good luck Max Great left foot

[Reading Rebel]

He obviously wants to play football and has been made an offer by Leatherhead that we aren't prepared to match.

Good luck for the future Max. 

[3spirit]

I thought he must be carrying an injury as he seemed to be on the subs bench most of the time of late. I never realised that we were trying to play narrow! ha ha!

Sadly it shows the lack of finance our club has, if it can't match Leatherhead. Good luck to Max at his new team.

I think Slough can cope without him this season but I still believe we should have kept him, and released someone else to save costs. 

[Reading Rebel]

21 minutes ago, 3spirit said:

I thought he must be carrying an injury as he seemed to be on the subs bench most of the time of late. I never realised that we were trying to play narrow! ha ha!

Sadly it shows the lack of finance our club has, if it can't match Leatherhead. Good luck to Max at his new team.

I think Slough can cope without him this season but I still believe we should have kept him, and released someone else to save costs. 

It says we weren't prepared to match their offer not that we couldn't.

Looks like it was Max's decision to leave when the approach was made. 

Edited March 8, 2022 by Reading Rebel

[GlenSTFC]

Yes I too read it as we could have matched the offer but chose not to. Mixed feelings on this transfer… on one hand Max obviously has talent and has scored some crackers and can put a good cross in but on the other hand he’s not been in the team much this season for one reason or another. I do worry we’re letting a few experienced players go and not replacing them, are there plans to replace Max or will stick with the ‘kids’ this season in the hope the experience will greatly benefit them? It’s probably the wise decision to not spend any more money this season, give the kids as much game time as possible for them to get used to this level and add some more experience during the summer as I think it’s fair to say we’re not likely to make the play offs now so the rest of the season is really to get our current youngsters plus bring through any other promising players.

14 minutes ago, Reading Rebel said:

It says we weren't prepared to match their offer not that we couldn't.

Looks like it was Max's decision to leave when the approach was made. 

Guess you can’t blame Max as he’ll be a guaranteed starter and on more money. 

[Stuntman Mark]

1 hour ago, GlenSTFC said:

It’s probably the wise decision to not spend any more money this season, give the kids as much game time as possible for them to get used to this level and add some more experience during the summer as I think it’s fair to say we’re not likely to make the play offs now so the rest of the season is really to get our current youngsters plus bring through any other promising players.

I agree Glen but that doesn't put bums on seats which is what the club needs and what the managers want. Hopefully our ticket prices will reflect our playing budget next season.

[SloughFlyer]

Massive shame to see him go as I think the quality he provides on the ball is one of the best in the squad. Also the only really good dead ball players in the squad.

I do however appreciate the "narrower" formation situation currently in the squad and also agree with Glen in that we aren't getting playoffs (no bad thing IMO) and we also aren't getting relegated so use the younger players etc and save the wages for this season.

A massive summer ahead for the squad.

[SloughFlyer]

1 hour ago, Stuntman Mark said:

I agree Glen but that doesn't put bums on seats which is what the club needs and what the managers want. Hopefully our ticket prices will reflect our playing budget next season.

It doesn't Mark, but I'm not sure at this stage of the season much of anything done with signings either way would effect crowds that much.

Most importantly at this point IMO is to have a proper look at as many of the current U23s as well as players like Kurtis to see if they will be good enough for the squad next season.

At that point, plans can be formulated to get summer business done, then that can be used (if done correctly) to drum up excitement for next season and hopefully have the desired effect on both season ticket sales as well as "casual" crowds for next year.

[Shredding Green]

From thirteenth in National League South Slough Town to bottom of Isthmian League Premier Division Leatherhead with only four draws and twelve defeats from their sixteen home league matches this season.

Leatherhead have certainly had some much better seasons and I wish Max well with them as he has always been a player who I have enjoyed watching play in a Rebels shirt.

[Reading Rebel]

As far as bringing in a replacement for Max it possibly depends on whether we still think we're in with a chance of reaching the play-offs.

Although it seemed Max was only being used sparingly when we played with width he was still a very useful squad member when called upon.

If we don't use the money to bring someone else in and instead fill the gap from our under 23's it probably tells you that we are more concerned about next season than the current one.

 

 

[3spirit]

4 hours ago, Stuntman Mark said:

I agree Glen but that doesn't put bums on seats which is what the club needs and what the managers want. Hopefully our ticket prices will reflect our playing budget next season.

Stuntman Mark,when you say 'hopefully our ticket prices will reflect our playing budget next season'. Do you mean the club must put the prices up next season?

I'm disappointed to see Max leaving now, as we still have 12 matches to play, and he leaves on the eve of the considerable Maidstone challenge.He has never been a real favourite of mine but I do consider him to be among the better players we have, and while I don't know all the circumstances behind his departure it does seem a bit of a shame given that he is a player that does create chances and is easily up to the rigours of the National South.He doesn't have to play on the wing ! 

If he has got mates at Leatherhead and he lives that way, I would have thought a month or two's loan would be better[for him and us], than getting rid of him totally but perhaps there has been a fallout between him and our managers,so that may have played a part. I just feel he should have been part of our plans for next season.   

 

[Neil Baker]

No fall out at all, he just had an offer too good for him to turn down, it’s no different than most jobs sometimes.

[Reading Rebel]

2 hours ago, Neil Baker said:

No fall out at all, he just had an offer too good for him to turn down, it’s no different than most jobs sometimes.

Not getting a regular start must have been big factor in his decision and not just the money.

Edited March 8, 2022 by Reading Rebel

[SloughFlyer]

Looking at twitter, Max started and played 90 minutes for Leatherhead tonight in a 1-0 loss to Lewes.

Will be interesting to see what happens with Max in the summer as Leatherhead are 9 points from safety with 8 games to play and the 2 sides above them have 2 games in hand. Can't see Max playing as low down as step 4.

[3spirit]

16 hours ago, Neil Baker said:

No fall out at all, he just had an offer too good for him to turn down, it’s no different than most jobs sometimes.

Thanks for clearing that up,Neil.

If he became available again in the summer, would you and Jon try to re-sign him, or are you looking at alternatives in the summer?

[Reading Rebel]

I can only see Max coming back to the Rebels if we predominantly change the way we set up i.e. from narrow to having width.

I don't want to speak for Max but at nearly 30 I'd think he'd want to be starting a game on a regular basis.

[Jon Underwood]

1 hour ago, 3spirit said:

Thanks for clearing that up,Neil.

If he became available again in the summer, would you and Jon try to re-sign him, or are you looking at alternatives in the summer?

We wouldn’t want to comment on here about any individual player and our plans for next season as there are still lots of conversations to be had about that, and most importantly 12 league games still to play.

You can be assured we will be as transparent as we possibly can be once the time is right to talk about plans for next season. 

[3spirit]

19 hours ago, Jon Underwood said:

We wouldn’t want to comment on here about any individual player and our plans for next season as there are still lots of conversations to be had about that, and most importantly 12 league games still to play.

You can be assured we will be as transparent as we possibly can be once the time is right to talk about plans for next season. 

Glad you replied, Jon. I understand totally but as this is a fans football forum about all things related to Slough Town FC, when a proven player departs the club in a fishy,slightly awkward way, fans [ like myself ] feel impelled to ask 'difficult questions' as to why.

To be honest,from my angle I was more put out that he has gone before the Maidstone game,as if Max has to be on the substitutes bench he is always one of the best impact subs to bring on, if Slough need to get back into a game.With Matt Lench,Ryan Bird and Ben Harris on the injury list, our squad looks 'threadbare' in terms of real quality available as substitutes, and with Max going, and Slough still having 12 games to complete, a fan like me, wonders whether we're 'calling time' on this seasons campaign subtly but not telling us.   

Edited March 10, 2022 by 3spirit

[Jon Underwood]

1 hour ago, 3spirit said:

Glad you replied, Jon. I understand totally but as this is a fans football forum about all things related to Slough Town FC, when a proven player departs the club in a fishy,slightly awkward way, fans [ like myself ] feel impelled to ask 'difficult questions' as to why.

To be honest,from my angle I was more put out that he has gone before the Maidstone game,as if Max has to be on the substitutes bench he is always one of the best impact subs to bring on, if Slough need to get back into a game.With Matt Lench,Ryan Bird and Ben Harris on the injury list, our squad looks 'threadbare' in terms of real quality available as substitutes, and with Max going, and Slough still having 12 games to complete, a fan like me, wonders whether we're 'calling time' on this seasons campaign subtly but not telling us.   

I have to say I can’t see anything “fishy” or “awkward” about the way Max left. Bakes wrote the statement in a very open way which mentioned the excellent financial offer he had been made and the fact that he was not a regular starter for us (I will comment more on that in a moment) and he also came on here to confirm there was no fallout between us and Max.

Sometimes the timing is just right for a move to happen. We were not looking to let Max go, he wasn’t asking to go, but the approach came out of the blue and when we weighed it up he decided to go.

This is not us calling time on the season, far from it, but the reality is that our results have been significantly better when we have played a narrower shape which doesn’t suit Max. We have played 4 different formations this season, two which accommodate Max (4-4-2 and 4-1-4-1) and two which don’t (4-1-3-2 and 4-3-3).

In the narrower formations we have picked up 31 points from 17 games at an average of 1.82 points per game. If we had that average over our 28 games we’d be in 5th place right now, just above Ebbsfleet!

In the “wider” formations we’ve picked up just 5 points in 11 games, average of 0.45 per game, and we did that over our 28 games we’d be 7/8 points adrift at the bottom of the table!

This is no criticism of Max at all, it’s just a fact that certain systems suit us, our style of play and the vast majority of players within the squad. And this is why we can’t guarantee his starts now which helped him make his decision to go.

 

[Stuntman Mark]

On 08/03/2022 at 17:07, 3spirit said:

Stuntman Mark,when you say 'hopefully our ticket prices will reflect our playing budget next season'. Do you mean the club must put the prices up next season?

Unless we can put together a squad to compare with the likes of Dorking, Maidstone, Oxford, Dartford or Ebbsfleet I would say they need to come down, wouldn't you? They are all currently top five teams who either currently charge either the same or less than Slough. As we are often told in pre and post match interviews that there is a huge disparity in the playing budgets of those teams and us, so why should a Slough fan be expected to pay the same as those fans?

Having had the 2019-20 season cut short and been asked to fund an unsuccessful playoff campaign, the Slough fan's reward for a season and a half behind closed doors was a couple of price increases. Not a huge deal for me personally, but for a young family it would have been a very significant amount at a time when many people have lost or changed jobs during the pandemic and priorities will have changed for many families. Many won't have been able to justify a set of season tickets with no guarantee they would be able to see every game with Covid still about.

This is only going to get worse over the next few years with the rising cost of living and an ongoing economic war of attrition with Russia to look forward to. Slough is not an affluent area and has a significantly higher percentage low income families than the national or South East average. 

I really hope the club now realises this mistake and rectifies it over the summer in the absence of extra funds to bolster what is looking a very threadbare squad of which our managers continue to do an excellent job of squeezing the most out of.