Armchair managers

[Hempstead Gaz]

We all have our opinions as to where and what has gone wrong this season. Excitement has been at an absolute premium, especially since Christmas, and , combined with early exits from the FA cup and Trophy, has lead to a "dead" season, with no significant improvement, save for fitness levels.

My question is, where do we go from here, and what can be done to improve next year?

[Stu M]

My question is, what's an 'airchair'...??? <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

[FleetFanatic]

Well it's, quite obviously, an inflatable chair.

[Hempstead Gaz]

How's that.

And England's cricket team are batting as poorly as Fleet are playing. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

[FleetFanatic]

In answering the question.....

 

.....sacking Daish isn't going to happen.

Quite obviously he's the bloke sending out these sides and apart from 2 or 3 games this season, the entertainment factor has been clearly missing.

 

However, as people are quick to point out, the league table doesn't lie and we are on course to improve on the season before - the fact that most people would say that this season has been a weaker league is irrelevant.

 

My hopes would be that Daish does something about the issues of attacking play - find a decent strike partner for Charlie, who can score a few goals and isn't a bloody loan signing.

 

Defensively, apart from a few blips, the team has been stronger. Discipline is also better. Therefore is is quite obviously the forward play that needs resolving. We are creating far fewer chances as a team than our first season in the conference. If we could create as many chances now we'd be burying teams like Scarborough and Crawley.

 

That in turn would create more goals and get the crowds back to cheer Ebbsfleet City onto the title in an entertaining fashion.

 

('Ebbsfleet City - just practising.)

[FleetFanatic]

Quote:

Chatham Gary said:
How's that.

Now it says 'Armrchair managers'?

[Hempstead Gaz]

As you rightly said, Darren, we have become rather too dependant on loan signings, who come and go at an alarming rate, contribute little to club spirit and collectiveness ; call it "TEAM FLEET" if you like, but it does little to help the fight when you know so little about some of the blokes around you.

This knocks on to team selection, does Liam feel obliged to play loan players?

Team morale must suffer when contracted regulars are frequently displaced by loan players who come and go, and are often no better than the players they replace.

The philosophy that a settled team is a happy team is an effective team really does apply.

We seem to depend completely on 4-4-2. There has never been any obvoius sign of a plan B when things are going wrong.

This shows a lack of imagination from Liam and Alan K, although I accept they can only select from the players available and they may feel 4-4-2 is less of a risk.

To compete with the best we need more than just work rate and effort.

Flair, imagination and team spirit also come into the reckoning.

Players must be prepared to run through walls FOR the manager, not because they fear a bollocking for not doing so.

One other thing, when we sign a new player, for heavans sake check our whether he is injury prone before we sign him.

With a small squad on a limited budget the last thing we need are 2 or 3 players who are forever going down with knee, back or hamstring problems. Sadly these things happen more regularly to "veteren£ players.

I have other thoughts as well but I open it up to the forum.

[David Holden]

Quote:

Chatham Gary said:
As you rightly said, Darren, we have become rather too dependant on loan signings, who come and go at an alarming rate, contribute little to club spirit and collectiveness ; call it "TEAM FLEET" if you like, but it does little to help the fight when you know so little about some of the blokes around you.

You haven't come to grips with the new era have you Gary, the transfer window means that you either get yourself a sqaud of 25-30 contracted players at the start of the season and have to play half of them full-time wages not to play, or you start with a smaller squad, and bring additional players in as and when you need them, either on loan like Luke McShane or on a non-contract basis like Adam Tann.

Quote:

Team morale must suffer when contracted regulars are frequently displaced by loan players who come and go, and are often no better than the players they replace.

I think you would actually find it very difficult to justify that last part. IMO the players that have come in on loan have all been better than the players that they replaced at the time they were brought in.

Quote:

One other thing, when we sign a new player, for heavans sake check our whether he is injury prone before we sign him.
With a small squad on a limited budget the last thing we need are 2 or 3 players who are forever going down with knee, back or hamstring problems.

Are you seriously saying that we shouldn't have signed McDonald and that we should now get rid of him, Jackson, McKimm and Saunders?

[Hempstead Gaz]

You can quote me as much as you like David, the reality is the average fan on the terrace does not like what he/she is seeing at present and is making their point by staying away.

No matter how much party line is spun on here, the fact is we are a mediocre side, the "togetherness" of the part time team of 2 years ago is absent, and it comes as no surprise that we are underachieving.

To my knowledge, Jacko, Macca and Jay are not injury prone, they simply suffered injuries.

There is a world of difference between the 2.

[Hirsty]

Don't think you would have got anyone but the die hards there last night in that weather no matter how good we were ! I left all my mates in the pub & froze my n*ts off !!

 

<img src="/forum/images/graemlins/ban.gif" alt="" />

[Gordon T]

did they really have 150 fans?

[Jeff]

Am in agreement with Hirsty that it was cold but should that really put people off?

I think that there was a big knock on effect from the performance and general atmos on Saturday.

If I were 'fairweather', I doubt I would have gone last night after Scarborough.

The wind and the sun were a factor on Saturday. Could hardly see a thing from where I was second half.Last night though was a dramatic improvement and we should have taken all three points.

can't see us getting anything from West Yorkshire on Saturday though :-(

[Hirsty]

I would have said about 60 !

[Stu M]

They're semi-outraged on ConfGuide (or one of them is) as he claims the supporters coach took 55, and there were "at least 60" others who came by car and train.

 

Presumably he counted them all out, and he counted them all back in again. I didn't see any Crawley fans at the station either side of the game.

[Andy Y. (G&NFC)]

While I can see both points of view I'm afraid it looks like loan players are here to stay. However, Chatham Gary is quite right that we appear to lack the "togethernes" of a couple of years ago but I think he may have forgotten that in the first year we avoided relegation by the skin of our teeth.

 

The players we have brought in are (by and large) better than we already have available at the time. This is a real "art form" for a manager and in this respect I believe Liam is doing a good job. I would much prefer as squad big enough to have all places covered signed and sealed before the start of the season BUT it aint gonna happen in the real world!

 

My only concern is that what I consider the "major" positions need to be in place and in that respect our failure to sign another forward to play alongside Charlie has cost us dear. We knew Charlie was a clas act but it was also well known he was a tad injury prone and we did need cover.

 

As far as the entertainment levels are concerned? Its not been pretty and that coupled with the almost total loss of atmosphere in the ground are causing attendances to drop. We have ground out results and at times we have played the ball around brilliantly but how much is this ball in the air business that we are seeing so much of, is down to the managers tactics or is it a simple lack of ability to play the ball on the deck for 90 minutes? Now if I knew the answer to that maybe I could take a look at that vacant England managers post!

[Jeff]

I reckon they had about the same as Scaroboro which we counted at approx 70 - 75.

No way 150 though.

[David Holden]

Quote:

Gordon T said:
did they really have 150 fans?

If they did then 42 of them climbed over the fence as only 108 paid.

[BustaGut]

at the end of the day people are paying out good money to be entertained. and the last two games have been far from entertaining. We have a choice as a club. we either entertain, or win, but must be one or the other or both pref the later, or the fans will stay away. I stood on the terraces last night thinking i have spent £50 plus down here in 4 Days , was was starting to wonder why i was bothering.

[Hempstead Gaz]

The proof of the pudding will be with the attendance next week against Hereford. They are a top side, playing entertaining, attacking football and have a decent away following. Under normal circumstances, we could expect a crowd of 1500+, but given the paucity of entertainment recently, it would not surprise me to see that drop to below 1300.

[Jimmy]

No.