Patrick Ada

[Davymac55]

No doubt most of you have an idea of how i feel about this. Any comments?

[clarke is god]

well i feel he is a better player than ben martin but Colin lippiat obviously sees him as our 5th best centre half. Im sure he knows what hes doing!

[Davymac55]

I too trust and hope that CL knows what he is doing... but we will need strength in depth.

[cityman]

Davymac555....why would you `hope' CL knows what he's doing and in fact even question ?

This guy had put this team in a league where it has NEVER been before...if you want to help the club fund more players so that they can have more `strength in depth' then please go ahead.

[Nos]

Well said.

[Captain]

Could not agree more Nos.

Perhaps Davymac55 would like to contact Bill Nicholson and contribute a weekly amount towards building a bigger squad with more depth.

Tarkwa.

[Electric ~soul~]

And as entitled to an opinion as you are, so is DavyMac.

[cityman]

yes I'm not saying he should'nt have an oppinion I am simply saying that in the real world this club has limited resources compared to other teams in the Conference National. This means that CL has no doubt had to make very tough desisions as he doesn't have the luxury of keeping whoever he wants.

[Hatboy]

We'll be Ok, he'll just keep getting midfielders in on loan to plug any gaps just like he did with the defence.

 

Only not quite as often (Hopefully)!

[Davymac55]

Thanks for the comments.

I'm glad that some think we are all entitled to opinions but it does seem thet some of you don't like to question decisions that are being made. But as far as I am aware CL did not actually play any games for us last year.He has put this club in a position we have never been. And he did it with the work and effort of a squad of players that eventually totalled more than 40 during the season. You are right that the club has limited resources but we could end up in a situation at the start of the season where we field a team that has not played any 'competitive' matches as a group. Oh, and on the personal basis about me funding the team, well i do because i go to all home games and as many away as i can, I drink in the club bar, buy programmes, raffle tickets and take my kids to the games and encourage as many people as possible to come nad support the Saints. Just like you.

[cityman]

Yes you are correct CL didn't play any games...thanks for pointing that out to me.

 

However he DID bring in most of the players including Patrick therefore I think that makes him a better judge on their abilities than either you or I.

[Davymac55]

So am i to assume that no matter the results next season you will have no criticism of CL cos he is always right? methinks not. Many players last season played only 1 or 2 games. We cannot do that in the Conference.

[cityman]

To answer your first question...

 

As I have said in the past when CL arrived at this club with Stuart Cash he could have ...like Stuart thought `sod this' and simply left. But no for some reason he decided that this club was worth fighting for and IMO a. we would have been relegated without him and b. we would not be playing in the conference next year.

 

So yes I will without question support CL, NR and the team 110 % next year WHATEVER the outcome is. IMO this club will be punching above it's weight and regardless of singings I think we will struggle to stay in the division....but what a challenge though.

 

As for the number of players used well it's quite clear we were able to run Weymouth so close (who were `apparently' spending 23k a week) because CL obviously knows a hell of a lot of players and therefore was able to bring in what he felt he needed when he needed it. E.G Jimmy S from Lewes. I am certain that he would have much rather had the money to have a larger squad at the very beginning of the season but that's simply not possible.

 

If you know how to sign 20+ players on the budget the club can afford and be certain that they will all work out and none of them will get injured then maybe you should consider Football Management yourself ?

[AFF]

Whoaaa chaps. An un-necessary level of heat in this debate, if I may say so.

 

I, too, am disappointed that Patrick 'does not figure in the managers plans for next season', or whatever is the appropriate euphemism. I have liked the look of Patrick since his arrival although I recognise that he was prone to the occasional mistake which appeared to come from a lack of concentration, rather than lack of ability. A stronger left foot and 90 minutes of concentration could well see him performing in the Conference Nationale, in my view. His performance in the play-off final was at MotM level for me, and I wondered whether his apparent lack of concentration was due to the absence of a lengthy run in the side. Whatever.

 

Where he stands in Colin's 'pecking order' is known only to Colin, but I'm sure that he is anxious to see the fitness and ability of Ben Martin once he returns from injury.

 

Another difficulty is that, very often, the fans aren't told the whole story, of course, quite rightly in my view. It may be that Patrick wanted a new Bentley rather than a club Ferrari, or a guarnteed starting place or something. You know what these sporting superstars can be like. Anyway, good luck to t'lad from me.

 

As far as Colin is concerned, he must recognise that football is about many things and one of those things is opinions. I re-read Davymacs posts on this thread and, with the greatest respect Rob2, I consider that your responses are a little over the top. There are others on here who, on the very rare occasions that Gibbo and the board do not receive total and complete support for something they have done, or not done, criticise those who express opinions for expressing treachery and sedition. Don't join 'em, Rob2!

 

Here's a question for you Rob2. In 1985, who said "Blind faith in your leaders, or in anything, will get you killed"?

 

One last point, Rob2. One of the great questions of the Universe ranking alongside the search for the Holy Grail, is 'why did Stuart Cash leave?' I'm very intrigued at your post where you say "Colin could have said, like Stuart, 's0d this' and left". S0d what, exactly?

 

And don't ever forget. I don't know anything about football.

[cityman]

don't worry I know nothing about football either ;-)

 

My `annoyance' is simply that we have not even kicked a ball yet an already people are speaking negatively about what may or may not happen...it's just a bug bare of mine that i dislike ;-)

 

I don't know colin myself but I do know a fair about his career etc and I am confident that he knows what he is doing...as I have nothing to do with him presonally then I don't know how he feels about oppinions or wether he even reads these forums.

 

As for Stuart Cash I thought that it was well known at the time that the `real' reason he didn't stay around was simply that having watched the team play for his first game in charge he simply felt that the task was too big for his first Management role.

 

Anyway...I won't have access to this forum that much in future so my posts will be limited at best ;-)

[AFF]

Not leaving us, I hope, Rob2.

 

We had a bloke on here a few years back. Came to every game, home and away. Then it was just the home games, then hardly at all. Then never. I heard that he had won a season ticket at Barnet or Woood in raffle. I wonder where Webbo is now?

 

Anyway. Before you go, Rob2.

 

This Stuart Cash business. I hadn't heard that story, but then, why should I?. I have to say that I felt at the time that the "I've been promoted at work and can't give the role sufficient time, blah, blah," to be a heap of bullsh!t". Hmmnnnn. Why can't these people just tell the truth?

[cityman]

Not leaving will still be supporting the team (I go to most games) just won't have the web access I do at the moment.

 

Yes the truth....to be fair to Stuart he had his reasons and they had to be respected at the time. I remember myself thinking that Cl must have been mad to stay :-)

[AFF]

Eh?

 

1. We were bottom of the League playing rubbish route 1 football. And had been doing so for what seemed to me to be a very long time indeed. What did Stuart Cash expect? A squad to rival Chelsea? He applied for the job and he should have got on with it. Colin took over and, without checking my 2004/05 scrapbook, he didn't make wholesale changes to the playing squad. There were a couple of significant signings, but he and Nick Roddis were able to get t'lads playing properly.

 

2. Shame on you for thinking that Colin was mad to stay, Rob2.

 

All these people have to do is pick the team, tell 'em to keep it on the ground, send 'em out on the pitch, stand in the technical area and shout a lot, not forgetting to throw tea-cups at half-time and at the final whistle. Well, Colin doesn't do all of those, I appreciate, but most of 'em do.

 

Pressure? They don't know the meaning of the word pressure. They should have my job.

[Davymac55]

Rob2

Don't mistake realism and call it negativity. Do not for one minute believe that those of us who question or criticise are any less supporters of Saints. We clearly disagree on certain aspects but no doubt you, as I, have aspirations re Saints. A question for you. What do you expect of Saints next season? I lied . Two questions. What will you accept in terms of the season? Me? If we survive in the Conf the season will have been a success. More than just survival and we'll have had a great season.

[Webbo MFI]

Ada is now at Stevenage Borough...