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Post by eltonblues on Apr 15, 2024 8:42:41 GMT
Well, it might not officially be over yet, but surely none of us are kidding ourselves. If Boston were to win on Tuesday, it’d feel like a weight off our shoulders in all honesty - at least we’d be going into the Darlo game knowing we were only playing for pride, rather than desperately hoping for an absolute miracle. I’ve criticised Cal this season, both for his tactics and his recruitment, but not once have I called for his head, and there remains little doubt in my mind that he’s the right man to take us forward. His commitment to the cause cannot be called into question for a minute - it ought to be obvious to everyone that his passion is not simply performative, but that he cares deeply about the club and is determined to lead us to success. It was really classy, and indeed brave, for him to shake everyone’s hand after full-time yesterday and to personally thank each of us individually for our support, and that simply hammered those feelings home even more. He’ll be just as disappointed as the rest of us with how this season has panned out, and I expect he’ll spend the summer analysing our performances and taking note of the necessary improvements - not just because that’s the sort of manager he is, but also because he’ll be aware that, with much of the goodwill generated by last season having now been eroded, there will be a greater level of pressure on him and the team to get off to a better start in August than we’ve become used to seeing. The one piece of advice I’d give him - and I say this in the realisation that he might well be reading this - would be to stop reading comments on here and on Twitter. By its very nature, social media amplifies the voices of the dissenting minority, and in many cases can also make valid and nuanced criticisms appear harsher and more malicious than intended; unfortunately, some of his comments in interviews would suggest that the stuff he’s read has affected him personally, and it’s led to a few rather ill-advised outbursts which have risked inflaming tensions among the fanbase. There will always be people trying to undermine any manager but the reality is, of course, that the vast majority of us are still right behind Cal - I sit behind the dugout and contrary to what some are claiming, there has been very little abuse aimed directly at him, though there’s been plenty of understandable discontent with the style of football on display. Focus now has to turn to what I think it would be fair to characterise as the most pivotal summer we’ve had in quite some time, as it looks as though at least some degree of rebuilding will be on the cards. I’ve never doubted the players’ effort, or had any reason to believe we have a dressing room full of ‘bad apples’ - in fact, I’ve been reluctant to criticise on an individual level, because they’re a likeable bunch and I wouldn’t want to be appearing to doubt their integrity - but we’ve got to be ruthless, and the brutal reality is that some have not produced the performances that we would expect from someone on their salary. On reflection, I feel I might’ve been a bit too lenient when I gave my thoughts the other day regarding the sort of retained list I’d like to see; while I still believe we’ve got a very good squad on paper, it clearly hasn’t worked out the way we hoped or expected, and some of the higher earners almost have to become ‘sacrificial lambs’ if we are to bring in the fresh blood that’s evidently required. A certain midfielder ought to count himself lucky that he’s still got two years left on his contract, or else he might have been one of those on the chopping block - his performance yesterday was as poor as I can remember seeing not just from him, but from any Chester player this season, and for both our sake and his we desperately need to hope he can return to the levels he’s shown previously. I think it’s quite clear which positions need strengthening, but we also need to recruit players who can help fill the current leadership void. There’s been a concerning lack of communication on the pitch at times, and too often heads have dropped after conceding - we’ve picked up just ten points in the fifteen league games in which we’ve gone 1-0 down. While I’d expect recruitment to largely centre around young players again, there needs to be a greater emphasis on bringing in experience and big characters, especially seeing as the few older heads currently on the books might all be packing their bags. Put simply, if we’re to get promoted, we need a dressing room of winners. Finally, I couldn’t help but be hugely impressed with Brackley - of all the strong teams they’ve fielded over the years, this incarnation might be the best of the lot, and it wouldn’t surprise me if this were the year they finally win the playoffs. Murombedzi has blossomed into quite possibly the best player in this league, and would perhaps be the opposition player I’d most love to sign (again), not that it’d be at all realistic - it’s difficult to believe that he was one of the infamous ‘expenses-only’ brigade under Bignot a few years ago. Fair play to Gavin Cowan, too, who seemed a poor appointment at the time, but who now appears a far cry from the manager who started the decline at Telford. Not even sure you can blame the Brackley fans for wanting to get one over us either, after what happened last year and the attempts some of our fans have made to goad them since then. Fingers crossed that they, or any other side for that matter, will be unable to rain on our parade for a third time next season… Spot on
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Post by Rimmer on Apr 15, 2024 11:24:39 GMT
Yes agreed — very good post indeed The only two points that I would add is:
I personally don’t like the attitude in interviews either as I feel the questions are very tame from people like Neil and Shane so for Cal to get prickly is a bit rich really as there were plenty of challenging questions that could have been asked but weren’t, mainly due to respect towards Cal
I also suspect that some of the players have had an easy ride and shown too much respect by Cal. it’s alright in every post match interview massively praising the players whatever the result/performance but sometimes you simply have to be a boss and manage this and respect works both ways
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Post by brooklaneblue on Apr 15, 2024 17:05:09 GMT
Two very fair points and the latter point is right on the nail, players have not been subbed when they have had poor games and also been selected in the starting 11 for the next match, Weeks for one has not performed.
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Post by tonya on Apr 15, 2024 20:47:19 GMT
I find some of these comments are hard. Praise players after a disappointing defeat? Certainly better that rather than publicly humiliating them. He has adopted a very open, engaging presence and it's been refreshing but it comes with self inflicted issues in that he feels he has to explain and share his thoughts to the fans and that approach leaves himself open to fans to fire back and dissect his views and thoughts. Perhaps if he protected himself and kept his comments brief, so long as the results were good everyone would be happy.
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Post by brooklaneblue on Apr 15, 2024 21:17:06 GMT
I find some of these comments are hard. Praise players after a disappointing defeat? Certainly better that rather than publicly humiliating them. He has adopted a very open, engaging presence and it's been refreshing but it comes with self inflicted issues in that he feels he has to explain and share his thoughts to the fans and that approach leaves himself open to fans to fire back and dissect his views and thoughts. Perhaps if he protected himself and kept his comments brief, so long as the results were good everyone would be happy. Unfortunately having been 3rd in the table at Christmas to where we currently are has left some of us a little raw.
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Post by agl on Apr 16, 2024 6:47:33 GMT
Well, it might not officially be over yet, but surely none of us are kidding ourselves. If Boston were to win on Tuesday, it’d feel like a weight off our shoulders in all honesty - at least we’d be going into the Darlo game knowing we were only playing for pride, rather than desperately hoping for an absolute miracle. I’ve criticised Cal this season, both for his tactics and his recruitment, but not once have I called for his head, and there remains little doubt in my mind that he’s the right man to take us forward. His commitment to the cause cannot be called into question for a minute - it ought to be obvious to everyone that his passion is not simply performative, but that he cares deeply about the club and is determined to lead us to success. It was really classy, and indeed brave, for him to shake everyone’s hand after full-time yesterday and to personally thank each of us individually for our support, and that simply hammered those feelings home even more. He’ll be just as disappointed as the rest of us with how this season has panned out, and I expect he’ll spend the summer analysing our performances and taking note of the necessary improvements - not just because that’s the sort of manager he is, but also because he’ll be aware that, with much of the goodwill generated by last season having now been eroded, there will be a greater level of pressure on him and the team to get off to a better start in August than we’ve become used to seeing. The one piece of advice I’d give him - and I say this in the realisation that he might well be reading this - would be to stop reading comments on here and on Twitter. By its very nature, social media amplifies the voices of the dissenting minority, and in many cases can also make valid and nuanced criticisms appear harsher and more malicious than intended; unfortunately, some of his comments in interviews would suggest that the stuff he’s read has affected him personally, and it’s led to a few rather ill-advised outbursts which have risked inflaming tensions among the fanbase. There will always be people trying to undermine any manager but the reality is, of course, that the vast majority of us are still right behind Cal - I sit behind the dugout and contrary to what some are claiming, there has been very little abuse aimed directly at him, though there’s been plenty of understandable discontent with the style of football on display. Focus now has to turn to what I think it would be fair to characterise as the most pivotal summer we’ve had in quite some time, as it looks as though at least some degree of rebuilding will be on the cards. I’ve never doubted the players’ effort, or had any reason to believe we have a dressing room full of ‘bad apples’ - in fact, I’ve been reluctant to criticise on an individual level, because they’re a likeable bunch and I wouldn’t want to be appearing to doubt their integrity - but we’ve got to be ruthless, and the brutal reality is that some have not produced the performances that we would expect from someone on their salary. On reflection, I feel I might’ve been a bit too lenient when I gave my thoughts the other day regarding the sort of retained list I’d like to see; while I still believe we’ve got a very good squad on paper, it clearly hasn’t worked out the way we hoped or expected, and some of the higher earners almost have to become ‘sacrificial lambs’ if we are to bring in the fresh blood that’s evidently required. A certain midfielder ought to count himself lucky that he’s still got two years left on his contract, or else he might have been one of those on the chopping block - his performance yesterday was as poor as I can remember seeing not just from him, but from any Chester player this season, and for both our sake and his we desperately need to hope he can return to the levels he’s shown previously. I think it’s quite clear which positions need strengthening, but we also need to recruit players who can help fill the current leadership void. There’s been a concerning lack of communication on the pitch at times, and too often heads have dropped after conceding - we’ve picked up just ten points in the fifteen league games in which we’ve gone 1-0 down. While I’d expect recruitment to largely centre around young players again, there needs to be a greater emphasis on bringing in experience and big characters, especially seeing as the few older heads currently on the books might all be packing their bags. Put simply, if we’re to get promoted, we need a dressing room of winners. Finally, I couldn’t help but be hugely impressed with Brackley - of all the strong teams they’ve fielded over the years, this incarnation might be the best of the lot, and it wouldn’t surprise me if this were the year they finally win the playoffs. Murombedzi has blossomed into quite possibly the best player in this league, and would perhaps be the opposition player I’d most love to sign (again), not that it’d be at all realistic - it’s difficult to believe that he was one of the infamous ‘expenses-only’ brigade under Bignot a few years ago. Fair play to Gavin Cowan, too, who seemed a poor appointment at the time, but who now appears a far cry from the manager who started the decline at Telford. Not even sure you can blame the Brackley fans for wanting to get one over us either, after what happened last year and the attempts some of our fans have made to goad them since then. Fingers crossed that they, or any other side for that matter, will be unable to rain on our parade for a third time next season… Spot on From what I've seen this season and last, Weeks needs a ball winner next to him, or just behind. Too often he's scrapping for second ball in an unbalanced midfield. That's not his game. So, he comes deep to get the ball and becomes ineffective. The play off game and Saturday Vs Brackley were carbon copies.
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