[Half Full]

KevinArnottsGoldenBoot, on 05 November 2015 - 10:35 PM, said:

Herd was unattached when we got him. SEB drifting from club to club. Novaks here cos Brum don't want to pay his wages. Just because you see the world through rose tinted glasses doesn't mean we all have to.

Evatt is just on a natural career progression. He's always held down a club or played when fit. Herd even before injury was flaky. SEB has been since he left Wolves. Don't shoot the messenger.

ps. Raglan has a first-touch like a barn door.

Perhaps I do take an optimistic view on things but I genuinely believe SEB, Herd an Novak have improved markedly and we are beginning to see what their contribution to the team can be. They are clearly not long term investments but I think they can make us competitive this season and give DS and the scouting staff the background to begin to build a squad which fits with a longer plan. I don't know if we actually have one, and clearly views on this board are mixed, but I'd like to believe there is some planning going forward. The massive changes pre season were clearly not part of a structured plan and to expect it all to fall into place this season may well have been asking too much. Could just be that there is a plan and it involves some short term consolidation this season. Wouldn't be a bad short term approach. What does worry me is that we don't hear from DA/CT about what they expect.
Saunders may or may not be the man to take us forward, again people have strong views. What I am beginning to see is that, at least away from home, we are beginning to look much better. Still room to improve and the depth of reserve ability is not strong which is a concern.
Possibly a rose tinted view but we have some decent players and I think we are now moving in the right direction this season. I can only go on what I see from the squad we have currently.

[dim view]

60s 70s Spireite, on 05 November 2015 - 08:57 PM, said:

The squad is not for the future, it's for the now. By all accounts the playing budget is higher than ever, and we have three players probably costing the most money who probably won't be here next season or even gone in January. The squad is about appeasing fans for a season, but where is the long term planning? How does the club make a profit from now on, I can't see any more sales for the foreseeable future, unless someone other than what we have seen makes a major break through.

Raglan looks like he is now to make way for Wood, so his 'development' is now on hold.

It seems to me a bit harsh to criticise the club because it cannot immediately drop into a Rolls Royce long term planning cycle.

A good plan would be to set up a youth system, appoint a Director of Recruitment, acquire good players to 'appease' fans to tide us over while he finds the next Clucas, and........hang on a minute??

Are you suggesting fans are unhappy because they feel appeased?.

[60s 70s Spireite]

dim view, on 06 November 2015 - 10:22 AM, said:

It seems to me a bit harsh to criticise the club because it cannot immediately drop into a Rolls Royce long term planning cycle.

A good plan would be to set up a youth system, appoint a Director of Recruitment, acquire good players to 'appease' fans to tide us over while he finds the next Clucas, and........hang on a minute??

Are you suggesting fans are unhappy because they feel appeased?.

A good plan, already in place until recently, would have been to continue to recruit the right players who could hit the ground running, and yet still have an excellent sell on value; eg Cooper, Clucas, Doyle and of course Morsy..
As for expecting a club like ours to compete with clubs at youth recruitment level who can afford to carry probably three or four times the number we can; that seems a stretch.
As it is, I feel we have wasted good money on players that have no investment value to us, and next close season we will be hearing about 'tightening our belts', 'season tickets sales down' and 'we can't afford another season like 15-16 as that was supported by the Darikwa and Clucas sales'

[dim view]

60s 70s Spireite, on 06 November 2015 - 10:44 AM, said:

A good plan, already in place until recently, would have been to continue to recruit the right players who could hit the ground running, and yet still have an excellent sell on value; eg Cooper, Clucas, Doyle and of course Morsy..

Ah, the Shangri La plan?.

It all sounds very easy. Maybe we are continuing, but it takes time and meanwhile we tick along by trying to challenge for the playoffs. There was next to no window to recruit permanently since the unexpected sales of Clucas and Tendayi. Admittedly, not a perfect planning position, but we have to react to what happened. If SEB and Herd leave after xmas, that is when we will see your type of recruits. If they don't, they will do for me.

[60s 70s Spireite]

dim view, on 06 November 2015 - 10:59 AM, said:

Ah, the Shangri La plan?.

Shangri La? Nah. Formulated in Merseyside.

[dim view]

60s 70s Spireite, on 06 November 2015 - 11:17 AM, said:

Shangri La? Nah. Formulated in Merseyside.

Seriously though....

It's a perfectly reasonable question to ask CT at the AGM how he is going to make ends meet in the future if we have no players that we can sell.

We have also reached a point in the season where it's perfectly reasonable to query whether, with hindsight, DS chose the best short term strategy to get us where we are.

Are we in 'that amazing place you can sell your best players, bring in cheap kids and crocked older players, put loads of money in the bank AND have a stronger team!'.

Have we overcome the inevitable effect of our actions on team morale, attendances, and season ticket sales?.

[boot]

60s 70s Spireite, on 06 November 2015 - 10:44 AM, said:

A good plan, already in place until recently, would have been to continue to recruit the right players who could hit the ground running, and yet still have an excellent sell on value; eg Cooper, Clucas, Doyle and of course Morsy..
As for expecting a club like ours to compete with clubs at youth recruitment level who can afford to carry probably three or four times the number we can; that seems a stretch.
As it is, I feel we have wasted good money on players that have no investment value to us, and next close season we will be hearing about 'tightening our belts', 'season tickets sales down' and 'we can't afford another season like 15-16 as that was supported by the Darikwa and Clucas sales'

If it were only that easy !

[60s 70s Spireite]

boot, on 06 November 2015 - 03:53 PM, said:

If it were only that easy !

One thing, we should have more cash now to follow the model than ever before.

[boot]

calvin plummers socks, on 05 November 2015 - 07:53 PM, said:

Of course you can maintain fitness whilst on crutches- do you think they just sit on their asses all day watching Homes under the hammer?

I did think Escape to the Country actually ! They can obviously maintain some fitness to a lesser or greater degree depending on the injury. But what level of fitness I ask you ? Nowhere near playing fitness if it's a bad injury. For example, if you have a broken leg you get muscle wastage in that leg whatever exercises you can manage with the rest of your body. That takes recovery time and a lot of it.

[boot]

60s 70s Spireite, on 06 November 2015 - 04:28 PM, said:

One thing, we should have more cash now to follow the model than ever before.

How many Clucases etc are out there for less than £100,000 with only us looking? They are few and far between. We could roll the dice another 10 times at a £100,000 a throw and not win, because every signing is a gamble. Not impossible but very far from easy. We are supposed to have retained the scout that Cook wanted to take with him so I guess that is a start.

[60s 70s Spireite]

boot, on 06 November 2015 - 05:34 PM, said:

How many Clucases etc are out there for less than £100,000 with only us looking? They are few and far between. We could roll the dice another 10 times at a £100,000 a throw and not win, because every signing is a gamble. Not impossible but very far from easy. We are supposed to have retained the scout that Cook wanted to take with him so I guess that is a start.

Have we tried to sign any? Or, as suggested by all his talk about signings, does DS only prefer 'Championship' players. Remember how many times he said 'it's not for the want of trying, but players I am looking at won't step down from the Championship'

[calvin plummers socks]

boot, on 06 November 2015 - 05:25 PM, said:

I did think Escape to the Country actually ! They can obviously maintain some fitness to a lesser or greater degree depending on the injury. But what level of fitness I ask you ? Nowhere near playing fitness if it's a bad injury. For example, if you have a broken leg you get muscle wastage in that leg whatever exercises you can manage with the rest of your body. That takes recovery time and a lot of it.

Compound fractures obviously cause problems as do casts which from a rehab point of view are always a pain.
Muscle wastage is less of a problem as it once was- muscle stimulation machines are good for that and also unlike the old days rehab starts a couple days after the injury. When I first started in football it was a case of the injury fulling healing before attempting any kind of fitness conditioning - thankfully times have changed.

In terms of rehab - it's all down to being creative really.
Obviously any running or ball work is often out initially but it's often the case to keep the injured guys motivated and setting them small goals.

I personally don't like bikes for footballers but use the pool a lot.

A well designed circuit can keep anyone very fit despite injury.

[The Earl of Chesterfield]

Some of this is highly amusing.

The sale of Clucas and Darikwa "unexpected"? Well the latter had submitted a transfer request whilst the Chairman had repeatedly stated - and confirmed - his intent to recoup his cash via sales. Infact all it needed was a quote from 'Turnip' saying 'No one's going anywhere!' and the pair could've booked taxis!

Then talk of some sort of 'plan'? At first, perhaps, given Allen's talk of the Championship and the couple of million he invested. But then relegation seemed to initiate a one hundred and eighty degree U-turn with Cook's remit being to deliver more for less. Thankfully that's what he did, yet someone somewhere didn't do their sums properly and CFC posted a million-plus loss despite the most successful season in our history. Since then it's pretty much been crisis management, as confirmed by the recent accounts which revealed we'd barely broken even regardless of more record receipts.

Saunders having a 'strategy'? Continuing Cook's 'recruit cheap and develop' paradigm? What, by handing new deals to last season's squad players? To veterans and crocks? Our most promising talent is Sam Morsy; so why is the Club allowing his contract to dwindle to an end? And if we're relying on Ariyibi, O'Neil, Dieseruvwe or Simons to plug the financial gaps no one seems to have a clue how to address, then I hope there're some gullible scouts out there.

I'm genuinely chuffed that we've finally strung a few wins together and recent recruits are playing better, I really am. However the accounts are far worse than I expected and all the assurances at last year's AGM appear empty spin.

This post has been edited by MDCCCLXVI: 06 November 2015 - 06:27 PM

[h again]

60s 70s Spireite, on 06 November 2015 - 04:28 PM, said:

One thing, we should have more cash now to follow the model than ever before.

Don't we owe DA about 7 million? How does that equate to having more cash than ever before?

[h again]

MDCCCLXVI, on 06 November 2015 - 06:24 PM, said:

Some of this is highly amusing.

The sale of Clucas and Darikwa "unexpected"? Well the latter had submitted a transfer request whilst the Chairman had repeatedly stated - and confirmed - his intent to recoup his cash via sales. Infact all it needed was a quote from 'Turnip' saying 'No one's going anywhere!' and the pair could've booked taxis!

Then talk of some sort of 'plan'? At first, perhaps, given Allen's talk of the Championship and the couple of million he invested. But then relegation seemed to initiate a one hundred and eighty degree U-turn with Cook's remit being to deliver more for less. Thankfully that's what he did, yet someone somewhere didn't do their sums properly and CFC posted a million-plus loss despite the most successful season in our history. Since then it's pretty much been crisis management, as confirmed by the recent accounts which revealed we'd barely broken even regardless of more record receipts.

Saunders having a 'strategy'? Continuing Cook's 'recruit cheap and develop' paradigm? What, by handing new deals to last season's squad players? To veterans and crocks? Our most promising talent is Sam Morsy; so why is the Club allowing his contract to dwindle to an end? And if we're relying on Ariyibi, O'Neil, Dieseruvwe or Simons to plug the financial gaps no one seems to have a clue how to address, then I hope there're some gullible scouts out there.

I'm genuinely chuffed that we've finally strung a few wins together and recent recruits are playing better, I really am. However the accounts are far worse than I expected and all the assurances at last year's AGM appear empty spin.

Doesn't matter how expected or unexpected they were - until they actually go it's madness to sign replacements, and I can imagine your comments if we'd done just that and been supplied with expensive cover we didn't need 'cos the transfers fell through.
For somebody who knows so much about running a football club you seem to favour the kind of policy that leads to administration.

[Spire-Heights]

h again, on 06 November 2015 - 07:01 PM, said:

Don't we owe DA about 7 million? How does that equate to having more cash than ever before?

Think about it.

[h again]

60s 70s Spireite, on 06 November 2015 - 05:56 PM, said:

Have we tried to sign any? Or, as suggested by all his talk about signings, does DS only prefer 'Championship' players. Remember how many times he said 'it's not for the want of trying, but players I am looking at won't step down from the Championship'

Don't we all, if we can get them at realistic prices? The team was stripped of its best players, as will always happen if we're successful, and the rebuild was no place for untried kids.
Experience needed to stabilise the ship, and when that's done we can start bringing the youngsters on again. At the moment it's working fine.
And if SEB gets back to anywhere near his old form, and it's a possibility, we'll cash in.

[Ernie Ernie Ernie]

h again, on 06 November 2015 - 07:16 PM, said:

Don't we all, if we can get them at realistic prices? The team was stripped of its best players, as will always happen if we're successful, and the rebuild was no place for untried kids.
Experience needed to stabilise the ship, and when that's done we can start bringing the youngsters on again. At the moment it's working fine.
And if SEB gets back to anywhere near his old form, and it's a possibility, we'll cash in.

How are we going to cash in on someone on a short term contract?

[The Earl of Chesterfield]

h again, on 06 November 2015 - 07:10 PM, said:

Doesn't matter how expected or unexpected they were - until they actually go it's madness to sign replacements, and I can imagine your comments if we'd done just that and been supplied with expensive cover we didn't need 'cos the transfers fell through.
For somebody who knows so much about running a football club you seem to favour the kind of policy that leads to administration.

Please address the points I made rather than what you "imagine" or I might "seem to favour".

[Wooden Spoon]

h again said:

1446836469[/url]' post='1158733']
Don't we owe DA about 7 million? How does that equate to having more cash than ever before?

Earlier this week you dismissed financial concerns by saying we had the money from Clucas and Darikwa in the bank......make your mind up, which is it?

Money in the bank or no money in the bank?