Yellows & the Blues

Those club’s balance sheets, structure and ambition will look rather different to ours. If we had lower running costs and could afford to spend eight of the next ten years in League One with a nibble at the Championship and the chance of a stint in League Two then it would be a good strategy. Clearly our club is in mortal financial danger if we are not promoted within a couple of seasons.

No manager is going to be able to come in and change the culture - Town are rotten to the core where in the past we had continuity at the top and sustained success over decades with successive managers.

 

I would argue that by summer 2018 the squad was decimated and although we have a couple of quality players, we also have some gaping holes in the first team and our side is nothing special at this level, through no fault of anybody apart from Evans.

 

Unfortunately I see today’s performance as prime evidence of why we’re destined to stay in this Division for quite a long time.

 

For the 1st time, there were calls for Lamberts head at the end of the game in large numbers. Thought we played ok in the 1st half- just no cutting edge. There is a good footballer in Will Keane but not as a centre forward. I know due to injuries and now suspensions, he’s going to have to play up front but I would rather him play in the Judge roll behind a front 2. Judge has had enough chances and 2 good games in a season is not good enough. Then there’s PL. I actually though Edwards looked 1 of our better players, he takes him off, changes the formation and oxford dominated the remainder of the game and bringing Sears on for injury time is an insult to him

 

No point sacking Lambert, it would be the same problem with another manager. As ive said all season the squad simply isn't good enough.

I think considering our position in January was better than what most of us would have wished for not to invest in a weak squad was more foolish than when we didn't do it a few seasons back

 

Keane is a target man and would be dangerous to bring on for the last half hour to shake up defences or in games we want to play more direct but to play week in, week out in a passing side alongside Jackson - he’s never going to score many goals or assist them.

 

Ultimately, we are failing because we have one of the worst owners in English football, a manager who has been associated with failure and underachievement for half a decade, a backroom staff that is not innovative or equipped enough to keep a squad fit, and a bunch of players with a weak mentality.

A good, tactically clever manager would get an average squad punching above its weight. We don’t have that. A good owner would have a system in place to mitigate failure and provide much-needed direction for the club. We don’t have that. Good training facilities and backroom staff would reduce the risk of injuries and fitness concerns for the first team players. We don’t have that. A well-funded scouting system would identify good players that improve the squad, but are undervalued and don’t break the bank bringing them in. We don’t have that. A good squad would have the mentality to win big key games and, based over the past few years, we don’t have that either.

 

Can't disagree too much with that, although I do struggle to judge PL due to the circumstances we are in.

Yet despite all that, a couple of decent signings in January and the situation would look a lot rosier

 

I constantly read on this site on how on paper we have a relatively better squad of players than most of our div 3 opposition ( I of course bow to the superior knowledge of those of you that attend matches at PR week on week) if we are consistently under performing then surely the blame must lay at the managers door
It was stupid or certainly misguided to give PL a five year contract
I hope Fleetwood don't get promoted and we bite the bullet and sack PL and go for Barton
I am confident he could get more out of our 'superior squad' than Lambert

 

The gap between the lower half of the championship and the top half of league 1 is far greater than I thought it was. If we forget for a moment the lack of investment from ME and just focus on 1 simple question, is PL getting the most out of the squad he has at his disposal and for me, the simple answer is no. There is no plan b. Yesterday, we played pretty well 1st half but by 10-15 mins in the 2nd, we were crying out for changes. The 1 he did make actually worsened the team as the formation changed. The midfield seem incapable of either creating chances or scoring goals on a consistent basis. With pretty much nothing to lose now, I think we must start Bishop or dare I say it Dozzell as although he doesn’t get stuck in, he might pass the ball forward instead of backwards or sideways just to keep possession.

 

Who has Lambert not got the best out of?

 

Edwards, Garbutt, Nolan, Judge, Keane to start with

 

Edwards has been okay but playing out of position. But we don't have alot of depth at wing back or on the wings.

Garbutt I think has been pretty good, one of the better players.

Nolan has had 1 good season in his career, has had an injury and been in and out of the side. Didn't have a pre-season, in my experience players who don't have a pre-season rarely have a consistent season.

When was the last time Judge played consistently well since his injury 4 years ago?

When has Keane ever played well on a consistent basis in his career?

 

Short term success Vs Long Term planning is a debate that has really come to prominence since McCarthy left.

The big problem for us is that during the Evans years it's felt like we can only have one or the other, when really they should go together.

Keane - Operation Premier league personified, nothing else mattered or was worth investing in until the 1st team was in the top tier. Got away with it because we were "loaded" and every single signing said our facilities were premier League in waiting.

Jewell - was slightly more interested in youth development - Creswell being the shining success, but didn't have the skills to keep the short term success going while the prospects learnt their trade, the dad's army sticking plaster approach was always doomed to failure.

McCarthy - Him and Evans are made for each other. Squeeze success out of minimal investment. Then there was nothing left to squeeze - blame the fans and walk away.

Hurst and Lambert - complete change of policy. But we were trying to repair the roof while the walls were crumbling. With all eyes on future success we forgot to ensure we could win individual games.

The common denominator, Evans. Conversely I don't think lack of investment is a fair charge. Yes, there could have been more - he could certainly afford more. But clubs survive and achieve success without rich backers. The real issue has been where the money has been directed, or not directed and theres been no real plan. It's been up to the managers to follow their whims

 

Agree there's been a lack of balance. Although in the past 2 or so seasons it really does feel the lack of investment has really come home to roost. We need ME to invest more money to be more competitive.

I feel Lambert has generally when he's had the opportunity strengthened in the correct positions but considering the influx of players which ultimately failed last season I'm surprised we haven't strengthened more than we have particularly in January.

It feels like ME trusted 2 hit head young managers (Keane and Hurst even Magilton to a degree) with money then said to the experienced managers, that way failed now you have to deal with their mess without any money.

I was not Micks biggest fan by any stretch of the imagination but if he would have been given more finances I'm fairly confident we would've got promoted. To be fair bar Keane I don't think we've appointed a bad manager but you're only as good as the tools you are given and the hand you are dealt. It's a shame the worst manager was given the best tools and the best hand.

Hurst was backed to a reasonable point but the squad wasn't strong and we needed an experienced manager or someone with broad shoulders to take the burden of having ME as boss, unfortunately Hurst sunk. If Lambert was appointed instead of Hurst, I think we'd be in a completely different situation now

 

Just before half time I was thinking how much I was enjoying the game, we were playing good open attacking football and dominating possession and even with our useless strikers I thought it's only a matter of time before we score, then we all know what happened.
Is Lambert useless ? I dont think so due to the quality of our approach play, our defence is reasonably sound as we don't concede many goals, so we come back to the problem we all know is there and that is sub standard, poor quality, ineffectual strikers who can't win games for us when we are dominating.
Personally I don't think there's a manager who could get more out of our front players simply because it's impossible to develop what's not there, our downfall has been selling good quality players for vast profits and either replacing them with cheap lower league players or not replacing them at all so the finger of responsibility can only be pointed in one direction.

 

nuggets - I think Lambert has done about as much as he can. Last January we signed a few players - who were far from world beaters - and it gave our form a temporary boost. We were in a position to challenge for promotion and just as in Mick McCarthy's Premier League promotion challenge campaign Evans has not understood that backing the manager modestly in January has a huge implication for our chances in the second half of our season.

Just since McCarthy left: Ellis Harrison has gone to Portsmouth and had a huge impact there. Bart is #1 in a top half Championship side. Waghorn scores goals for fun and Adam Webster and David McGoldrick are regulars in the Premier League. The financial impact of a single season in League One is at least equivalent to the net transfer fees for these players and after a modest investment under Roy Keane this has been going on ever since for 10 years now. The squad slowly being eroded to the point that we have an average League One side of players with just a few more talented ones that will likely be sold on next to 'compensate' for the devastating impact of remaining in the third tier.

 

It’s pretty obvious that there is only one way we are going to break out of this downward spiral, but who in their right mind would take on the Club in its present predicament??

 

Burley and Butcher with Kieron Dyer in a coaching role. We would fly out of this league.

 

All three are regularly at PR on match days, so know what they’d be up against.