Ackey

3 hours ago, Ackey said:

Indeed.

 

(my bad!)

Indeed.

Whilst I appreciate that making a decision on the present based on the alternate is not ideal, I am left with "if not him then who...?"

We've tried novice (Unsworth), we've tried seasoned (Shez), we've tried novel (Selim), we've tried proven (MM), we've tried homegrown (Wild, Scholes)... we've tried a fuckload of managers and we've been consistently shit. Some have had pennies, some pounds.

I will keep asking - are poor results a direct result of a string of 20 shit managers, or symptom of a deeper root cause? 

Frank's put right a lot (LOT!) of things, but changing from a culture of expected failure to one of patient winning is hard.

We seem to want (expect) to exist in an impossible place...

Quote

It's not you, it's me. 

At what point do we have to look at a guy who's been a serial winner at this level and wonder if he's the problem (some of the criticism above is very reasonable and fair), or if it's us.

Something has to give. Is changing the manager changing every 12-18 months the answer? Has it ever been?

Are you suggesting the quality of a fullback should be based on if they have enough shots?

Kitching is flawed (he's playing in non-league, they all are) but surely he's been a better player than almost all the others this season?

On 4/13/2024 at 2:05 PM, kowenicki said:

The amount of ads on here is becoming a bit troublesome. 

Without being too simplistic - this place costs money we don't have. But, I will talk to Matt and see what's what. 

9 hours ago, Charles or Eddie said:

45 pages, just sack him and lets move on

Genuine question - to who?

21 minutes ago, JoeP said:

It's disappointing the way this season is turning out, but the plan to give Mellon a decent chance to sort us out should still stand.

 

For me he still gets at least as long as Unsworth got...

And then some... Unsworth was unproven and quickly out of his depth. Mellon's considerable pedigree at this level means it's a sensible decision to be more patient with him. 

10 hours ago, BP1960 said:

They have a place, but the game isn't played on paper.

All the best teams in the world are heavily stats based these days? There's no elite team winning a top-tier league in Europe without a sizable data department used for all kinds of things...?

1 hour ago, Frankly Mr Shankly said:

Sophie Ellis Bextor in her theaudience days did sing “A pessimist is never disappointed” I guess. 

Fuck me, even for you that's a deep-cut of a reference! You've hit marrow, never mind bone, with that one!  

10 hours ago, Mike_Stott said:

Some great memories of working with Jack on JKLatics

 

Met some fantastic people through the site. Too many to name, but a few from the top of my head Lags, Stipe Tripe, Nik, Derek Wilson, Cromwell. 
 

Not heard from Jack and Kate for a few years. 
 

Be interested to know where your getting the screen shots, been having a look only recently but not been able to find anything.

 

From memory the theory that Alan Hardy was TGOBM was not true. We could see the individual IP addresses of the people who posted on the message board and it just didn’t match up. 

still have a season ticket, but can only make it to around half the home games due to work commitments. Looking forward to Halifax away on Tuesday

Wayback Machine (archive.org)

that link should take you directly to what they have captured. Unfortunately as Matt said, they only have the homepage and not the actual threads. 

1 hour ago, Frankly Mr Shankly said:

Won't be forgotten that.

Immediately forgets it.

Lovely stuff, J!  

Where you pulling these screenshots from @Matt?

50 minutes ago, GFBunn1 said:

I always thought the JK stood for Jack and Kate, does anyone know what happened to them or did I make that up?

As you can see from @Matt's homage (also at the top of OWTB right now), it was indeed Jack and Kate:

3 hours ago, Lee Sinnott said:

Has anyone said get rid of him, by the way...?

That's a fair point.

I should have also added this:

4 hours ago, Ackey said:

And yes, of course I am exaggerating the point for silliness's sake.   

To the post which followed right after, too: 

3 hours ago, Ackey said:

Fucking shit. Get rid. 

Bigger picture - I'm biased by the fact I can't remember the last time I watched us at home, given I don't live there anymore. I'm also biased by generally liking numbers more than opinions. The data suggests he's doing a good job, and whilst the sample is small the hope is the trend continues. When factoring in other things (such as his incredible pedigree at this level, as I mentioned above) you'd hope that to be true - but that can't be said for sure yet, I accept.

I think what I sense a lot on OWTB at the moment is a combination of two things:

1. Impatience - as above, fixing a broken team of any kind is hard and slow (ooh err).
2. Perfect being the enemy of good - we should strive for more, we should be better, we should not be complacent... but ultimately we're points per game performing better than ever, let's not take that for granted. Again, that's not to say we can't improve. But we have to surely be happy. This thread, and many others, seems so painfully sad and unhappy about what is - stats wise - good. We started the season expecting first, we should expect first next year (if it comes to that) - but right now we're doing good, very good, and that brings it back to point number 1.

But then I live 250 miles away, see us 4-5 times a year. So I do accept and appreciate that my opinion by its very nature has a luxury of time and space, and many on here don't have that. It's less personal to me, no matter how much I care. So I certainly don't want to seem condescending or dismissive of others and how personal poor performance feels to them. 

I was curious. As it stands (lies lies and damned statistics not withstanding) MM has the highest Points Per Game of any Latics manager ever (>19 games managed).

Fucking shit. Get rid. 

45 minutes ago, BP1960 said:

You are missing my point, he's had ample time to change the failed home tactics, but refuses to do so.

They have proven to work well away so keep them for those matches, but not at home. Attacking the opposition with 2 wingers and direct  running  central midfielder is my suggestion.

I'd wager his experience at getting out of this league trumps even someone as highly qualified as yourself though, BP. And whilst it may be a blunt instrument it's inarguably working right now. It could work better, it will or won't, but it's working. 

Anyone who has worked in, for, or with a dysfunctional team in their professional lives know how utterly infuriating it can be trying to change it - something which takes considerable time even when you're able to make personnel changes.

I think the broken record "change the system it fixes everything" angle is just that - broken. We can, should, do better - but the idea that a change in formation and playing a child in midfield will solve all problems and have us pip Chesterfield to first is bonkers. And yes, of course I am exaggerating the point for silliness's sake.   

They cover it in the article: 

Quote

Jacobson has avoided commenting publicly about the attacks on the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust or the aftermath, but he did express concern about protesters he believed were "celebrating mass murder" in the streets.

Joe Jacobson talking to Sky News about the abhorrent abuse he's been receiving: Wycombe Wanderers captain Joe Jacobson reveals he needed security escort as data shows spike in antisemitism | UK News | Sky News 

59 minutes ago, daniel said:

Only 1800 at Rochdale last night must be a concern for any new potential investor/ owner. I reckon we had games under AL with similar attendances, but were never announced as such. 
Hopefully they sort themselves out, they were always deemed to be a club who were well ran, so not sure what has gone wrong there. 

‘It is bleak’: Rochdale fight to survive in shadow of Ratcliffe’s £1.3bn deal | Rochdale | The Guardian

3 hours ago, yarddog73 said:

...I wish he'd kiss the badge and balloon about like some of the others but that's just not him and I respect that...

I respect it too. And I'm certainly not of the opinion that he's over-rated or should be dropped, as some seem to be.

However, there's validity to the argument that he could and should be bringing more to the team. If you look at people like Palmer and Mullin at Wrexham and how they've not just done the business but are focal points for the team's ethos... he could be asked to do more of that. Now, each person is their own... well, person... and it's reasonable that's just not his personality - so I won't chastise him for it, but it would still be nice to see it. There's power in the grey area, we don't have to think in absolutes. 

OK - this thread wasn't that bad, hence the quick clean up. I like the essence and the tone is light hearted. Let's keep it that way, no naming-names or calling people out specifically please. Make the quote but don't turn this in to a 'right v wrong' thread or the calling out of people for differing (right, wrong or other) opinions.

I doubt this will last long, these things rarely do, but I'm willing to give everyone a crack at it. 

Give me a minute. 

For about 6 different reasons.