the_mighty_bosh

I know we've already got Garner and Norwood but... ...yes I would bring him in. If we're going to go long he's exactly the type of player I'd have. He's clearly still got it as well.

An interesting case that is extremely local to me is Gary Caldwell at Exeter. Started the season well, went on a 13 match winless streak (10 defeats I believe) with a terrible goal difference, but since Christmas their form has been so good that they look like finishing top half in a league where they certainly don't have the budget that should get them there. Unless there is a truly outstanding candidate to replace Mellon (basically Pete Wild in my opinion) then I'd rather we were the club that didn't make the change in manager.

I'd be interested to see who is a better manager on paper than Mellon who's actually available (either unemployed or tempted to step up/down to us). I currently wouldn't trust a head coach/manager who needs more than a year to establish a progressive style or philosophy, because there's no indication yet that they would be given the time to do it.

This is why I think Mellon is the least worst option at the start of next season. I don't think this would necessarily be a bad idea in general, but it would show that the board have no idea what they are doing to do a complete u-turn in style and philosophy in this instance. I want the board to show courage in their convictions when it comes to key decisions instead of swaying from one strategy to another. Despite his record of promotions, Mellon has got a lot to prove at the start of next season after such an appalling run to close out the season. That said, he has proven on four occasions that he knows how to get teams promoted (twice at this level) when he's had a summer window to work with. I don't fully trust him, but I trust him more than any of the other key decision makers at the club right now.

Going into the final game of the season, only one team has won fewer home games in the league than us this season. What the fuck is that all about?! Beyond the Rothwells, while I wouldn't be against anyone who stays I also wouldn't be disappointed if anyone from our staff left. What a disappointing underachievement this season has been.

There's a lot of positives about Hobson, but I actually didn't have an issue with him being dropped behind Raglan and Hogan because his distribution was absolutely awful in this bad run we've had. Dagenham and Aldershot being clear examples where he was just hoofing the ball to nowhere on a regular basis.

That Mellon interview sounded like the interview that he's wanted to give for a couple of months at least, and I understand why he hasn't until now.

Board, management and players all need to be seriously questioned during the summer due to this level of collapse in the last quarter of the season and no one should assume their position is safe (Frank excluded obviously). Out of those three categories Mellon and the management are the ones that I'd trust the most to bring us success next season due to the fact that he's won 4 of his promotions after his 1st summer window which shows he clearly knows how to shape a squad. Added to this recruitment strategy from the board has been badly disjointed and imbalanced in the last two seasons and the application of the players at the crunch stage of the season has been woeful. However, every situation is unique and if Frank and the key decision makers at the club believe that Mellon is the key cause of the shambolic end to the season then he won't be able to say that he's blameless in all of this. What an utterly disappointing end to a season that actually could've been good for once.

Looks like two part time teams playing against each other, although one team at least has the excuse of actually being part time.

I've only just checked our home record this season. Boreham Wood (our last home win back in February) have a better home record than us and they're in the relegation zone. No wonder we're not getting in the playoffs with that home record.

I thought it was a perfectly fair example. You picked two players who needed the other type of player to function well. Byrne had excellent technical ability but while he wasn't against scrapping for things I wouldn't trust him from a defensive point of view in midfield. Fane was the polar opposite, breaking up play and covering ground very well but once he did win it then the sooner he gave it to someone else the better as you didn't want him anywhere near the ball afterwards!

They are all technically better than Sheron and can pass the ball better than him (McGahey possibly being the only exception as I really don't rate him other than being a stopper in defensive midfield). And yet they've all been worse than him this season in my eyes. Not to say that Sheron is a world beater by any means but more that the list of players above has significantly underperformed on a regular basis. Hopefully Lundstram's assist is more of what we'll see from him next season instead of what he's shown so far. Can I also add on a technical level that Sheron is a really good tackler? I'm not just saying that because he puts himself about, but he regularly times risky tackles well when he's pressing that breaks up opposition play. It is needed in the centre of midfield as well as good passing ability and unfortunately this is shown when the other midfielder is Tom Conlan, who clearly has the ball control that Sheron doesn't but is frustratingly lightweight and often gets pushed off the ball far too easily for a central midfielder. Like last year, if the manager and anyone responsible for recruitment can't find players who can perform better than Sheron on a regular basis they'll probably pay for it with their jobs just like Unsworth (and rightly so). But I can't dislike Sheron because, unlike our other midfielders, he at least does the minimum that's expected whenever he's on the pitch compared to pretty much every other midfielder this season who regularly fall way below those levels.

It is unquestionably a disappointment that we look very likely to miss out on the playoffs given where we were 5 or 6 weeks ago, no one should avoid responsibility for it. But I can't see us being a significantly smaller team at this level next season and we almost certainly will have an advantage budget-wise over almost everyone who's in the league, even without parachute payments. For me the big review should be the strategy for how to use the advantage in the best way possible, which in my mind wouldn't just be focusing the budget on the first team and would be putting more of an emphasis on a conveyor belt from youth team to first team to potentially playing at the highest level. That will make us a healthy club for years to come, regardless of what division we're in.

In bold are the players that I'd release, transfer list or send back to parent clubs. 16 players for starters with others who should be kept on their toes. Last year I was a fan of adding to what we had, this year I'm keen for us to cull a lot of players and build a smaller squad with the right mentality. If we can start blooding more youngsters between now and August to supplement the squad that would be ideal.

He's got the perfect build for a centre-back, but his distribution is terrible even for a non-league centre back and I had no problem with him being dropped behind Raglan and Hogan if I'm honest.