nzlatic

We’ve signed 2 they just haven’t worked out. Freeman - played at a much higher level. Looked decent at times. Then just disappeared. Fitness? Personal reasons? Sachdev - looks dodgy on occasion, looked good on occasion. Seemingly out of favour now. Not sure why. It’s a position that we can’t get wrong this summer.

There's quite a bit of speculation in here. Comments above. I'm not saying he's done a great job. But I'm not saying he's done a bad job. For starters I don't know for sure exactly what his remit is and on what criteria to judge him. But also, he's been in the role for less than 2 seasons. Recruitment should have been better, particularly last summer. But it might be that this summer is where a lot of it will be addressed. Again, too early and not enough info to judge that he "shouldn't be anywhere near important footballing decisions".

Other than Darren appointing Mellon and presumably Unsworth too, what footballing decisions have been made by Darren or Joe Royle under the Rothwells so far?

I'm going to the Wealdestone game. My first home game since Aldershot last season. I fully expect us to be out of it by then and limp to a disappointing defeat. Or, for us to need to win to get 7th and limp to a disappointing defeat.

Yeah it's one place up for grabs now. Aldershot, Halifax or us. Aldershot games: Hartlepool A Gateshead A Boreham Wood H Dagenham A They need 8 points to be out of reach, assuming we win all 4. Halifax games: Kidderminster A Oldham H Barnet H Ebbsfleet H Eastleigh A They need 10 points from the other 4 games to be out of reach, assuming we win all 4. Our games: Rochdale H Halifax A Oxford A Wealdstone H I think that 72 points might well be enough to sneak 7th. I just don't think we'll get them unfortunately.

Wingers as we know them (Holden/Adams) aren't really a thing anymore are they? It's more wide forwards who cut in etc. Ones that can play in a 442 or wide in a 433/451. Last summer's recruitment didn't feel like it was recruiting to a formation or formations. He referenced having to play 352 because of the squad but we didn't have a rwb and Kitching apparently needs someone in front of him. So that was the best we could work to. I presume he's already identified how he wants to play and will be recruiting appropriately over this summer.

That will explain why it's come down to 80/1!

I'd be very surprised given we were actually in the play offs that it's just been accepted by everyone that it's ok to not go up this season. However, if there's an acceptence at board level that the likelihood is we'll still be in this league next season given the players we have, then that'd be understandable.

The Rothwells are the basis for the bulk of my positivity! I think we're on the way, it just may not happen as quickly as we'd all like. But I feel fully confident we'll be back in the efl soon. So if we have an imbalanced squad now that's not delivering, I'd back them to get the right people in place eventually - coaching and players. Whereas under previous ownership, it felt that if things were to go wrong the whole future of the club was in jeopardy. Issues like we have now are likely to be a temporary setback, not terminal.

Yep. Some mistakes last summer definitely. But Thompson and the coaching team from then are gone. It's a big summer ahead of us.

Did we have a settled side? Sheron and Lundstram as a pair in the middle got a lot of stick and I don't remember many saying we've got a good team we don't need to make changes at any point this season! A poor start to next season is a different story, I fully agree with you there. Mellon's track record gives me cause for optimisim though.

He had a long period of good results. He's now had a period of bad results. He's not absolved of blame or of having any pressure on him when we have bad results of course but some of the reactions have been nuclear. The squad still has mostly the same issues it did last summer. I don't think one winter of transfer activity is enough for him to properly fix those issues. There are no obvious solutions in our current squad that he's leaving out so is it fair to heap as much pressure as this on him at this point? I don't think it is.

There's a difference between asking questions, which you have done and have received answers, and making your mind up - that it's predominantly Mellon's fault. Which a lot of people have done. You've kind of summed things up a bit by saying you "see things as they are". Fans can only see the surface. We have no idea what is going on behind the scenes. Footballing decisions are never as simple as what fans make them out to be.

He's not out of contract - he played enough to get a new one. At his age he can't have complaints if a side going for promotion wants to have him as back up rather than start every week. And if that's not good enough for him then I'm sure we'd let him leave if he wanted regular first team football.

We need a squad. We can't just have starters and youths. What is better - having a back up that is experienced, versatile and knows the club and the squad or getting rid of them and signing someone new as a back up? Or, a 3rd option, signing someone who is a starter then you have potentially 3 CBS fighting over 2 spaces (or 3 starters in a back 3 with little or no back up) so you're paying starter wages for someone who won't be playing regularly?

It could go either way with him. I think he's shown glimpses but nothing consistent. He's young though, so what we see now will probably not be reflective of his whole career.

I wouldn't start him next season either. But he's an experienced pro who can at a push play anywhere across the back 4. He's an ideal back up/sub.

What rumours are these?

I think a midfield 3 with Conlon playing further forward, Hammond doing a lot of the running and a new addition to pick the ball up from defence could work really well next season. Edit - granted I'm basing that purely on what he did for Port Vale, he hasn't shown much at all for us.

I don’t know the answer to this question as I don’t follow other clubs carefully enough, but did we miss out on anyone mid-season? Were there players that moved clubs that we should have gone for? I’d be surprised if there were many. There’s a world of difference in availability between summer and mid-season as you point out.

I don’t think you can say that in absolute terms for certain. He’s made 3 permanent signings I think - Garner looked decent initially and Conlon and Hammond could for different reasons be a lot better next season, after more games and a full summer. Loans haven’t gone well but options are more limited mid-season. If I remember rightly we were told that Brabin has a great eye for a player. So with a bigger pool to choose from and more room in the budget I would expect summer recruitment to be better.

it takes a lot of effort!! I’m trying to rationalise the situation we’re in. We have a manager with a proven track record and owners and a board who will give him full support and infrastructure. I don’t think a massive overhaul is needed with the playing squad, over a full summer we should fill the obvious gaps and add pace and quality. And I think we’ll find homes for most if not all the players we don’t want (including those under contract). Whether it will all gel or not who knows. But I think we’ll feel optimistic going into the first game of next season.

An important point made about the new board. Yes, they’re tons better then the Lemsagams and their senior club advisor, but that doesn’t mean they won’t make mistakes or learn how to do things better. Despite the end to this season being a real let down, I feel strangely optimistic about next season.

I think if you asked all fans what formation we should play or who should definitely play in midfield/wide areas you’d get just about every possible combination offered. Which would suggest to me where our main problem lies.

It probably will. It just won’t happen!