IceStationLatic

'Decent League 1 sides were saying no', so I joined Latics.

 

What the club has become...

He was wanting about £6k a week.

His valuation of himself clearly didn't match those who could afford to pay it.

We've obviously struck some form of compromise with him, but again, dare I say it, well done to Corney for contacting him and sorting this one out. It could prove a huge moment if we stay up.

It wasn't just heading on Tuesday. He was yelling at players. When Dieng put his body on the line to dive in and head clear (which we haven't been doing), Gerrard smacked him in the chest and shouted positively at him. He was pumping them all up - and it was vital to us hanging on in the final few minutes. The whole back line, and Palmer and Kelly in front of them, followed suit - it was so different, it was a winning mentality.

Agree. We looked solid st the back with cover and some muscle from midfield, then quick feet and creativity from Winchester and Palmer, and still a presence up top with two strikers. We suddenly look a team.

Shrews couldn't break our shape and looked lost after the opening 15.

Poleon headed air, and Murphy could have scored. It could have been easier.

But the most encouraging thing for me was the way we saw it out. A to-be relegated team usually panics and looks nervous, and concedes, but our clearances and possession looked controlled and savvy, and everyone was also putting their bodies on the line - spurred on by Gerrard - to keep out the long balls into the box at the end.

Now we need to do it at home.

Shrewsbury were poor but we played a part in making them look poor, and frustrating their players to the point where they looked lost - much like we have done for so much this season.

I've made it to two away games this season: Doncaster and Chesterfield.

 

I don't make it to lots of games but I haven't seen us lose at home since Preston, and since Liverpool on the road. I've seen a million draws and our only wins.

 

Chesterfield was my last game. I'm going on Tuesday night and lining up Blades, Dale, Scunthorpe, Burton and prob another home game or two given our predicament - hopefully we can at least fight until the end, if Shez can build a fighting spirit in this mob.

 

The lucky trainers are coming with me.

 

Keep the faith.

Lucky trainers....

I've made it to two away games this season: Doncaster and Chesterfield.

I don't make it to lots of games but I haven't seen us lose at home since Preston, and since Liverpool on the road. I've seen a million draws and our only wins.

Chesterfield was my last game. I'm going on Tuesday night and lining up Blades, Dale, Scunthorpe, Burton and prob another home game or two given our predicament - hopefully we can at least fight until the end, if Shez can build a fighting spirit in this mob.

The lucky trainers are coming with me.

Keep the faith.

 

Interestingly a poll in the local paper says that Shrewsbury fans have little confidence in their squad - additions included - being able to stay up

http://www.shropshirestar.com/sport/shrewsbury-town-fc/2016/01/20/micky-mellon-town-squad-is-good-enough/[/

 

Shrewsbury's home form is pretty poor, underlining what a massive game next Tuesday is.

 

We're bottom of the home league table of course on seven points, then it's Crewe on 9, then the Shrews on 11. Chesterfield are fourth bottom on 12.

 

In the away league table, we are 15th. Millwall are third. Bury are 18th. Colchester, Blackpool, Fleetwood and Port Vale make up the bottom four.

Noticed he's said he made the critical comments about the fans because he knew his players wouldn't respond well to the mocking/negative chants etc

Um, we scored two goals and one the game 2-1. And we were singing with the players clapping us at the end. Things had already moved on. It didn't need the negativity bring raked back up by Dunn himself?!

Might as well carry on the theme and ask Neil Kilkenny if he fancies nipping over too...?

Would love Taylor - he'd give everything to keep us up.

From what I can see, out of control would count as reckless which is a yellow card.

 

A red for serious foul play would seemingly need to be a lunge with excessive force. And no distinction made whether that's from the front, side or back.

Yes I think you are right. It's yellow for reckless, hence a foul even if you get the ball. It's a red if it's excessive force and dangerous, which it wasn't.

Sadly, typical of modern crap Prem refs we have these days, he couldn't wait to pull the card out. He had to take centre stage and make a crucial game-changing decision based on a hunch. Why not ask the linesman for their opinion? The fact the ref's feel they have to make the call to avoid being weak, and their call sticks so once they've made a decision another official rarely counters it, is leading to many errors.

The mentality to get the right decisions (efficiency being the priority), is the same mentality of those who want more technology. Those that oppose it, support the culture of embracing constant human error and game-changing officiating failures as "part of the game". For me that's infuriating as there's nothing more annoying than forking out loads of dosh to have an official play a big part in the result, rather than it just being a fair game. Maybe it's all these armchair Sky fans that represent this mythical populous that loves to debate these things "down the pub", so we can't have the a proven method to ensure right decisions are made nearly all the time - despite it being so successful in other sports...!

Anyway, this guy on the Facebook page said he's been trained as a ref. He said the following:

"He's not in full control of his body as he goes into the tackle. He's won the ball, with his side foot, studs are not showing.

For me, it's a foul and yellow at most. The follow through makes it look quite a bad one, but the ref didn't give himself any time.

If that was me, I'd have blown for the foul then ran towards the touch line to by myself some thinking time. Called him over then booked him. That ref has made an instinctive decision, which was ultimately wrong.

Three questions the ref should ask:

1) Was it a foul - Yes, he want in control of his body when he made the tackle and he lunged in.

2) Was it reckless - Yes, as above so it's a yellow card

3) Was it excessive No, he wasn't deliberately endangering the opponent, it was dangerously high and he took the ball before the man.

Yellow card was the right decision. It's a game of opinions though and he can get only give what he sees at the time.

Hopefully it will be overturned on appeal."

People said Murphy was a bag of :censored: and wouldn't score goals. People said Kelly was dog :censored:. Etc etc

Matt Smith...

Adam Rooney also....

More positively, we were laughed at for signing Harkins and Forte...

It's all about the manager finding a way to improve and get the most out of his players.

Don't keep up to date with the rules - so you can't slide tackle a player that you're facing?

There are degrees of seriousness. Studs up and two footed being a guaranteed red...

But I think what did it for Connor was that their player was still on his feet whereas he was off balance and thereby "reckless" or "endangering the opponent" or whatever the rule book will say.

I think you can only safely make a sliding challenge these days if it's not directly towards a player - side on, with your forward motion going across his path rather than directly into the other player, is okay.

I didn't go. But it sounds like we were better at the back?

And considering we have been so vulnerable to any cross into our box, and we were down to 10men for half the game, and Bradford are known for their long-ball and set piece prowess, perhaps it is surprising it was only 1-0.

And when previous managers have tried to change the formation, we immediately fell apart like a deck of cards?

You only need one goal to win though - and they probably realised one was all they needed yesterday and just cruised it out...

But it's something for Shez to build on and it'll be interesting to see how we play on Sat.

Dunn's comments since leaving confirm he was baffled, extremely frustrated and, thereby indicating, unable to coach/improve these players st all. In fact, they were getting worse. We were never going to be able to sign loads of players this month, so that's why we had to make a change.

Shez won't turn them into world beaters, and three signings might not transform things drastically, but if he can improve us and organise us so we are at least not an open door at the back.....then as a team we can finally work on pressing forward and how to score more goals - or just shoot more even...!

Under Holden and Dunn, it was just damage limitation. They were unable to improve us defensively so our midfielders were joining the back four. We had no chance of getting forward and our whole mindset was defensive, negative, and unambitious.

Although it sounds like Cassidy was poor, he's not long back from injury and will have no idea about the sort of passes and service he's going to get from his team-mates and the movement around him. We've had none of that all season! Let's see how he is in a game or two?

Otherwise, Forte and Murphy up top might be the way forward - with the former roaming for space and through balls, and the latter always in the box and between the opposition centre-backs.

I agree. But by today's rules it's a red, and a young ref like he was will follow the rules to a T - probably as an assessor was in the stands.

Yes he won the ball. Yes his studs weren't up. Yes it arguably wasn't two-footed.

But at the moment the challenge was made, head on towards a rival player, he was sliding, off-balance and thereby out of control.

That's why he was sent off.

And we have Cassidy, who hasn't scored a goal yet. Has he even got an assist to his name.?

Forte's goal at Walsall.

Late winners for Swindon (Crewe were 3-1 up!) and Sheff U kept us third bottom.

Looks like Shrewsbury away will be a huge game.

Looks like Barnsley have been rewarded for their patience in LJ.

A lot of points to play for, but I think we'll have to rely on Fleetwood falling into the mix to have any chance of staying up.

Unless Shez, his assistant, and new signing completely transform us.

If Corney has always seen him as a frontrunner for vacancies whenever we've had them, why on Earth did he not take him when Johnson left?!

 

We were crying out for someone of note to take us forwards with the new stand and we ended up with Kelly.

The logical and correct appointment I think.

Dowie would have been more apt in the summer perhaps, but would have been a big gamble in terms of where we are now.

Shez has pedigree, is sharp and experienced in the managerial game, and the effect of lifting the sense of resignation among fans just by appointing him is a massive step forward.

I now believe we at least could stay up. Under Dunn and Holden, I felt relegation Was an inevitability.

I think Dunn has a lot to learn in the managerial game. His comments after Chesterfield were unnecessary, crass, and totally naive. He seemed like someone trying to manage, in the guise of an arrogant player. It must have been weird and unsettling for the players seeing a team-mate suddenly become a manager amid the farce of Kelly and his contacts no-show in the summer window.

Also, we saw little evidence of Dunn and Holden being able to improve a player. We had to rely on Crawley to fire up Rhys Murphy. Danny P just was Danny P, an honest pro and a hardworker, but everyone else regressed, and were still regressing, in startling fashion!

Let me just check the records of the past few transfer windows, Summer and Winter, hmm, not many cash money signings, just the usual free transfers, out of contracts and loans.

 

Why should this window be any different? Is Simon going to find some magic beans down the back of Barry's sofa? What will happen is we will probably pick up some loans and out of contract players. We might even pick up some more loan players in February too.

True, but we paid fees for Poleon, Murphy and Turner? Maybe JCH too? Most of our recent signings - ignoring the joke that was last summer.

The business often goes down to the wire, in any transfer window.

Must be bull made-up speculation surely.....

Oh no not you again starting up with your bull:censored: again... This the same guy that heard Corney in the loo saying 'dowie get your suit on!!' get :censored:ed

Ah the vitriol starts once again for just passing on info to discuss/debate with fellow fans. With a bizarre, made-up quote to boot.

The 'bull:censored:' that has already been partly collaborated by a national newspaper journalist's tweet.

The 'bull:censored:' that I openly admitted is naturally speculation until made public - but clearly I naively thought would still be of interest.

I'll say no more. Let's see what bull:censored: comes out in the press over the next day or so.

Yours, Bull:censored: Man :-)

As desperate as the situation is I'm prepared to give cassidy another month or so yet with a good run before I start saying he ain't up to it. Murphys treatment proves how wrong we can be by judging players coming back from injury. He just needs time and a run to get a couple.

 

I'm not concerned with the strike force at present. It's the goals against column that will send us down

That's not to say it's all the players' fault though. ButI imagine Dunn views this as the reason why he's been hampered severely so far - even though he keeps picking a certain keeper, although who knows - maybe someone is keen on signing Coleman and the club don't want another horror show to put the suitors off? Just a random conspiracy theory for a baffling ongoing selection..!

 

You also stated in a different post that you've been told Blitz is putting money into the club. How can you know this unless you are actively in contact with a member of the board? If that's the case fair enough if not then it's just speculation.

It's someone who claims to be but, as I implied, I still view it as speculation until proven - although he was right about many things last summer.

Weren't Bowyer and Dunn at loggerheads? Or was that someone else?

The Board are strongly considering a change of manager and some members have had contact with Dowie again is what I've heard and already posted on here. If that is true, or/and that contact has been positive, I imagine it will be in the press tomorrow in some form.

Until we get the dreaded vote of confidence club statement, about an impending statement, all signs point to things kicking off behind the scenes. Relegation would be disastrous for many reasons, including the finances behind a takeover.

Five points from safety, with the two games in hand coming up. This could be a monumental month and sliding doors moment for the history of our club.

Make of this what you will. But I've been told Blitz has been putting money in for a while now, and Corney has had enough to an extent.

As such relegation and an unfinished stand wouldn't help in terms of getting a return on said money and setting us up to be taken over.

So there could be changes afoot.

I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen. With what funds are you proposing we bring Dowie in with???

If it's true Corney has chucked the towel in...

It's his job to find players within the budget we have. And with that budget including selling our captain and potential our only scoring striker.

Smacks of trying to blame the money. But what has the money got to do with the shocking regression of most of the players we already have, the baffling tactics and subs, and haphazard changes and disappearing act of in-form players from the starting XI.

He seems like a worse version of Dickov. He might get one or two names in, maybe a better version of Fulller for example, but all signs point to an inability of the management staff to get this team to click - and to keep players playing to their strengths; in fact they've got worse.

And he's remained loyal to a goalkeeper costing us points every match and who the team clearly don't rate and have any confidence in!