League one forever

10 minutes ago, palmer1 said:

What makes me laugh the most about these arguments were posters are happy for Wellen's to get potted and are not willing to give any leeway for the circumstances or the conditions he has been working under are highly likely the first ones who screamed for him to get the job after a wining run and are the first to cry when we have a brand new squad because the club aren't creating any consistency from year to year.

 

They were the first to say Clarke was done but now use loaning him out as stick to beat RW with. We have a potentially decent squad that needs additions. We potentially have a good manager who is learning and who most likely does know his best team and formation, due to circumstances he cant play it. injuries, fitness etc

 

We have a shit pitch, no training facilities from one day to the next, we didn't pay players for most of the season on time and a takeover was hanging in the air for months and his assistant fucked off within a month because of all this but hey...he knew all this when he took the job didn't he?

 

 

How do you know all this about our fan base? Or are you generalising? 

You throw things in at the end there, shit pitch/no training facilities- you telling me he walked down to chapel road after working there for three months and said wtf is this? 

The takeover was hanging in the air? He’s not getting divorced or had a bereavement. 

Jewell. . . I’ll give you. 

Why do we over dramatise what’s he’s ‘going through’  ‘put up with’ ‘had to deal with’ is the job difficult sometimes- Yeah, I’m sure it is. But what league one job isn’t?  

40 minutes ago, boundaryblue80 said:

 

He is lucky coz AL wanted his own man

 

We were being run very much like a club in administration

 

The defensive record was inherited. Said club under embargo struggled to attract players to resolve said situation.

 

Crap he's getting thrown at him? Some folk want him out of the club. Maybe not you, but there are others.

 

I am very grateful for his efforts so far. More should be.

Do you think AL didn’t get a say in his appointment??? The reason shez left was because AL was bringing players in. 

He WERE being run like a side in administration by Corney.  RW has only known AL, the takeover, and the dying embers of Corney. Moreover you could argue that under Corney - Dickov, Johnson, Kelly, Dunn, Shez, had more upheaval, stress, lack of support, PR own goals than Richie ever has. In fact he’s got the job at a very fortuitous time. 

He did inherit a struggling a side, and that was defensively poor.  But when does he start taking responsibility for results? 

We can argue about Jan till we’re blue in the face. I’m not inside the club, and I know im minority here-   but I don’t have any sources at the club. All I know is we were short defensively, maybe there’s collective blame. 

The fact is under him, we have struggled badly defensively. We can’t blame injuries- because every club gets them- we are light at centre half but we know why. Are our tactics right? Are they getting good protection? Does Wellens have the nous to work defensively? Or does he need help in the summer? 

6 minutes ago, boundaryblue80 said:

 

I said registering, not signing. How many games did they miss in January due to not being able to play them. Was a few. And how many of those were new players? 3 of them were ones Shez brought in and the easiest we could secure having played here for months already. Moimbe is obviously one of AL's lads (see Wellens comments when he Moimbe arrived.) McEleney is the only fresh signing of Wellens (EDIT: Forgot about Benteke, but he is one for the future not for this season). The others have been been mend and make do. Wellens should be being applauded for dragging us through this season not getting the crap thrown at him that he is.

You make it sound like we should be grateful?? Like he’s ‘dragged’ us out of administration or some other dire situation.  He’s very lucky to be in the job in the first place. A fact he acknowledged himself, when he got the job.

 What crap is he getting thrown at him? Can we not look at our defensive record, without it being a conspiracy? 

3 minutes ago, boundaryblue80 said:

 

Ok...I'm going to keep banging my head against this brick wall a little while long. You really do make no allowance for the fact he inherited that shambles. Were you at Rotherham at Shez's last game? 5-1 yes?

 

Wilson was a steady Eddie under Shez coz he had Clarke alongside him. I wouldn't have got rid of Clarke (see my comment above about having a few gripes about Wellens myself) but he genuinely thought he had the Matt Mills deal over the line. Clearly looked a case of one out, one in. 

 

Why has it not been addressed effectively? There are lots of perfectly reasonable reasons why a very very young manager has been trying to make the best of a shit situation...you know, like players not being paid properly and being under an embargo until the last minute in January and not being able to register players until the takeover happened. I bet it's well easy to convince players to come to OAFC in that situation, eh  

Why are you banging your head against a brick wall for a little while longer? Strange comment. 

We disagree. That’s all. 

Funny how the embargo didnt didn’t stop us ‘signing’ 5

midfielders in Jan. Priorities? Mills would have been excellent, but why put all your eggs in one basket? A bit naive- which is allowed- as long as he learns. 

I appreciate he’s young, and any rookie manger will make mistakes, but we are allowed to highlight those mistakes and look at wether he’s getting the best out of the squad- without it being a witch hunt. 

I hope he keeps us up, and as an earlier poster said he would done then to at least have another crack next year. 

5 minutes ago, deyres42 said:

Did you prefer last season or this season? I know which one I have enjoyed more.

Fair comment. 

Still wish we didn’t have to come from behind so often. 

15 minutes ago, boundaryblue80 said:

 

"Got a belting squad of players" - Really? Do all belting squad of players have 1 recognised, experienced CB of which can't get on a pitch at the moment. The squad hasn't had a defence all season.

 

"We’re probably as close as ever to relegation" - Really? No, actually, you're right...as close as ever. Closer than when we were rock bottom last season and 8pts from getting out of the relegation zone. We are closer than that 

 

"he certainly doesn’t appear to fully know what he’s doing" - Really? I wonder why that might be? Oh...that's right...coz he's in his managerial nappy. 

When you say ‘hasnt had a defence all season’ 

Who got rid of Clarke? Then only signed his 22 year old mate Kean in Jan? Whilst signing god knows how many midfielders? Why was Wilson a real steady Eddie under shez, but looks a liability under Wellens? Why, when we have one of the worst defensive records in the division, has this not been addressed effectively? 

Wellens takes the credit with how we play going forward at times, he has to take responsibility for the utter shambles we’ve been at the back. 

7 minutes ago, boundaryblue80 said:

 

Glad I've stayed off the messageboards over Easter. I detect a hell of a lot of shit about the manager has been spouted...but massive thumbs up to Smiler for this post. I remember the days when Shez was a young manager and the general consensus was that being a rookie he needed 2 or 3 seasons. Dickov got similar good-will until it ran out for some. 

 

Fuck me...this has been one of the most ridiculous seasons starting with having no keeper 24hrs before the opening game and has seen all sorts of shit and curveballs thrown at the management team including having a bog for a training pitch for most of the season. It's a miracle we're not in Bury's position given the start we had and what's happened since. I have the odd gripe here and there over Wellens but any reasonably minded fan would put that down to naivety and the situations we've endured this season. He's finding his feet and doing a decent job while do so. With Adballahs support, next season (provided we keep winning this relegation battle) he will be looking a moving us up to the next level which realistically should be top 10 while nibbling at the playoffs.

 

Sadly, some cunts want Rome built in a day. Let's get back to remembering how we all felt in Shez's 1st season after Ronnie and accept mistakes will happen but that given a chance, progression can too.

Some cunts. . Nice. 

I thought we were just chewing the fat. 

For the the purpose of balance- as you and smiler seem very keen to point out he’s doing a miracle job under the most unbelievable pressure. 

He was here when all this shitstorm started- he saw first hand how the club was run. How it had been run, and had first hand experience of the new owner and how he would like to run things. He already knew the squad and the personalities. I would say that’s very advantageous. 

He didn’t get parachuted in, he desperately wanted the job. So complaining about the job, once in your post is either incredibly stupid or just very naive. 

He knew we had a shit pitch- but didn’t adapt early enough.

He had the best backing I can remember in Jan. 

Despite being heavily backed he moaned all the way through Jan the takeover wasn’t going through, coinciding with a dreadful run of form. . 

He’s done ok. He’s had the same problems that every rookie league 1 manger has.

Do I want him sacked? No. 

But I’m not having he’s been the second coming, working under impossible conditions. It’s bollocks. 

40 minutes ago, oafc_lover said:

 

That’s true, we do need stability.

 

However, I don’t want to be stable but shite. If there’s a better manager out there then I want him.

That’s right. Stability is great if you see progress- like we did under Lee Johnson. Gradually getting better/ or not making the same mistakes.  If the stability brings you more of the same or no real improvement what’s the point? 

37 minutes ago, deyres42 said:

Some daft opinions in this thread.

Some daft comments about different opinions on a message board in this thread. 

49 minutes ago, Smiler13 said:

Agreed but we have never had a season with as many destabilising elements in it for a long time. Take over, player embargo’s , many key players injured, extreme weather conditions. Christ if top Premier managers had to contend with what Wellens has had to put up with in their first 6 months of management and no proper training facilities due to the weather I am certain they would have also suffered in terms of results. Some supporters on here want bloody miracles. Remember we had an owner who was not prepared to put money into the club. The take over was destabilising. Key players out through serious injury. They need time to get back to full fitness when they return.

 He knew the club and it’s situtation and the way it was run when he took job. Having said that he’s probably the most backed manager we’ve had for years. How many of his own signings in Jan?  And not cheap. Injuries are a part of any football club, so that doesn’t wash. You make it sound like he’s had to deal with the club about to go bust. . .i don’t want miracles but I want better than so-so. How many have we conceded in his tenture? 

If we stay up- then it’s job done. Fair play to him. 

But there’s still a very strong case that he should be getting more out of this squad. Not playoffs, but we should be comfortably mid table IMO and we’re not. 

18 minutes ago, Smiler13 said:

There is a load of bollocks being quoted on this thread. Let’s put some things into perspective. Number one first 9 games under Shez we limped to 5 points. Wellens took over and next 9 games we returned 18 points. Then injuries set in . Also the new take over took forever and over the Christmas/new year period Wellens had to deal with a player embargo. Our best loan players went back to their parent clubs and the team lost confidence. Then after the embargo was lifted we find that Doyle has a blood clot and he is out for at least 13 weeks. Then he looses Rob Hunt with an 8 week injury. The weather has been exceptionally bad and the worst winter for many years. The pitch has suffered and therefore our passing game could not continue on such a bad surface. Matches where postponed due to the weather and international call ups and we have no place to train properly like some other clubs eg Fleetwood/Bury. So we play one week and find the next it’s postponed. Therefore we loose continuity. Now our centre back and captain is injured. Many an experienced manager would have folded completely under all these unforceable circumstances. Wellens has kept going from one crisis to the next and should be applauded for his commitment under such duress and bad luck. For god sake stop asking for him to be replaced. Give the guy our utmost support and if he keeps us up give him a chance to rebuild in the summer and hopefully next year we won’t have as many destabilising elements for him to contend with. Keep going Mr Wellens some of us are behind you. Give the guy a chance and remember he will make mistakes he’s a young manager learning the ropes. For one I think that he’s doing a decent job considering what bad luck he’s had to contend with in his first few months of management. 

So he’s taken 38 points from 29 games in charge. If we imagine that we were 29 games into the season, RW would have us roughly 17th. . (Where else)  So no better or worse than the majority that have gone before. 

Wether he stays or goes will come down to what AL wants to do in the summer, to tread water or push on. 

Personally, if we stay up i’d be happy for him to be given next season; but equally if we sacked him I wouldn’t be gutted- it might mean ambition. 

Now theres a thought. 

50 minutes ago, League one forever said:

Lee sinnot (aka the relegation oracle) called it weeks ago. 

 

1. Very worried about going down. 

 

2. No leaders.

 

Should of listened and not buried my head in the sand. 

Always knew he was talking shit. . ?

Lee sinnot (aka the relegation oracle) called it weeks ago. 

1. Very worried about going down. 

2. No leaders.

Should of listened and not buried my head in the sand. 

1 minute ago, kowenicki said:

Byrne sulking. Potential bad egg this lad. 

Probably a factor in Wigan letting him go. 

#homeoftheunloved

8 minutes ago, mcfluff1985 said:

According to Facebook Simon Brooke has requested on Placide's behalf that people stop singing his song... Probably because it's shite

Really? Ffs.

Do we or him  really need to go into what the song is about? Irrespective of wether you rate the the song, can it not just be a laugh? 

God knows, we need one. 

2 hours ago, yarddog73 said:

Is Wellens job under threat after that today? For some strange reason players who were pulling their tripe out for him seemingly give zero fucks now. It's all very strange.

Only if we go down. 

Which looks increasingly likely. 

We’re going down. 

I hope im wrong.

But I think this is our year. 

55 minutes ago, GlossopLatic said:

Talbot is better than Kelly Dunn Penney and Robinson in the shit stakes we did occasionally play good football under him we won about 7-8 on the spin in Nov 2005 he kept us up at the back end of 03-04 and we beat city. He wasnt given the clean slate that Moore was given. However had he been given more time he would have taken us down so he had to go when he did. 

 

Our TTA era permanent manager league table

 

1. John Sheridan

2. Lee Johnson

3. Ronnie Moore

4. Paul Dickov

5. Brian Talbot

6. Steve Robinson

7. Dave Penney

8. David Dunn

9. Darren Kelly

 

 

I think that league is spot on. 

1 hour ago, whittles left foot said:

For me that midfield is too weak.

Mclaughlin was terrible against Portsmouth-my thoughts about Fane are already on record. I would change it about more. Play Edmundson alongside Gerrard if he is fit again and move Bryan into midfield and bring  McEleney in. Not bothered about Hunt/Dummigan.

Nothing to lose against these-can't understand the optimism about this game when we have been so poor recently.

Because we always get something when we have no chance. 

Following this, we then revert to type and usually take 1 point from 9 in the next three. 

3 hours ago, HarryBosch said:

 

But he IS Haiti's number 1.

 

I'd be very surprised if he's actually on Tinder. 

 

Is there no room for factual football chants in this post truth era? 

Whatever floats your boat I guess. 

Personally, anything that distracts me from-

A. Fighting for 17th.

B. Conceding. Again.

or C, Wishing I stayed at home. 

Is a welcome addition to my ‘matchday’ Experience. ?

2 hours ago, Andy-latic said:

Some really witty and hilarious song about our goalkeeper shagging people’s sisters

At least it’s better than 

Haiti's number 1. .  Haiti’s Haiti's number 1. 

We’ll win 1-0. 

1 hour ago, Flemboy said:

Nil desperandum...they have got us out of the shit before and will do so again.

Hope your right.

The fact we leak goals in the way we do, could be our undoing. . . 

10 minutes ago, Kusunga_Is_God said:

It was dreadful.

They didn't play like a team who were in serious danger of going down, most of them couldn't be arsed and just weren't up for it. It's going to be a really tight run in.

If we go down, do we keep Wellens?

Mmm. 

It’s a tough one. I’d like him to stay, but if we go down i don’t see how you could stick with him. Yes he took over with us struggling, and he’s had some mitigating circumstances with the takeover. However I still believe he’s had more than enough time and backing to get us out of the shit.

Shez had far less time and backing, and turned it around.

Wellens can have no excuse IMO.

We’ll win at Wigan.