BPAS PODCAST: 11th Sept '23, S4E8: Where Do We Go From Here?

[BPAS]

It was hot and the fans were bothered. 0-0 at home to Dorking Wanderers didn't cut it for many.

 

Find all our links ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!

 

You can support the pod by paying a monthly subscription of just £2.99 via this link ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/oafcpodcast/subscribe⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

 

All the regular episodes will remain free to everyone but only subscribers can access an audio only version of the Latics Football Phone In as a podcast from Friday morning at 6am and listen to both shows ad free.

 

If you'd like to advertise on the show, please email info@oafcpodcast.co.uk

 

If you'd like to make a one off donation, you can now also Buy Us A Coffee by clicking ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

You can also support us by visiting ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.oafcpodcast.co.uk⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, subscribing to our mailing list and purchasing from our online shop.

 

Please subscribe to our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube channel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to watch the Latics Football Phone In live every Wednesday from 8.30pm.

 

Download and listen to the podcast via the FanHub app, where content creators and fans alike are rewarded for getting involved #ctg.

 

BPAS and Latics Football Phone In are ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠KUPOD⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ productions.

 

Title music is by Manchester DJ and producer Starion find out more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.redlaserrecords.bandcamp.com

 

 

⁠⁠

 

[shaw_blue]

Great listen as always, the whole issue I have with Unsworth was addressed in 30 seconds on it.. "We don't have an identity" "Stick with a setup do it well and do it consistently"

Will even take poor results if I thought for one second they were trying to stick to a plan and it's work in progress. I just can't see it sadly.

Will also mention your comment on crowds. We are letting a fantastic opportunity slip through our fingers the crowds are the best since the early 90s but the casual fans will stop going with the dire football. At what point does that loss of revenue every game overtake the financial payoff for the manager? 

[True Tic]

It’s always a good listen and thanks to Matt and co for taking the time to do it. I do feel though, it needs to be pointed out again - 1 win in 8 games. Plus a less than impressive season behind him. I think the conversation always veers too heavily on what is being done off the pitch (which Is fantastic by the way) . I’m eternally grateful to Frank and Darren and everybody else who has quite literally saved this club. But when you have the majority of 6000 fans shouting for the managers head , that’s not impatience , or because we expect to be immediate champions , it’s because what’s being delivered on the field is simply not good enough and something needs to be done. It can’t be ignored. Even if we sneak a win on Saturday I doubt it will spark a run, we’ve been saying that since he arrived. Poor, turgid, hesitant football game after game . I hate the booing myself, makes me cringe, and apart from some grumbling at half time it didn’t come til late. What else do they do to register their displeasure? DU might be the boards man but it’s becoming increasingly clear he’s not the fans . 

[deyres42]

16 minutes ago, True Tic said:

It’s always a good listen and thanks to Matt and co for taking the time to do it. I do feel though, it needs to be pointed out again - 1 win in 8 games. Plus a less than impressive season behind him. I think the conversation always veers too heavily on what is being done off the pitch (which Is fantastic by the way) . I’m eternally grateful to Frank and Darren and everybody else who has quite literally saved this club. But when you have the majority of 6000 fans shouting for the managers head , that’s not impatience , or because we expect to be immediate champions , it’s because what’s being delivered on the field is simply not good enough and something needs to be done. It can’t be ignored. Even if we sneak a win on Saturday I doubt it will spark a run, we’ve been saying that since he arrived. Poor, turgid, hesitant football game after game . I hate the booing myself, makes me cringe, and apart from some grumbling at half time it didn’t come til late. What else do they do to register their displeasure? DU might be the boards man but it’s becoming increasingly clear he’s not the fans . 

Owners can't just keep bowing to what fans want though, that is just chaos.

[OAFC_ULTRA]

I completely agree with the sentiment behind this podcast, and it is completely true that the club is rebuilding and things off the pitch are the best they have been for a very long time. I trust the board to get this club back into the league but it I do believe it is correct to question if the board have made the correct decision in appointing DU. The results are not good enough for the faith the board have shown in him and also the financial backing they have given. I appreciate the board may see that differently as we are only 5 points off the playoffs, but my opinion is that we should be at least in the playoffs already. The reason we are not is down to the managers tactics. Each week I look at who we play and think about how I would set up and never get anywhere near to what DU does. Saturday was criminal IMO. One up front? Four strikers on the bench? No midfielder on the bench? No keeper on the bench (dangerous game to play). As for the match itself! He claims we pressed them. No we didn’t. We packed the midfield when we were out of possession and their centre backs didn’t have the quality to play out passed it. It was their lack of quality that kept it at 0-0. When we did have the ball, Norwood was chasing shadows because we couldn’t put a quick pass in if our lives depended on it! All our issues came down to how we were set up. No pace, no space, no tempo, no desire to get forward. We laboured to a shit 0-0 draw (and lets be honest, they won 1-0) all because DU doesn’t know how to set a team up to win. Its the Ev***on shite mentality of just don’t lose. The same thing that has seen them win fuck all in 30 years, and the same thing that will stop us getting promoted 

[True Tic]

1 minute ago, deyres42 said:

Owners can't just keep bowing to what fans want though, that is just chaos.

Keep? 
you have to distinguish between what fans “want” and what’s actually needed. That’s probably the job of the board . 

[BP1960]

7 minutes ago, True Tic said:

Keep? 
you have to distinguish between what fans “want” and what’s actually needed. That’s probably the job of the board . 

 

Agreed, whatever happened to the old adage 'The customer is always right'?

I'll bet Frank followed that advice with his own business and didn't ignore feedback on the product.

[Bobledgersheart]

It's interesting that people have been saying we had no midfielders on the bench when I can't think of another one on the books.

 

I thought the game on Saturday was crying out for Reid being brought on as he would have at least tried to get in the box as opposed to Fondop who virtually treats it as a no-go zone. When Green chipped a cross to the far post late on Fondop was about 12 yards out when it was a nod-in if he'd had been where he should have been.

Tollit too could have brought a bit of width into the game. 

[BP1960]

7 minutes ago, Bobledgersheart said:

It's interesting that people have been saying we had no midfielders on the bench when I can't think of another one on the books.

 

I thought the game on Saturday was crying out for Reid being brought on as he would have at least tried to get in the box as opposed to Fondop who virtually treats it as a no-go zone. When Green chipped a cross to the far post late on Fondop was about 12 yards out when it was a nod-in if he'd had been where he should have been.

Tollit too could have brought a bit of width into the game. 

 

Although Fondop did score an hat trick against them last season and Tollit a cracking goal 

I'd have started both on that basis.

 

[JohnG123]

Podcast after Podcast . Nothing will change on the pitch until an experienced manager is put in charge of this under achieving squad.

 

week in week out I think this will be the game things will jell and we will start moving forward, week in week out I am left disappointed.

 

it’s as if all the positively is being coached out of the players. Only pass sideways and backwards don’t want it to become a basketball game..

 

problem is both Unsworth and the Royles know this will probably be Unsworths last management position in the professional game.

[Gentleman]

Would it be useful for Darren/an other to publish some of the key stats that show we're due for a turn in fortune according to their projections? It's difficult given the apparent closeness between Joe/Darren and Unsworth not to jump to accusations of nepotism so if that isn't the case let us in on whatever journey we're going on because at the moment and for most of his tenure we are not passing the eye test and the bulk of the stats that fans can access make somewhat sorry reading for a team building towards being one of the better teams in the league.

[BP1960]

3 minutes ago, Gentleman said:

Would it be useful for Darren/an other to publish some of the key stats that show we're due for a turn in fortune according to their projections? It's difficult given the apparent closeness between Joe/Darren and Unsworth not to jump to accusations of nepotism so if that isn't the case let us in on whatever journey we're going on because at the moment and for most of his tenure we are not passing the eye test and the bulk of the stats that fans can access make somewhat sorry reading for a team building towards being one of the better teams in the league.

 

Also ask Darren what he thinks are the reasons for dwindling gates and the how to arrest the fall?

 

[oafc1955]

1 hour ago, JohnG123 said:

problem is both Unsworth and the Royles know this will probably be Unsworths last management position in the professional game.

Why is that a problem?

[Londonboy]

5 hours ago, shaw_blue said:

Great listen as always, the whole issue I have with Unsworth was addressed in 30 seconds on it.. "We don't have an identity" "Stick with a setup do it well and do it consistently"

Will even take poor results if I thought for one second they were trying to stick to a plan and it's work in progress. I just can't see it sadly.

Will also mention your comment on crowds. We are letting a fantastic opportunity slip through our fingers the crowds are the best since the early 90s but the casual fans will stop going with the dire football. At what point does that loss of revenue every game overtake the financial payoff for the manager? 

Yep - reference home attendances, Singe sent out somewhere recently that we have already lost over 1000 POTD home fans since the first game. 

To put this into context if you add additional in match revenues, food drink programs etc  I'd estimate that's somewhere between £25/30k per game.

If that stays flat and the shitshow continues it's over £500k this year....and it could be nearer £1m if we lose another 1000 pay on the dayers.

What's Rhino on? £200k/year?

Think I'd be paying him and Ebrell off asap and cutting my losses.

 

 

 

[BP1960]

15 minutes ago, oafc1955 said:

Why is that a problem?

 

I think he means DU will be staying another 2 years.

[JohnG123]

31 minutes ago, oafc1955 said:

Why is that a problem?

Because in my humble opinion Unsworth will always be able to say to the Royles you didn't give me enough time. 
 

when to nearly all the fan base me included Unsworth could have 5 full seasons and would still play the way he does.

All we can hope is he stumbles across a winning and entertaining  formula … Don’t hold you breath mind.

 

[nzlatic]

It was a good but a bit of a painful listen. Purely because of the discussion that's constantly having to be had, and it's quite a demoralising discussion. At least with the situation with the last owners, it felt bleak but the fight gave everyone energy and purpose. Now everything feels flat until something changes. Not much the podcast can do about that!

 

I don't think it's fair on fans, players, staff, manager, board that this carries on as it is. So I agree that something needs to be done. I'm struggling to see how he can turn it around now save for a miraculous extended run of wins.

 

A while back I wondered if something from the board will help. I got talked out of it, which is fine because I wasn't really convincing myself. But I think they will need to do something soon. Either pull the trigger or come forward and say something along the lines of no one being happy, internal discussions regularly held to discuss situation, everyone aware results need to improve, still targetting play offs minimum etc. That sort of thing. I don't think silence or inaction is doing anyone any favours.

[True Tic]

21 minutes ago, JohnG123 said:

Because in my humble opinion Unsworth will always be able to say to the Royles you didn't give me enough time. 
 

when to nearly all the fan base me included Unsworth could have 5 full seasons and would still play the way he does.

All we can hope is he stumbles across a winning and entertaining  formula … Don’t hold you breath mind.

 

I think he would have found that winning formula by now, even without his latest signings there would have been glimpses of what he was trying to do. Over 11 months I’ve seen nothing but tinkering, strange tactics, fear of the ball and an alarming lack of ball retention. 

[Theoutsider]

3 hours ago, True Tic said:

I think he would have found that winning formula by now, even without his latest signings there would have been glimpses of what he was trying to do. Over 11 months I’ve seen nothing but tinkering, strange tactics, fear of the ball and an alarming lack of ball retention. 

Sums it up for me.  It’s not just about this season, there is nothing to suggest he’s going to turn it round, he’s not the right man and unfortunately as it is, as stability would be good, he needs to be moved on. 

[kowenicki]

7 hours ago, deyres42 said:

Owners can't just keep bowing to what fans want though, that is just chaos.

Correct. They just need to use their own eyes and common sense. There is now way they’d be giving this amount of leeway to a senior role in their ‘first’ business.

 

Right, I’ll have a listen. 

[Wardie]

10 hours ago, deyres42 said:

Owners can't just keep bowing to what fans want though, that is just chaos.

For "fans" you mean the paying customers, who could just cease paying for a shit product, which is their prerogative. When a manager is given the backing and the resources to produce a good product then fails to do so, surely the customers will voice their dissatisfaction and cease paying for an inferior product. That in itself should be enough for the owners to take action to improve the product and satisfy their customer base.

Frank says he knows nothing about football but surely to god, he can recognise a shit performing team from a good one? It's not rocket science, Unsworth is incapable of producing a team capable of a promotion push. You know it, I know it, we all know it. He has had his chance with phenomenal backing for this shite level of football..and failed.

[deyres42]

5 minutes ago, Wardie said:

For "fans" you mean the paying customers, who could just cease paying for a shit product, which is their prerogative. When a manager is given the backing and the resources to produce a good product then fails to do so, surely the customers will voice their dissatisfaction and cease paying for an inferior product. That in itself should be enough for the owners to take action to improve the product and satisfy their customer base.

Frank says he knows nothing about football but surely to god, he can recognise a shit performing team from a good one? It's not rocket science, Unsworth is incapable of producing a team capable of a promotion push. You know it, I know it, we all know it. He has had his chance with phenomenal backing for this shite level of football..and failed.

What will it take to satisfy the customer base though?

[kowenicki]

Great comment from Ryan about not improving a single player… he has definitely made a good number WORSE!

‘Sexy’ Dave also spot on about Unsworth’s blindness and inability to change the approach when it’s even obvious to fans.

 

Interesting discussion about the first XI and systems. Looks like everyone pretty much agrees, except Unsworth. 

 

Bit tired of the ‘Four Yorkshireman’ approach about where we used to be. It’s an easy thing to say to stifle debate, but why is it relevant. We are not going back to that with the fantastic owners we now have. I doubt the owners would ever say those things. They are only looking forward and so should we.

 

 

 

 

[oafc1955]

7 minutes ago, deyres42 said:

What will it take to satisfy the customer base though?

Steady progress on the field would be a good start!

[deyres42]

2 minutes ago, oafc1955 said:

Steady progress on the field would be a good start!

You got that in the second half of last season and it wasn't enough for some.