Well done conor, mladen and the board

I can’t honestly believe that some of you think Collins & Clarke didn’t want a more active role in recruitment & dictating the style of play & were happy just to coach players & play 3-5-2.

For example early last season we saw Clarke try to play a back four numerous times & he came to the acceptance just like me & many others did that we didn’t have the personnel to play it & gave it up.

Hourihane tried it towards the end of last season & it made us even worse because we didn’t have the players to play it. He now has the players to play it & we look a decent side.

My way of looking at it is that Sormaz came under that much pressure & so many fans wanted him gone that he decided to put his trust in a manager as he realised he was making a right pigs ear of it.

We’ve seen no signings from abroad this summer, we’ve only seen players playing in this country signed. If you believe that Hourihane only has the same input as the previous managers then you have to believe that Sormaz has completely changed his style of recruitment from one window to the next. I don’t.

I’m delighted Hourihane is getting control. It should have happened under Collins & it should have happened under Clarke. I’ve no doubt that these two managers would have been able to recruit better with their football league experience & contacts in the game.

 

Do genuinely think that Sormaz was pulling the managers strings from the West Upper?

Personally I don’t but it’s each to there own

 

Not true.

 

Ok then please explain in detail who u would have kept sold and signed whilst balancing the books...yr never happy..its obvious the clubs decided to go for it and keep our best players. Our owner is obviously gonna help financially.
Jesus are u on the blob

 

Could have said no though

 

Going back to when James Cryne started up with his ‘data driven’ system of identifying targets
for recruitment, I thought the plan was in effect to identify a short list of player candidates from which the coach would then nominate the player(s) he preferred , or have I dreamt that? No doubt that changed in the years since but I believed the coaches position was still something similar. One of the supposed benefits being that there would be a continuity in the squad without the need for it to be overalled whenever a new coach was appointed.
I understood Conor to say he insisted on playing a leading if not the leading role in the player recruitment process before agreeing to become the permanent coach. I have been trying unsuccessfully to find Conor’s statement from just after the appointment was announced.

 

It's far from obvious the club has "decided to go for it." It's more likely that we didn't receive any credible bids for players and in the current market, our players didn't attract interest that was expected. I can't see any other reason why we'd have so many midfielders when we only play 3.

It was heading to the back end of the season where Parekh gave multiple interviews outlining he couldn't keep ploughing money in at the rate he was. Our expenses are double our income. I don't know how I can explain that any clearer to you. Generally, having a loss as high as your revenue... that's bad. That's really really bad. What everyone else is doing, that's irrelevant. Irrelevant in terms of our sustainability and existence at least.

I will forever look at our football club as survive financially first, and compete on the field second. Anyone else can use whatever argument they like to justify casino style gambling in the hope of promotion where the owners are further pushed by fans to keep spending. At some point, this will end. It always does. And crikey this has been a long time coming. But we're now into the upper echelons of wealthy owners, and even they are struggling to keep ploughing in billions. Something will give.

So yes, probably differently to others views, I would have been finance first and try and have some balance. I think the cost cutting (as long as they don't add more stupid buys on top) will take another couple of years to bottom out to a better more balanced squad. Til then, I'd be selling 1 to 2 players a year to try and cover the majority of losses. And after those few years, try and keep up a similar philosophy.

Recruit to the coaches needs. Recruit coaches to the style you want and back them, sensibly, but be open, like we used to do, that trading will happen and we need to bring in players we can develop and sell in future.

It's not that radical. It's pretty sensible really. Something that was common.

 

If you’re asking me do I think Sormaz was picking the team then the answers no. If you’re asking did they only recruit players to fit a 3-5-2 & barely involve the manager in recruitment then my answer would be yes.

 

Didn't Collins bring in pines as he knew him from the USA? That was the story at the time. Or are you saying those 2 head coaches had no say in recruitment?

 

^great post.

 

Spot on , and by far and away best post so on this thread!

 

Perfect words so get behind the the team negative fans...time your pint was half full

 

Fair do’s……..a think both managers will have had more input than what you believe but that’s your opinion, a think Collins was harshly treat and didn’t really need his P45 a week before the play offs, as for Clarke, a just think he was out of his depth from the word go. A do think CH will have more vocal power but it’s still Mladen and team that polish the deals up

 

What about my post? :-(
Edit: As I think I've said before - until its definitively proven that Sormaz has had a big impact on this window's recruitment I'm still assuming he's crap and definitely believe he's wasted loads of money resulting in the owners having to pump more in.

 

I’m saying I think they barely had any say in recruitment.

I don’t think any manager wants a squad with no natural wingers or full backs to give them a plan b.

 

I agree with that, I can’t imagine Hourihane has any involvement in contracts.

 

Last summer we signed:

Georgie Gent left back from Blackburn - see Nathaniel Ogbeta
Stephen Humphrys forward/winger previously at Wigan - see Reyes Cleary
Matthew Craig midfielder from Tottenham - see Patrick Kelly
Gabriel Slonina goalkeeper from Chelsea - See Murphy Cooper
Davis Keillor-Dunn midfielder/forward from Mansfield - See Caylan Vickers

Marc Roberts central defender from Birmingham - See Jake Rooney
Not an exact match as Roberts is older and much more experienced, Rooney is young and just staring his career, but they're both English centre halves from English clubs.

Conor Hourihane midfielder from Derby - See David McGoldrick
Not a match in terms of position, but they're both very experienced players from the English Leagues.

The only matches I can't make:
Jackson Smith last season, another English player, but we haven't signed a goalkeeper on a permanent transfer this season.
Tennai Williams this season as we didn't sign a right back last summer due to having Cotter and O'Keefe on the books.
Kelechi Nwakali last season as the last thing we need this season is another midfielder due in no small part to Bland and Yoganathan coming into the first team squad.

I see no difference between our transfer policy last summer and this. They're exactly the same sort of players from the same sort of clubs.

The only outlier is Nwakali, but he was very much a break from the norm last season which otherwise looks almost identical to this.

 

Excellent transfer window. Credit to everyone involved. Would have liked another striker but not at the expense of DKD or Phillips who Hourihane seems to have found a way to utilise them both.

Glad we kept Russell and Connell too. I know he missed a sitter v Rotherham but I was really impressed with Flavell. He's got all the attributes to lead a line. He'll learn from Mcgoldrick over the course of the campaign.

I wouldn't be surprised if we sign Mcatee permanently in the next window or two. Reckon the board will wait and see where we are in January.

They've taken a gamble resisting the urge to cash in. Credit where it's due because they never really have in both incarnations. I hope it pays off because they're obviously going for it this year.

 

Ultimately in terms of incomings & shifting out deadwood it’s been underwhelming yet again. Okay we’ve kept our key players, but how many actual bids did we get to even consider?
We are still short in the striker department, & we still have an influx of centre backs on the books, most of them not good enough (jury’s out on Rooney).
Mcgoldrick is a Hourihane signing, as much was admitted by player & head coach.

Mladen still has to go & be replaced by someone competent, but ultimately whilst these owners are still in charge, we’ll still be on the merry go round of hoping for success & trying to cut corners rather than coming up with a sustainable long term plan.

 

Ouch.