Re: Where do we go from here then?
Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2014 3:43 pm
Agree with Red Bear there. Without knowing the financial outlay we make in terms of coaches, our current set-up does seem potentially excessive.
We have just had four good/decent seasons at this level finishing 6th, 6th, 2nd and top 7. There are those who think we have a right to at least be in this position and anything other than promotion is "failure" and there are those, like me, who look at the last 125+ years and think we should chill out a little and enjoy our place as one of non-league's better clubs. Is that "living in the past" or showing a "lack of ambition"? A phrase so often heard about the Harriers (before and after our 5 yr stay in the league) is "the club do not want promotion" which I always translated as "the club have made a decision I don't agree with" or "why aren't the club spending money they don't have"? We are not a rich club - read Pershore's comments. If Ernie Lane stops (or has he already?) putting his hand in his pocket the club must run on a sustainable basis. Phrases such as "cutting our cloth accordingly" are not going to win many friends but the NUMBER ONE priority must be the survival of the club. I am not a fan of any board member (past, present or future) who wants to risk that.
Of course, having to reduce budgets doesn't mean we should accept poor football and relegation battles but surely our expectations and subsequent criticism needs to be tempered? I sit there at home games listening to the pure bile and venom being spouted about (and directly to) our own players and manager and think "has it always been like this?" They make mistakes and they make decisions we disagree with but the arrogance of some of the experts in the stands amuses and angers me at the same time. We pay our money so are entitled to our opinion but perhaps expectations are way too high? We currently have a squad that is not quite good enough for the play-offs. We endured a terrible spell under a poor manager and have lost some key players to injury and suspension at key times. We battered Nuneaton for twenty minutes on Monday and should have scored a couple of goals but we didn't. The rest wasn't that pretty but we seem to think we have a team that should be steam rolling Nuneaton. We don't, we have some mediocre conference players that have limitations. You could see the confidence drain from Mickey D as the usual East Stand muppets got stuck into him for not being Gareth Bale. We have a good group of supporters (and some amazing supporters) but I can't help thinking there are times when we don't do the team any favours. Okay, the "lap of honour" comment from the PA guy was misjudged but over half the crowd turned their backs and walked out at the end of the game - the last home game of the season and they couldn't be bothered to acknowledge the effort of the players.
As for the appointment of Whild - it may seem like a "cheap option" but this is a bloke who has stayed loyal and dignified during all the turmoil. That deserves respect. He deserves a chance and has already shown he is prepared to make difficult decisions (see Malbon and Johnson). He steadied the ship and the fact we were thinking about the play-offs is amazing considering the f__k up that was Thorn.
When people say "he's only a number 2" I'm not quite sure what they mean. He doesn't seem quite as media friendly as Burr and isn't so much "of a lad" but that doesn't matter. Mills, Brabin, Devonshire - who knows how they would have done. I expect if we lose the first game next season the line will be that one of those three would have got us promotion! As I say, deserves a chance, let's judge him next season and see what happens.
We have just had four good/decent seasons at this level finishing 6th, 6th, 2nd and top 7. There are those who think we have a right to at least be in this position and anything other than promotion is "failure" and there are those, like me, who look at the last 125+ years and think we should chill out a little and enjoy our place as one of non-league's better clubs. Is that "living in the past" or showing a "lack of ambition"? A phrase so often heard about the Harriers (before and after our 5 yr stay in the league) is "the club do not want promotion" which I always translated as "the club have made a decision I don't agree with" or "why aren't the club spending money they don't have"? We are not a rich club - read Pershore's comments. If Ernie Lane stops (or has he already?) putting his hand in his pocket the club must run on a sustainable basis. Phrases such as "cutting our cloth accordingly" are not going to win many friends but the NUMBER ONE priority must be the survival of the club. I am not a fan of any board member (past, present or future) who wants to risk that.
Of course, having to reduce budgets doesn't mean we should accept poor football and relegation battles but surely our expectations and subsequent criticism needs to be tempered? I sit there at home games listening to the pure bile and venom being spouted about (and directly to) our own players and manager and think "has it always been like this?" They make mistakes and they make decisions we disagree with but the arrogance of some of the experts in the stands amuses and angers me at the same time. We pay our money so are entitled to our opinion but perhaps expectations are way too high? We currently have a squad that is not quite good enough for the play-offs. We endured a terrible spell under a poor manager and have lost some key players to injury and suspension at key times. We battered Nuneaton for twenty minutes on Monday and should have scored a couple of goals but we didn't. The rest wasn't that pretty but we seem to think we have a team that should be steam rolling Nuneaton. We don't, we have some mediocre conference players that have limitations. You could see the confidence drain from Mickey D as the usual East Stand muppets got stuck into him for not being Gareth Bale. We have a good group of supporters (and some amazing supporters) but I can't help thinking there are times when we don't do the team any favours. Okay, the "lap of honour" comment from the PA guy was misjudged but over half the crowd turned their backs and walked out at the end of the game - the last home game of the season and they couldn't be bothered to acknowledge the effort of the players.
As for the appointment of Whild - it may seem like a "cheap option" but this is a bloke who has stayed loyal and dignified during all the turmoil. That deserves respect. He deserves a chance and has already shown he is prepared to make difficult decisions (see Malbon and Johnson). He steadied the ship and the fact we were thinking about the play-offs is amazing considering the f__k up that was Thorn.
When people say "he's only a number 2" I'm not quite sure what they mean. He doesn't seem quite as media friendly as Burr and isn't so much "of a lad" but that doesn't matter. Mills, Brabin, Devonshire - who knows how they would have done. I expect if we lose the first game next season the line will be that one of those three would have got us promotion! As I say, deserves a chance, let's judge him next season and see what happens.
