5th or 6th is still possible

Also. We got lucky before. This season was our chance to go back up. I can't see us ever really challenging again. We'll look back at this season in years to come and wish we still had players of this calibre. By that I mean players with significant PL experience.

The board blew it.
 
I think fritter is correct in what he says...it may be a very long time before we see players of this standard putting on the Red n Black...but like our recent history behind us...we would have had the thrills and spills...and been part of the biggest football show on earth briefly...

The custodians of the club had only short term shine ahead of long term steel in their minds. Yes Max gave us the dream and delivered his promise, buit I can't see him getting another shot as he moves on to leave us, the hardened fans, behind to dwell on what might have been??
 
The issue I have, is only one man controls 'the board' and that is Max... What is it that Blake and Hughes are doing to show Max he can trust them wholeheartedly to do the right thing to move the club upwards again, and not downwards...

Mark Macadam suggested that our board were 'inexperienced' because a) they're not traditionally football club running people and of course b) because largely we've had stability in the managerial post, so finding a new manager is a new 'thing' for this club under their control...

What scares me more is they've had 2 stabs at this 'new experience of finding a successful manger' and f*cked it up both times... So I'm not holding my breathe that they will get it right 3rd time round...

I hope I am proved wrong...!!!
 
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SteveJonesLegend said:
The issue I have to, is only one man controls 'the board' and that is Max... What is it that Blake and Hughes are doing to show Max he can trust them wholeheartedly to do the right thing to move the club upwards again, and not downwards...

Mark Macadam suggested that our board were 'inexperienced' because a) they're not traditionally football club running people and of course b) because largely we've had stability in the managerial post, so finding a new manager is a new 'thinking' for this club under their control...

What scares me more is they've had 2 stabs at this 'new experience of finding a successful manger' and f*cked it up both times... So I'm not holding my breathe that they will get it right 3rd time round...

I hoe I am proved wrong...!!!
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I imagine that MD has been successful in his business life and I would hope that he has surrounded himself with astute advisors to achieve this?...Surely he can look at what he has around him at AFCB and think that maybe it is not working and he is bankrolling partners who are not up to the task?

You know what they say about a fool and his money...let's hope that our owner is absolutely no fool!
 
fritter said:
I agree. Many of these players will be looking at the next move. Some will aspire to the PL. Some would do well with the right manager, colleagues and attitude. I wonder how many will be satisfied with another season on this division?
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Hopefully not many since I don’t want to see the majority of them play for us again beyond this season.

However I don’t have no trust in the board whatsoever so discussing the “playing” side almost seems irrelevant.

This is the board who spent 3 weeks chasing an MLS manager, only to end up appointing the caretaker that was already there. It’s laughable
 
SteveJonesLegend said:
The issue I have, is only one man controls 'the board' and that is Max... What is it that Blake and Hughes are doing to show Max he can trust them wholeheartedly to do the right thing to move the club upwards again, and not downwards...

Mark Macadam suggested that our board were 'inexperienced' because a) they're not traditionally football club running people and of course b) because largely we've had stability in the managerial post, so finding a new manager is a new 'thing' for this club under their control...

What scares me more is they've had 2 stabs at this 'new experience of finding a successful manger' and f*cked it up both times... So I'm not holding my breathe that they will get it right 3rd time round...

I hope I am proved wrong...!!!
Click to expand...
The capability and competence of the Board has been a concern to me for some time. I have no issue with the likes of Blake earning what he does/driving around in a Bentley or whatever, providing he is performing as a Chief Exec and the club is achieving. The fact is the club is not achieving in more or less any respect.

You make a very good point about the effect of having had stability because of Eddie, a stability that translated on and off the pitch. I would welcome a change in the form of people who know how to run a football club, who have a vision and are capable of achieving that vision as, otherwise, I think we may again end up in the realms of mediocrity.
 
Quiet on the Forum this morno!

Where are the PL Elite posters.....the Jeff and Lewis crew....the ' most talented squad' Impresarios...the JT and JW Out club!
If we don't beat Swansea and Saints..there will be a further mass exodus....

Not 1...of the Elitists..not 1....has EXPLAINED the Utterly Stupid Theory...that we are ' THE most talented squad in the Div!.....'individually the BEST players in the Div'.
HOW are they ?...WHY are they ? come on then..you've had 36 games to source out the guff..:Fingers:
And I'm not convinced ANY others are the Best.... I mean f√ck me...it couldn't possibly be Norwich could it ?
 
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Old Cherry said:
Quiet on the Forum this morno!

Where are the PL Elite posters.....the Jeff and Lewis crew....the ' most talented squad' Impresarios...the JT and JW Out club!
If we don't beat Swansea and Saints..there will be a further mass exodus....

Not 1...of the Elitists..not 1....has EXPLAINED the Utterly Stupid Theory...that we are ' THE most talented squad in the Div!.....'individually the BEST players in the Div'.
HOW are they ?...WHY are they ? come on then..you've had 36 games to source out the guff..:Fingers:
And I'm not convinced ANY others are the Best....I'm f√ck me...it couldn't possibly be Norwich could it ?
Click to expand...

It's not really a hard concept to grasp...

I am no apologist for what we're seeing at the moment as it is pretty poor, but the simple fact is... player for player, we have some of the best players in this league, which equates to some as us having one of the best squads in this league... Let's not forget that some of these players have been toe-to-toe with some of the PL's best not that long ago... We tore Everton a new one on the last day of last season, so the talent is undoubtedly there...

However, we do not have the best team... We know that cos we watch them week in week out, but also because we're currently not sitting on top of the table...

The players are not sh*t... far from it... Only an angry person would go so far as to say that... We have a very talented bunch, but the harsh reality is we have a sh*t team that is mid-table at best... Why? Who knows? For whatever reason this bunch of players have taken it upon themselves to not play for each other, or 3 managers...

Hence the reason why we need to introduce more new than old into the team... Let's see how a team of fewer ex PL players performs against a team largely made up of ex PL players...

We could start by introducing Anthony, Zemura, Kilkenny even... Using Surridge instead of Long...

Bit by bit we might start to see some of that hunger we've missed, creep back in when we're including players that 'want' to grab their chance...

Begovic
Stacey, CCV, Cook/Kelly, Zemura
Pearson, Lerma
Stan, Anthony, Danjuma
Solanke

I'd even consider using Kilkenny in place of Lerma but Zemura might need some cover...

I dunno, just putting some fresh ideas down... Surely the youngsters can't do any worse...
 
SteveJonesLegend said:
It's not really a hard concept to grasp...

I am no apologist for what we're seeing at the moment as it is pretty poor, but the simple fact is... player for player, we have some of the best players in this league, which equates to some as us having one of the best squads in this league... Let's not forget that some of these players have been toe-to-toe with some of the PL's best not that long ago... We tore Everton a new one on the last day of last season, so the talent is undoubtedly there...

However, we do not have the best team... We know that cos we watch them week in week out, but also because we're currently not sitting on top of the table...

The players are not sh*t... far from it... Only an angry person would go so far as to say that... We have a very talented bunch, but the harsh reality is we have a sh*t team that is mid-table at best... Why? Who knows? For whatever reason this bunch of players have taken it upon themselves to not play for each other, or 3 managers...

Hence the reason why we need to introduce more new than old into the team... Let's see how a team of fewer ex PL players performs against a team largely made up of ex PL players...

We could start by introducing Anthony, Zemura, Kilkenny even... Using Surridge instead of Long...

Bit by bit we might start to see some of that hunger we've missed, creep back in when we're including players that 'want' to grab their chance...

Begovic
Stacey, CCV, Cook/Kelly, Zemura
Pearson, Lerma
Stan, Anthony, Danjuma
Solanke

I'd even consider using Kilkenny in place of Lerma but Zemura might need some cover...

I dunno, just putting some fresh ideas down... Surely the youngsters can't do any worse...
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That's better ..we are getting somewhere now..thats more or less the How and Why questions sorted. I'm looking forward to the Who, Where and When aspects now :hmmm:
 
Our squad is experienced, many are internationals, many have PL experience and have performed well there. On that basis they are the best.

In 14/15 we probably didn't have the best players in the division. We definitely had the best team.

The difference? Leadership, motivation, organisation, attitude.
 
...one of the things Howe got very wrong was signing a natural leader ON the pitch, we don't seem to have recruited anyone close to that if what we read is that the changing room is quiet and there doesn't seem to be any growlers in the team who kick the arses of the other players when they are slipping below their best!

Tommy Elphick was a leader...Arter was a growler and Boruc used to ball out the defnders?

Someone needs to really lead this lot when they step over the white line...
 
Garbo said:
...one of the things Howe got very wrong was signing a natural leader ON the pitch, we don't seem to have recruited anyone close to that if what we read is that the changing room is quiet and there doesn't seem to be any growlers in the team who kick the arses of the other players when they are slipping below their best!

Tommy Elphick was a leader...Arter was a growler and Boruc used to ball out the defnders?

Someone needs to really lead this lot when they step over the white line...
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...Imagine what Tommy Heff or Tony Pulis would have felt playing with these prima donnas?
 
Garbo said:
...one of the things Howe got very wrong was signing a natural leader ON the pitch, we don't seem to have recruited anyone close to that if what we read is that the changing room is quiet and there doesn't seem to be any growlers in the team who kick the arses of the other players when they are slipping below their best!

Tommy Elphick was a leader...Arter was a growler and Boruc used to ball out the defnders?

Someone needs to really lead this lot when they step over the white line...
Click to expand...
I do take your point, it's clear we have recruited a lot of quiet players in recent years. But I doubt Howe would have let go all of Francis, Daniels, Pugh, Surman and Gosling. 2-3 of those in the dressing room this season would be useful, even if not starting every week. For example Francis himself tells us in the BOTN podcast that he would still have done a job this season.

It was a head in hands moment for me listening to Tindall bemoan the lack of leadership in our squad, when he (partly at least) oversaw those players leaving who would provide exactly that.

In terms of more recent recruitment, I reckon Lewis Cook was expected to grow from England youth captain into a senior and leadership player here. Not quite happened for various reasons. Apart from that it's hard to think of many candidates.

I hope this summer we’re looking around the lower Champ and upper L1 for mid-late 20s solid players who can add a bit of bread and butter consistency to our squad.
 
Old Cherry said:
Not 1...of the Elitists..not 1....has EXPLAINED the Utterly Stupid Theory...that we are ' THE most talented squad in the Div!.....'individually the BEST players in the Div'.
HOW are they ?...WHY are they ? come on then..you've had 36 games to source out the guff..:Fingers:
Click to expand...

Not utterly stupid, at all, nor particularly difficult to explain or understand

How many other teams in this league have squads consisting of players with over 1100 top-division appearances in England/Spain?
How many other teams in this league have squads consisting of players with over 170 international appearances (not including U-21 or below)?

I'd guess the number is probably somewhere less than 1.

Therefore, at the start of the season, before a ball was kicked, there was a cogent argument to say that we had a sufficient players with top-level domestic and international experience to make it the best in the Championship.

The fact that three successive managers have failed to create a team out of this squad doesn't change that pre-season logic.
 
For me, the issue has been our 2 long-term captains, of both Franno and Cook, have never struck me to be the leaders we have needed, in terms of a vocal on-field leader...

Cook 'appears' to be quite quiet in terms of getting in the lug-holes of players throughout the game and Franno used to just windmill his arms every time we conceded...

Some players are vocal, some are not... There is nothing wrong with that but you do need a mix... and you also need players that will listen as well... I fear if we got a 'Matt Ritchie' back at DC and they started screaming at some of this lot, they'd just argue back or strop...

However, apart from Cook the only player I can think of that shows a semblance of passion and leadership would be Stan... But I've always believes your Capt should be either a CB or CM, purely for their vision of the game...
 
adam0102 said:
Not utterly stupid, at all, nor particularly difficult to explain or understand

How many other teams in this league have squads consisting of players with over 1100 top-division appearances in England/Spain?
How many other teams in this league have squads consisting of players with over 170 international appearances (not including U-21 or below)?

I'd guess the number is probably somewhere less than 1.

Therefore, at the start of the season, before a ball was kicked, there was a cogent argument to say that we had a sufficient players with top-level domestic and international experience to make it the best in the Championship.

The fact that three successive managers have failed to create a team out of this squad doesn't change that pre-season logic.
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So ' Internationals'. with over 170 appearances need to have a manager better than EH, JT and JW...in order to bring their 'superior ' skills from Bournemouth Forum Hype onto the field of play...and prove themselves better than Norwich,Swansea,Brentford, Watford,Reading and now Barnsley...the Barnsley who have ' No Right'..to be above us..but beat us in our own Post- Code area.
No Right to be above us..was how one of the Elite termed it...No Right ? I assume that is because they haven't 1 player who has the skill match of his counterpart in our Crack Bournemouth side.
Jesus Christ... we really are ' something else' on this Forum...its f√cking embarrassing.
I laughed at my Swansea fan daughter last night...when she said she expects her Swans to be ' turned inside out by a team of Boscombes 'calibre' tomorrow...I wonder what she has read ! Haha!
 
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