Phil Brown's signings

AndyT said:

Spot on 'LB'.

That's how I see it with him. More of a squad player in the Premier League.

That said, he has been disappointing so far, moreso actually on the ball. His work-rate seems fine. Just seems to try the fancy extra touch, instead of taking a shot or releasing another player.

Maybe that adjustment will come in time, with a change of manager bringing the best out of him.

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He could be too good for those he is playing with who aren't very good at moving off the ball and finding space.

Kightly and Wordsworth started only 3 games together before xmas (2 wins and Yeovil!). So many injuries too much chopping and changing and no team pattern evolving.

united we stand said:

Myles Weston was on the “crap” list and I’m sure we will all remember him for a very positive reason :smile:

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Sorry to say,the more I see of McGlashan,the more I put him on a par with Weston-now doing well-at Ebbsfleet.Obv. one was left ,the other right.
The only positive,possible outcome of McG’s speedy runs now seems to be winning a penalty,but the refs seem to have wised up to that.

Ox
Demetriou kyp Ferdinand Coker
Kightly yearwood timlin mcgauglin
.............wabz cox

Zeuss said:

Sorry to say,the more I see of McGlashan,the more I put him on a par with Weston-now doing well-at Ebbsfleet.Obv. one was left ,the other right.
The only positive,possible outcome of McG’s speedy runs now seems to be winning a penalty,but the refs seem to have wised up to that.

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spot on with the comments, maybe lg2 at most.

I also dont think you can try to rationalise Phils overall poor record on the signings front by attempting to discount loanees. None of Phils choices ,if they were his really cut it or made a big impression, ( Yes I know Pigotts goal ect )
But nobody can claim they were great.
SO given the significant success of others with loanees, including this season, how come in the main ours didnt work out?

2 main reasons apply

1. We have not been good at RECRUITING very good ones
2. From what I watched and read Phil struggled to know what to do with them , where best to play them, where to place them in the systems, how often to play them. He simply couldn't make up his mind half the time.

I have taken the bother to see just how well loanees do elsewhere, apart from sides regularly stuffing us with decent loanees in. You can check it for yourself, the numbers brought in, who they are playing for and how they are performing. Some are doing great in defence and get kept on after long loan spells, others are very good keepers, some are second highest goalscorers. Some are turning up here and knocking the ball in our net after just being signed.More than half the 56 now brought to league one clubs are loanees. Still we cant count them in on Browns trem3endous recruitment record can we Rigsby?

Apart from our goal hero Simon Cox, ( 44 appearances= 16 goals last year) the best under Brownie, our ex leaders biggest problem has always been recruiting strikers.
This year of course Ranger , Robinson and Fortune with 60 appearances between them have managed the staggeringly meagre 3 goals. ( 1 in 20 ratio ), Some would say its the way we play, and maybe it is. Other clubs though play similar formations to us.

Overall in Browns reign our designated strikers have scored on average less than 1 goal in every in 6 games ( 540 appearances- 85 goals , a very poor return on recruitment, and not much fun to watch. I appreciate a 1 nil win applied more regularly is more likely to gain promotion than an attacking 4-3 win outfit, but this is a strikingly poor recruitment performance. Incidentally before we hear the its impossible to get hold of a striker myth, how come 14 clubs last year managed to have strikers scoring more than 13 goals, 10 clubs more than 15, 7 clubs had strikers notch more than 17 goals and and 4 clubs had 4 strikers not in 80! ? Hell Billy Sharp got 30

Barry.C said:

Apart from our goal hero Simon Cox, ( 44 appearances= 16 goals last year) the best under Brownie, our ex leaders biggest problem has always been recruiting strikers.
This year of course Ranger , Robinson and Fortune with 60 appearances between them have managed the staggeringly meagre 3 goals. ( 1 in 20 ratio ), Some would say its the way we play, and maybe it is. Other clubs though play similar formations to us.

Overall in Browns reign our designated strikers have scored on average less than 1 goal in every in 6 games ( 540 appearances- 85 goals , a very poor return on recruitment, and not much fun to watch. I appreciate a 1 nil win applied more regularly is more likely to gain promotion than an attacking 4-3 win outfit, but this is a strikingly poor recruitment performance. Incidentally before we hear the its impossible to get hold of a striker myth, how come 14 clubs last year managed to have strikers scoring more than 13 goals, 10 clubs more than 15, 7 clubs had strikers notch more than 17 goals and and 4 clubs had 4 strikers not in 80! ? Hell Billy Sharp got 30

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another defender coming in as a manager? I hope he has a striker coach.. what’s the Cox tally so far? I can’t find it on wiki.

RayleighShrimp said:

another defender coming in as a manager? I hope he has a striker coach.. what’s the Cox tally so far? I can’t find it on wiki.

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7 I think this season....our top scorer :sad:

Hers some classic Brownies upfront......

Jason Williams, Gomis, Reids, Cowan Nouble 26 appearances no goals
Straker and Loza 56 apps - 3 goals
Cassidy 17 apps no goals
Weston 53 apps - 3 goals
Woodrow 19 apps - 2 goals
Barnard 22 apps - 3 goals
Hunt 21 apps - 4 goals
Coulthirst 22 apps - 4 goals
Mooney a bit better !! 46 apps and 10 goals If you included Worrell 73 apps and 9 goals,
Murphy got 2 goals in 7 apps and Barnett not too bad 5 goals in 20, The Pig actually managed 12 in 43

Can you please give it /us a break? Brown has now gone OK??

Instead of raking over the past, can't we now look to the future??

All the signs are that we will have a new manager in place very soon with a week or so to secure new signings.

Let's look forward to that shall we?

Barry.C said:

Hers some classic Brownies upfront......

Jason Williams, Gomis, Reids, Cowan Nouble 26 appearances no goals
Straker and Loza 56 apps - 3 goals
Cassidy 17 apps no goals
Weston 53 apps - 3 goals
Woodrow 19 apps - 2 goals
Barnard 22 apps - 3 goals
Hunt 21 apps - 4 goals
Coulthirst 22 apps - 4 goals
Mooney a bit better !! 46 apps and 10 goals If you included Worrell 73 apps and 9 goals,
Murphy got 2 goals in 7 apps and Barnett not too bad 5 goals in 20, The Pig actually managed 12 in 43

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A simpler way to look at it would be to say which have been the best players during PBs reign.

I'd say that arguably :

Bentley
Payne
Leonard

All of which were not his signings!

Barry.C said:

Hers some classic Brownies upfront......

Jason Williams, Gomis, Reids, Cowan Nouble 26 appearances no goals
Straker and Loza 56 apps - 3 goals
Cassidy 17 apps no goals
Weston 53 apps - 3 goals
Woodrow 19 apps - 2 goals
Barnard 22 apps - 3 goals
Hunt 21 apps - 4 goals
Coulthirst 22 apps - 4 goals
Mooney a bit better !! 46 apps and 10 goals If you included Worrell 73 apps and 9 goals,
Murphy got 2 goals in 7 apps and Barnett not too bad 5 goals in 20, The Pig actually managed 12 in 43

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Harsh to judge Straker on goals, he played either left back or left midfield!

Individual goals are pretty irrelevant in any case, it's how the team perform when that player is in the side. As. an example I thought Pigott and Cassidy made us a better team and really helped in our push for promotion from League 2 (despite Cassidy not finding the net). Whilst neither were world beaters they were definitely successful loans.

Tommy2holes said:

A simpler way to look at it would be to say which have been the best players during PBs reign.

I'd say that arguably :

Bentley
Payne
Leonard

All of which were not his signings!

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Flip side being, they all improved immeasurably under Brown and made the club a lot of money.

Instead off raking over the past why cant we just say a big thank you to Phil Brown ,he took us to Wembley got us promoted,yes maybe the football this season hasnt been the best but past couple of seasons i can remember most on here saying what a pleasure it was to see some of the football being played,All in all i would say Phil Brown did an excellent job did what he was bought in to do ,so his tenure was a success, also i really dont think the playing surface has really helped him or the players this season ,hopefully during the off season RM will prioritise that and get it back in pristine condition .Thank you Phil Brown for all that you have done to help my club .!!! and i wish you every success at your next appointment as im sure you will be very soon back in management .

Welly7 said:

Flip side being, they all improved immeasurably under Brown and made the club a lot of money.

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Did they though?

Bentley and Payne would have been too young to play under Sturrock.

Bentley I would concede was given time to develop under brown.

Payne got messed about week in week out. One minute lauded and the next week dropped(sound familiar)

Leonard was a Sturrock signing. Leonard was just Leonard. I don't think Brown could take credit for him. He was already blossoming in midfield before Brown took over.

Tommy2holes said:

Did they though?

Bentley and Payne would have been too young to play under Sturrock.

Bentley I would concede was given time to develop under brown.

Payne got messed about week in week out. One minute lauded and the next week dropped(sound familiar)

Leonard was a Sturrock signing. Leonard was just Leonard. I don't think Brown could take credit for him. He was already blossoming in midfield before Brown took over.

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I think they did. Certainly Bentley and Lenny. The latter in particular was undoubtedly the one who stands out. He developed into the holding midfielder we now see under Brown. I recall many fans saying Lenny's career was being held back by Brown's insistence at playing him deep - well, look at him now!

In almost five years in charge, it is impossible to ignore the fact that Brown had plenty to do with Lenny's progress. I think, in time, people will acknowledge PB's role in this and his also that his tenure was a successful one overall. Despite whether they liked the man or not.

Deluded Optimist said:

Can you please give it /us a break? Brown has now gone OK??

Instead of raking over the past, can't we now look to the future??

All the signs are that we will have a new manager in place very soon with a week or so to secure new signings.

Let's look forward to that shall we?

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With respect Deluded this thread was set up after Brown left to assess and review his signings. A perfectly legitimate thread to have opinions on. At least half of which are pretty positive and very interesting, with some interesting history.some people , me included have bothered to do quite a bit of research to help inform. It's very easy of course to come on here and slip in a wasn't Brown great comment let's move on and claim a few brownie points, Far harder to actually think through things in a little more depth to help move on don't you think and nothing wrong with appraising the past to help you do it.Some like to brush things quickly Under the carpet , perhaps they could start a different thread, " wasn't it all great and rosy under Phil, now let's move on ' instead of trying to deprive people of a good honest debate on here

Whoever the new manager is he will have to try and make the best with Brown's signings however good or bad they have been - he's on a bit of hiding to nothing really.

Barry.C said:

With respect Deluded this thread was set up after Brown left to assess and review his signings. A perfectly legitimate thread to have opinions on. At least half of which are pretty positive and very interesting, with some interesting history.some people , me included have bothered to do quite a bit of research to help inform. It's very easy of course to come on here and slip in a wasn't Brown great comment let's move on and claim a few brownie points, Far harder to actually think through things in a little more depth to help move on don't you think and nothing wrong with appraising the past to help you do it.Some like to brush things quickly Under the carpet , perhaps they could start a different thread, " wasn't it all great and rosy under Phil, now let's move on ' instead of trying to deprive people of a good honest debate on here

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There are lessons to be learnt from our failed recruitment policy for this season. One of Brown's failings was his starstruck attitude towards higher division veterans whom he imagined would still have the necessary ability, ambition, professionalism and fitness to thrive in this division. This seems to have been his undoing more than anything as he would have been better advised to concentrate on bringing in a couple of players with a proven record at this level. To me, this season has alarming echoes of 83/84 when we brought in a bunch of over the hill old pros such as Whymark, Fuccilo, Turner, Kellock etc and look where that ended up. We need to have a management team that knows their way around this division with a scouting setup that explicitly rules out 'wow' signings in favour of solid 40 games a season grafters to get us back on track, then blend those players with some of the promising youngsters we have coming through.

blues exile said:

There are lessons to be learnt from our failed recruitment policy for this season. One of Brown's failings was his starstruck attitude towards higher division veterans whom he imagined would still have the necessary ability, ambition, professionalism and fitness to thrive in this division. This seems to have been his undoing more than anything as he would have been better advised to concentrate on bringing in a couple of players with a proven record at this level. To me, this season has alarming echoes of 83/84 when we brought in a bunch of over the hill old pros such as Whymark, Fuccilo, Turner, Kellock etc and look where that ended up. We need to have a management team that knows their way around this division with a scouting setup that explicitly rules out 'wow' signings in favour of solid 40 games a season grafters to get us back on track, then blend those players with some of the promising youngsters we have coming through.

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Totally agree, sadly I watched most of that, although each of those you mention had the odd very good moment