Yes I’m starting a divisive thread. As a fan for 48 years (but it doesn’t actually matter if it is 48 minutes) I feel entitled enough to post some opinions that many of those currently fawning over what’s happening off the field and blowing smoke up Stan’s backside/massaging his fragile ego, call it what you will.
I want the current infrastructure to succeed I really do. Kevin Maher is my favourite SUFC player of all time bar none. We have an off the field structure that many of the teams in League One and Two can only dream of. We also have a wage bill that I’m guessing many would be jealous of.
For every person that says give it time I give you Darlington FC. What a fabulous new ground that was and solved all their problems.
For everyone that says we’re too good to go down (not many by now I’m sure) I give you Stockport (who are now back), York and a number of others.
Status means nothing. Points mean everything. It is abundantly clear to everyone that the current squad is not good enough and that’s with two exceptionally good loan players.
So the serious question is how long do we stay patient and wait for the new team to work their magic? The longer we stay in our current position the harder it will be to get out of it whatever squad we end up with. The history of this division backs that up sharply.
You might think I’m a doom monger but I remember seeing a glossy picture of a new stadium on the inside cover of match programmes as far back as 1981. Yes 40 years ago. Admittedly there wasn’t much substance and certainly no planning or funding apart from the threats of moving to Basildon.
Until the first digger moves in to FF quite frankly I’ll believe it when I see it. Untold years of FF poo attests to that fact. Quite frankly our current infrastructure would not be supported in National League South. Chester City anyone.
Am I hitting the panic button? Too ****ing right I am. I’m sick of people being closed down for offering contrary views. This is not China (give that another 50 years or so).
To answer my own question I’m prepared not to post another comment here on signings and structure until a couple of weeks into January by which time we still need to be in touching distance of 4th and 5th from bottom which is very possible even with just one win and a draw.
Points mean prizes, what do we points mean?
It’s far, far too early to be pressing the panic button on things in my opinion.
Don’t forget, our football restructure was only completed a couple of days ago with the appointment of John Still, which has been rumbling on in the background for a week or so.
Take FF out of the equation, that has very little to do with things at present. I believe it will happen, however I can see why some people are still so cynical of that.
Let’s focus on other things. The off the field stuff first. We have a CEO, who puts in more hours than anyone we’ve previously had in this position. For some, it was a typical 9-5 job, but not for TL. He was wanted still by Gills, but choose to come to a non-league side. RM has passed a lot onto him, probably more than anyone expects, but RM is now a background figure more than he has been since he took over.
We have Stan. I know he divides opinions. It seems you can’t support him, without being accused of being up his arse, and you can’t be against him without being abused either. Personally, I fully support him. He is clearly passionate about our Club, he loved his spell here more than anywhere else. He spoke so passionately during his zoom calls, his interviews and his SZ posts. Some want him to fail regardless, and that’s the wrong attitude to go into things. People accuse him of running at the first sign of discouragement from fans in the summer, and that couldn’t be further from the truth. He has been in the background, and been in touch with RM. Stan has spent 100s of hours on meetings, phone calls, emails, WhatsApp’s etc, and covered 1000s of miles to watch games, meet Clubs, and watch certain
Our coaching set up. Surely we can all get behind them. Kev is a legend, a back-to-back promotion winning captain. Currie, in my opinion, should have got the job ahead of MM, and a lot of people would have picked him to be in charge this time around. Benno, another excellent ex-pro. MM used to work round the clock for the Club, however the work these three have put in puts MM to shame. So days, some haven’t left the Club/training ground. They’ve covered 1000s of miles watching games etc.
John Still brings a wealth of knowledge, and working knowledge at that having still been involved with Daggers until we came in. Whereas TL left a Club to join the Club he supports, Still has left a Club he supports to join us and that speaks volumes. He has a tidy little number, with almost no pressure at Daggers because what he achieve to join a “sinking ship” where he could be out of a job come the summer if we fail. He brings a list of talent spotters, opposition scouts, and fresh set of eyes. We previously had, apart from the management set up and Stan, around 8-12 people watching matches for us, we now have closer to 30.
Everything off the field is the sort of structure that we have been crying out for for years. And if it fails, and Maher departs, we won’t need to tear up everyone’s contract like we did with Powell, Campbell, MM & Brown. The structure is in place. The idea is to decide on a style that is played through the academy up to the first team. Let’s use 4-4-2 as an example. And say we want one genuine get to the by line and cross wide man, one tuck in winger, two attacking full backs, a big man little man front combo. We will recruit players to fit those roles, not a number 10, who we have to build a side around, like we had with Jack Payne. Of if we decide wing backs is the future, we’ll sign wing backs. So when Kev leaves, whether it’s through success or failure, we won’t have a new manager come in and change our ethos. He won’t be a 4-2-3-1 man, when we are built for 4-4-2 or 3-5-2 or whatever. We’ll have criteria for future head coaches.
On the pitch does need to improve, and new signings are coming. The Grimsby boss pointed out the situation National League Clubs are in. We need to recruit the right players, not any old players. They need to fit a style, fit a structure, fit an ethos. We’ve turned down players, and some have turned us down. We have some lined up with real possibility of joining us January. We have some lined up to join us when their Club’s get their replacement in, and all different scenarios.
Things are looking positive behind the scenes. I know that all the majority of us care about is 3pm on a Saturday or 7:45pm on a Tuesday or whenever we play, and those results will improve, of that I’m certain.