Powell deserves a chance

[GBJ]

Let’s put things into perspective.

The season has been a **** show. We can all agree on that.

When Powell was appointed, the overwhelming majority of us believed it was a good move for us. He did well at the back end of the season, and gave us a good platform upon which to build.

Pre-season, the vast majority of us actually had aspirations of challenging for a play-off spot, which was mainly attributed to who the manager was.

So what’s changed? Powell’s become a bad manager overnight? He woke up one day and forgot how to do it? I’m not suggesting he’s the messiah, or the chosen one. I’m simply suggesting that If we’d had a different set of circumstances, and had been dealt better cards, we might well be challenging for that play-off spot right now. There are all kinds of variables, which make it impossible to truly & fairly assess his stewardship, at this time.

Now, I’ll agree, he looks a dejected man at present, which isnt a good look. But is it any real surprise? I mean, so are we, the fans. We’re all dejected & ****ed off with it. The difference is, Powell doesn’t have the luxury of being able to vent it publicly. Instead he has to grit his teeth and bare it. Maybe he doesn’t rant and rave on the touchline, as he knows it’s pointless and detrimental. Maybe he’s reserved in his interviews, because what he’d really like to say, would ensure he lost his job.

How chuffed would any of us be, if at your place of work, you were given inadequate tools to work with, which were getting worse by the week, but your paymasters were still expecting you to deliver above and beyond best results, whilst simultaneously vilifying you. Unless you’re a masochist, you would not stomach it. Nobody would.

Aside from the odd team selections/formations here and there, I’m struggling to see why he deserves the vitriol & blame, tbh.

I’m sure Powell has made mistskes. All managers do. Unfortunately, he’s been restricted in his ability to change the team around, when he deems necessary. That IMO, has been the biggest cause & problem, of his mistakes. Does that make him a bad manager? Does it make him a bad manager overnight? Or does it make him a manager with limited resources?

Again, I know this season has been ****. I fullly agree. I don’t think we’ll go down, although I’m fully aware that we are on course to finish low down the table. We need to limp to the end of the season, and start again in August, with - hopefully - the deadwood gone, a few additions & a full strength squad available.

Powell absolutely deserves the chance to show us what his managerial reign could be like. So far we haven’t seen it. For that reason, and that reason alone, I think the man deserves a chance. For now at the very least.

 

[RHB]

Spot on mate, I'd green rep you if I could.

 

[Sussexshrimper]

Totally correct

 

[North Devon Shrimper]

Totally agree with you GBJ.

Stay up this season some how, and let CP go for it next season with hopefully a full squad.

Get those players going, turn up the music (decent music that is) in the dressing room! Get the players shouting. We can do this. Beat Pompey and stay up.

 

[Chairman Trigg]

Sorry but tactics ,motivation and leadership etc are down to CP.
Sadly lacking big time in all areas.
The fact that half the team don't appear to give a **** when losing and don't give 100% every game is the biggest warning sign .
Also his statement after the game last night is guaranteed to unmotivate fans and players alike.

 

[tottenham541]

I think we need to judge CP as and when we have 3 or 4 players back from injury as I don’t think we are going down and we won’t make the play offs, I don’t think we can judge him until October or November time and see where we are at that time, I really think CP is the man for the job and take us forward to the next step

 

[RobM]

Something along the lines of "I'm quietly pleased it was 0-3". Really? I'm not!

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

The play-off aspirations always seemed overly optimistic in the first place. People got carried away with a few wins (like they are getting carried away with a few defeats).

Mid-table, a modest cup run and bringing through the next generation seemed more realistic targets and is pretty much what we're on course for.

Sure, I'd hoped for a couple of spots higher in the league, a round further in each of the cup competitions and maybe Dru to have consolidated better.

But we need to view this season in light of the mess Powell inherited and the ridiculous injury list that people have started taking for granted.

If we can consolidate this season whilst bringing through youngsters like Bishop, Yearwood, Bwomono, Kelman, Hutchinson and Klass we're in a stronger position for the future.

 

[tottenham541]

The play-off aspirations always seemed overly optimistic in the first place. People got carried away with a few wins (like they are getting carried away with a few defeats).

Mid-table, a modest cup run and bringing through the next generation seemed more realistic targets and is pretty much what we're on course for.

Sure, I'd hoped for a couple of spots higher in the league, a round further in each of the cup competitions and maybe Dru to have consolidated better.

But we need to view this season in light of the mess Powell inherited and the ridiculous injury list that people have started taking for granted.

If we can consolidate this season whilst bringing through youngsters like Bishop, Yearwood, Bwomono, Kelman, Hutchinson and Klass we're in a stronger position for the future.

Spot on

 

[FarmdogSUFC]

The play-off aspirations always seemed overly optimistic in the first place. People got carried away with a few wins (like they are getting carried away with a few defeats).

Mid-table, a modest cup run and bringing through the next generation seemed more realistic targets and is pretty much what we're on course for.

Sure, I'd hoped for a couple of spots higher in the league, a round further in each of the cup competitions and maybe Dru to have consolidated better.

But we need to view this season in light of the mess Powell inherited and the ridiculous injury list that people have started taking for granted.

If we can consolidate this season whilst bringing through youngsters like Bishop, Yearwood, Bwomono, Kelman, Hutchinson and Klass we're in a stronger position for the future.

I pretty much agree with most of this, but it's not people getting carried away with a few defeats. Only Wimbledon and Bradford have lost more games than us this season. That needs serious addressing and fast cause if we get stuck in that mental rut of being an easy team to beat we could seriously go down.

 

[GBJ]

Something along the lines of "I'm quietly pleased it was 0-3". Really? I'm not!

He’s being honest.

He could lie and say “We didn’t deserve to lose 0-3”. Can’t imagine that adhering him to those fans who already want his head on a spike.

 

[RobM]

I pretty much agree with most of this, but it's not people getting carried away with a few defeats. Only Wimbledon and Bradford have lost more games than us this season. That needs serious addressing and fast cause if we get stuck in that mental rut of being an easy team to beat we could seriously go down.

That makes us 22nd/24 then.

 

[Grapevine]

Reall

The play-off aspirations always seemed overly optimistic in the first place. People got carried away with a few wins (like they are getting carried away with a few defeats).

Mid-table, a modest cup run and bringing through the next generation seemed more realistic targets and is pretty much what we're on course for.

Sure, I'd hoped for a couple of spots higher in the league, a round further in each of the cup competitions and maybe Dru to have consolidated better.

But we need to view this season in light of the mess Powell inherited and the ridiculous injury list that people have started taking for granted.

If we can consolidate this season whilst bringing through youngsters like Bishop, Yearwood, Bwomono, Kelman, Hutchinson and Klass we're in a stronger position for the future.

Really good post that YB ?

 

[Ayrshire Blue]

The biggest problem to me is he seems to have lost the ability to motivate himself and in turn, cant motivate his players

Injuries are no excuse for playing Simon Cox left midfield

Injuries are no excuse for setting up 5 at the back against teams in the bottom 4 at home

Injuries are no excuse playing 3 defensive midfielders all at the same time

Injuries are no excuse for letting Theo leave with no replacement coming in

Questionable decisions in the transfer market to let Timlin and Fortune go. Despite their age, they were both pretty fit and we replaced them with the likes of Hyam, Lennon and Bunn who look a fart away from an injury every game

We haven't been able to defend all season. Think way back to the opening day against Doncaster. We were 3-0 down out of absolutely nowhere down to abysmal defending. That hasn't been corrected. Oh, and by the way, Oxley, Demetriou, Lennon, Hopper, Coker, Hyam all played that day. Injuries are not an excuse for this

Everyone bangs on Powell is a nice guy. Is he? Because I've seen him do nothing but sulk since October.

Nice guy down the pub maybe, but he's a poor manager

 

[GBJ]

I pretty much agree with most of this, but it's not people getting carried away with a few defeats. Only Wimbledon and Bradford have lost more games than us this season. That needs serious addressing and fast cause if we get stuck in that mental rut of being an easy team to beat we could seriously go down.

It’s a fair point. So what’s the solution?

We can’t bring new players in. Aside from being skint, we’re not an attractive club to play for. We have to deal with what we have; youngsters, cart horses & players out of form/their depth.

How does a new manager change that? There’s the possibility a new manager could get an extra 10-20% from this current crop, during the honeymoon period, but even that is no guarantee. Neither is it a given, that it’d be enough for us to avoid relegation anyway.

There’s only two cases for CP getting axed;

If he’s lost the dressing room, and the players won’t play for him. Then there’s a case for a new manager.

If CP has given up & doesn’t want to be here anymore, then there’s a case.

As it stands, I don’t believe either of those two factors have/are occurring.

 

[rigsby]

Something along the lines of "I'm quietly pleased it was 0-3". Really? I'm not!

If you had asked the 206 travelling shrimpers around the 72 minute mark last night would they take 3-0. Most would have said YES.

I would rather have honesty from any manager than carefully worded, fan pleasing sound bites.

 

[wiggy]

Something along the lines of "I'm quietly pleased it was 0-3". Really? I'm not!

Have just watched the highlights...yes it should have been 8......glad he's pleased though. He makes Phil Brown look like Alex Ferguson

 

[FarmdogSUFC]

It’s a fair point. So what’s the solution?

We can’t bring new players in. Aside from being skint, we’re not an attractive club to play for. We have to deal with what we have; youngsters, cart horses & players out of form/their depth.

How does a new manager change that? There’s the possibility a new manager could get an extra 10-20% from this current crop, during the honeymoon period, but even that is no guarantee. Neither is it a given, that it’d be enough for us to avoid relegation anyway.

There’s only two cases for CP getting axed;

If he’s lost the dressing room, and the players won’t play for him. Then there’s a case for a new manager.

If CP has given up & doesn’t want to be here anymore, then there’s a case.

As it stands, I don’t believe either of those two factors have/are occurring.

We could definitely do with a striker, as long as it's one that has kept himself fit. We might even need to take a gamble on someone that isn't 100% at this point. We've obviously got a bit of wedge since the Ferrier deal fell through so IMO would be wise to try and get someone that's gonna bring a bit of experience and a bit of fight.

I don't actually think he should be sacked, mainly because I don't see anyone else out there who could guarantee a lift. Anyone coming in to replace him would ultimately be a gamble.

I also agree that I don't think he's lost the dressing room. However, he must be close. There's no leader on that pitch. No doubt a few of the lads will be looking to the bench for some inspiration and lift, but they aint gonna find it when he's looking like his dog has just died.

I don't think he's given up, but again he looks close. That interview last night reminded me of Phil Brown after the Northampton game last season. "I was having a great week up until the 55th minute when we conceded" or something like that. It just sounds like he's run out of ideas and drive to me.

By no means am I solely blaming Powell here either. His two assistants need to share some responsibility but it's ultimately the players that cross that white line. As harsh as it sounds, some of them are finished (Turner), some of them are woefully out of form (Macca) and others simply aint good enough (Elvis, although he is young so does have time on his side here).

Do we just accept that and if we do go down say Powell got unlucky with injuries and deserves a go in League 2?

 

[GBJ]

The biggest problem to me is he seems to have lost the ability to motivate himself and in turn, cant motivate his players

You can’t sympathise with him for the injury crisis? Not even a little bit? I can imagine that it’s a pretty dire position to be in. Actively knowing that what you have to work with, isn’t that great, yet you’re still expected to produce great results.

Injuries are no excuse for letting Theo leave with no replacement coming in

You yourself wanted Theo gone, right? He was useless. The vast majority thought he was useless. Powell clearly thought he was useless. It made all the sense in the world to get shot of him.

Unfortunately, the player(s) we had lined up as replacements, made U-turns at the 11th hour, giving us no chance to sort the problem. As it turns out, we were lucky enough to bring in Humphreys, who I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t have got, had we kept Robinson.

Nice guy down the pub maybe, but he's a poor manager

That may be the case. But until he’s given an actual fair chance, I’ll reserve judgement.

 

[Welly7]

Last night, again showed how limited we are. Now, whether we are limited because of injuries, tactics, bad coaching, lack of a well thought out game plan or all of the above and more - the fact remains we are limited,

They were so much better than us last night it was alarming. Based on the evidence of recent weeks (and I'm being generous here because I think we've been on this decline for months) I can't see what CP can - or will - do differently to halt this bad run.

In August I never had expectations of play offs come May as I felt we were lacking in most areas. Individually, the new signings may well have been OK on paper, but collectively they make us a very average team. I didn't think we would create enough and I thought we would always ship goals. So, my concern isn't based on unrealistic hope for promotion. I was hoping for a mid table finish, at best.

Now, I know that's currently where are but with injuries and poor decisions from Powell I fear we're slowly sliding into a relegation battle. I have really wanted CP to show more in terms of a structure and a way forwards for a long while now. He seemed to favour 442 and has strayed away from that and in the process tried just about every system there is. I find that as concerning as anything else going on on the pitch right now. In my mind, it smacks of a manager trying almost everything to find something.

I was lucky enough to see Powell play for us. I have always wanted our managers to do well because it means we will be doing well, perhaps I have wanted CP to succeed that little bit more than others. But, I don't see a plan, firstly short term and secondly long term where that scenario becomes reality.