Ave_IT":2h9x2f3y said:
I canāt remember the last time I was looking forward to a new season as much as this one. I was delighted we got RL after all that waiting ā and the signings all seem to be excellent (especially Danny Mayor which surprised us all)ā¦ā¦ā¦.. BUT.
I do feel uncomfortable with the whole Bury thing ā I just canāt help but feel itās rather like going through a dying manās pockets. Donāt get me wrong ā Iām not saying we shouldnāt. I know full well itās not our fault and taking some imaginary moral high ground would be ludicrous ā¦ā¦.and the people involved all deserve to move on and certainly have no blame either ā they went above and beyond during their time at Bury.
But there are other concerns that make me wonder if itās enough now already. Weāve got the Manager, assistant, analyst and three players but weāre rumoured to be chasing another three. I donāt think itās without its potential downside however thoroughly decent and professional the ex-Bury contingent is. What concerns me is that it will be difficult for them not to be seen as a mini clique within the club. Another two or three and half the team will be ex-Bury and it would be natural for them to stick together at the club and maybe socially ā which may not be good for creating a fully bonded squad. For example if (say) Ryan Taylor is thoroughly peeād off with the manager one day or thinks the training regime is stupid or unfair then will he feel like he can have a good old moan about them to team mates if heās stood next to Mayor, Telford or Aimson? Will they feel like they can defend RL if he does have a moan ā or feel like they are being āgot atā too?
Thereās also the danger of imagined favouritism towards them ā actually as RL and his team knows them much better it might not be entirely imagined - there could well be a subconscious bias towards them. Iām not saying it WILL be a problem ā but the potential is surely there for resentments. If weāre winning then everyone is happy and it wonāt be a problem at all ā¦ā¦but these things can rear their head when times are difficult and people are looking for something to blame.
Three is enoughā¦.. isnāt it?...or am I over-thinking it and worrying unnecessarily?
Yes, youāre right.
Why the hell did Hallett so aggressively persue one of the best young Managers around when he could have got a recycled, past his sell-by date Manager far more easily. And as for bringing that Mayor down here and some of those other promotion-winning players, whatās that all about. Pity Mayor hadnāt gone to one of the numerous other clubs who wanted him.
On the other hand, what an embarrassing OP, how small-minded and paranoid and what a great advert for the parochial Janner mentality. āImagined favouritismā, āsubconscious biasā, existing players being āgot atā. Really, are you serious?
At most other clubs the fans would be thinking that the new Manager is bringing in players he knows and trusts and that they know what is required to get out of this awful Division. The easiest and quickest way for new players to settle is for them to feel comfortable in their new surroundings and to have some familiar faces around them will surely help them settle quicker. When any Manager moves these days, he almost always brings his backroom team with him; it makes perfect sense. He also tends to sign players he knows and trusts.
But what do we see, a fear that the new players will form a clique and that the Manager will treat them differently and more favourably than players already at the club. Itās probably only at Argyle where the fans would say this. I am absolutely certain that these players have come down here with the sole intention of getting Argyle promoted, but the best you can do is look at them with suspicion.
We are an ambitious, aspirational football club, hopefully entering a new and exciting period, not an infant school playground where we donāt play nicely with the new kids and we donāt make them feel welcome.