From Fairytale to Nightmare (or is it reality)

[Sun Stonehouse]

I’ll take some comfort that whatever league we will be in next season, this season will be utterly crucial to our learning experience of what the championship is all about.

To be perfectly honest, unless you have serious financial backing, as per Ipswich, Stoke etc, the Championship will always be a bridge too far. Unfortunately football is now in the hands of big business and even the structure and indeed rules are being changed to suit that business model. To be honest the higher echelons of football are not as pure as the lower levels any more. Maybe our spiritual home and definitely our financial comfort zone is sadly league one.

 

[oldage]

Oldy, we are a div 1 team trying to compete in the Championship.

There has been very little change in our numbers since we were promoted, and we have reverted to div 1 experience since the latest manager was sacked.

January was the period to get in Championship experienced players, but our manager brought in kids.

I think he got confused with the club's policy of bringing in youth, improving them, and then selling them on at a profit!

I'm positive that, whatever division we find ourselves in, we will reset with a new manager (or head coach even) we will lose players, we will gain players, and the club will have learned so much during this season's slog.

Should we stay in this division or get relegated, we will be better off for the experiences this season has given us.

Let’s hope so. My concern to that if we are relegated the affect it will have on the players next season ,who up until now have mostly experienced success. I am not confident that many of our current players have the potential to take us forward. A major rebuilding job awaits.

 

[oldage]

If Schumacher had stayed I believe we would have got enough points to stay up already. He really believed in the positive football and rarely took a backward step. The first half of the season was full of exceptional attacking football, home and away. In many games after we'd dominated and dropped points the opposition fans would you say, 'don't worry you'll stay up, you'll be fine' .....etc etc. Schumacher was key to it and his departure a body blow.
Azaz was always going but I think Cundell would have stayed If Stoke hadn't come calling. Villa did us twice, taking both Azaz and KKH back, the latter looks much better than what we have now. The failure to get in one, if not two other strikers over two windows is mystifying. It has left us with two very good forwards looking spent.

I'd have stuck with Foster, despite his failings, as while that change brought 7 points, the football has been another level of awful. The idea we 'have our Argyle back is simply untrue, there is even less pattern to our play than under Foster.
With our budget we've over achieved for a long period but now we are massively under performing. The players are better than they have recently showed and I'm really hoping something clicks and we go down fighting backed by a loud vociferous crowd.

The sickening feeling as results have gone against us each week is hard to credit, it feels like payback for the previous golden season. It was always going to be a close run thing, but this last game drama is too white knuckle for my liking. I hope the players find some belief against Hull, who looked decent last night and the crowd can drag them over the line.
Just one season in Championship is nowhere near enough and I for one, would love to see many more.

Schumacher has not done much at Stoke apart from avoid relegation. The stark fact is we gambled most of our budget on Whittaker and Mumba and had little in the pot to fall back on when it all started to go wrong in January. I doubt Hallett envisaged such a turnaround in our fortunes and was therefore probably ill prepared. No doubt the club acted in good faith in appointing Foster but it did not work out. Instead of having a stronger squad this year we have tried to muddle through with arguably weaker players. We are now in a situation which most fans expected at the start of the season. Relegation was always a realistic outcome. To be honest , unlike you, I would not like to see more of the same next season. It has been good to witness an higher level of football but I have not enjoyed the endless pressure of trying to compete on an uneven playing field.

 

[LincsGreen]

An unnecessary reality unfortunately fuelled by a string of events stacked against us.
It’s been incredible that over the past 10 games the form tables have been turned upside down. That our relegation rivals started to play like promotion candidates. This does not however mask the facts surrounding the bad management of the club since December. Foster should never have been anywhere near us. But neither should Dewsnip. His ego is greater than his ability and he is prepared to put that above the club. Only Argyke would allow all of these things to happen

 

[Tugboat]

To be perfectly honest, unless you have serious financial backing, as per Ipswich, Stoke etc, the Championship will always be a bridge too far. Unfortunately football is now in the hands of big business and even the structure and indeed rules are being changed to suit that business model. To be honest the higher echelons of football are not as pure as the lower levels any more. Maybe our spiritual home and definitely our financial comfort zone is sadly league one.

Our first half of the season suggests it can be done with the right approach.

The second half of the season serves as a stark reminder that player recruitment is everything.

The first half season argyle stay up.

Tye second half argyle would finish below Rotherham.

 

[Yammerman]

Schumacher has not done much at Stoke apart from avoid relegation. The stark fact is we gambled most of our budget on Whittaker and Mumba and had little in the pot to fall back on when it all started to go wrong in January. I doubt Hallett envisaged such a turnaround in our fortunes and was therefore probably ill prepared. No doubt the club acted in good faith in appointing Foster but it did not work out. Instead of having a stronger squad this year we have tried to muddle through with arguably weaker players. We are now in a situation which most fans expected at the start of the season. Relegation was always a realistic outcome. To be honest , unlike you, I would not like to see more of the same next season. It has been good to witness an higher level of football but I have not enjoyed the endless pressure of trying to compete on an uneven playing field.

That's fair and to extent I agree. The game is loaded against us in this the division, and there are no points for being sustainable. It's a noble aim and also the correct one in my view. Given the financial muscle we are up against stability is then vital. The the departure of Schumacher has ultimately brought turmoil in its wake.
I have still enjoyed it enough to want to go again though if we do a 'Rotherhan ' next season I may regret it.

 

[lyndhurst]

Far more chance of Birmingham beating Norwich than us beating hull

Bookies have Birmingham favourites to beat Norwich.

 

[jimsing]

An unnecessary reality unfortunately fuelled by a string of events stacked against us.
It’s been incredible that over the past 10 games the form tables have been turned upside down. That our relegation rivals started to play like promotion candidates. This does not however mask the facts surrounding the bad management of the club since December. Foster should never have been anywhere near us. But neither should Dewsnip. His ego is greater than his ability and he is prepared to put that above the club. Only Argyke would allow all of these things to happen

In order to move on, Lincs, you have to accept that hindsight is a marvellous thing and that all that has happened this season could not be envisaged beforehand.

The start was the resignation of our manager head coach which then removed all our coaching staff and left us in the lurch. He also took Cundle.

We lost our midfield maestro, who returned from his loan with us and was sold to Middlesbrough.

From then on, we were in unknown territory.

Unfortunately, we didn't get suitable replacements and things didn't work out.

The manager head coach was then sacked and Dewsnip was asked, with Nance, to look after the team affairs until the end of the season. A reasonable request as we had so few matches left to play, and another coach/manager would have taken valuable time to know the players.

Had Hallett had the foresight to foresee what would have transpired then I would imagine he would have made alternative decisions, but that was not to be.

To put blame on anyone for the misfortunes of the team is the easy way out.

What will be, will be, and criticism after the event is not very helpful either.

As I said hindsight is a wonderful thing.

 

[LincsGreen]

In order to move on, Lincs, you have to accept that hindsight is a marvellous thing and that all that has happened this season could not be envisaged beforehand.

The start was the resignation of our manager head coach which then removed all our coaching staff and left us in the lurch. He also took Cundle.

We lost our midfield maestro, who returned from his loan with us and was sold to Middlesbrough.

From then on, we were in unknown territory.

Unfortunately, we didn't get suitable replacements and things didn't work out.

The manager head coach was then sacked and Dewsnip was asked, with Nance, to look after the team affairs until the end of the season. A reasonable request as we had so few matches left to play, and another coach/manager would have taken valuable time to know the players.

Had Hallett had the foresight to foresee what would have transpired then I would imagine he would have made alternative decisions, but that was not to be.

To put blame on anyone for the misfortunes of the team is the easy way out.

What will be, will be, and criticism after the event is not very helpful either.

As I said hindsight is a wonderful thing.

I said it as soon as Dewsnip was appointed. Keep us up, he’s the hero, take us down and he will be off (to Stoke probably).. We should have got a manager in. Warnock was available and willing as were a number of others who would have surely got more of a tune out of what we have.
We have tried to survive in a multi million pound league on the cheap and we are now seeing where that is going to get us. It’s nothing to do with hindsight, it’s how it works

 

[Cobi Budge]

Relegation wouldn’t be a disaster, but it would be really unnecessary. So many poor decisions have been made since SS left, nobody is solely to blame, it’s been a collective mess that we need to learn from regardless of which league we’re in next season.

 

[crownhill pilgrim]

Relegation wouldn’t be a disaster, but it would be really unnecessary. So many poor decisions have been made since SS left, nobody is solely to blame, it’s been a collective mess that we need to learn from regardless of which league we’re in next season.

The trouble is, I can see us taking another decade to get back to the second tier.

 

[Cobi Budge]

The trouble is, I can see us taking another decade to get back to the second tier.

I’m not so sure. Pompey are up, Derby are up, I’d tip Bolton to win the play offs. You’ll have Huddersfield and Rotherham I guess but on the whole I don’t think League 1 will be all that strong next year.

 

[Biggs]

The trouble is, I can see us taking another decade to get back to the second tier.

I‘m feeling very down right now, but I think we’d be heavy favourites to go back up and I think we would… if we make the right coach appointment. Helps that Pompey and Derby won’t be there, along with Ipswich and Sheff Weds.

We’d also have substantial transfer money, a parachute payment and a much bigger revenue than two years ago. Plus hopefully more investment.

 

[Old Brown]

A very thoughtful and balanced post by MGM. After reading hundreds of comments across a range of topics, the issue of the strategy of the club in terms of its management remains the one area I cannot fathom. Surely before we recruit someone are we appointing a manager, a head coach or other hybrid model. Surely a job spec is the most important starting point and is that working for a DofF, responsible for just the first team, in charge of recruitment or selecting from a menu of targets and what are his goals. Before selecting the 'right man' surely he needs to know exactly who the boss is and how much control he has. I am sure the powers that be in PAFC have a cunning plan but they also selected the last incumbent. My fear is being next seasons Rotherham.

 

[Tugboat]

I know we’re all preparing ourselves for Birmingham to beat Norwich but it hasn’t happened yet.

We aren’t relegated yet.

I’m in the dumps but I’m hoping the players have one last fight in them