The league table in December & January

[PL2 3DQ]

We were six points clear of the relegation zone and in 16th place after the 3-2 win against Rotherham in December when Schumacher left.
Birmingham have also dropped with us.

The form of QPR and Millwall since then has been phenomenal and more recently Sheffield Wednesday.
Our poor form hasn't helped but the fantastic results of those three has also put us into relegation danger.



And then after our win against Cardiff on 20 January we were in 15th place and nine points clear of the bottom three.
It's been quite a collapse since then.

20th January 2024.

 

[Mat]

Millwall and Wednesday top the form table over the last 5.

For sure at the end of January we were looking up the table, and excited about the young England talent we’d recruited. Then the wheels just fell off, and the squad appears to have forgotten how to play football. Perhaps they were given too many differing instructions.

Whatever league we’re in next season (and I do think we’ll stay up as Birmingham will fail to win) , I really hope we try to invest in an experienced manager. Our young squad needs someone that isn’t learning on the job, needs a clear vision, and knows how to drill the players in what they need to do.

 

[The Pasty Kid]

Were we excited about the young England talent? I remember being deeply worried we were recruiting mainly teenagers. I'm always hopeful, but that was a concern

 

[Mat]

Were we excited about the young England talent? I remember being deeply worried we were recruiting mainly teenagers. I'm always hopeful, but that was a concern

There was a lot of buzz on here about Foster and his contacts and his ability to bring in Phillips, Gyabi (Devine not so much)

 

[The Pasty Kid]

There was a lot of buzz on here about Foster and his contacts and his ability to bring in Phillips, Gyabi (Devine not so much)

I understand, I just remember it being super convenient it was kids he knew with little league experience. Hey, it may have worked out

 

[pafc jack]

There is some revisionism at times about where/how we were under Schuey. We were generally 5-6 points above the zone and it was Foster who actually achieved the biggest gap from the zone on two occasions - obviously he gradually brought us much closer to trouble the more time he had on the grass!

On the other hand, we were simply better under Schuey objectively (sustained league position, points per game, goals scored) and subjectively (attacking play, fearlessness, tactical variation, game plans tailored to opposition for better or worse, last minute goals, etc).

January transfer window and managerial appointments have played a huge part in the relegation battle:

Dewsnip/Nance aren't in the table, too few games, so for info:

 

[Will Green]

There was a lot of buzz on here about Foster and his contacts and his ability to bring in Phillips, Gyabi (Devine not so much)

Yes there was all sorts of fawning over foster after the first 3/4 games saying how lucky we were to have him with his England links and that he was an upgrade on schuey. The only real
Dissenting voice I can remember was cobi who didn’t fancy him from the start and took some stick over it.

 

[The Pasty Kid]

Yes there was all sorts of fawning over foster after the first 3/4 games saying how lucky we were to have him with his England links and that he was an upgrade on schuey. The only real
Dissenting voice I can remember was cobi who didn’t fancy him from the start and took some stick over it.

I never fawned, but I got it. We were so nervous after Schumacher went that we were probably clutching at straws after a decent start

 

[Cobi Budge]

The only real
Dissenting voice I can remember was cobi who didn’t fancy him from the start and took some stick over it.

99% of our fanbase fawned over Ian Foster when he was appointed. It was bizzare. Everyone seemed to buy into the weird “elite coach” thing.

I always thought that Foster was an underwhelming and a misguided choice but I wasn’t allowed to have that opinion.

 

[Steve Evans]

schuey leaving us in the lurch and stealing the staff is what did for us although foster was a massive error but we all make mistakes.

 

[Green 1886]

Yes there was all sorts of fawning over foster after the first 3/4 games saying how lucky we were to have him with his England links and that he was an upgrade on schuey. The only real
Dissenting voice I can remember was cobi who didn’t fancy him from the start and took some stick over it.

Cough, I’ve had my neck on the line since the Sutton game. Probably me, Cobi, argyleloyal and Ted the only posters I can remember offering some sense of caution and reality. We even had some posters giving marks against our new recruits against those we lost and saying we were BETTER off. I mean WTF? We lost Cundle, KKH and Azaz and people were creaming themselves over Sousa, Devine and Gyabi for gods sake. Saying we’d upgraded on the pitch and off it. Just totally baffling at the time and even more so now. Anyone doubting it, go and read the total nonsense on the potters thread on the football forum, first 25 pages will be enough to make you curl up into a ball

 

[Mat]

99% of our fanbase fawned over Ian Foster when he was appointed. It was bizzare. Everyone seemed to buy into the weird “elite coach” thing.

I always thought that Foster was underwhelming and a misguided choice but I wasn’t allowed to have that opinion.

Well you had a lot of opinion, and everyone is allowed one, not everyone has to agree. Yes I do recall you not being overwhelmed at the time. I also agree that we should have gone with Warnock here for the last few games.

I think there was a decent amount of optimism at the time, a coach that had experience with youngsters, reasonable variety of coaching experience and allegedly a focus on what to do when out of possession, something we were crying out for at the time.

There was also a lot of faith and goodwill with the club at the time, very few bad decisions had been made, so equally, the underlying motive was that it would be that it was a well thought out decision.

I was quite keen on that guy from Norway, just sounded intriguing and he had success with a smaller club. I wasn’t too keen on the Championship manager-go-round at the time.

TBH, even Hallett was conned by the whole appointment (or claims to be in hindsight), and didn't recognise the manager that he thought he hired.

So it felt like, well the club make educated decisions, and there is some attributes that match our needs, so let’s get behind the new manager.

We all know how it worked out though.

 

[GreenSwindon]

99% of our fanbase fawned over Ian Foster when he was appointed. It was bizzare. Everyone seemed to buy into the weird “elite coach” thing.

I always thought that Foster was an underwhelming and a misguided choice but I wasn’t allowed to have that opinion.

Exactly, this is the man that came from Saudi and Gerrard. Such a bad choice in my opinion.

 

[Greenscombe]

For what it's worth, I think if we stay up there is a lot to be optimistic about.

New manager and coaches
Hints at investment
More TV money
Hints money will be spent on the team to be more competitive
Big squad rebuild job coming
We have shown we can compete at this level even with this squad of players and half of season without a proper manager.


Lessons have been learnt on recruitment hopefully! Now we just need to do the business in one more game.

 

[crownhill pilgrim]

Should have brought in Warnock last month.