Time to face the facts

[Ego Tripping]

Think its time we all started to face up to some facts:
FACT: We have the fourth lowest average attendance in the league (all things being equal this means we have the 4th lowest playing budget)
FACT: We don't have a stadium that is used on non-match days to provide extra revenue
FACT: We don't have a sugar daddy to provide stacks of cash
FACT: The effect of the above makes it difficult to attract the best players in the league when we can't pay the wages/transfer fees
FACT: We lost our best 2 players in the summer
FACT: We have to rely mainly on free transfers - these are a gamble and they don't always pay off
FACT: Our location makes it difficult to attract players (especially if we can't pay top dollar)
FACT: The club runs as a loss and the directors use their own money to keep us where we are
FACT: We have a great management team who put their all into the club and got us into the league in the first place
FACT: Football players respond to great support
FACT: We are a league club!

I don't want to use the 'r' word but we must stick with the board, the management and most importantly the players. Just staying in the league this season should be an acheivement considering all the above. I really do think the town needs to decide if we really want a league club or not. I do!

[Shrimpsscene]

fact is we lost 5 0 and well beaten on the day despite opening 15 mins bounce back sat we got trounced 6 0 at gravesend few years back these things happen but group discussion has come up with the following team roche yates parrish bentley christie the cat(c) wainwright stanley curtis taylor ocarroll twiss

[Christies Child]

me(?) owwwwww....

That'd be purrrrfect.....but howe?

[Shrimpsscene]

group thought bench

[Christies Child]

group thought bench

I knew I'd get the chance to get my own back, if I waited long enough.


you guys talk BOLLOCKS......yesssss!




Safe journey home fellas!

[Shrimpsscene]

its called post traumatic match syndrome i was going to leave out parrish out but his dads sat next to me lol

[<3 Morecambe]

FACT: We don't have a stadium that is used on non-match days to provide extra revenue

What about the reserves and blackburn reserves?

[mazatec]

The fact is = the players he brought in are not up to standard.

Parrish B ury must be laughing its embarrassing.

Carr Been thrown out already a wise move.

McCain Adam Yeats runs rings around him.

Carrol Aaron Taylor much better.

Comeback Blackburn . Perks .Thompson. Baker .Lewis. All class now one sees why we will struggle this season.

No more excuses Sammy get your act together we've been suffering since Christmas

[Crooky MFC]

Carrol Aaron Taylor much better.

Oh come on, on what evidence?? I agree that Taylor has lot's of potential to become a very good player, but he's still very young and to say he's better than O'carrol at the minute doesn't seem sane lol.

[marky]

Maybe they should have a play-off Actually, how about that? Front 3 of Howe, O'Carroll & Taylor? We never play with wingers anywa so they can't be missed. I'll throw in more...

FACT: Playing 4-5-1 when you struggle to score at the best of times was asking for trouble.
FACT: Danny Adams has been part of our defence in both our our worst performances this season. Coincidence? Throughout most of our 'unbeaten run', he's been out.
FACT: Living within means requires astute business in the transfer market. None of the summer intake have performed well on a regular basis so far.
FACT: The ONLY good thing about today is that the management and players can no longer use the 'unbeaten run' to mask what has really been a very poor opening to the season.

[Vinny]

Hello. I wasn't at the game today (thank keith!) but from what I've picked up on today's game we were on top for the first 20 minutes and doin' great, up to when McCann gave a free-kick away, got booked and they scored from the resultant free-kick. Now I'll give any player a chance and time to settle in, but I'm afraid McCann has never impressed me in any game I've seen this season. In his earlier games in mid-field he looked out of his depth at this level. Then after a few critical mistakes playing as full-back someone said he was being played out of position. But today, I've heard enough that the foul he gave away changed the course of the game, and I hope we now see him released. We know Yatesy can, and will, do a far better job.

In my opinion another weak link in our defence this season I think has been Dave Artell. Yes, he's a daunting figure and a tower of strength and you'd rather have him on your side than aginst you, but his size 13, '50-pence' boots have not done us any favours, he's been shown to lack pace and the gaps that have frequently opened up have been dreadful. I think McStay should take his place next week. But essentially, we need to work as a unit. By we, I mean the team on the park, the fans on the terraces and in the stands, the management, the board and the people of the town. We know we have something wonderful here in this club and we are at the height of our successes and keen and eager to hold on and move upward. This week has seen cracks appear, culminating in today's trancing, but I accept it is part of the game once in a while. We can't hope to win everything, but we can hope to win our next game. So let's focus on it together and make it happen

[Jon]

It's a shame it has come to this, but what has been said above is all true. I am interested in the point in attracting new players and I agree. Next summer who is going to want to come to a club that is struggling, has a poor stadium & facilities & low attendances? The solution: Get the new stadium ready for mid season (eg January 2010) rather than the start of the season after, that will have the draw of attracting new players & increase revenue. Also why do we still insist on playing home games on a Saturday afternoon? It's been known for a long time we have other big teams in the area to compete against. Think outside of the box and play more games on a Friday eve.

[Heysham_Shrimp]

Think its time we all started to face up to some facts:
FACT: We have the fourth lowest average attendance in the league (all things being equal this means we have the 4th lowest playing budget)
FACT: We don't have a stadium that is used on non-match days to provide extra revenue
FACT: We don't have a sugar daddy to provide stacks of cash
FACT: The effect of the above makes it difficult to attract the best players in the league when we can't pay the wages/transfer fees
FACT: We lost our best 2 players in the summer
FACT: We have to rely mainly on free transfers - these are a gamble and they don't always pay off
FACT: Our location makes it difficult to attract players (especially if we can't pay top dollar)
FACT: The club runs as a loss and the directors use their own money to keep us where we are
FACT: We have a great management team who put their all into the club and got us into the league in the first place
FACT: Football players respond to great support
FACT: We are a league club!

I don't want to use the 'r' word but we must stick with the board, the management and most importantly the players. Just staying in the league this season should be an acheivement considering all the above. I really do think the town needs to decide if we really want a league club or not. I do!

your argument falls down when you realise one of the teams below us in terms of crowd size and therefore wages budget is Dagenham.

[Christies Child]

.which is even more disturbing when you consider where they are in the league, having been promoted alongside ourselves.

Of course they have a bigger catchment of players all within an 80 mile radius of their ground.

However it still can't excuse the fact that in general Sammy's record of signings during his reign at CP has not been that impressive.

[morecambe mick]

So are you suggesting that the board appoint a Denis Wise type figure to source the "right" players for Sammy to work with

[P/T Indie]

.which is even more disturbing when you consider where they are in the league, having been promoted alongside ourselves.

Of course they have a bigger catchment of players all within an 80 mile radius of their ground.

However it still can't excuse the fact that in general Sammy's record of signings during his reign at CP has not been that impressive.

This might be controversial but I think at first Sammys signings were his old contacts from when he was at macclesfield and Stockport Danny Adams, Neil Sorvel etc The problem is all those contacts from back then have retired now as it was 10+ years ago and so instead of going after his tried and trusted old players he is having to go into the unknown to find new players where he hasn't had much luck.

[Christies Child]

Not sure about luck....

I don't expect every signing to be a success but I would expect a greater proportion to have been.

For me the only ones you have been even moderately successful are Lewis(loan); Roche; Adams; Artell; Baker; Stanley; Howe(loan); Yates(?), Blinks(?), Newby(?) and then I struggle....

[sandgrown]

Hello. I wasn't at the game today (thank keith!) but from what I've picked up on today's game we were on top for the first 20 minutes and doin' great, up to when McCann gave a free-kick away, got booked and they scored from the resultant free-kick. Now I'll give any player a chance and time to settle in, but I'm afraid McCann has never impressed me in any game I've seen this season. In his earlier games in mid-field he looked out of his depth at this level. Then after a few critical mistakes playing as full-back someone said he was being played out of position. But today, I've heard enough that the foul he gave away changed the course of the game, and I hope we now see him released. We know Yatesy can, and will, do a far better job.

In my opinion another weak link in our defence this season I think has been Dave Artell. Yes, he's a daunting figure and a tower of strength and you'd rather have him on your side than aginst you, but his size 13, '50-pence' boots have not done us any favours, he's been shown to lack pace and the gaps that have frequently opened up have been dreadful. I think McStay should take his place next week. But essentially, we need to work as a unit. By we, I mean the team on the park, the fans on the terraces and in the stands, the management, the board and the people of the town. We know we have something wonderful here in this club and we are at the height of our successes and keen and eager to hold on and move upward. This week has seen cracks appear, culminating in today's trancing, but I accept it is part of the game once in a while. We can't hope to win everything, but we can hope to win our next game. So let's focus on it together and make it happen

have to agree with the above, both full backs are not good enough, Adams and Yates would be my choice.

Artell's lack of pace is plain to see, and now the whole league have sussed it we are in deep trouble.

I am a great fan of Sammy, but most of his new men are not good enough !

[sandgrown]

Hello. I wasn't at the game today (thank keith!) but from what I've picked up on today's game we were on top for the first 20 minutes and doin' great, up to when McCann gave a free-kick away, got booked and they scored from the resultant free-kick. Now I'll give any player a chance and time to settle in, but I'm afraid McCann has never impressed me in any game I've seen this season. In his earlier games in mid-field he looked out of his depth at this level. Then after a few critical mistakes playing as full-back someone said he was being played out of position. But today, I've heard enough that the foul he gave away changed the course of the game, and I hope we now see him released. We know Yatesy can, and will, do a far better job.

In my opinion another weak link in our defence this season I think has been Dave Artell. Yes, he's a daunting figure and a tower of strength and you'd rather have him on your side than aginst you, but his size 13, '50-pence' boots have not done us any favours, he's been shown to lack pace and the gaps that have frequently opened up have been dreadful. I think McStay should take his place next week. But essentially, we need to work as a unit. By we, I mean the team on the park, the fans on the terraces and in the stands, the management, the board and the people of the town. We know we have something wonderful here in this club and we are at the height of our successes and keen and eager to hold on and move upward. This week has seen cracks appear, culminating in today's trancing, but I accept it is part of the game once in a while. We can't hope to win everything, but we can hope to win our next game. So let's focus on it together and make it happen

have to agree with the above, both full backs are not good enough, Adams and Yates would be my choice.

Artell's lack of pace is plain to see, and now the whole league have sussed it we are in deep trouble.

yesterday's result has been on the cards when you see the way we don't mark touch tight in case we get burned by pace, unlike other sides that never give us an inch anywhere on the pitch

I am a great fan of Sammy, but most of his new men are not good enough !

[P/T Indie]

Not sure about luck....

I don't expect every signing to be a success but I would expect a greater proportion to have been.

For me the only ones you have been even moderately successful are Lewis(loan); Roche; Adams; Artell; Baker; Stanley; Howe(loan); Yates(?), Blinks(?), Newby(?) and then I struggle....

I was trying to be polite

I quite like McStay adds something different to the defence as he can play the ball out I would add him to your list and IMO Yates and Newby were a success and are very unlucky not to be in the team.

[The Red Knight]

your argument falls down when you realise one of the teams below us in terms of crowd size and therefore wages budget is Dagenham.

Dagenham work within their budget by picking up young players from the lower leagues and trying to mould them into first team regulars.

It doesn't always work out but the likes of Sam Saunders, Glen Southam and Paul Benson are all big parts of their first team and in the past they have sold the likes of Craig Mackail-Smith, Shane Blackett, Tresor Kandol, Chris Moore and others onto bigger clubs and made a profit.

We've gone the opposite route and tried signing experienced players and whilst this was fruitful in the Conference where we could financially compete with the bigger clubs we've not got a chance at this level. As a result we are left with the crap that no one else wants like Wainwright, McCann, Parrish etc who would all be playing non league football now had we not signed them.

Until we start investing in youth then we aren't going anywhere other than back to the Conference.

[P/T Indie]

Good point Red Knight wasnt it a certain Jim harvey who never agreed with signing old league players as he felt they were on their way out of the game and just intrested in picking up the money so instead invested in youth.

[marky]

I can't believe I'm about to agree with a policy of Jim Harvey! However, I always believe that a club needs to have a good youth policy and sadly ours seems to have gone by the wayside of late. I just wonder, though, if we're able to attract league quality youngsters. Anyway, last season Sammy stuck with the majority of the play-off winning squad and it was successful for half a season. This year he's brought in a number of new faces and, so far, it has failed spectacularly. I think the whole 'takes time to gell' argument has no basis given it's now October. We've played 10 league games - 1.5 more and we'll be a quarter of the way through the season.

[The Red Knight]

I just wonder, though, if we're able to attract league quality youngsters.

That's the whole point, our club can't attract young players of obvious quality so you need to take a few gambles with some young players like Dagenham have done and work with them to make them better. Barnet are also very good at this.

[OvertheBar]

marky wrote:
I just wonder, though, if we're able to attract league quality youngsters.

That's the whole point, our club can't attract young players of obvious quality so you need to take a few gambles with some young players like Dagenham have done and work with them to make them better. Barnet are also very good at this.

Excellent points.

We have a young goalie who must be itching to get in the team. I find Roche to be a real plodder and Davies is more than ready to fill his boots. One of ours.

Some of Sammy's summer recruits have little to offer, and in my opinion are unlikely to improve. I don't think that it matters how much the north stand sing and shout, several of the current squad lack guile and certainly most are lacking in pace. A lot of opposition forwards are very quick and forgive me for ageist comment, young. They know they can run rings around our experienced? defense.

On top of this our long ball tactics are due to our inability in midfield to be creative, or pass accurately enough. So lobbing it up and hoping for a mistake seem to be our best tactic.

We are also extremely soft. Our players, apart from the odd barge from Jimbo and lots of aggression from Wayne, don't give the opposition much to be scared off. Drummond's goal the other week was a rare event.

My early season concerns about this 'friendly' club stuff seem to have dragged onto the field and we are giving other teams as much space as they want to get about us.

I have watched most of the games this season and know that the starting 11 give it their absolute all in every game. I get behind them as much as possible but it is increasingly hard to be optimistic when I know we are going to see the same stuff every week from certain players. Maybe they just aren't good enough, which is a serious worry if we don't have any young guns to inject some energy, and Sammy isn't prepared to give the youngsters a chance.