Les Parry. What to do

[The Corner flag]

Freebies

Just seen a few players released already on sky sports!

Sean Thornton - now that is a shame \\/

On a serious note, Michael Kuipers, Brighton's dutch keeper, always thought he was solid, might be worth a shout, has got experience of this division, but do agree worth trying to sign Gulasci on a season long loan.

Mad idea for you lot, Logan, make a sneeky deal (he's not going to last at man city), offer him 1 year with a clause for a January release if a championship side come in. Got to think of ways to attract decent players if your budget is tight. Moore always seemed to have the gift of the gab (ie. Coyne + Kay signing) maybe Les can work his magic sponge. :-k

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

We would have finished 15th instead of 19th (not 8th)

You also have to bear in mind that:

a) This was not Les's squad and he had to get rid of some of Barnes's garbage (ie. Ricketts, Carole) before he could bring in loan signings of his own.

b) We had a six week 'transition' period after Barnes's sacking where results remained poor as Les tried to implement a different system of play.

So had Les been in charge all season we may have finished higher than 15th, even given the severe financial constraints.

Just regarding the financial situaion, I still can't understand how we had the 15th highest average attendance in the division last season, despite being in the bottom four for most of the year, yet reportedly have the lowest budget. Most clubs at our level are in hoc to their chairmen, but few have had the screws tightened like we have.

 

[SonkORLY?]

Teams like Walsall have similar attendences to us and yet operate at a small annual profit wheras we lose £1m. Others like Oldham simply spend above their means and never recouperate it. Teams like Brighton have financial backing from a rich, interested chairman. I dislike both PJ and Rogers for various reasons, but I like/d their realistic approach to spending within our means. And our stadium costs a lot to upkeep. Cuts will be made in expectation of further drops in attendence next year.

 

[Boz]

In fact Walsall's average attendance is ~1.5k fewer than ours, which makes the question of how they manage to run at a profit interesting. There does seem to be some discontent with their board for reasons which weren't clear. Rovers average crowd has only dipped by a couple of hundred this season, which isn't bad going.

 

[SonkORLY?]

Think mass advertising helps them a great deal.

 

[SonkORLY?]

Les is on BBC1 now on Late Kick Off. Apparently he's meeting with PJ tomorrow or Wednesday to discuss his future. He's wearing a terrible shirt.

 

[Gray]

My gut feeling was that Les should go back to being physio and bask in the glory of having secured Rovers legend status (if he hadn't already achieved that accolade).

However, having read some of the thoughts and analysis on here and if Les wants the job I think he should get it. If nothing else, the money we save by not appointing an experienced manager could be spent on players.

If Les can maintain his record into next year and we finish mid-table in 2010/11 who knows where we can go from there as Les learns his trade and builds a squad.

 

[Ian]

I think it's clear Les wants the job. Who knows what's going on in PJ's head though.

 

[Tartantranmere64]

"Tranmere Rovers have today completed the signing of former Liverpool and England U-21 midfielder John Welsh on a two-year contract becoming John Barnes's third new signing of the summer so far."

Reported incorrectly at the time. John Welsh signed a one-year deal with us when he joined. Really, he did. No, honestly, he did. Am not making it up.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Others like Oldham simply spend above their means and never recouperate it. Teams like Brighton have financial backing from a rich, interested chairman.

Suggests, rightly or wrongly, that even relatively mediocre clubs at this level are subsidised far more heavily by their directors than we are. Unless new investment is found it is difficult to see how we can compete at this (or maybe even lower) levels in the longer term.

 

[TheBunnyBellEnd]

This season a number of clubs in League 1 will be facing the same problem we did this year with serious budget cuts. I believe there will be a number of team in a far worse financial situation than we are this year.

On the subject of the manager, thanks Les you did a great job keeping us up however stand aside now and dont tarnish your reputation or achievement this season. Let someone else come in and if we dont like him you can have the job back in November!\\/

 

[SonkORLY?]

Suggests, rightly or wrongly, that even relatively mediocre clubs at this level are subsidised far more heavily by their directors than we are. Unless new investment is found it is difficult to see how we can compete at this (or maybe even lower) levels in the longer term.

Definetly wrongly! Above all else I'm grateful I have a club to support, so long may our cautious approach to spending continue...

 

[Boz]

I think it's clear Les wants the job. Who knows what's going on in PJ's head though.

The fact that PJ and Les were meant to be having a meeting on Wednesday and no announcement has followed, suggests that Mr Johnson may be looking elsewhere. Let's hope we don't repeat the mistakes of last pre-season.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I'm grateful I have a club to support, so long may our cautious approach to spending continue...

I agree, but it seems that a number of clubs are in receipt of genuine capital investment rather than simply being saddled with debt like ourselves, ie. they have the cash but not the associated risk of clubs like Palace, Southend etc.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

Statistics

There is a list of statistics about last season on the club website. Most are complete trivia, but one caught my eye. They claim we won EVERY game when we were ahead at half-time. That must be very unusual. For a team with such a poor record overall, we did well never to cave in during the second half. It may be a major factor in our survival and something to build on next season.

Unfortunately, there are other statistics not on the website I could quote.

1. Our disciplinary record was poor - we finished 8 league matches with 10 men. This needs sorting out.
2. We travelled badly - only 3 away wins, all at relegated clubs. Could one reason be that most away matches are in the south and PJ does not give Les enough budget to stay overnight every time? Or is it just our tactics?
3. We never put together a decent run of results. Our best unbeaten run in the league was 3 and we won two consecutive games only once - right at the death. We were consistently inconsistent. We usually bounced back after a defeat, but often lost badly after a great win.

I am not complaining. I thought Les did a fantastic job. But we do need to improve on those three stats if we are to move forward next season.

 

[Mal]

How many of the games we won had McLaren in the side?

 

[rondav]

Walsall

In fact Walsall's average attendance is ~1.5k fewer than ours, which makes the question of how they manage to run at a profit interesting. There does seem to be some discontent with their board for reasons which weren't clear. Rovers average crowd has only dipped by a couple of hundred this season, which isn't bad going.

I've been to several meetings and events at the Walsall stadium. It's location means it is used alot by businesses, charities and public bodies to host events. This is a source of income denied Rovers as we don't have any of the advantages Walsall's location and excellent conference facilities afford them.

It's hard to see how PP can be used to generate non-match income really.

 

[Ian]

It's hard to see how PP can be used to generate non-match income really.

Yeah, this topic cropped up a lot when Lorraine was in charge. She was desperate for the club to start generating more income using the stadium to hosts events etc.. and while they did successfully use it in some areas, I think she found it difficult on a whole.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

Any news or rumours about Les's future? I'd have thought we'd have had some news by now - or are things going to happen at a snail's pace just like last close season?

 

[SCooperSomersaults]

I heard he was set to sign a 2-year deal as manager, with the club bringing in a full-time physio in his place. Presumably the deal will include work for the Chief and Shaun Garnett. Only a rumour mind.