League Two Rovers (0) v Wrexham (1)

[O4anotherplayoff]

No wonder Adkins is always smiling in those annoying early morning motivational videos. Only kidding, I'm sure he's making a big difference

We don’t know what his performance criteria are but, if you’re trying to pin the team’s results on him, I think you’re looking at the wrong man.

No amount of mentoring can make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

 

[O4anotherplayoff]

Indeed. Let’s hope that doesn't make the CV!

Not really. But let’s hope the baying ‘Palios out’ mob don’t get their way just yet, seeing as the only other known serious interest in ‘investing’ in this club over the last 20 years, besides the Indonesians, has come from assorted cowboys and a hopelessly inadequate offering from the Trust.

Be careful what you wish for..

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Indeed. And let’s hope the baying ‘Palios out’ mob don’t get their way just yet, seeing as the only other known serious interest in ‘investing’ in this club over the last 20 years, besides the Indonesians, has come from assorted cowboys and a hopelessly inadequate offering from the Trust.

Be careful what you wish for..

It is easier said than done, but we need Palios to move on for the club to move in an upwards direction again.

The recent takeovers at Notts County, Stockport and Gillingham, among others, demonstrate that there are plenty of reputable individuals that want to own football clubs. Palios needs to follow Johnson's lead in making that transition as easy as possible.

As its stands, Palios is in danger of relegating us to the National League for a second time.

 

[O4anotherplayoff]

Even Johnson’s “lead” could only attract one credible bidder, Palios.

He’s been seeking investment for years. A serial 3rd/4th division club in the shadows of Liverpool’s big two, playing in front of a crumbling stand and never likely to pull in five figure gates on a regular basis, isn’t much of an investment opportunity. Notts and Gills have a bit more going for them, Stockport arguably not, which is why I guess they were lucky enough to attract a wealthy local…who (I think) bought them for a steal when they‘d just climbed out of VNL North.

That’s why I wouldn’t be surprised if Palios‘ future as owner, and potential new investment, is still indelibly linked to whatever the feasibility study will say (if it ever gets done) about the new stadium opportunity. Unless, in the meantime, we attract a multi millionaire who fancies a hobby throwing their money away on another trip to the moon!

 

[Ian]

Be careful what you wish for..

I do not wish to be back in that dreadul NL. I don't think I could stomach that again.

 

[O4anotherplayoff]

Just thinking back a few months, the pundit Gabriel Sutton mentioned there was some high profile party/parties interested in the club, but no clue as to who they were or even if they were particularly credible or suitable.

 

[O4anotherplayoff]

I do not wish to be back in that dreadul NL. I don't think I could stomach that again.

100%

And without a windfall like Ingleborough it’d be a lot harder to get out of next time.

 

[Sparky]

It is interesting that the managerial sackings are already starting. Charlton a few days ago and Fleetwood have today sacked ex Celtic man Scott brown (wonder if Micky fancies a return).

Although it would appear most of the SWA want Dawes gone, I suspect Palios will give him the Colchester game at least and might even think that we weren’t going to get many points against but budget teams like Salford, MK dons, Notts county and Wrexham. But we should be capable of getting something next week.
For me it’s the odd team decisions along with the results (plus the manner of performances like yesterday), that are a concern but don’t think Palios will sack him yet

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Even Johnson’s “lead” could only attract one credible bidder, Palios.

He’s been seeking investment for years. A serial 3rd/4th division club in the shadows of Liverpool’s big two, playing in front of a crumbling stand and never likely to pull in five figure gates on a regular basis, isn’t much of an investment opportunity. Notts and Gills have a bit more going for them, Stockport arguably not, which is why I guess they were lucky enough to attract a wealthy local…who (I think) bought them for a steal when they‘d just climbed out of VNL North.

That’s why I wouldn’t be surprised if Palios‘ future as owner, and potential new investment, is still indelibly linked to whatever the feasibility study will say (if it ever gets done) about the new stadium opportunity. Unless, in the meantime, we attract a multi millionaire who fancies a hobby throwing their money away on another trip to the moon!

You don't know what interest there is in the club, or what Palios' terms of departure are.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I do not wish to be back in that dreadul NL. I don't think I could stomach that again.

As it stands, we could be heading there under Palios (again), not some mystery rogue owner.

 

[O4anotherplayoff]

You don't know what interest there is in the club, or what Palios' terms of departure are.

Neither do you. Which is why, unlike you and some of the Twitterati, I‘m not blindly clamouring for “Palios to move on”.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Neither do you. Which is why, unlike you and some of the Twitterati, I‘m not blindly clamouring for “Palios to move on”.

If you actually read my comments you would know I am not 'blindly clamouring' for him to move on.

However, I don't think the club will progress without a change of ownership. I am pretty sure Mark Palios agrees with me.

 

[Ian]

It's not a secret he wants out anyway, but by making these strange decisions, putting the club into more jeopardy, it becomes a less attractive purchase by the day! What about a White Review takeover? Wait till we drop in to the NL so the club is worth buttons and then offer a £1!?

 

[O4anotherplayoff]

If you actually read my comments you would know I am not 'blindly clamouring' for him to move on.

However, I don't think the club will progress without a change of ownership. I am pretty sure Mark Palios agrees with me.

Yes I read your comments and they did suggest you were blindly clamouring for him to move on. Just like you’re now blindly guessing that Palios agrees with your rewrite!

Joking aside, we do know that he’s seeking new investment, and has been for years, as a pre-requisite for the club to realise its aspirations. And he will have certainly planned his eventual exit route, as far as he’s able to.

 

[Goody Two Shoes]

It's not a secret he wants out anyway, but by making these strange decisions, putting the club into more jeopardy, it becomes a less attractive purchase by the day! What about a White Review takeover? Wait till we drop in to the NL so the club is worth buttons and then offer a £1!?

Is that us clubbing together to raise £1 or £1 each…….don’t want to over-bid!

 

[Boz]

I would assume Dawes will get until the end of this month to try and turn things around, see if the loanees or Norris/Saunders make any difference when they come back. Not that I'd expect that to happen. Mark would prefer not to have been found to have got another managerial appointment wrong.

While it's not looking likely there will be an imminent sale and further investment from Indonesia seems unlikely, there are still clubs in L2 in worse positions and the squad we have ought to be capable of staying in the FL if deployed properly.

 

[bigmart]

The first choice to replace Micky was BBM and he was set to join until MP changed his mind at the last minute so he then turned to Dawes.
MP is far too involved in the football side of things and really should step back from it.

There will be no further investment from Santini as they do not wish too so we are trying to find a suitable buyer. The next set of financial results are almost certain to show a significant loss. What concerns me is we are now back to the stage we were under PJ just drifting along and if we are not careful getting relegated again and if it happens however much MP and Santini want to sell then it will be much less

 

[O4anotherplayoff]

It's not a secret he wants out anyway, but by making these strange decisions, putting the club into more jeopardy, it becomes a less attractive purchase by the day! What about a White Review takeover? Wait till we drop in to the NL so the club is worth buttons and then offer a £1!?

Another hypothesis is that a change of ownership could indeed be imminent, and consequently some decisions, although still made with the best interests of the club at heart, have been deliberately short term so as not to overly-bind any new owner to them.

If not, White Review could join forces with the Trust. After their previous bid fell so far short, Northern Prem here we come! (I’m not a big fan of fan ownership)

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

Indeed. More akin to Edwards than Jacko. And surely senior members of the squad - including players who’ve succeeded at this level and know what it takes - have started to suss him. It’s very hard to see how he can turn this around.

Nor should he be, that’s firmly the manager‘s domain, albeit apparently buying into the ‘club identity’, including style of play, that Palios often says we’re striving for.

Adkins‘ role, according to the club, is to “oversee the key football processes within the Club (recruitment, development and management) as well as acting as a mentor and advisor to manager Ian Dawes”. Same as most other technical directors. And, like most other technical directors, nobody ever knows exactly what it means!

But he definitely shouldn’t be telling Dawes what to do, or getting involved in the management of the team. Mentoring is all about influencing people’s thought processes rather than the thoughts themselves, as well as being a sounding board whenever called upon. Any failures in Dawes’ decisions are solely down to him, not Adkins; the technical director isn’t, or shouldn’t be, a shadow manager.

The two key questions for me about Adkins are (1) how much of the authority and decision-making over “recruitment, development and management“ has Palios actually delegated to Adkins, and (2) how much of a say does Adkins have in hiring and firing a manager. They’ll tell us something about whether he’s just a figurehead or something more.

Fwiw I think we’ve already seen a change and improvement in, for example, recruitment, which might go some small way to answering (1). I also suspect we might find out the answer to (2) sooner rather than later!

Incidentally, Adkins has been doing his motivational clips on Twitter for years, I don’t think it’s part of the job description! Always felt they might be a bit too positive for the majority of our fan base!

As for Danns, I just think his profile as assistant is deliberately kept low (and especially during this difficult spell), seeing as his footballing CV and standing in the game way outstrips his gaffer’s.

Great post, O4. I’d love to hear you asking these questions to Mark at one of his q&as.

 

[roverstillidie]

Another hypothesis is that a change of ownership could indeed be imminent, and consequently some decisions, although still made with the best interests of the club at heart, have been deliberately short term so as not to overly-bind any new owner to them.

If not, White Review could join forces with the Trust. After their previous bid fell so far short, Northern Prem here we come! (I’m not a big fan of fan ownership)

At least if we fall down far enough you can have a beer during the match.

I did wonder briefly if the Dawes appointment was laying the ground for a take over. Decided not, as very high risk if you get relegated and de-value your asset, but could be wrong. It’s the kind of thing someone who thinks they are very clever might try do…only for it to backfire.

Personally think the whole club needs to go back to basics - decent manager, a strong recruitment team, 4-5 players on 3 year contracts to build a spine around and revive the youth set up - which getting rid of remains by far the worst decision Palios has made. (I get the logic that led to it, but other clubs have made it work, and I think unfortunately another example of Palios trying to be too clever).

Get rid of all this development, technical director, water into wine bollocks!