Q&A

[Rockford's Love Child]

For those that are unaware, there is a Q&A with Mark and Nicola Palios at TRFC on the evening of Tuesday 24th May, open to all existing OSC members. As with the similar event in January, Gary Brabin will not be attending.

Without wanting to create yet another Brabin-bashing thread, I think it is misguided of him not to attend these events. The majority of the OSC members are pretty placid and even-handed and would not give him a particularly hard time in my view, and if he seriously wants to build bridges with the supporters he needs to speak to fans one-to-one at events like these.

 

[drwhoman]

Pathetic is all one can say and GB has the hide to be critical of the fans. Sounds as if the Palios' want to talk big picture which makes it all a waste of time probably. Still I will be interested to hear what is said from anyone who goes.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I would not be quite so critical, and credit should be given to Palios for agreeing to these events after the near-silence from the boardroom under his predecessor. But I think it would be in Brabin's best interest to attend.

 

[Ian]

It would be beneficial for him to attend to build bridges with the fans but from what I remember on the first one he did he didnt get much of a look in with MP answering most of the questions.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

It would be beneficial for him to attend to build bridges with the fans but from what I remember on the first one he did he didnt get much of a look in with MP answering most of the questions.

At the q and a. We have signed andy cook on a two year contract.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

At the q and a. We have signed andy cook on a two year contract.

Great news. Quite a coup for the club and superb PR to announce it tonight. Was he there? Look forward to your report.

 

[Ian]

Andy Cook discussions in the players section please chaps.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

An interesting meeting tonight, and I will try to summarise Palios's comments below:

He strongly implied (as we suspected) that our performance in the second half of the season kept Brabin in a job. He said that momentum is key in football and he hopes our form from Christmas onwards will be sustained. He said that stability was vital to the club: the rebuilding job last summer cost us in the first half of the season, whereas this close season we will probably only need to bring in five players. This suggests that he expects a number of the out of contract players to stay.

He said the wage budget this season would again be £1.1 million.

He commented that the major failings last season were the poor home form and the failure to score enough goals. In addition to signing Cook, we are trying to bring in players to provide goals in other areas of the pitch. He admitted that Norwood could not carry the burden for scoring goals on his own. He said we attempted to provide him with more support last season (presumably after Mangan went) but the players we brought in did not perform. He was honest enough to admit Higdon was a bad signing; Nigel Adkins gave him assurances about his qualities but the signing did not work out. He also claimed - which I disagreed with - that we had created enough chances last season, even at home (as many as Cheltenham apparently) and it was purely our conversion rate that was the problem. He did not seem convinced by the idea that we were too negative at home, but the signing of Cook seems to contradict this.

He listed a number of players he was impressed by last season - Davies, McNulty, Norwood, Mekki, Harris, Hughes - which suggest we might be trying to sign the later permanently.

In general, I got the impression he was aware of (most) of our failings last season and we were making real attempts to improve in these areas.

In terms of the general finances, he said the club made a £500,000 loss in the last financial year, down from £1 million the previous year, and we are now on a path to breaking even. He stated that the wage budget would have risen to £1.5 - £1.7 million had we been promoted last year. More of his comments will probably come back to me later.

I was also very impressed by Andy Parkinson, who I thought spoke well when discussing the youth system.

 

[drwhoman]

Thanks for your very succinct summary RLC. It must give heart that Mark P is conscious of our failings last season and wants something done about them. This presumably means that Gary will really be on trial during the first half of next season. Cook is a good goalscorer but we need to ensure that we have players to give him the chance to fire the bullets! As we all know more creativity in midfield is essential.

 

[Ian]

Thanks RLC. I agree in part about the chances as I remember many games last season when we had chances but couldn't put the ball in the net.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

Thanks, RLC. You have to wonder how good a football manager MP might have been had he been daft enough not to become a top management consultant. It's reassuring that GB has been given the same budget. Given how much of it was wasted in 2015/16, the money should go a lot further next season. It's good that our first new player is a marquee signing. It shows our intent and hopefully will attract others to come and persuade Mekki et al to stay.

I agree with drwhoman. There will be no excuse for being mid-table again in November. We need to be hitting the ground running in August.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Palios made a point of saying that he was not happy with five home defeats after Christmas, despite the improved form in the second half of the season. So, if the home form does not improve significantly and we start poorly, I think brabin will be under pressure.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

RLC, did MP mention the young pros? Did you get the impression we might see one or two in the first team next season. We have six of them now in the squad. Last season, not a single one got on the pitch and few even warmed the bench.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

He said the policy now is to get the first year pros out on loan to get experience, but there was no mention of them getting time on the pitch with rovers. Whether that is down to brabin or palios, I don't know.

 

[Boz]

Thanks for the report, RLC.

I think that there's some truth in MPs remarks about conversion rate, in the home games against Barrow and Torquay for example,we had a number of decent chances, but didn't put them away, which did cost us against Barrow. Norwood's is poor for a striker, but offset by the fact the ones he misses/converts are often a result of his own hardwork. Cook may be a better finisher.

Read elsewhere that there was some discussion about loan players and Mark indicated that they would be less reliance on them, implying greater use of of youngsters. Let's hope they are given a chance.

Think there was also mention of a need to get more pace into the side, which was a major failing of last season's squad. However, if Riley and Sutton are to join Hogan in leaving, then we are thin on defensive cover. Along with Cook, can see another 6 or 7 players coming in, which isn't much different to the recruiting from last season.

Any news of Steve McNulty and the eye injury?

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

He said the policy now is to get the first year pros out on loan to get experience, but there was no mention of them getting time on the pitch with rovers. Whether that is down to brabin or palios, I don't know.

I wonder how the abolition of temporary loans at our level will affect our recruitment policy. We can only loan in or out for half a season. This might make it more difficult to find placements for young players or out of favour senior pros. On the other hand, we can't bring in short-term replacements to cover injuries and suspensions. It will mean no room for mistakes in recruitment. Personally, I would keep a couple of the more senior youngsters in the squad as cover and try to blood them when I could.

 

[Ian]

To be honest our main priority is to get back into the league. We'll have time to concentrate on youth but that time is not now. Playing youngsters in the team isnt going to help our cause.

We need a settled squad with a bit of cover. Loaning them out is a great idea as they get experience and match fitness and can be recalled if needed.

 

[Boz]

To be honest our main priority is to get back into the league. We'll have time to concentrate on youth but that time is not now. Playing youngsters in the team isnt going to help our cause.

We need a settled squad with a bit of cover. Loaning them out is a great idea as they get experience and match fitness and can be recalled if needed.

Ian, I agree with your first sentence, but don't accept that promotion and playing youngsters are mutually exclusive.

Playing a side largely made up of players who've made a career at or around this level, some overwight, more unfit didn't get us up last season. We'll never know, but I can't help feeling we might have done better by using the youngsters; Askew off the bench when we were unable to break down Barrow at home, Gumbs rather than a makeshift right-back, as examples. At this level, Alan Hansen's remark "you won't win anything with kids" holds true, but my view is that a balanced side including some younger players will give us a better chance of progress.

 

[Mal]

Playing a lot of youngsters didn't help Stockport as I recall or maybe I dreamt that!

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I largely agree with boz's post. It seems crazy to be investing so heavily in solar campus if youth players are going to get nowhere near the first team for the foresseable future.