When we had inexperienced managers like Jackson/Dawes, then there seemed to be more funds to put into the playing side. However it did not work and experienced managers are more costly.
I think Micky would have probably got us promoted with the Mike Jackson squad. He’d certainly have done better than Dawes with this squad, but so would Adkins had he been managing us from
the start of this season. Interesting to speculate but I’ve no idea who of the pair would have done best with a full season of the current squad.
We've never had a period where you just don't know who recruited and how much the manager agreed with it. Maynard came at the end of August as no one offered him more, he never got going for us. We ended up with the novice Nevitt up top alone shipping long balls to little avail. By the time Hemmings arrived Nevitt had been downsized and was even weaker. They were both bullied and shirts shredded, rendering them next to useless.
Who thought speedy Saunders was the answer alongside the classically trained channel runner in Hemmings? Because he wasn't whereas a Norris could spark off all three players previously named.
Did Mellon go along with this or did he object. He let Nevitt go, Dawes Hemmings and both are playing at a higher level. Crewe are real contenders now.
I'd guess the answer is somewhere between, suffered interference but not blameless.
Saunders brings real pace and that can hurt. Frankly Jolley and Dennis are less use currently than Norris with a significant limp. Nigel needs to lose a dozen bring in 6 or so and that includes 3 first choice improvements.