The manager

[frenchrover]

Firstly RLC, thanks for posting Mrs Palios' Facebook reply. I agree totally that this shows a complete disconnect with the feelings of anger and disappointment felt by the fans (perhaps if she had have made the game last Saturday she might better have appreciated how dreadful we were). This is not just about losing games, disappointing that each loss is, it's about the manner of the losses. We are consistently being out played by teams of part-timers who might train two or three times a week AFTER completing an 8 hour work day, and out thought tactically by part-time managers. Getting a team "to gel and play with confidence is an art, not a science"....no I'm sorry Mrs P. but it most definitely is a science, a science that demands that coaches have to qualify to gain their relevant qualifications and to have the ability to translate the skills acquired, both tactical and physical, into training schedules and match day performances.
Your spot on RLC regarding Managers win ratio statistics. How on earth can a meaningful comparison be made without acknowledging the different levels at which the statistics have been achieved. It beggars belief that the co-owner of our club would have the gall to compare Brabins record with that of other managers. Are we really to believe that Brabin's 47% weighs more favourably than Ronnie Moore's 37% or even more ridiculously against Johnny King's second spell of 43.24%.
I'm afraid the response smacks of desperation and total lack of understanding. "With 22 games still to go there is still plenty of time to achieve that (a play-off place)"...well I hope that doesn't come back to haunt Mrs. P as tonight we are in fact 8 points off the play-offs having played a game more than 5 of the top 7 sides.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

To be fair on Mrs P, what else could she say? She has to either back or sack GB, there's no halfway house or it sounds like a vote of no confidence. So, she has to spin a bit if necessary. I think GB will go if he doesn't turn things round in a few weeks. This may be too late for some, but I stand by my view that sacking GB could be too expensive at this stage in the season. What will be interesting is what happens once the transfer window opens. Will there be more comings and many goings - or will GB be asked to make do with what he has, as some of us have suggested?

 

[Boz]

Mark Palios was at the game on Saturday and hopefully registered the anger. I don't think that Brabin has spent all the money allocated. Could see us signing Vaughan and Dawson permanently, if they and their clubs are willing, but beyond that suspect some will have to leave if others are to come in.

 

[Sparky]

God help us if we don't sign Dawson permanently. No one else in the midfield can create anything on a regular basis. Mekki does ok but doubt he has many assists this season...

 

[Gray]

Very interesting to read Mrs Ps comments, after so many years of us moaning about lack of communication from the club let's not start moaning even louder that we don't like the content.

We all know that football is played on grass not on paper but the stat regarding Forest Green is a telling one, there will be peaks and troughs in performances throughout the season and we're very much in a trough at the moment. We're still in touching distance and the club desperately needs some stability so I think sticking with Brabin is the right decision for now. I'm a great believer in the importance of timing in top level sport (not that we're playing at a top level lol!) and just hope that we can prove the old saying of start slow, finish fast and have a strong second half to the season.

I'm another armchair fan and have admittedly only been to two games this season (first game at home to Woking and away to Cheltenham, both victories ironically) so can't comment on recent performances. Perhaps the run of a few away games in December will be good for the team.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Regarding the FGR statistic, you cant just cherry pick a run of games like that. The only statistic that matters is that half way through the season we are 14 points behind them and have virtually no chance of catching them. Over the season so far they have been far more consistent than us.

 

[Boz]

God help us if we don't sign Dawson permanently. No one else in the midfield can create anything on a regular basis. Mekki does ok but doubt he has many assists this season...

Sparky, I'd certainly agree that it would be better for us if we signed Dawson. However Shaun Garnett on his o/s interview indicated it was not a done deal, Adam will go back to Kidderminster with the end of his loan spell. He may decide to stay there[though family reasons were a factor in him coming to Rovers] or get a better offer from elsewhere. However in games like Barrow,we created enough chances without Dawson and he didn't change the Braintree game significantly by coming on, so it's not the end of the world if he doesn't join Rovers.

 

[Sparky]

I think you are under selling him there boz. Our recent poor run has coincided with his absence and whilst not the only reason, it has been a major factor in my opinion.

He wasn't fit against Braintree but still created a good chance for mangan. He offers genuine pace and a quality delivery and in my opinion he is the best player in the squad. I really hope he doesn't go back and a better northern side than us get him.

Our remaining midfield options from a creative point of view are Mekki. Ridehalgh, kirby and GTF. Not exactly inspiring although jake hasn't had a chance yet.

 

[bigmart]

God help us if we don't sign Dawson permanently. No one else in the midfield can create anything on a regular basis. Mekki does ok but doubt he has many assists this season...

We certainly need to sign Dawson as hes the most skilful midfielder we have but hes not yet scored and I don't think hes got an assist, we need a creative central midfielder too

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I agree with Sparky regarding the importance of Dawson. Even on Saturday when he clearly was not fit, he was our best and most creative player. While his absence is not the only factor in our recent struggles, it is an important one.

 

[Ian]

Whats also refreshing about Dawson is that he actually wants the ball, always calling for it. A rare quality in our squad.

Gray, just because the club have finally responded to the fans it doesn't mean we have to like what they say.

 

[drwhoman]

Agree re Dawson. From what I have seen on Player he is Rovers best midfield player. As a complete aside, I was interesting to see that Cheltenham have already announced the names of seven players who will leave at the end of the season. Lets players know clearly where they stand.

 

[Sparky]

Going back to the manager, below was in today's echo:

Palios said: "At the start of the season our aim was to ensure we were at least in the play-offs. There's still plenty of time to achieve this aim.

"If we get to the play-offs, we feel we have a chance because will be taking on teams who come out and play. We have been okay in games against the best teams.

"What we have not done effectively is deal with teams for whom playing us is their cup final."

Palios says he has regular discussions with manager Gary Brabin. "I can talk on the technical side with the manager, which most club chairman can't do," he said.

The former chief executive of the FA admits to being "more impatient the most" to see results take an upward turn.

He added: "I understand that a lot of the frustration among fans. But I asked them to keep the faith and be patient."

Someone previously said there were rumours MP is involved in transfer policy. Whilst that may not be true, his remark that he can talk technical football matters unlike most chairman, may not be what GB wants....

 

[Ian]

I remember someone mentioning on here the forum they had with supporters a while back and MP was very much the talker with GB taking a bit of a back seat. Possibly a little bit stifling. Anyway, it looks like we all need to be patient and keep the faith is the clear message coming from the top.

Looking forward to seeing these improved performances at PP.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I am still slightly concerned by the relationship between Palios and Brabin and his predecessors, as interference in first team affairs, however subtle, could unsettle a manager. It could also result in a lack of accountability if the manager is able to argue that poor decisions were not entirely his own. However, I am pleased that MP has stated he is 'more impatient than most' with current results which suggests he won't meekly accept failure this season, contrary to the impression sometimes given by Brabin with his endless talk of 'managing expectations' and 'gelling'.

Palios has come in for unfair criticism regarding the off the field work. With PJ out of the picture, the club has no alternative but to massively increase income from non-matchday activities and we should be grateful that MP is putting an infrastructure in place to make us self-sustainable. In the absence of another PJ willing to bankroll us, the alternative is oblivion, whatever division we are in.

 

[Boz]

We certainly need to sign Dawson as hes the most skilful midfielder we have but hes not yet scored and I don't think hes got an assist, we need a creative central midfielder too

I'd agree with this. Reality is that his loan spell finishes so we have to do without him over the next few games even if we are able to sign him when the window opens in January. He might have made a difference in games like Dover and Borehamwood away where we failed to create much, but in other games like Barrow and to a lesser extent extent Braintree, it was poor finishing rather than lack of chances that cost us. While Dawson played in our best win of the season v Bromley, we had a central midfield of Harris/Maynard and a forward line-up of Margetts and Mangan in that game too. Makes you think...

The Echo article quoting Mark Palios is, I think, simply a re-hash of what was said at the Trust meeting. MP certainly didn't know the line-up when he was addressing that meeting and while there are concerns raised about his involvement with team affairs, as long as the manager has the final say, it's not necessarily a bad thing. Although I recognise the risks RLC highlights with this. Personally I'd like to see more coaching and guidance from the management team during the game than is currently evident.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

http://www.lutontoday.co.uk/sport/luton-town/luton-town-news/brabin-in-plea-to-luton-fans-1-3296466

Deja vu ?

I don't want to alarm people further, but did you realise that in the one season that Brabin got into the play offs with Luton he was appointed on 28th March when they were already in the top five. I was not aware of that when we gave him the job.

Twelve months later, in his first full season, they were 36 points off first place and he was sacked.

His last really successful season was 2008-9 when he guided Cambridge to the play-offs, but that is some time ago now.

Anyway, it looks like he will be here for some time to come.

 

[Ian]

Has NP given us the stats bug?
It seems to get worse by the week when we look into his failures but like you say, he's going nowhere so we need to grin and bear it and just hope results turn around.

And just for something completely different, quote from GB about the game on Sat:

"As a group, we're disappointed with the goals we are conceding at the moment so we're going back to basics in training this week with defending first and foremost. The only way we can fix that is by working hard on the training pitch."

Sigh..

 

[bigmart]

Has NP given us the stats bug?
It seems to get worse by the week when we look into his failures but like you say, he's going nowhere so we need to grin and bear it and just hope results turn around.

And just for something completely different, quote from GB about the game on Sat:

"As a group, we're disappointed with the goals we are conceding at the moment so we're going back to basics in training this week with defending first and foremost. The only way we can fix that is by working hard on the training pitch."

Sigh..

funnily enough Jose Mourinho has just said same thing after another Chelsea defeat, top mangers eh !!!

 

[Ian]

Usually means they are out of options. Sadly GB has been saying this for months!