laws' legacy

[Raygun]

I am genuinely interested to hear what you suspect the catalyst for our awful season was. If you regard yourself as a conspiracy theorist then surely you have your theory?

Also, some of your detractors had suggested a tipping point. As if the squad had reached a stage that it was so saturated with sh!te (from lack of investment, poor signings and quality not replaced etc) that when one of Brian's collapses in form came along they didn't have the requisite abilities to be able to arrest it.

Ultimately though, two important facts stand out for me.

1. It was Brian Laws' responsibility to put together the squad for this season

2. This is squad absolutely gash and needs seriously overhauling.

[Guest ka58]

This is an unerring fact! There was no clue immediately after the 4-0 Sflaphorpe result and 3-1 Plymouth result of what was soon to transpire! Something certainly must have triggered that nosedive!

No its not /doesn't. This suggest we were a consistent team beforehand. Im not comparing but more succesful clubs don't stand still. Who are we to say when the expiry date comes on a squad. Especially at the standard we play at. Players may perform above their standard for a while but at some point the truth will out.

The only argument I would stand is that Laws had hit the wall in terms of what he could achieve but he had the opporunity in the summer to strengthen the team and didn't sign the right players and we are where we are.

On another note, its nice to have a good debate with some people on here. Most my posts end up with a load of drivel following em!

[Guest Distraught!]

The squad is serious gash?

It is the same squad that comfortably finsihed last season in mid table except:

Purse: Heavily criticized but now deeply missed and seen as pivotal to any remaining hope of survival.

Miller: flip knows! He hasn't played enough to make a realistic judgement.

Soares: So bad Irvine thought it might be a good idea to extend his loan.

Varney: Ditto.

Feeney: OK, you win with that one!

[Guest Distraught!]

No its not /doesn't. This suggest we were a consistent team beforehand. Im not comparing but more succesful clubs don't stand still. Who are we to say when the expiry date comes on a squad. Especially at the standard we play at. Players may perform above their standard for a while but at some point the truth will out.

The only argument I would stand is that Laws had hit the wall in terms of what he could achieve but he had the opporunity in the summer to strengthen the team and didn't sign the right players and we are where we are.

On another note, its nice to have a good debate with some people on here. Most my posts end up with a load of drivel following em!

You mean something like walking along a pier with a blindfold on?

Sudden nosedives that go on for a sustained period of time are invariably triggered by a random factor or effect. They don't just happen!

[DJMortimer]

I am genuinely interested to hear what you suspect the catalyst for our awful season was. If you regard yourself as a conspiracy theorist then surely you have your theory?

This has been discussed heavily in the last couple of days and is one of the reasons why this debate has dragged on. I'm slightly surprised you seem unaware of them if you've felt moved to join in. Anyway, it was interesting that the Richard Wood affair came to a head at the end of last October, right at the start of this collapse. Whilst I would say the player deserved all the criticism he got for apparently misleading the club and costing it several hundred thousand quid, the players may not have seen it that way and closed ranks. It might have brought to a head a few more minor issues that had been simmering beneath the surface, perhaps the way Jeffers was dealt with after his red card for example?

The real wild card is the investment prospectus (or at least a version of it) that surfaced a little while later, but the contents of which might have been known to the squad somewhat earlier. It allegedly revealed that a large number of players in the final year of their contracts would be released, presumably to demonstrate the scope for quickly rebuilding and improving the squad with a relatively modest cash injection?

I accept it is largely conjecture and speculation, and if Laws is to blame for them I'll have no problem accepting that. But it seems to me these provide a more plausible explanation for the sudden collapse we have seen than an abrupt realisation that the manager was a moron or players gradually losing faith in him. And it could be that other parties might share some degree of culpability.

I don't regard myself as a conspiracy theorist per se as that would imply a preconceived desire to arrive at a conclusion that goes against the grain. And I have rubbished plenty of them on this site over the years.

I think I might step back from all this now. There's not really much more I can add and I imagine most posters are sick of the whole thing now anyway.

And stop cheering.

[Guest ka58]

You mean something like walking along a pier with a blindfold on?

Sudden nosedives that go on for a sustained period of time are invariably triggered by a random factor or effect. They don't just happen!

Whats random about using a lot of money to sign a striker that has never performed but is subsidised by a striker suddenly coming into goals (jeffers / tudgay). When the latter stops there's no money to sign a new striker.

Whats random about signing a "new captain" in purse and ostracising your existing captain (wood / purse). Lowering of team morale.

Whats random about failing to realise height and ball winning capabilities are a factor in midfield and signing 2 midfielders that don't fit the bill (potter / miller)

If jeffers, purse, miller and potter all played and played well we'd probably win a game, but does that make them good decisions, I would say its bad team building that we now have to compensate.

The "random factor" is just a culmination of bad signings and wasted funds that leave us unable to maneouvre.

[DJMortimer]

Whats random about using a lot of money to sign a striker that has never performed but is subsidised by a striker suddenly coming into goals (jeffers / tudgay). When the latter stops there's no money to sign a new striker.

You are aware of the allegations for how Jeffers arrived here aren't you?

Whats random about signing a "new captain" in purse and ostracising your existing captain (wood / purse). Lowering of team morale.

Is this the same existing captain that asked for a transfer whilst holding that position? And after Purse replaced him our results continued just as they had the previous season (averaging 1.33 points per game) until late October.

[Guest ka58]

You are aware of the allegations for how Jeffers arrived here aren't you?

No - i'm not. This isn't me being smarmy either let me know cos im interested.

Is this the same existing captain that asked for a transfer whilst holding that position? And after Purse replaced him our results continued just as they had the previous season (averaging 1.33 points per game) until late October.

Maybe so - but was purse the best we could get? what would our points per game be had we signed a better player.

[Guest ka58]

You are aware of the allegations for how Jeffers arrived here aren't you?

No - i'm not. This isn't me being smarmy either let me know cos im interested.

Is this the same existing captain that asked for a transfer whilst holding that position? And after Purse replaced him our results continued just as they had the previous season (averaging 1.33 points per game) until late October.

Maybe so - but was purse the best we could get? what would our points per game be had we signed a better player.

[Guest ka58]

No - i'm not. This isn't me being smarmy either let me know cos im interested.

Maybe so - but was purse the best we could get? what would our points per game be had we signed a better player.

[DJMortimer]

No - i'm not. This isn't me being smarmy either let me know cos im interested.

If I recall correctly (and if I don't it is a genuine mistake that I'm perfectly happy for someone to correct without the need for legal action) Mr Strafford himself revealed that Laws had been given a list by Kaven Walker with a few names on and told to pick one. There was no mention of who the others on the list might have been.

[i used to be sc_owl]

I think I'm actually starting to see the light.

Did you know that we were averaging 3 points a game between 16th and 23rd of January, but between the 27th January and the 6th Feb we only averaged 1 point per game.

What could possibly have happened to cause such a drastic, some might say significant, drop in performance....?

[nippyowl]

[DJMortimer]

I think I'm actually starting to see the light.

Did you know that we were averaging 3 points a game between 16th and 23rd of January, but between the 27th January and the 6th Feb we only averaged 1 point per game.

What could possibly have happened to cause such a drastic, some might say significant, drop in performance....?

Meh.

Not as funny as your stats.

[Guest ka58]

Meh.

Not as funny as your stats.

My last thoughts on the matter in summary;

Laws did ok with what he had to play with at the time.

When laws had the chance he didn't build a decent side.

Laws team began an awful slide that led to him getting sacked.

Irvine is left with the side laws left behind which has maxed out the wage bill and is on the wane.

DJ M - I was looking forward to the jeffers story but can't see it. Why would the board pressure a manager into SPENDING money, can't see it.

[M Royds]

My last thoughts on the matter in summary;

Laws did ok with what he had to play with at the time.

When laws had the chance he didn't build a decent side.

Laws team began an awful slide that led to him getting sacked.

Irvine is left with the side laws left behind which has maxed out the wage bill and is on the wane.

DJ M - I was looking forward to the jeffers story but can't see it. Why would the board pressure a manager into SPENDING money, can't see it.

Conspiracy again?

[DJMortimer]

Conspiracy again?

Ask the current chairman.

[Brownlad]

i think what happened, was Laws bumbled his way through a couple of years and we gradually accumulated bad players, which slowly but surely crept into our performances and over time we just gradually got worse and worse, before he got found out and we sacked him.

[DJMortimer]

i think what happened, was Laws bumbled his way through a couple of years and we gradually accumulated bad players, which slowly but surely crept into our performances and over time we just gradually got worse and worse, before he got found out and we sacked him.

[Guest Distraught!]

i think what happened, was Laws bumbled his way through a couple of years and we gradually accumulated bad players, which slowly but surely crept into our performances and over time we just gradually got worse and worse, before he got found out and we sacked him.

So, for example, Potter who was being described on Owlstalk after the 4-0 Sflaphorpe game as the 'new Sheridan' by some suddenly took stock of themselves and brought themselves down to a more appropriate level of performance?

The decline this season was not gradual, it was more like Tangoman falling off a barstool!