Woking away..

[brummie exile 1960]

To paraphrase the immortal Pink Floyd track, I now feel "Comfortably Numb". Woking hadn't won a game since Carol Vorderman's last appointment with a psychiatrist, but they beat us today quite comfortably. Did we have a serious shot on target? I doubt it. The simple truth is our squad is Conference North standard. I believe IC tried to upgrade the playing staff but they turned him down because the wages weren't enough. I don't envy the new manager. What can he actually do? This league is full-on carnivore and we haven't got enough meat-eaters in our ranks.

UTP

[Dipdodah]

It was like taking a knife to a gun fight. We were woefully lacking in the final third. Woking's tactics were simple but effective, and at the cost of seven yellow cards. It was snuff out any attack by hook or by crook. We offered no answers. The last ten minutes saw us arguing among ourselves. Why did Woody send them out for the second half five minutes early? All they did was stand on the halfway line talking in the cold.

[Keynsham Pilgrim]

I’ve responded to a post on the Facebook group by saying this and it applies here as well (please feel free to correct maths if it is incorrect though)

We will need 1.4 points per game to get to 50 (team in 20th is likely to get to that as their current ppg is only a couple of points short of that).

If we were to have got 1.4 ppg last year for the season in National League we would have got 64 points and been 9th.

Can we go from the 23rd best team to the 9th best immediately and for the whole of the rest of the season because unless we do we will be down? (I don’t think we can and unless the chairman thought we could then there’s no point throwing money at this year and to save it for a good crack at bouncing back in a tough league next year, particularly if Macclesfield come up)

[Dipdodah]

I heard rumours yesterday that Neal Ardley may be our next manager.

[Sussex Pilgrim]

well he knows the league and I'd take finishing 1 point above the relegation zone !

[Lee Newell]

Braintree at home Saturday feels like the final chance to give us hope of staying up another defeat and it would be hard to see us realistically staying up.

[Uncertain Corridor]

Let’s hope there’s news tomorrow. 3 weeks tomorrow since Cully and Bazza were sacked and the board said they had been thinking about it for 2 weeks prior to that? I know it’s a vital appointment  but were we really starting from scratch with incoming phone calls for the job? The time for significant change at this level is urgent imo..

[noughtyforties]

The damage was done in the summer with a massively underwhelming recruitment policy that saw us recruit above average NL North players into an admittedly above average NL North side. And as much as Cully takes the biggest proportion of the blame the board have to be held to task for for providing what is looking like a wholly inadequate budget for the manager to operate with. Quite simply this side isn't up to NL National level in any way shape or form, we can point to injuries, especially to Cameron Gregory but that's putting a sticking plaster over a gaping wound.

Saturday was unforgivable though, Woking were poor and on a terrible run but they didn't have to break sweat, we genuinely didn't muster a single effort on target all afternoon. Whoever comes in has a massive job on to avoid finishing bottom, let alone staying up which I think can be written off already.   

After all the summer optimism about promotion I and plenty of others feel really let down by those running this football club, we're back where we rightfully belong but it seems under investment and a lack of empathy with the fans means this is going to be a one season legacy. 

[Burgh Boy]

100% agree with Andy above. No need to add further.

[Pilgrim86]

And as much as Cully takes the biggest proportion of the blame the board have to be held to task for for providing what is looking like a wholly inadequate budget for the manager to operate with.

Would you rather DN had set the budget at a level which the club couldn't afford to pay? Money doesn't guarantee better players - look at Marriott and Mooney, presumed to be our 2 highest paid players. DN has said that Cully didn't spend all that was given to him, and a factor in getting rid of him was his lack of eagerness to bring in more players to improve the situation.

I do believe we'll have a bottom four budget in the division, but I guess we were hoping that the same team spirit that got us over the line at the end of the season would see us in good stead this season. Several bad results, mainly due to the lack of a goalscoring forward, has seen what is looking like almost irrepairable damage to the confidence and consistency of the team.

Here's hoping any new manager comes in soon, and has a couple of tricks up his sleeve...

[Uncertain Corridor]

Any chance he’ll be taking any training this week?

Silence is deafening again.

A little update might be a positive thing for the paying public..

[noughtyforties]

And as much as Cully takes the biggest proportion of the blame the board have to be held to task for for providing what is looking like a wholly inadequate budget for the manager to operate with.

Would you rather DN had set the budget at a level which the club couldn't afford to pay? Money doesn't guarantee better players - look at Marriott and Mooney, presumed to be our 2 highest paid players. DN has said that Cully didn't spend all that was given to him, and a factor in getting rid of him was his lack of eagerness to bring in more players to improve the situation.

I do believe we'll have a bottom four budget in the division, but I guess we were hoping that the same team spirit that got us over the line at the end of the season would see us in good stead this season. Several bad results, mainly due to the lack of a goalscoring forward, has seen what is looking like almost irrepairable damage to the confidence and consistency of the team.

Here's hoping any new manager comes in soon, and has a couple of tricks up his sleeve...

I'd rather we had a go at staying up and if it hadn't worked out then regrouped for a couple of seasons rather than this absolutely abject failure. We've all waited for this season for well over a decade and now we're here its a massive anti climax not helped by a club who seem to treat the fans as an after thought and an inconvenience, not a valued asset. As you say the new manager needs to hit the ground running but this saga has dragged on for 3 weeks now, does anyone really think we've anybody lined up?

Stop defending the club Scott, they'll not think twice about fleecing you at every opportunity.

[Pilgrim86]

I'd rather we had a go at staying up and if it hadn't worked out then regrouped for a couple of seasons rather than this absolutely abject failure.

If we did that, you'd still be complaining for the next few seasons if we're back as a mid-table/play-off team in the NLN. You complained enough in the 14 seasons it took us to get out of it.

We have to be realistic. With a bit of luck and hard work, we'll survive by the skin of our teeth - and then we'll see the ambition in the summer. This season was always going to be hard, it's got even harder and just chucking money at it isn't a guarantee of (even relative) success.