Does anyone running my club care if we stay up or not ?
When the new regime took over we all knew that wholesale changes were required. We immediately signed three players - a centre back who is half decent, a midfielder who now can't get in the worst midfield this club has had in years and a striker who has since left the club. Oh we did have another striker who scored occasionally but we let him go as well...............
Also we have added some depth to the squad with a midget from Weymouth and another kid who was playing Saturday morning football a few months ago (there are some lads in the Welling supporters team if you are interested Mr Ford)
Now we sign a keeper from Sittingbourne and a midfielder who was, I believe playing at Walton & Hersham (both two levels below Blue Square South) Good luck to the two latest recruits because I think they're going to need it.........
I repeat - Does anyone running my club care if we stay up or not ?
I have no idea where the good players are hiding but I doubt it is Ryman One South. Mr Ford was given the job on the basis of a good track record, an experienced man who had an "extensive list of contacts" (where have I heard that one before) and would shake the club out of its current malaise. I agree that his hands are tied to a certain extent by the dealings of his predecessor but he knew all about that when he took over.
When the new regime took over we had SEVENTEEN league games to put things right and we have taken 6 points out of the last 24 since they took over. All I keep reading about in the local press is 'we need to improve things', 'we need to bring players' in blah blah blah. Where is the evidence of that ? As I have said before talk is cheap.
I am not sure if I will be able to attend tomorrow due to family committments but for some strange reason I have not completely ruled out the ides of travelling to Wales (I must be mad)
Mark - take those rose tinted spectacles off, wipe the s**t from your eyes and wake up and see what is really happening. You and I both want the club to stay up but its not down to us and I'm not sure that enough has been done or will be done to secure our status in this league.
"Mark - take those rose tinted spectacles off, wipe the s**t from your eyes and wake up and see what is really happening. You and I both want the club to stay up but its not down to us and I'm not sure that enough has been done or will be done to secure our status in this league."
what sort of an attitude is that to have? ridiculous Ford is trying to sort out the mess that that **** smith left behind and as results have shown it's not an easy task
so as Mark said get behind the team not on their backs
In my view its a bit like trying to turn the QE2 round it takes time. Unfortunately the tugboats arrived a bit late but hopefully in time to get the job done but its going to be a nail biting end to the season.
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YOUTH are the future
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"The worst thing you can do is make a committment and not meet it and I understand that." Barrie Hobbins 14 August 2010
Ive slated the club over Smith and ive seen by appointing Ford they are trying.
He had TWO loans to use up TWO!!! We are struggling to plug the leaks on HMS Wings that Smith created. It must be hard all he can do at this stage is try to bring in bodies and get the players SMITH signed to play.
You cant blame the club for appointing Ford , he was the best or among the best available and had a track record. You can blame them for appointing smith and the past few seasons of no ambition but whats the point when they are now trying to sort it?
I think we have to pray Fordy gets out of the ****e which was not his fault and everyone learns. If we go down it will be because we appointed Smith and yes the club will take the brunt of that. But what do you expect the Club or Ford to do in this postion at this stage of the season. As Mark says , where are the good players? (All signed up and playing) If they are any good they wont be available and if they are we couldnt aford them.
Fordy isnt Paul Daniels, but hes trying.
-- Edited by JgFc at 17:06, 2008-03-14
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Alexander O'Neal 1987 "I'm fed up cos all you wanna do is criticize "
An air of realism must be introduced to the debate about Andy Ford. Despite the kind things that Mark X and JGFC say about him, we have to be realistic about Andy and "his good track record". He was out of work for three years since he left Gravesend and, although he claims to have "an extensive list of contacts", these contacts do not appear to be in touch with the current non-league scene.
This is borne out by the quality of players that he is bringing to the Club. The two latest recruits, Daniel Nwanze and Steve Williams (currently retired), are from two and three levels respectively below that of Welling. Andy should be signing players of Ryman Premier standard if we are to get out of the relegation battle that we are in. If his contacts were more up to date, it would possible to sign quality players from Ryman Premier sides who cannot get a game (perhaps recovering from injury or not in favour with their manager for whatever reason) and they would jump at the chance of signing for a Conference South team. Such players would be prepared to play for a modest amount in order to prove themselves at the higher level in the hope of getting a Contract for next season.
I hope that Andy gets us out of the mess that Neil Smith has left us in but I am not optimistic about our chances in view of the quality of players that he has introduced to the Club since he was appointed at the end of January.
PLEASE, there ARE better players out there . We've only got 1 maybe 2 on contract that I know of and most other clubs have to . To blame others is an easy way out . FORD OUT !!!
I'm with Wingnut on this. Smith might have made a mess of this club following on nicely from the last few months of Pennock's reign but at least the players he brought in in his attempts to rectify his problems came from a decent level.
Ford's signings include 3 from the 2 walton clubs, 1 from Hornchurch/East Thurrock/whoever else & a cripple from Dorchester.
And now we have a (semi-retired ) keeper from Sittingbourne despite there being a far better option available. The club/manager/fans knew Jamie Turner would be suspended tomorrow from 2 weeks ago yet we allow the likes of Chris Tardif to sign for another club in our division & not only that but 1 who is an outside bet for relegation.
And then there's the Omari debate - this club is clueless.
All I can say is make sure you are there tomorrow and preferably Wednesday night in Newport to get behind the lads not on their backs - again!!
Note: This is not anti Ford
Not strictly true Mr X. We are suffering from the genius who decided that with a full budget, loans etc that Smith was a better prospect than Ford in the summer. If Ford is supposedly the better manager that he can bail us out of a hole with an end of season budget and next to no loan signings, what logical reason can be advanced for the fact that he wasn't the man last summer, given that he was notionally available. Excuse me if I can't see a reasonable answer to that.
I shall neither be there nor on their backs, having been given the invitation by your good self that if I didn't like the way things were I should go away (a polite version, I believe). Or is that another one of the attitudes from earlier in the season that doesn't look so teneable in a crisis.
I have no desire to see us relegated but if we did, and it forced proper stock to be taken, that might be preferable to a narrow escape and thinking we'd got away with it
Doesn't have to have been specifically aimed at me by name for the sentiment to apply. Certainly pre-christmas that sentiment was extended to those who did not agree with the way things were being run and I didn't. It was not the only time in the last 12 months that that sentiment was expressed on this forum.
It is possible it was only intended at JgFc, in which case as a counter argument to the points being made then it stands up even less, but I don't actually believe it was stated that specifically as that. If you want I'll trawl the last 6 months worth of posts to find it/them.
Thank you for the transport when asked, it was appreciated, but it was also in some of those trips where I made it plain that I disagreed with certain things that were happening/not happening to do with the club. It shouldn't therefore be too much of an extrapolation to work out in the context of the above that it could quite easily include me.
You will also note that I have taken the other piece of advice that was given about not commenting when you haven't been to see what is going on. I can only assume that Ford is putting things to rights and as things are taking a while to improve it does suggest things were far from functional previously and perhaps the dissenting voices at the time were not so far off beam.
Having said all that, although it would be easy to attribute my not going to half the sh*t going on before Christmas, the simple fact was the whole package had ceased to be enjoyable. It is not impossible that my view on that will change but I'm not sure it has at the moment.
As I have answered your question can you now give me your opinion on whether a) Ford was available in the summer and , if he was, b) why he is the best man for the job now we are in the mire when he wasn't when we had a fresh canvas to use a the start of the season (and I'm not saying he not the best man for the job now). If a is true, the whole scenario does seem somewhat bizarre....
No he wasn't available then - He had business to do and was (I think I heard) involved with his son who is a professional golfer although I stand to be corrected
I repeat - Does anyone running my club care if we stay up or not ?
I think they do - that's why Smith got the elbow, otherwise they may as well just stuck with him and accepted relegation. The club make their own life more difficult though with the lack of staff and ideas (marketing/pr/commercial) but i don't think you'll find we want to go down.
I've not been that impressed so far with Andy Ford but realise getting players at this stage of the season and clearing up the mess left behind is a big job.
No he wasn't available then - He had business to do and was (I think I heard) involved with his son who is a professional golfer although I stand to be corrected
Fair enough. Might noy have hurt as a one liner in his appointment press release to quell that line of thought, unless I have failed to notice something to that effect. Have to hope the man does the job.
