[bluepooch]

I think Lenny and Mick moved away thats probably why theyre still alive,at least I know Lenny did ,or they may be dead and I just haven't heard.
Its a bit worrying that Carl Muggs was touted by MA as being the man to sort out the deals for offloading the chaff yet two weeks on only one has gone.
Is MA so authoritarian that no deals can be announced until he gets back ? Is it just left to him alone to bring in players or are we waiting for one out one in ? Who is doing the negotiating ?.

[Dancingwilldoit]

Either they are funny turnstiles or Blue is extraordinarily short IF his head is going to get stuck in them. I don't think at that height he'd have got in Mick and Lenny's team.

I'm glad Micky and Lenny might be alive. I assumed Holmewood, lifestyle and attitude would have killed both before their time.

Bob's has been saying MA is on holiday so there won't be any signings till he's home. Surely the unloading process is as important as new signings anyway? I kinda wish Ricky G would just sit his time out and impress everyone in pre-season. For two seasons we've lacked pace and power and he's got (or used to have) a bit of both. How likely is it we'll sign someone as young and better? But then we'd probably never give him a START to prove himself.

Shaw Lane's demise could be good news for us. It has thrown lower reaches of the pyramid into chaos ...... so whatever the result of our FA charge they probably won't want to relegate us and add to the issues ..........

I've no objection to rumours if I'm told they're rumours. I've no objection to things being wrong in the end. I just object to being sent mysteriously to look for something that turns out not even to be there ........... when I could have stayed where I was.

Dev, the old waist height turnstiles went when we left Saltergate. We now have posh floor to ceiling ones so kids cant sneak underneath and tall people like me cant stride over.

[Dancingwilldoit]

Well Im not predicting anything this season after the last two disasters youll be pleased to know.However I will remain optimistic and would like to think we will be challenging with us being one of the bigger fish.
Who knows Dancing maybe this season will lift you out of the doldrums .

When an Ostrich is in danger, it buries its head in the sand and hopes it will pass. Blind optimism is one thing but ignorance of the inevitable is another. Just be careful you don't start growing feathers Blue.
I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist and I don't think we have finished falling yet. That said I have just renewed my season ticket and will go to as many away games as I can next season. I will continue to support my team and just hope that Dave Allen and Ashley "it wasn't me" Carson move on and take some other club on the wonderful journey they have given us.

The tickets for Tommy Lees testimonial are now on sale. IMO Tommy was a much bigger legend than Jack Lester. Loyalty in football speaks volumes for me and I wish him all the best for the future. I just hope that the so called supporters of the Not a Penny More brigade bite the bullet for this and we see a full stadium to give him a great send off.

[Devongone]

Either they are funny turnstiles or Blue is extraordinarily short IF his head is going to get stuck in them. I don't think at that height he'd have got in Mick and Lenny's team.

I'm glad Micky and Lenny might be alive. I assumed Holmewood, lifestyle and attitude would have killed both before their time.

Bob's has been saying MA is on holiday so there won't be any signings till he's home. Surely the unloading process is as important as new signings anyway? I kinda wish Ricky G would just sit his time out and impress everyone in pre-season. For two seasons we've lacked pace and power and he's got (or used to have) a bit of both. How likely is it we'll sign someone as young and better? But then we'd probably never give him a START to prove himself.

Shaw Lane's demise could be good news for us. It has thrown lower reaches of the pyramid into chaos ...... so whatever the result of our FA charge they probably won't want to relegate us and add to the issues ..........

I've no objection to rumours if I'm told they're rumours. I've no objection to things being wrong in the end. I just object to being sent mysteriously to look for something that turns out not even to be there ........... when I could have stayed where I was.

Dev, the old waist height turnstiles went when we left Saltergate. We now have posh floor to ceiling ones so kids cant sneak underneath and tall people like me cant stride over.

I've never been to the Proact ............ only to away games in the South. I'd have to stay the night to watch a home game, though I'm going to do it this season. All my close relatives are dead ......... Yes come to think of it several places I've been have those turnstiles, but in my head I'm still going to Saltergate ....... even though where I used to live looks down on what is now the Proact rather than the Glassworks where I played cricket! EDIT - just realised I lied; I did go to the Proact first season.

---

I think Lenny and Mick moved away thats probably why theyre still alive,at least I know Lenny did ,or they may be dead and I just haven't heard.
Its a bit worrying that Carl Muggs was touted by MA as being the man to sort out the deals for offloading the chaff yet two weeks on only one has gone.
Is MA so authoritarian that no deals can be announced until he gets back ? Is it just left to him alone to bring in players or are we waiting for one out one in ? Who is doing the negotiating ?.

Having seen Muggleton keep goal quite a bit I don't know how I feel about leaving signings to him. He was a star of the future who never reached the present.

Tommy Lee? Loyal, good keeper, local hero. I do, however, wonder now whether loyalty might also have been simply no choice. He seemed at times the best keeper in the lower reaches, he had a value we thought. But we didn't know then that he was held together through his career by injections. Would he have passed the medical to move on?

[Dancingwilldoit]

Maybe, maybe not but he still deserves a big crowd and a great send off.

[Devongone]

Yes he deserves a big crowd.

As to send-off ...... I'd sooner have a goalie coached by Tommy Lee than the Muggle. When MA packs his bags, which is often sooner than his clubs expect ......... maybe ........?

[spireitematt]

Yes he deserves a big crowd.

As to send-off ...... I'd sooner have a goalie coached by Tommy Lee than the Muggle. When MA packs his bags, which is often sooner than his clubs expect ......... maybe ........?

Need to stop being pessimistic Dev. We might do alright in the Vanarama league or we might not, time will tell. Just have to wait and see what happens but I feel a bit more optimistic.

[bluepooch]

Well Im not predicting anything this season after the last two disasters youll be pleased to know.However I will remain optimistic and would like to think we will be challenging with us being one of the bigger fish.
Who knows Dancing maybe this season will lift you out of the doldrums .

When an Ostrich is in danger, it buries its head in the sand and hopes it will pass. Blind optimism is one thing but ignorance of the inevitable is another. Just be careful you don't start growing feathers Blue.
I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist and I don't think we have finished falling yet. That said I have just renewed my season ticket and will go to as many away games as I can next season. I will continue to support my team and just hope that Dave Allen and Ashley "it wasn't me" Carson move on and take some other club on the wonderful journey they have given us.

The tickets for Tommy Lees testimonial are now on sale. IMO Tommy was a much bigger legend than Jack Lester. Loyalty in football speaks volumes for me and I wish him all the best for the future. I just hope that the so called supporters of the Not a Penny More brigade bite the bullet for this and we see a full stadium to give him a great send off.

No mate you're definitely a pessimist ,If we care to look back at your messages over the years I think we wouldn't find many positive ones even in the relative good times.Compared to you I'm definitely a realist !
God knows what your missus thinks ....
Have to agree about Tommy though, a real loyal guy who is the epitome of the word stalwart and deserves the testimonial.I just hope it isn't turned into a farce with the veterans playing ,I want to see the new look side at home before the season starts.

[Dancingwilldoit]

Believe it or not Blue, over the last 3 years there has been absolutely bog all to be optimistic about. The club has been in disarray, the product on the field has been absolute garbage (and that really is an understatement) and we have stumbled from the Lge 1 playoffs all the way into to Non Lge. You seem to wet your knickers over the slightest thing - remember your posts when Caldwell and Lester were appointed manager and when we signed COG?
If you scroll back and read my posts pre Saunders even you will manage to find some positivity.
Like I say I'm a realist, that means telling things as they are and not turning a blind eye to the obvious like you do.
This season is do or die for us, I just hope MA can turn the ship around and stop the slide to oblivion because its obvious Dave Allen and Carson are not capable. MA is making the right kind of noises but if he doesn't get the backing he wont think twice about walking and where will we be then?

Bye the way my missus has no complaints about anything and my car doesn't have a big bore exhaust.

[Devongone]

Matt, I was optimistic that even if Jack Lester couldn't save us he could begin the recovery process. The only sign I spotted was the brief, inexplicable "winning run" with very much the same players Caldwell had failed with. Later he just supplied more intelligent and better-worded explanations for persistent failure. Like Dancing I've seen what has happened coming way-off. (I think I remember Dancing's last truly positive vibe - it was early in Saunders "reign" and we beat someone 3-0 or 3-1 and played them off the park, Northampton or Gillingham. It was never repeated and the bad feelings he'd had since Danny's sacking flooded back in, and that is a tide that has never turned for either of us.)

Last season as soon as our first signings turned out to be Anyon and Wiseman I decided I'd be happy with 22nd place! This time? Well Martin Allen seems surprisingly likable. I hope he takes care. He's won himself a following with his silly pronouncements, but they'll be hostages to fortune if we don't start winning. My big positive is Wedgbury, because he is just the kind of player we have lacked - he's what I think Danny expected with Gary Liddell. His Aldershot centre back seems also to have been well-regarded. Negatives? Well he may have Donald-Trump-like perception, but it disturbed me that within a very few days of taking over he could discard youngsters like Willock and German with whom he could only have had the very briefest association and that he also succumbed to the traditional new-broom philosophy immediately ditching Evatt, Hird and Talbot for the even-older and certainly not-better Michael Nelson. I also share Pooch's disquiet over the sudden silence descending over incoming players. The top non-leaguers I've been burbling about over the last two years seem to be finding new EFL homes at a rate of knots. Askey taking over at Shrewsbury for instance grabbed Dagnham's centre forward and Macclesfield's full back, Reise Allassani went off to Coventry, Sam Barratt to Southend ....... I've kept saying there are a lot of players around who could make it from lower levels but the supply is not endless and we need a goalscoring forward, a speed merchant and more midfield craft and graft. AND of course we need to move on several of the players who Martin Allen wants to discard. AND the World Cup starts in the middle of June which is this week ............ Deals happen quite fast at this level. Havant and Waterlooville's top goalscorer of last season decided the National League and all its travel was a commitment too far. He's left the club and they've immediately replaced him with Dartford's top scorer Pavey.

I know Martin Allen has the experience to know what he is doing and the timescales involved. Those behind him who are apparently in charge may not. When he wants to move will the club move with him, and if it doesn't won't he very quickly become frustrated? This is a very big season for us. We need to do well. We've all too easily become fifth-rate and only results will prove that we have stopped falling.

As to the big-bore exhaust ........ the whole human race survives upon the tact of women. If men were convinced they were satisfying them, there'd be no such thing as FGM.