The trouble for Jack Lester is I'm afraid, for once, I was right, when I said no one could make a decent team out of our first team squad. So far Jack has tinkered with the squad. We still lose by two goals to a club without resources other than a resourceful manager.
I don't think Jack was the right choice, or the wrong choice. He was a decent call, who at least the fans will get behind if he ever creates a team that produces just one of Pooch's sparks. I don't think Warnock would make a team out of this lot. The only hope is a revolution.
What is wrong with German and Ugwu, injured, dead or what? Charlie Wakefield, is there anywhere lower than the Juniors for him to get a game? WOW DIMAIO got on the field ..........
I think / hope Jack will tire of normal solutions. First thing I'd do is take Matt Briggs in the office and tell him he's gone from being a Premier League player at 16 and the England squad to a place on the bench at the worst club in the country. I'd make him face up to whether he wants to play football at all. If he does and could convince me of that, he'd get the next three games at left back whatever happened. If he couldn't convince me then I'd be pushing him for a mutual cancellation of the remaining months of his contract.
Second thing I'd do is send back ALL our loans. Loans are only any use to you if they win you some games. Ours could not be less successful. Just being better than Jak McCourt wouldn't hack it for me. The money we save on the loans might enable us to offer contracts to a couple of free agents. I'd be willing to gamble on Wabara - he's usually a free agent and we might find an actual midfield player somewhere too.
I'd arrange some friendlies and play O'Grady at centre back and Mitchell at full back. If O'Grady is as effective at stopping the opposition scoring as he is a stopping us getting a goal he could be a revelation. We're clearly not troubling anyone with him up front are we? Mitchell, like Briggs, needs to decide whether he wants a career in the game. This could be his last throw of the dice too. I'd either enthuse him, or ditch him.
I'd take Hird off the bench, stick him in front of the back four, tell him to protect them, read the game and be a centre back in front of the centre backs. Use all that experience!
Whatever is wrong with Maguire, I'd send him off for two days to talk to his brother, and tell him whatever, he's going on the field at centre back on Saturday and he's going to be Captain.
Ricky German, Ugwu and Brewster I'd tell them, I was expecting goals, life and running out of them. They were going to get full games, perhaps not all at the same time, but they weren't in the wilderness they were wanted.
I'd look at how Kristian Dennis scored 60 in 65 games for Curzon Ashton. At any level that's impressive. It's not enough to dismiss it as being at a lower level, goalscorers keep doing it as they move through the levels. Did they play a big guy with him? Did they have a clever playmaker? Was he alone up front? Did he feed off knocked-down crosses? And yeah I'd try feeding him his favourite food on the field in our games.
The "juniors" would find out they'd every chance of a game. Rowley and Wakefield would be on the field. Brownell would come back from his successful loan to bench appearances at worst. Hand, Fowler and Willock would know there were going to be opportunities in the team for them.
Keeper? We've got Anyon for two long years, that right? What I'd do is try to sign Tom McHale from Truro City in January and see if they would take Anyon on loan if we paid half his wages. Failing McHale, Van Vliet from Jersey's training with England C, he's only 20, he'd be worth a go, but what would we do with Joe? Maybe we could train him so hard he gets a serious injury .......
On top of that I would change every routine and pattern in training. Why? Because even if you give the players something new that is no better, they need something different, something that draws a line under the past. I'd change their diet, where they eat, how they find out who's in the team, how they travel to games ........... training times. Anything I could change I would. I'd bring in a sports psychologist. I'd ask Tony Minichello if he'd come down a couple of hours a week from Sheffield ,or we could go to him, for athletics training. I'd start recording every performance, every statistic not only for its usefulness, but for its impact on the players who would always be keen to better their own stats.
I'd have signs everywhere - The Season Stars Here. And targets. 42 more points maybe. 12 wins, 6 draws by the end of the first week in May ..... something that sounds readily achievable. And I'd stop referring to anything that has gone wrong in the past, I'd concentrate on everything they did right .... and any success I'd celebrate big time with them to make sure they wanted more.
I'm hoping Jack will have his own revolution. Mine might keep us marooned at the bottom forever, but at least we'd have tried. At the moment Talking Heads are providing the theme tune for our journey and we're going down without a whimper. If I were CEO I'd tell Jack I'd fight for him, whatever he did, however much it was opposed and even if it failed, just so long as it represented change.
Come on Jack, be as bold as your words. Make your thoughts into actions.
I don't think Jack was the right choice, or the wrong choice. He was a decent call, who at least the fans will get behind if he ever creates a team that produces just one of Pooch's sparks. I don't think Warnock would make a team out of this lot. The only hope is a revolution.
What is wrong with German and Ugwu, injured, dead or what? Charlie Wakefield, is there anywhere lower than the Juniors for him to get a game? WOW DIMAIO got on the field ..........
I think / hope Jack will tire of normal solutions. First thing I'd do is take Matt Briggs in the office and tell him he's gone from being a Premier League player at 16 and the England squad to a place on the bench at the worst club in the country. I'd make him face up to whether he wants to play football at all. If he does and could convince me of that, he'd get the next three games at left back whatever happened. If he couldn't convince me then I'd be pushing him for a mutual cancellation of the remaining months of his contract.
Second thing I'd do is send back ALL our loans. Loans are only any use to you if they win you some games. Ours could not be less successful. Just being better than Jak McCourt wouldn't hack it for me. The money we save on the loans might enable us to offer contracts to a couple of free agents. I'd be willing to gamble on Wabara - he's usually a free agent and we might find an actual midfield player somewhere too.
I'd arrange some friendlies and play O'Grady at centre back and Mitchell at full back. If O'Grady is as effective at stopping the opposition scoring as he is a stopping us getting a goal he could be a revelation. We're clearly not troubling anyone with him up front are we? Mitchell, like Briggs, needs to decide whether he wants a career in the game. This could be his last throw of the dice too. I'd either enthuse him, or ditch him.
I'd take Hird off the bench, stick him in front of the back four, tell him to protect them, read the game and be a centre back in front of the centre backs. Use all that experience!
Whatever is wrong with Maguire, I'd send him off for two days to talk to his brother, and tell him whatever, he's going on the field at centre back on Saturday and he's going to be Captain.
Ricky German, Ugwu and Brewster I'd tell them, I was expecting goals, life and running out of them. They were going to get full games, perhaps not all at the same time, but they weren't in the wilderness they were wanted.
I'd look at how Kristian Dennis scored 60 in 65 games for Curzon Ashton. At any level that's impressive. It's not enough to dismiss it as being at a lower level, goalscorers keep doing it as they move through the levels. Did they play a big guy with him? Did they have a clever playmaker? Was he alone up front? Did he feed off knocked-down crosses? And yeah I'd try feeding him his favourite food on the field in our games.
The "juniors" would find out they'd every chance of a game. Rowley and Wakefield would be on the field. Brownell would come back from his successful loan to bench appearances at worst. Hand, Fowler and Willock would know there were going to be opportunities in the team for them.
Keeper? We've got Anyon for two long years, that right? What I'd do is try to sign Tom McHale from Truro City in January and see if they would take Anyon on loan if we paid half his wages. Failing McHale, Van Vliet from Jersey's training with England C, he's only 20, he'd be worth a go, but what would we do with Joe? Maybe we could train him so hard he gets a serious injury .......
On top of that I would change every routine and pattern in training. Why? Because even if you give the players something new that is no better, they need something different, something that draws a line under the past. I'd change their diet, where they eat, how they find out who's in the team, how they travel to games ........... training times. Anything I could change I would. I'd bring in a sports psychologist. I'd ask Tony Minichello if he'd come down a couple of hours a week from Sheffield ,or we could go to him, for athletics training. I'd start recording every performance, every statistic not only for its usefulness, but for its impact on the players who would always be keen to better their own stats.
I'd have signs everywhere - The Season Stars Here. And targets. 42 more points maybe. 12 wins, 6 draws by the end of the first week in May ..... something that sounds readily achievable. And I'd stop referring to anything that has gone wrong in the past, I'd concentrate on everything they did right .... and any success I'd celebrate big time with them to make sure they wanted more.
I'm hoping Jack will have his own revolution. Mine might keep us marooned at the bottom forever, but at least we'd have tried. At the moment Talking Heads are providing the theme tune for our journey and we're going down without a whimper. If I were CEO I'd tell Jack I'd fight for him, whatever he did, however much it was opposed and even if it failed, just so long as it represented change.
Come on Jack, be as bold as your words. Make your thoughts into actions.