chinapig

In his first season there he was typical Ashton, signing loads of players, many of whom didn't work out, and inflating the wage budget. He was constantly bigging himself up as he did with us, always being the one in front of the cameras. Promotion should have been a given with the money he spent but they failed. The following season he almost disappeared from view, I suspect because the owners reined him in. They were promoted, though even then Plymouth won the title with a much smaller budget. He didn't seem to be allowed to take the credit; rightly so as the lion's share belongs to McKenna and his team. I wish McKenna had failed mind you as I hold him personally responsible for us employing his mate.

The thing is I have no idea what the Lansdown Way is. Worse, I'm not sure he does either. Is it funding scatter gun recruitment, doubling the wage bill and putting the club in a financial hole? Is it developing academy players to sell on at the earliest opportunity or to keep them as the core of the team? Is it appointing an experienced manager and CEO and letting them use their expertise or rookies who will do as they are told because he knows best? I agree he wants to prove he's a football expert despite the evidence to the contrary. It's not unusual for people who have become rich because they are expert in one field to believe they can be the same in any other field they choose imo. I don't see him changing sadly.

Strategic direction and objectives could be a challenge given that we appear to change tack on a regular basis on a whim. Consultation could be a full time job.

Yep, just read that in this Paul MacInnes piece: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/mar/19/football-governance-bill-reveals-extent-of-english-regulators-proposed-powers I did wonder whether JL is aware of this.

Yes, quite!

Likewise. I wouldn't entirely rule it out either given the limited capabilities of the people making the decisions. Allegedly progressive young coaches are fashionable so it wouldn't surprise me if it amounted to little more than looking at the likes of McKenna and Edwards and assuming Manning would be as good as a matter of course. That's selection bias as it ignores any young coaches who haven't been a success. Due diligence? What's that?

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/mar/18/english-football-regulator-close-as-government-confirms-historic-bill

Try Barney Ronay as an alternative: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/mar/18/supporters-should-blame-club-owners-not-the-rules-for-points-deductions

But appointing him to a senior position in the first place was like promoting a long-serving middle manager to CEO.

We don't have anything that could reasonably be described as a Board. Therefore there is nobody to challenge the club's decisions. Not something that most fans care about but the lack of good corporate governance is one of the fundamental reasons for our current state.

You are starting from a mistaken assumption that Nigel was sacked for football reasons. When it comes to JL and BT logic does not apply.

Again, nobody expected Coventry levels of spending. Nigel wasn't keen on spending big money anyway but he talked of getting one more player and I'm sure any target would have been in the affordable range.

It's all very well taking time off Dave but surely you'll come back deconditioned? Better to spend your time on the grass. One way or another there's plenty of that in Devon.

Doesn't really wash for me. It wasn't that we couldn't spend a bit more of the money raised (nobody was demanding we spend loads, least of a!l Nigel). Rather we were told we were building a nest egg for some unspecified point in the future. Which was code for not wanting to give Nigel any more.

We can't compare with Coventry though because they sold players for big money. I thought we had done the same but Tinnion put us right on that. Our technical director certainly has his finger on the pulse.

Except those above don't want to be galvanised, they want a compliant head coach who'll defer to Tinnion.

A man of Weimann's admirable qualities has no place at a club run by a bunch of incompetent shysters. And I don't mean West Brom!

He's been a success for me. I felt little or no emotion after today's defeat. Trust the process people, you'll all feel nothing after games in due course. These things take time.

You mean their top end squad is top -ender than our top end squad?

Behaviours?

I've been a big fan of his since his Huddersfield days. I remember Nigel being very complimentary about him also. If I could take one coach from another club to take over here it would be him. No chance of course.

I agree up to a point. For many years, especially in relation to the England team, people would bang on about "passion", often claiming foreign teams couldn't match us for it or complaining that players didn't show enough. It was nonsense of course as coolness under pressure is important in winning games. But of course you need the right mix of both. So I wouldn't say Liam is wrong rather that he over emphasises one over the other. He compounds the problem by saying the same thing week after week, giving the impression that he has a very narrow range of ideas. It may be no big deal if it irritates fans but my concern is whether it reflects the way he talks to the players.

The shadow leader of the House, Lucy Powell, said Labour would make the introduction of a regulator “an election issue” in places with struggling clubs if the government did not act. “If the Conservatives want to make this an election issue in those places, I say bring it on,” Powell said. “Let us be really clear: if they do not want to regulate football governance, then we will.” https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/mar/14/efl-looks-to-independent-regulator-to-break-premier-league-impasse

I'm sure Infantino is getting no personal benefit from this.

A Shakespeare reference*. You won't get that on Gaschat! *Not the pub