Note To New Manager

[The Bard]

You're probably getting a little bored hearing the word 'potential' and phrase 'sleeping giant' by now.

The reality is BCFC is a club that has lost its way since almost reaching the Premier League just over 3 years ago. If that had been achieved, it would have been on the back of a Herculean effort from a manager and players who were very much League 1 in their outlook. Since then, the club's personality has changed but not for the better. From being plucky underdogs, we have morphed into complacency and inevitable decline. Financial mismanagement and poor recruitment has led to a squad that is too large with a number of players on wages they don't justify, some of whom barely play. About 15 of them have their contracts up in the summer. The current side lack confidence, application, determination, concentration, togetherness, believe, leadership, a consistent shape and a coherent style of play. You won't need to break them down before building them up - they're already broken.

Given our position, you need to fashion 2 wins in our next 5 games as a minimum whilst establishing yourself and imposing your ideas. Good luck.

From a positive point of view, you should be able to make inroads quickly. The side has struggled to score goals despite possessing a number of decent strikers, whom a lot of our rivals covet. Nicky Maynard is clearly one of the best strikers outside the Premier League but is lacking confidence and has been distracted by talk of transfers and the birth of his first child. In a stable club, he would probably have bounced back by now. Our habit of playing him through the middle in a 4-5-1 formation only works if he plays like a man possessed. He has shown little sign of being able to play this role in the way that Craig McKail Smith has done for Brighton for example.

Brett Pitman is a goal machine who could arguably be your main man. However, he has only played a handful of games with Maynard. They have shown signs of linking well and caused opponents problems when they did. However, defensive problems have meant that Pitman has either been sacrificed or pushed out to the left side in a 4 3 3. If you offered Nigel Adkins Brett Pitman and Nicky Maynard in exchange for Rickie Lambert and Kevin Connolly he would bite your hand off.

Despite what many think, we do have a few decent midfielders. Arguably, Keith Millen lost his job because he fell out with Kalifa Cisse. He added balance to the side. Our best performances last season happened when he established himself. His positional discipline and defensive abilities freed other midfielders to go and create problems for opponents. Specifically Marvin Elliott's ability to get into goalscoring positions can bring benefits. However, his technique is very poor for the Championship which I'm sure you realise brings its own problems. In addition, Neil Kilkenny is clearly a decent Championship player. However, it is difficult to see how he can play in the middle without the side playing 4 5 1. He seems unable to tackle and shows all the signs of being a strong minded individual, something that needs to be encouraged within the correct boundaries. I sense a change of role may bring benefits. There is little doubt in my mind that he should be part of the first choice starting line up. Albert Adomah is possibly one of the most watchable players I've seen in a City shirt. He combines an exemplary attitude with a clear sense of enjoyment that endears him to all City fans. He is clearly of championship standard. He unlocks defences and worries opponents. Another player who I think must play.

In defence we have more pressing problems. The club captain probably needs to be retired. We have 2 established centre halves in Fontaine and Nyatana. However, both being left footed, they have not worked well as a pair. At present Nyatanga has been our best player. He is strong, a decent athlete and determined. However, his distribution is awful. Fontaine can be a very good centre half, but seems to have lost his way. Of the other 2 centre halves, Damian Stewart is a sending off waiting to happen who can head the ball 60 yards and James Wilson shows signs of being decent.

Now we move to fullbacks. Oh dear. We have a number of full backs, but the only one who seems to be of requisite quality is actually a central midfielder. Cole Skuse. Given the quality available in midfield, the side needs him to be playing at the back. He ensures that the ball is delivered into midfield from the back and adds a sense of calm. He is a key part of the squad due to his versatility. We do have Spence on loan from West Ham, but he probably needs a few games out as he looks shot to pieces - he does have potential. On the left side, McCallister is someone you probably know, but he needs to go the same way as Carey. The lad McGivern looks as if he can cross a ball, but appears vulnerable defensively. The other options are to play whichever one of Nyatanga and Fontaine is not in the centre. Given our situation, a side with experience is called for.

Finally, our goalies neatly summarise the club's journey over the last 3 or 4 seasons. We previously had 3 qualtiy keepers all of Championship standard. We no longer have any of these and have a substandard lower league gamble in addition to a marquee signing waiting to cash in his pension. I would go with the marquee signing and bring your man management skills to bear.

With a fit squad, I would suggest the following starting line up - 4 4 2

James

Skuse Wilson Nyatanga Fontaine

Kilkenny Cisse Elliott Adomah

Pitman Maynard

Whilst this doesn't suit all the players, it squeezes the most out of the squad and ensures that we threaten our opponents whilst keeping defensive cover.

All the best.