Since arriving at the club way back in February much has been written and said about our new board, aka, The Ant Hill Mob.
The crazy Itie left as did his successor, and so have a few players, and a few have been sold as well.
A steady but not rapid influx of players has followed and low key in the back ground a Guy called Luke Williams has joined the coaching staff, and there lays the key. Since his arrival performances have improved notably.
Add to that the signing of Ranger( this is not the place to discuss that) and now N'Gressan and Massimo has signed on a perm for the next three years.
Add to that we beat 'Arry and his QPR and totally out played a very lack lustre Crewe side that is known for its good quality and ability to turn out decent sides. Some of the football played of late is almost back to the Hoddle days, a bit to go yet, but this is essentially a young side, but stepped in talent for sure. We may well not win all our games this season, but dent a few ego's we will.
Interestingly since their departure, our ex-players are not doing as good, Flint has been found out to be lacking in ball and passing skills and his tackling is still Sunday league to say the least, Ferry, well he is now at Pompey and Macca, the last time I looked wasn't even on the bench and Collins went to Scotland where he may well score a few goals but is in a lesser league than the Championship which is where he was eluding to go to. LOL , PDC, third from bottom and a hard month ahead at Sunderland, and after signing 12 players in the summer said on Saturday's MotD he wanted more players to be brought in of a "better mentality". I can see that going down a bundle with his new board, odds on to be gone by Christmas or before, especially with a very hard month in front of him and no J.O'Shea. So that makes things here look a darn sight more rosey, with a complete lack of the name/blame/shame culture that once blighted our club.
Dare I say it but now the dust has finally settled things are looking up, and even the Maverick that is Ranger, is working hard and scoring in most games, praise indeed for Jedward and Power as they seem to have turned around the impossible.
Consolidation
posted on 3/9/13
Good post, 'bout time we had a new one to discuss. It is early days & we have had good and bad. Recently it has been good.
Now we have made our bed until January & must lie in it. It is up to the coaches now, not those taking people to the game, although they are also useful, but I think that MC hasn't been trusted to go out & buy a player but is trusted enough to know what one can do when he works with him. Hence Luongo. A bit of 'sale or return' policy. I have no argument with that.
posted on 3/9/13
Jed has said that there is funding available should further loans be needed in the up coming window. With Troy also making a good impact his rehab since the long term injury is going well. Hopefully the club will soon see a return on the rather large investment made in him.
posted on 3/9/13
Excellent article SF, as ever. Five stars for me.
The only obvious exception to the unimpressive form of our ex-players would seem to be Gary Roberts who's doing well at Chesterfield, albeit in a lower league.
The difference between how I felt after seeing our abject performance at Shrewsbury and now is total. I'm feeling very optimistic. I don't expect instant success but i'm confident that we are making, and will continue to make, good progress.
posted on 3/9/13
Young players seem to see-saw with confidence and past results, hopefully if we can win and draw games in some sort of run, when a loss does come along it will make them re double their efforts etc and bounce back as opposed to looking down with their chins on their chest. A good back room team, which I believe is now in place will help prevent this.
I'll bet the atmosphere at CG is a lot better than the one at Sunderland, LOL.