Caldwell out?

[BigBanker]

I think most people largely know my opinions on Caldwell and I Have said, despite conceding after our fantastic start, that the board would need to act quickly and decisively if it is going wrong. For me we have 2 games to get 4 points, anything less than this means the question seriously has to be asked and potentially enacted upon. For me GC Has 2 games to save his job.

But the real question is how we got here. I think everyone including myself forgave the 6 straight defeats last season, because we could all quite clearly see the complexity of the sides we played along with the serious injury issues we had which presented itself.

This season following a fantastic start, we have come unstuck, for a number of reasons, Injuries, failure to secure 2 strikers when Nombe left and our overall pattern of play being way to easy to play against, under GC we simply score less goals, that isn't just against difficulty of opposition now, that is entrenched with our style and Philosophy of play. When we play well, our style of play is amazing to watch, no one can deny that, but on the opposite end, when it isn't working it is appalling to watch and frustrating and also massively reliant on keeping clean sheets. GC unlike Tis has nothing in the bank to buy him time with the majority of the fanbase, which is why we are seeing a large number of people wanting him out.

The real question is, Whom is at fault for this issue.

1. The Trust and board, not investing sufficiently. (Although we did sign 3 additional players outside of the window when the injury issues started to hit, but we didn't get 2 strikers in to replace Nombe)
2. GC for not utilising his budget in accordance with what we needed and securing the right players early enough
3. Tactics, failure to adapt, to change games (Links into Injuries, transfer window)
4. Bad luck
5. A combination of all the above

Please feel free to add reasons to the above list

I personally feel the issues here are a combination of all of the above. But the biggest issues imho is failure to adapt tactically and the fact we failed to sign a striker.

GC has 2 games, to get 4 points. Less than this leaves serious questions and whether GC Will become the first firing of our trust era. It feels to me, like we cannot wait another 10 games if we keep losing in the hope it turns around.

Defeat on Saturday would mean 15 defeats in 22 league matches. Irrespective of reasoning that just simply isn't good enough.

Good post. And I commend your restraint in being too 'I told you so' of late, I wouldn't have had the same discipline!

Ordering your 5 reasons from most at fault to least, I'd go with the below:

1. The Trust and board, not investing sufficiently. (Although we did sign 3 additional players outside of the window when the injury issues started to hit, but we didn't get 2 strikers in to replace Nombe)
=1. GC for not utilising his budget in accordance with what we needed and securing the right players early enough
3. Tactics, failure to adapt, to change games (Links into Injuries, transfer window)
4. Bad luck

I've left the first two as equal first because we just don't know the extent to which GC's hands were tied by the board or wider recruitment strategy.

 

[denzel]

There seems to be a pattern. Immediately after a defeat - sack him. 24 hours later, let's wait and see...

 

[Fareham Grecian]

Typical thoughtful post from you MJP.

You have though used an arbitrary start point for your statistics: ‘when we started losing’. A more logical start point of the beginning of this season gives 9 losses out of 15. Which is not great, but not as bad as you make it look.

The bottom line is that he won’t be fired. At least not yet.

(And can you *please* stop using ‘whom’ all the time when it should be ‘who” . It jars against your otherwise well written posts)

 

[Grecian Max]

Not geting those proper forwards in was always going to be a killer

We started the season with the transfer window a month away so I was pleased to see us pull in some points that perhaps we didn't always fully deserve, plus some good performances against the likes of Reading, Carlisle and Blackpool etc

My thinking at the time was, we're dominating the middle, we're tight at the back - Nombe is going to go and fund us to get some recognised forwards and we'll be a really solid mid table L1 side

The abject failure from the club, the recruitment side, GC - whoever - to enable what was an essential part to be added to this side has left Caldwell possibly in a sackable position. It should never have happened, forwards should have been prioritised.

There are a number of posters that were over sympathetic about this "everyone wants a forward "we just need to be patient" slowly turned into "well, we don't have the budget" and "The Admiral (lol) will lead the line"

We have put together much better forward lines that would walk into this current 11 in League 2, multiple times. It didn't need to be someone incredible, just a couple of CFs with the right movement and the ability to actually have a shot on goal. And it needed to be 2 of them, not one loan signing who was immediately injured.

Was gutted when the window closed, accused of panicking, being OTT etc etc etc - I knew it was going to be detrimental and we were going to struggle. I didn't envisage it being this bad though.

 

[cullbaggie]

Yes I appreciate we are on a bad run, but constant sacking the manager achieves nothing apart from an empty bank account and players that the next manager doesn't want! if when the transfer window opens and we are bottom then maybe its time to pull the plug and give someone the time to bring his players in... but until then give the man the support

 

[Number13]

There seems to be a pattern. Immediately after a defeat - sack him. 24 hours later, let's wait and see...

Thats just fans though isnt it?

After Derby on Tuesday night everybody was down at the manner of the defeat (think we all expected to lose at Derby - they're a decent team with a squad full of L1 players and despite the run they were on, and people saying they were "shit", actually they are decent and will be up there with Charlton and Portsmouth come May) and fed up that we seem to be in free fall

But then you calm down and think, what would I do differently that he isnt doing

So then you then look back at the game and assess it and where we are and where we should be and all that, you realise that some of the issues simply aren't his fault

Do any of us want to watch Steve Evans style hoof ball? Really? No. So we want our team to pass it with purpose and hopefully, mostly in a forward direction. Now, if the players in the squad were doing that and now arent, is that totally his fault? Its got to be a confidence thing? And an injuries thing? We all saw the pass that Scott made for the second much earlier than he did, sure Gary did too, but if the pass is delayed and we get broke on, is that his fault?

We moan about him not fancying the youth but who would we actually play, in L1, at the moment? Kite to tackle people, yes. Outside that, is Diabate any better than the three who did so well 5 weeks ago? I'd say not. He's been backing Hartridge even when he signed a left sided centre half

And we moan that only Hartridge survives from the 11 that started his first game in charge but 9 of the other 10 wanted to leave - what do you want him to do about that? How would you have covered the loss of Blackman, Caprice, Key, Collins, Stansfield, McDonald, Brown, etc all in one go and then Noumbe not long after?

I think he's a decent guy, who probably knows that this is his last chance at management, has 100% bought into the club and the area etc and deserves our support for a little while longer

 

[MJP_Exeter]

Good post. And I commend your restraint in being too 'I told you so' of late, I wouldn't have had the same discipline!

Ordering your 5 reasons from most at fault to least, I'd go with the below:

1. The Trust and board, not investing sufficiently. (Although we did sign 3 additional players outside of the window when the injury issues started to hit, but we didn't get 2 strikers in to replace Nombe)
=1. GC for not utilising his budget in accordance with what we needed and securing the right players early enough
3. Tactics, failure to adapt, to change games (Links into Injuries, transfer window)
4. Bad luck

I've left the first two as equal first because we just don't know the extent to which GC's hands were tied by the board or wider recruitment strategy.

Irrespective of previous thought trains, We all ultimately want the club and in turn GC to be successful because the depression of this latest run of defeats is pretty awful at the moment. I think it is important on a GC Out thread to consider other impacts currently in the team. Ultimately, it will be the manager who gets the most questions asked of him and in the run we are in that is only right and proper. But we cannot lose on Saturday. I would take not conceding right now and then gamble on scoring.

On Saturday, it is a doesn't matter how we achieve a win, but we need a win. It can be the most depressing style of play known to man, but we need a win Saturday, if we go behind, I really think the stands will be lost and the atmosphere could be pretty depressing.

 

[MJP_Exeter]

Typical thoughtful post from you MJP.

You have though used an arbitrary start point for your statistics: ‘when we started losing’. A more logical start point of the beginning of this season gives 9 losses out of 15. Which is not great, but not as bad as you make it look.

The bottom line is that he won’t be fired. At least not yet.

(And can you *please* stop using ‘whom’ all the time when it should be ‘who” . It jars against your otherwise well written posts)

Apologies on the whom.

I think irrespective, the stats for this season or including the end of last season do not look great. I only really point out because in the last 21 games we have lost 14, of which 12 have come in 2 clumps of 6. As said, the 6 defeats last season we can all forgive because of the circumstances, but for me this six game losing streak just feels utterly depressing. Also in the six straight defeats last season, there where moments of hope, some attacking intent and some decent performances, despite being so weakened.

 

[Billy The Fish]

Maybe just maybe the striker we want isn't available until January and we're muddling through with Yanic till then. Maybe he's got the workrate of Nombe, the physicality of Stockley and Curo's finishing.

Yeah I know, but I've just parked up in Cloud Cuckoo Land.

 

[BigBanker]

Not geting those proper forwards in was always going to be a killer

We started the season with the transfer window a month away so I was pleased to see us pull in some points that perhaps we didn't always fully deserve, plus some good performances against the likes of Reading, Carlisle and Blackpool etc

My thinking at the time was, we're dominating the middle, we're tight at the back - Nombe is going to go and fund us to get some recognised forwards and we'll be a really solid mid table L1 side

The abject failure from the club, the recruitment side, GC - whoever - to enable what was an essential part to be added to this side has left Caldwell possibly in a sackable position. It should never have happened, forwards should have been prioritised.

There are a number of posters that were over sympathetic about this "everyone wants a forward "we just need to be patient" slowly turned into "well, we don't have the budget" and "The Admiral (lol) will lead the line"

We have put together much better forward lines that would walk into this current 11 in League 2, multiple times. It didn't need to be someone incredible, just a couple of CFs with the right movement and the ability to actually have a shot on goal. And it needed to be 2 of them, not one loan signing who was immediately injured.

Was gutted when the window closed, accused of panicking, being OTT etc etc etc - I knew it was going to be detrimental and we were going to struggle. I didn't envisage it being this bad though.

Spot on Max.

In terms of it being even worse than us doom-mongers were espousing at the end of August, it's down to the team's total loss of faith in our ability to score IMO. This is why forwards are so damn important. A tight defence is positively motivated to keep a clean sheet if there's a striker up top who can nick a goal or two, even when we're under the cosh. The clean sheet is then an instrumental part of a WIN. With the absence of that striker, the motivation for a clean sheet is purely out of desperation (ie its the ONLY way we'll get even a point). This totally affects the mindset of the entire team over time.