20/08/22 - L1: OUFC v Morecambe

[MiddleBartonYellow]

Warburton

Working for West Ham.

 

[PottersRightBoot]

To be fair the same rather supercilious response was given by a defined group (most of whom have liked your post) when persons raised concerns about poor summer transfer activity and squad development.

“Just wait it will all be ok”

That group has been proven witheringly wrong. Absolutely and undeniably. It could barely have been a worse start and the results have not been the result of bad luck.

And now two of our best players are, unsurprisingly, injured. The squad is threadbare. And the fixture list will soon get harder. I’d be hiding in the shadows like scotchegg has been if I were proven so fundamentally wrong.

I sat on the fence like the majority of the forum in the interests of patience and biding time. You can check my posts. I wanted to give the benefit of the doubt. But no, just no sir. This is not hyperbole.

We are aiming for promotion this season. That aspiration is dead before September!

It’s not looking great but…,we were almost rock bottom at the end of November 2020 and ended up in the playoffs so wouldn’t count your chickens just yet young Rick.

 

[Mellowyellow]

Are you saying there are no positives to take from anything so far? None of the players we retained? None that we signed to new contracts? None of the new signings? Nothing about the new ground? I’m not saying there isn’t work to do at this club but ignoring anything positive and simply focussing on negatives just helps to send this forum into a spiral of decline, that’s just as tedious to me as those who chide the ‘happy clappers’ for being positive. Balance is what’s needed, and many simply knee jerk into overreaction.

I didnt say there werent any positives.
Right new players, mostly now injured.
Players retained is as much about those lost and not replaced.
Sykes, Williams, Forde, Kane, Whyte, McNally et al.
New ground?? I think we need to get through this season first.
When the problems subside then maybe a balance will be had by fans. A balanced view was back in June, high budget, talk of positive transfer news. When it gets to weeks into the season and the squad is yet to be assembled then you cannot accuse peoples reactions as being knee jerk.

 

[Up The U's]

That’s really all I’m getting at. I’m fully accepting of the fact Karl needs to shoulder a lot of responsibility. But the board are well and truly giving him the rope to hang himself and he shouldn’t be getting every ounce of the blame from us on here. For people of this experience - particularly in Italy where the DoF model is much more common - it seems odd to stand back and allow it.

I don’t doubt their ambition, but perhaps it suits them to have a light touch involvement in the football side. It’s in their hands to change it.

I appreciate you like KR and you want to defend him but as Ryan has pointed out the lack of structure around him is by KR's design & blessing. It is not forced upon him by a tyrannical board. If KR is happy with the current structure in place you can't use that as an escape goat (que that picture again).

Would you have been OK if at the end of last season the board forced him to have a DoF?, I would suspect not.

 

[battman]

I’d suggest you read this thread, and other related threads again and really focus on how many are calling for the manager to go, how many have written off this season in August, and can’t see ANY positives so far. Tell me that’s not a huge overreaction.

It's not a huge overreaction. From previous seasons we know that to get into the autos you have to be squeaky clean, and to get into the play-offs you have to be good more days than not. So far this season we've looked the furthest away from achieving our aims since Karl's first full season in charge.

Those calling for the manager to go are the ones who recognise that Karl's been here for four-and-a-half years, and almost always reference what has happened in past seasons in their reasoning.

And in terms of positives, apart from McGuane hitting form, Goodrham scoring that goal and the team turning the game around against Swansea, there really hasn't been anything else. Six games in, there are a lot more negatives than positives, and there should be a lot more than three positives to take out of things.

 

[ChamonixOx]

I don’t need to, I was at the game so I know what I saw. If Brannagan had his shooting boots on we’d have won by two or three.

Not convinced at the game or iFollow makes a great deal of difference. The point was that we rarely looked like scoring (other than Spasov and the goal), simple as that, despite 27 shots and 10 on target. Stats might suggest positives, but there wasn’t really any to take away. So what’s your point?

 

[battman]

Near 7000 in August is as good, or if not better, than it has ever been. How long have you been following the Club?

Whilst we'll need more attendance data to gauge a trend, there was a 779-person drop off in home attendance from Morecambe to the previous Saturday 3pm home game against Cambridge. If these results and performances continue, I don't think attendances will increase post-August.

 

[Golden Dr Otto]

It’s not looking great but…,we were almost rock bottom at the end of November 2020 and ended up in the playoffs so wouldn’t count your chickens just yet young Rick.

True sir. I’m looking at the underlying circumstances though

 

[werthersoriginal]

It's not a huge overreaction. From previous seasons we know that to get into the autos you have to be squeaky clean, and to get into the play-offs you have to be good more days than not. So far this season we've looked the furthest away from achieving our aims since Karl's first full season in charge.

Those calling for the manager to go are the ones who recognise that Karl's been here for four-and-a-half years, and almost always reference what has happened in past seasons in their reasoning.

And in terms of positives, apart from McGuane hitting form, Goodrham scoring that goal and the team turning the game around against Swansea, there really hasn't been anything else. Six games in, there are a lot more negatives than positives, and there should be a lot more than three positives to take out of things.

I don’t see how anyone could deny it’s been bloody awful so far! The only other positives I can think of are that the transfer window is still open, at some point injured players will be fit, and we surely can’t continue playing so badly

 

[Swaby39]

I appreciate you like KR and you want to defend him but as Ryan has pointed out the lack of structure around him is by KR design & blessing. It is not forced upon him by a tyrannical board. If KR is happy with the current structure in place you can't use that as an escape goat (que that picture again).

Would you have been ok if at the end of last season the board forced him to have a DoF?, I would suspect not.

I’m not disputing that at all - I’m fine with a DoF coming in to the point I suggested they do that and see if KR wants to stay and embrace that or leave.

I like lots of managers and whether I like KR or not is not at the route of my point here. What I’m saying is if KR is the whole problem and he has it all his own way by design, then the board are answerable to why that is being allowed to happen… it’s their club!!

If I run a business and my sales director is given the freedom of choosing their market approach and we’re seeing year on year regression, I don’t stand by and watch that happen. I either get with the programme and trust in what he/she is doing for the long term or I change something around them; or if I truly believe they’ve lost the plot I change them! I certainly don’t hand them a new advertising budget or 3 new staff. But ultimately it’s my responsibility how long I allow that to continue. It’s my business.

I’m not sticking up for KR in all this - I’m simply suggesting that by enabling it, the board are indirectly contributing to what everybody is moaning about.

 

[MC Yellow]

Whilst we'll need more attendance data to gauge a trend, there was a 779-person drop off in home attendance from Morecambe to the previous Saturday 3pm home game against Cambridge. If these results and performances continue, I don't think attendances will increase post-August.

Realistically…

£30 for an adult ticket and £22 for under 18 if you go SSU. Plus food/drink and travel.

Less money in the family kitty these days.

Summer holidays.

Tuesday/Saturday/Tuesday home games on the bounce.

Attendance drop to be expected regardless of our slow start.

But yes, interest will drop if performances don’t pick up.

 

[Oxymoron]

But its deeper than that. Ask did the take over go through, who ultimately is responsibly/owns OUFC at the moment. There is a huge vacuum at the club.

This is a very good point. In our own recent history we have seen how on field performance goes to pot when things are not settled behind the scenes, despite the players and the manager claiming that such things have no effect.

If "the owners" are simply waiting for the SB situation to resolve itself, then the solution is both clear and simple - make the takeover official and let's get back to playing football. If there's something else festering in the background, having no players and an unpopular manager may be the least of our worries....

 

[Horse]

Regardless of our own performance, it really pisses me off to see teams celebrate scraping a draw against us. Their players looked like they’d won the league and their directors were celebrating at full time. What a shitty season they are having if they celebrate that.

 

[Leysboy]

We could do with a fan phone in show. But I think KR is afraid that some questions, he won’t be able to answer.

Let’s get the Indonesians or Horst on the show, then ask some proper questions, not cherry picked tripe.

 

[battman]

Regardless of our own performance, it really pisses me off to see teams celebrate scraping a draw against us. Their players looked like they’d won the league and their directors were celebrating at full time. What a shitty season they are having if they celebrate that.

Whilst it can be annoying, it shows how far we've come. We're seen as one of the bigger fishes in this division.

 

[Scrongo]

This is a very good point. In our own recent history we have seen how on field performance goes to pot when things are not settled behind the scenes, despite the players and the manager claiming that such things have no effect.

If "the owners" are simply waiting for the SB situation to resolve itself, then the solution is both clear and simple - make the takeover official and let's get back to playing football. If there's something else festering in the background, having no players and an unpopular manager may be the least of our worries....

 

[Leysboy]

View attachment 9925

I don’t believe Tiger is in charge, I believe Anindya Bakrie, Horst Giecke, and Erik Thohir are the main players.

Tiger is just there, and you hardly hear from him now. ie chairman’s thoughts/programme notes.

 

[Scrongo]

I don’t believe Tiger is in charge, I believe Anindya Bakrie, Horst Giecke, and Erik Thohir are the main players.

Tiger is just there, and you hardly hear from him now. ie chairman’s thoughts/programme notes.

 

[Scrongo]

He there tuesday

 

[Scrongo]

I don’t believe Tiger is in charge, I believe Anindya Bakrie, Horst Giecke, and Erik Thohir are the main players.

Tiger is just there, and you hardly hear from him now. ie chairman’s thoughts/programme notes.

Not officially