Darlo Uncovered

Yeah, I don't accept the squad was ever that bad. This is a squad that is broadly similar to a side that was topping the table 9 months ago. Mark Beck is not Lionel Messi and Dodds isn't Roberto Carlos. It was (and still is, as a lot are still here) a group of badly organised and motivated players l...

This decision continues to look the worst of all. Taylor is a perfectly solid NLN keeper. Replacing him with a young kid was, and remains, absolutely barmy. The way it has been done has probably also completely undermined Gowling’s authority if he brings him back.

To be honest, I’m very much not at the reactionary end of the fanbase, and I’m that alarmed by Gowling’s changes that if it isn’t prohibitively expensive for the club, I would consider cutting our losses. The entire approach alarms me. This is not how you fight a relegation battle.

But you did say you didn’t want to get rid of Armstrong. He won a pathetic 3 of his last 25 games in charge. The mistake was not getting rid of him at the end of last season, and allowing him to spend a record BTB on poor players. At least then if a new manager was appointed in May/June they could ...

I have approximately 0 faith in this new management team. I am probably biased though, because I didn’t want us to get rid of AA. I think it’s got to be nigh-on desperation to get rid of a manager mid-season at our level. It’s so difficult to rebuild a squad and to change tactics while only seeing p...

Further to my above post, I saw absolutely nothing that suggests I would be prepared to boost the budget *again* for the new manager. For me, as a bare minimum, he needs to prove he can get some results out of a squad that is largely proven at this level. I’m not talking about major success, but tho...

I’ve largely been an absentee fan this year. Was only my second game of the year this season, and that’s after the opening day (although obviously I watch our highlights but you don’t always get the full match picture from them). I’m troubled by what I saw, to be honest. I wasn’t sold on giving Alun...

1 thing I am 100% sure of is that no "owner" ever has spent the relatively low cost required on a yearly basis to keep the place up to a standard where major problems could not set in. That was expressed by experts as being between £75,000 and £100,000 over the first 10 year period, ie £7,500-£10,0...

Shocked by this totally unexpected turn of events. It has happened comically sooner than even I thought possible though.

I am, by nature optimistic. We can still aim for a playoff spot. Thank Christ we only have to play Curzon at home once.

There were glimpses from the new signings.

Wholly deserved. I’m not sure I like this ‘mental health card’ stuff btw. Lots of people do have very genuine mental health problems. Marcus Maddison may even have at different stages. It’s not really related to this thuggery though. The guys an absolute cretin. Most young people would kill for the ...

The Echo website is a cesspit. The least said about it the better. :thumbdown: Seems to consist of about ten or so very angry, very aggressive people. Frankly, comments should be turned off. There’s no need for it. As an aside to that, the website is borderline unusable on a mobile device due to th...

Think I'm sadder for the 60-year-old woman he punched, to be honest. The guy is clearly a moron.

Absolute scumbag. Hitting a sixty-year-old woman. Pathetic.

Released two weeks or so later than said incident, so it's clearly connected.

jjljks wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 18, 2023 8:29 am

theoriginalfatcat wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 17, 2023 7:01 pm

I thought we had a supporters liaison officer? I think I remember writing to him once.

I hear the Wagner Group's Prigozhin may be looking for a new role.

That would be quite a coup for us.

I’m almost certain it was a twenty year lease we signed? So we won’t even be halfway. No immediate concerns of us being homeless. Just as well. As long as there are labour voters there will be no new ground. ;) Unfortunately for some, I’ll prepare for an eternity at Blackwell (which 20 years at Bla...

I’m almost certain it was a twenty year lease we signed? So we won’t even be halfway. No immediate concerns of us being homeless.

Skim read it. Not good reading. Honestly it felt like just a bit of a time warp going back 30 years (and even then, it was starting to become less acceptable). Even the very obvious point of it costing the club money aside, it’s not funny, and it just marks you out as thick. I just read the fa outl...

Skim read it. Not good reading. Honestly it felt like just a bit of a time warp going back 30 years (and even then, it was starting to become less acceptable). Even the very obvious point of it costing the club money aside, it’s not funny, and it just marks you out as thick.

With current interest rates increasing I honestly can’t see anything going ahead at present in either site, although in the Echo today food/retail units were passed for expansion in Faverdale. Not sure how that works It reminds me just a little of that time upstairs at the Arena when Sotnick got ou...

My point is access to Skerningham, even if we can convince a landowner to sell land for a commercial development, Skerningham is not assessable for crowds of football supporters wanting to access or leave the site without congestion Tbh it’s easy to make that argument against Faverdale too. Traffic...

I’m almost certain the Wimbledon stadium was delayed due to funding as Wimbledon needed a certain amount of money themselves. Some of it is credited with them struggling on the pitch due to needing to cut the playing budget. The bit I don’t follow in all of this is where the money is coming from on...

I’m almost certain the Wimbledon stadium was delayed due to funding as Wimbledon needed a certain amount of money themselves. Some of it is credited with them struggling on the pitch due to needing to cut the playing budget. The bit I don’t follow in all of this is where the money is coming from on ...

It's not the council's responsibility or their fault. We have been given no substantive detail about what is intended or how it will sensibly be paid for. That said, it was never nailed on to be at Skerningham anyway (which I think would be an absolutely terrible location). Perhaps the plan is Faver...

I think you need to consider what you get for your budget - had we and Curzon Ashton / Chorley the exact same budget, I would suggest they would be able to attract better players for that budget due to location. We have a North East tax. Tbh we should be able to feed off the scraps of the big NE th...

Sounds a good signing to me. I hope we have a year option on the one year deal!

Sure. Of course they do, and sometimes people overachieve. AA did at Blyth. But, the path to every manager who dramatically overachieves is littered with many more who dramatically underachieve. If you are going to let a safe pair of hands go (which AA certainly is at this point) you better have a b...

Overall, I think AA gets a C so far. It's hard to criticise him too heavily given he is roughly achieving what his budget allows. That said, as fans, we all hope for that slight overachievement. Other sides have done it and it is what keeps us going. Football isn't played on a spreadsheet, and teams...

The new shirts go on sale today. The home shirt looks great (love the Hull FC rugby league effect). Just an observation with the away shirt - it's quite a pale blue, with dark navy shorts. I can see us needing a third strip when we play eg. Hereford if a referee thinks the light shirt/dark shorts d...

I think he will be a key starter next season. Wasn't too bothered about Purver leaving for this reason.

I can't imagine a huge number of more players coming in. I hope we can use loans in a clever way and maybe pick up a stray youngster or two from the region's big three to supplement.