Watson back to Blyth

[Darlobaz79]

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/ ... _Spartans/

[JE93]

Seemed a bit inevitable. Certainly not a bad player but for me never did enough to displace Galbraith. With Ferguson coming in who can play in a couple of positions up the left side it seems a sensible thing to do in terms of budget.

[quakerste]

Looks like we will see him again next season at Blackwell Meadows with Blyth. Should get promoted this season unless the wheels fall off again.

[jjljks]

Just hope he doesn't have a blinder if & when he plays against us next season.

[Quakerz]

Looks like we will see him again next season at Blackwell Meadows with Blyth. Should get promoted this season unless the wheels fall off again.

You've probably jinxed them there, but yes it will be good if they come up. They will prove that you don't have to throw tonnes of money at it, if they succeed.

It'd be good if Spenny come up as well, a lot of local interest there - although having said that if they are competing for the same players as us they will offer them more - so maybe it's best that they stay down.

[Darlo_Pete]

I'd much rather Blyth came up with somebody else apart from Spennymoor. Nothing really against Spennymoor, but they'd have the pick of the semi-pro players in this region ahead of us, if they get up to the Conference North.

[Spyman]

I'd much rather Blyth came up with somebody else apart from Spennymoor. Nothing really against Spennymoor, but they'd have the pick of the semi-pro players in this region ahead of us, if they get up to the Conference North.

They'd have the pick of the semi-pro players who were motivated by money, yes.

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[lo36789]

It'd be good if Spenny come up as well, a lot of local interest there - although having said that if they are competing for the same players as us they will offer them more - so maybe it's best that they stay down.

Yeh but generally we can beat their mixture of ex-players and mercenaries anyway.

[HarryCharltonsCat]

Just because someone doesn't sign for us doesn't make them a mercenary.

[lo36789]

true could be just after the vibe

[Darlogramps]

Just because someone doesn't sign for us doesn't make them a mercenary.

Yes but dropping two divisions purely to earn more money (as has happened at $p£nd¥moor) does.

[Darlo_Pete]

You could also say that if Spennymoor are in our division, they are going for the ambition, the extra wages are just a bonus. If Spennymoor are in the same division as us and are offering better wages as well, then it spells trouble for us.

[QUAKERMAN2]

Its been a great move for Tom Craddock, obviously could not motivate himself playing in front of small crowds.OK getting good money but must be hard rolling up and hardly 400 fans there.

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[lo36789]

You could also say that if Spennymoor are in our division, they are going for the ambition, the extra wages are just a bonus. If Spennymoor are in the same division as us and are offering better wages as well, then it spells trouble for us.

Have you been asleep for the past 5 years?

[HarryCharltonsCat]

Just because someone doesn't sign for us doesn't make them a mercenary.

Yes but dropping two divisions purely to earn more money (as has happened at $p£nd¥moor) does.

And you know it's purely for money for all of them do you? There is a high chance they will be in the same league as us next year. A bankrolled Spennymoor may well have a better chance of further progression - perhaps they bought into that, as well as the wages.

[Darlogramps]

Just because someone doesn't sign for us doesn't make them a mercenary.

Yes but dropping two divisions purely to earn more money (as has happened at $p£nd¥moor) does.

And you know it's purely for money for all of them do you?

Yes I do. There is no reason to join Spennymoor over Darlington, other than money. We are far superior in terms of history, playing in a higher division, fan base etc.

And given we at the same stage last season were in title contention, and they're down in 8th, it blows your bankrolled = better chance of progression and success theory out of the water. You're going to have to do better than that.

[Darlofan97]

Despite significant improvements (and investment) over the summer and beyond, such as players like Curtis, Chandler, Ramshaw, Mitchell, Armstrong, Craddock etc, it doesn't really seem like their season has took off yet. Quite a surprise that they've dropped down to 8th today.

49 points as opposed to our 61 that we had at that stage last season. Blyth are relentless with a 9 point lead with 2 games in hand, can't see past them for the title.

[super_les_mcjannet]

Despite significant improvements (and investment) over the summer and beyond, such as players like Curtis, Chandler, Ramshaw, Mitchell, Armstrong, Craddock etc, it doesn't really seem like their season has took off yet. Quite a surprise that they've dropped down to 8th today.

49 points as opposed to our 61 that we had at that stage last season. Blyth are relentless with a 9 point lead with 2 games in hand, can't see past them for the title.

Spennymoor will make the playoffs alongside Stourbridge and any two others but it will be tougher for them than last seasons playoffs. Still a good shout for promotion though. I hope Blyth win the league, be good to have them in our league next season.

[Darlofan97]

Agreed - I think that they are a good shout. I think that Stourbridge & Nantwich will fancy finishing above Spennymoor or at their level.

If Hardy remains at Buxton then they will make the play-offs too, in my opinion.

[loan_star]

Quite a surprise that they've dropped down to 8th today.

The live table had them 2nd when they were 1-0 up. Its very tight in the chase for the playoffs.
I don't dislike Spenny, in fact have been to a couple of their games when I've had nothing better to do, however I don't like the chew of having them in our division despite the fact we usually beat them. If we have them in the Conference North next season then it will dilute the choice of players available to us even more, a fact not helped by Harrogate going full time too.

[lo36789]

I don't dislike them either but there is so much fuss over nothing when they are in our division.

We have beaten them previously and in good games but at the same time there has been an unhealthy amount of tension around the games - it's mostly dictated from our side tbh.

[theoriginalfatcat]

We went to the Spenny game yesterday, and the "Vibe" seemed to be missing.

The soggy pitch made things difficult and they never got going. Armstrong missed a couple of easy chances, whilst Mitchell came on right at the end and never got a chance to get going. Dowson came on too but made no impact.

Spenny players/Alan White and sprinkling of fans got uptight with the Ref but he seemed OK to me.

[HarryCharltonsCat]

Just because someone doesn't sign for us doesn't make them a mercenary.

Yes but dropping two divisions purely to earn more money (as has happened at $p£nd¥moor) does.

And you know it's purely for money for all of them do you?

Yes I do. There is no reason to join Spennymoor over Darlington, other than money. We are far superior in terms of history, playing in a higher division, fan base etc.

And given we at the same stage last season were in title contention, and they're down in 8th, it blows your bankrolled = better chance of progression and success theory out of the water. You're going to have to do better than that.

Forest Green, Fleetwood, Crawley, Gateshead, Eastleigh, Fylde, North Ferriby, Salford all prove the theory. At the start of the season, with the signings made, everyone would have expected Spennymoor to be top three at least. They haven't gelled as a team, it happens, yet sit 4 points off second, with three games in hand. Forgive me if I don't consign them to also-rans just yet.

I think you overestimate the pull the name Darlington has the higher up the leagues you go, that players will be so in awe of us they will throw all other considerations out of the way to play for us. Chandler and Ramshaw have recent history with us, which ended badly. Perhaps the fact we have continued to overshoot our budget each season put a doubt in their minds as to how far we could progress as a sustainable proposition in our current format. I have no doubt money did play a part, but to say that's all it came down to is simplistic in my view. And Chandler could probably have made more at South Shields if that was his only motivation.

[lo36789]

Just because someone doesn't sign for us doesn't make them a mercenary.

Yes but dropping two divisions purely to earn more money (as has happened at $p£nd¥moor) does.

And you know it's purely for money for all of them do you?

Yes I do. There is no reason to join Spennymoor over Darlington, other than money. We are far superior in terms of history, playing in a higher division, fan base etc.

And given we at the same stage last season were in title contention, and they're down in 8th, it blows your bankrolled = better chance of progression and success theory out of the water. You're going to have to do better than that.

Forest Green, Fleetwood, Crawley, Gateshead, Eastleigh, Fylde, North Ferriby, Salford all prove the theory. At the start of the season, with the signings made, everyone would have expected Spennymoor to be top three at least. They haven't gelled as a team, it happens, yet sit 4 points off second, with three games in hand. Forgive me if I don't consign them to also-rans just yet.

I think you overestimate the pull the name Darlington has the higher up the leagues you go, that players will be so in awe of us they will throw all other considerations out of the way to play for us. Chandler and Ramshaw have recent history with us, which ended badly. Perhaps the fact we have continued to overshoot our budget each season put a doubt in their minds as to how far we could progress as a sustainable proposition in our current format. I have no doubt money did play a part, but to say that's all it came down to is simplistic in my view. And Chandler could probably have made more at South Shields if that was his only motivation.

Was it not pretty much confirmed that when Chandler and Craddock turned up to meetings with Gray he told them what we could offer and they basically said no - then within a couple of days they had a new club...

Gray made some quite specific comments at the time and they were pretty much echo'd by comments by the two players.

[Darlogramps]

Forest Green, Fleetwood, Crawley, Gateshead, Eastleigh, Fylde, North Ferriby, Salford all prove the theory. At the start of the season, with the signings made, everyone would have expected Spennymoor to be top three at least. They haven't gelled as a team, it happens, yet sit 4 points off second, with three games in hand. Forgive me if I don't consign them to also-rans just yet.

Given the level of exaggeration you're using, I seem to have struck a nerve.

Where did I consign Spennymoor to also-rans status? Did I rule them out of promotion? I can't see where I did.

I was merely pointing out that despite spending large amounts on players who should have made them into title contenders, they're well off the pace, particularly when you consider where we were at this stage last season. I would argue Chandler, Curtis and Ramshaw would have improved our squad massively in the NPL last season and they're actually better than what we had (no disrespect intended to our title-winning players). So Spenny should at least be equalling our performance, but they're not.

It proves my point that money doesn't automatically mean you have a better chance of success. Therefore to say being bankrolled means you have a better chance of progression is flawed. After all, for every Fleetwood, there's a Hereford or a Celtic Nation.

As for your examples, they're not applicable in the context of our discussion, given the comparatively small talent pool of players and fewer number of clubs in the North East in comparison to, for example, North West.

The North East exists in its own bubble with inflated wages and transfer fees and limited options in terms of clubs for players. If someone dropped out Gateshead, there are four clubs in the region before the Northern League (Us, Blyth, Spennymoor and Whitby). In the North West, it's many, many more. Same for the South of England.

I think you overestimate the pull the name Darlington has the higher up the leagues you go, that players will be so in awe of us they will throw all other considerations out of the way to play for us.

Again, you seem rattled because you're distorting what I've actually said. A club's history, tradition, fan-base etc does play a part. How many Darlington players over the past five years have said the chance to play in front a big crowd at an ex-league club was a big draw? Quite a few. You don't get that at Spennymoor. All they can offer to trump us is money. And as I've already demonstrated, having more money doesn't automatically mean Spenny will get to the National League Premier before us.

Chandler and Ramshaw have recent history with us, which ended badly. Perhaps the fact we have continued to overshoot our budget each season put a doubt in their minds as to how far we could progress as a sustainable proposition in our current format. I have no doubt money did play a part, but to say that's all it came down to is simplistic in my view. And Chandler could probably have made more at South Shields if that was his only motivation.

I'd like to think Chandler and Ramshaw know fine well Darlington operates under a different model. To use your logic, surely going to Spennymoor, a bankrolled club living beyond their means which is run by a single benefactor would put them off, given their history with us.

And you're also arguing against yourself here. You're assuming S. Shields have more money than Spenny (which I don't believe to be true, but let's say it is for the sake of my point). Surely then, if you believe Shields have more money, they have a better chance of progressing further than Spenny have, therefore joining them would be the obvious choice for Chandler.

Quite honestly, I think it's much simpler than all of this. The likes of Chandler wanted a good wedge to make up for dropping out of a full-time club, and we weren't as willing to offer that, so they went to Spenny, where they could offer more money. Money talks as far I'm concerned, but I'm willing to agree to disagree with you.

[super_les_mcjannet]

Chandler was very keen to sign for Darlo until it came time to chat about money.

To be honest the lad had dropped from his full time job, was soon to become a father so he went with the most money on offer at the time. I can't totally knock him for this, if he made the decision on best offer available for his family at the time.

I think Ramshaw followed because of a better offer and the fact he likes playing and being around Chandler not sure why Curtis followed also.

[theoriginalfatcat]

not sure why Curtis followed also.

Because of "the vibe" - keep up !!

[HarryCharltonsCat]

Thanks for agreeing to disagree Gramps.

Not sure why, when anyone responds to one of your posts, you always assume you've struck a nerve. I was merely extending the conversation.

Bankrolled clubs do have a better chance of success. Surely, when there are more clubs, bigger, better supported clubs, more well known clubs, in an area, the fact your Fleetwood's, Fylde's, Crawley's, etc. can attract the players they have, and progress as they have, with the crowds they have, backs up this. Obviously, it's not a given, a manager could waste his budget on the wrong players, get injuries, whatever, but they start from a stronger position.

As for the name, tradition, support thing, yes it has helped in the last five years, because we've been the big fish in the small pond. We are no longer that. If we continue to progress, we will be looking at players who have played for bigger clubs than us, in front of bigger crowds.

Chandler and Ramshaw will know we operate under a different model. Still hasn't seen us operate within our budget yet has it? Might we have reached our level for a few years now?

Is Brad Groves a safer bet than George, or Raj? I think his record say's he is. If they limited themselves to clubs who didn't have a major benefactor, then their options would be pretty small. And surely not signing for South Shields would prove my point, that there are other considerations than money. South Shields may well eventually outstrip Spennymoor - they seem to have the fan base to do so - but it's at least three years before they will be where they are now. Perhaps Chandler has opted to play at the higher level, with a still high chance of progression. Of course, he could just be a greedy sod.

And can I confirm that I am sat, quite serenely, drinking a cup of coffee and eating a sandwich. No histrionics, no steam coming out of my ears.