Southport...

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darlo2001uk
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Re: Southport...

Post by darlo2001uk » Wed Oct 27, 2021 12:35 pm

beatroute66 wrote:
Wed Oct 27, 2021 12:02 pm
darlo2001uk wrote:
Wed Oct 27, 2021 8:21 am
What goes through the mind of a player to get involved in a sending-off incident in the final minute of a game when you are 3-0 down? Bizarre.
The red card I got in the final few minutes for deliberate handball at 6-0 down in my Yarm Town Boys' days back in the early-90s springs to mind here.

And they scored the resulting penalty. A 7-0 defeat, two game suspension across school/TJFA games and an £8 fine... :lol:
No can of fizzy pop for you after the game then :lol:

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don'tbuythesun
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Re: Southport...

Post by don'tbuythesun » Wed Oct 27, 2021 12:37 pm

The stuff of legend! I managed to book a holiday in Anglesey so missed the nearest game to my house. Sounded like we struggled with the ball in the air. Ellis was outstanding in the air at Chorley and I couldn't believe how good he was in addition to his organisational skills. Sorely missed last night?

Mission Impossible
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Re: Southport...

Post by Mission Impossible » Wed Oct 27, 2021 12:50 pm

darlo_baron wrote:
Tue Oct 26, 2021 9:13 pm
We've had long enough to judge this team now and it's obvious we are in for another season of complete mediocrity at very best.

Suppose it is what it is. We are where we are as a club and any thoughts of getting out this division feel extremely long term. It's difficult to get excited about games as every good result is followed by a performance like this.
You sum it up well. Without serious investment I fear we have now come as far as possible. Lower league mediocrity stretches out before us. Increasingly we will come up against full time teams, even in this league. I am trying to stay positive, but can't see a way forward.

lo36789
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Re: Southport...

Post by lo36789 » Wed Oct 27, 2021 1:35 pm

Mission Impossible wrote:
Wed Oct 27, 2021 12:50 pm
You sum it up well. Without serious investment I fear we have now come as far as possible. Lower league mediocrity stretches out before us. Increasingly we will come up against full time teams, even in this league. I am trying to stay positive, but can't see a way forward.
There will always be teams that end up like that. We were historically lower league mediocrity, coming up against teams who were well funded and could push on higher.

The only times when this wasn't case we fell short and then suffered administration.

If people still enjoy going to games and the club still provides for the community does it matter?

darloed19
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Re: Southport...

Post by darloed19 » Wed Oct 27, 2021 2:22 pm

Gone as far as we can being a fan owned club.

Darlogramps
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Southport...

Post by Darlogramps » Wed Oct 27, 2021 2:53 pm

darloed19 wrote:Gone as far as we can being a fan owned club.
Cool story bro. Got the name of any investors in mind?

Or is this more tedious fantasising that a handful of fans are doing now every time we have a couple of bad results? It’s the new go-to whinge.

Yet none of these whingers are ever able to tell us who this wonderful investor is, waiting in the wings, prepared to lose hundreds of thousands of pounds every year funding a sixth tier club with no ground of its own and zero prospect of return on investment.

If you’ve got a name, great, please share with the group. But if it’s simply more tedious fantasising, then sorry, you’re wasting everyone’s time.

That’s before we get on to how having a sugar daddy doesn’t guarantee success (see Wrexham, York, AFC Fylde, Gateshead and more) who’ve all struggled in recent years. Fylde relegated into this division despite having a sugar daddy. Gateshead demoted after an investor turned out to be a shyster, York sinking to their lowest level in decades. Wrexham’s Hollywood dollars only getting them into mid-table.
If ever you're bored or miserable:

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Old Git
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Re: Southport...

Post by Old Git » Wed Oct 27, 2021 3:12 pm

darloed19 wrote:
Wed Oct 27, 2021 2:22 pm
Gone as far as we can being a fan owned club.
Have to agree with Gramps on this one. This only becomes an issue if there is someone serious about investing several 100k a year in our club. Until that time it is pointless to even debate how far we can go as a fan owned club because that is what we are unless something unlikely happens and a sugar daddy comes along. Even then there would likely be a big debate amongst fans about whether it would be a desirable way forward and it would not be a guarantee of promotion.

LoidLucan
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Re: Southport...

Post by LoidLucan » Wed Oct 27, 2021 3:18 pm

I wonder if Gloucester have gone as far as they can with the investor/full-time model. Their owner says they have the 4th biggest budget in the league. Have a look at the table.

Alfie
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Re: Southport...

Post by Alfie » Wed Oct 27, 2021 3:20 pm

Mid table mediocrity...gone as far as we can....need an investor.....

With the exception of a handful of clubs who can realistically challenge for top of the premier league then sooner or later, at some level, you will reach a point where the best you can hope for is retaining your place in the current league. For some thats the premier league and for others northern league div 2 and all points inbetween.

For us National League North may be that level. As a fan I want my team to win every game and play at as high a level as it can. But much more important I want a team that has a fair chance of being around for the foreseesable future - something that hasn't been the case too many times in the past.

If our future is more or less where we are then so be it.

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theoriginalfatcat
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Re: Southport...

Post by theoriginalfatcat » Wed Oct 27, 2021 3:30 pm

This is the future that Martin Gray foresaw and didn't want to be part of. I'm not writing this to be pro Gray or anti Gray, just making the point that he (like others) saw this situation coming.

Unless we get a money making cup run or a bonus sell on clause producing cash, what can we do?
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Wiseacre
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Re: Southport...

Post by Wiseacre » Wed Oct 27, 2021 3:58 pm

:problem: I'm struggling a bit with the team management and don't enjoy knocking AA after his recent illness ... but was it just coincidence that we played better when he was away and have slumped again now he's, thankfully, recovered? Also, his forthright responses after poor showings don't seem to be making much difference. On top of the patchy recruitment he's not pulling up many trees, as they say. The situation with Nelson looks puzzling, why do you bring in a player who is unfit. I can see he's good when he's fit but how much longer are we going to be waiting and how knackered was he in the first place - is that why we got him? I'm a fan of Armstrong but would it be better to give Holloway more of a say?

lo36789
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Re: Southport...

Post by lo36789 » Wed Oct 27, 2021 4:47 pm

theoriginalfatcat wrote:
Wed Oct 27, 2021 3:30 pm
This is the future that Martin Gray foresaw and didn't want to be part of. I'm not writing this to be pro Gray or anti Gray, just making the point that he (like others) saw this situation coming.

Unless we get a money making cup run or a bonus sell on clause producing cash, what can we do?
I don't know where I missed the memo that anybody was in denial over that.

We start every season with a hope that we can challenge for a play-off spot. Outside of that we will have good seasons we will have bad seasons but the important thing is that we have a club.

DarloJason
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Re: Southport...

Post by DarloJason » Wed Oct 27, 2021 6:08 pm

Wiseacre wrote:
Wed Oct 27, 2021 3:58 pm
:problem: I'm struggling a bit with the team management and don't enjoy knocking AA after his recent illness ... but was it just coincidence that we played better when he was away and have slumped again now he's, thankfully, recovered? Also, his forthright responses after poor showings don't seem to be making much difference. On top of the patchy recruitment he's not pulling up many trees, as they say. The situation with Nelson looks puzzling, why do you bring in a player who is unfit. I can see he's good when he's fit but how much longer are we going to be waiting and how knackered was he in the first place - is that why we got him? I'm a fan of Armstrong but would it be better to give Holloway more of a say?
Got to say I agree with this, bottom line is that when it comes to motivating the players and encouraging them to step up, it just doesn’t seem to be happening. From the players that have left that Alan felt weren’t pulling their weight, to a group of lads who on paper and when on form, demonstrate that they have the attributes to perform to a decent standard, is it that AA is finding it hard to get them fired up? Were they trying to prove a point when he wasn’t there? I like AA but if you look at his interviews after the defeats at the start of the season and the most recent one perhaps this skill just isn’t in his locker.

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theoriginalfatcat
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Re: Southport...

Post by theoriginalfatcat » Wed Oct 27, 2021 6:29 pm

lo36789 wrote:
Wed Oct 27, 2021 4:47 pm
theoriginalfatcat wrote:
Wed Oct 27, 2021 3:30 pm
This is the future that Martin Gray foresaw and didn't want to be part of. I'm not writing this to be pro Gray or anti Gray, just making the point that he (like others) saw this situation coming.

Unless we get a money making cup run or a bonus sell on clause producing cash, what can we do?
I don't know where I missed the memo that anybody was in denial over that.

We start every season with a hope that we can challenge for a play-off spot. Outside of that we will have good seasons we will have bad seasons but the important thing is that we have a club.
Yes, I agree. Rather this than some dubious millionaire type sniffing around though.
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Quakerlad
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Re: Southport...

Post by Quakerlad » Wed Oct 27, 2021 9:31 pm

Have to say, considering these were our highlights that I just watched, we must have been very very poor. Lost count the number of times we lost 50/50 tackles and just looked a shambles at both ends of the pitch.
Lambert and Purver have to start next game based on Lamberts last two halves and Purver at least looked interested and busy.
I have been critical of AA,s summer recruitment but can someone also tell me why he signed Rose ( experienced player at levels above us) and then has never played him? Also, why sign another right back again with no intention of playing him.
How many “fringe” players are we now paying who in AA,s eyes are clearly nowhere near the first team.

jjljks
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Re: Southport...

Post by jjljks » Thu Oct 28, 2021 6:27 am

darloed19 wrote:
Wed Oct 27, 2021 2:22 pm
Gone as far as we can being a fan owned club.
Can think of a few foreign clubs that are fan owned & did quite well for a while. Barcelona & Bundesliga clubs have shown what can be achieved (but I will settle for a competitve team with spirit, playing in our own stadium within Darlington BC boundary).
Ok, I will admit still some way to go there on both fronts.
Mind, Barcelona have just lost their manager after losing the latest El Classico, so can always be a struggle!

joejaques
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Re: Southport...

Post by joejaques » Thu Oct 28, 2021 6:32 am

jjljks wrote:
Thu Oct 28, 2021 6:27 am
darloed19 wrote:
Wed Oct 27, 2021 2:22 pm
Gone as far as we can being a fan owned club.
Can think of a few foreign clubs that are fan owned & did quite well for a while. Barcelona & Bundesliga clubs have shown what can be achieved (but I will settle for a competitve team with spirit, playing in our own stadium within Darlington BC boundary).
Ok, I will admit still some way to go there on both fronts.
Mind, Barcelona have just lost their manager after losing the latest El Classico, so can always be a struggle!
First target, an extra 30,000 or so owners. :roll:
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spen666
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Re: Southport...

Post by spen666 » Thu Oct 28, 2021 8:07 am

jjljks wrote:
Thu Oct 28, 2021 6:27 am
darloed19 wrote:
Wed Oct 27, 2021 2:22 pm
Gone as far as we can being a fan owned club.
Can think of a few foreign clubs that are fan owned & did quite well for a while. Barcelona & Bundesliga clubs have shown what can be achieved (but I will settle for a competitve team with spirit, playing in our own stadium within Darlington BC boundary).
Ok, I will admit still some way to go there on both fronts.
Mind, Barcelona have just lost their manager after losing the latest El Classico, so can always be a struggle!
Would you want Barcelona's debt? In fact would anyone? If treated as a normal business, they are effectively bankrupt, along with Real Madrid and many other clubs
Last edited by spen666 on Thu Oct 28, 2021 8:16 am, edited 1 time in total.

H1987
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Re: Southport...

Post by H1987 » Thu Oct 28, 2021 8:12 am

I don't understand why we have to have this self-pity party every time we go on a bad run or have a bad result. 'Gone as far as we can' etc. Our budget is comparable to other teams that have gotten out of this league, and certainly those that made the playoffs. It's difficult, but it's not impossible, and on top of this, I really don't know how folks think we are going to find this magical investor. I don't think as a club we are generally against it (although I'd say we'd be against surrendering all control but I can't imagine anyone coming in would expect that anyway). We aren't a terribly attractive proposition to buy. It's not like we're batting away offers right and left to maintain the purity of the club...

It's a disappointing result and I believe, for the level of investment and size of the club, we can expect to at least be challenging for the playoffs. We do have something of a chicken and egg situation, in that we really need some bigger crowds to further invest in the team and also the infrastructure, but we're also performing badly and have some pretty poor infrastructure, which stops bigger crowds.

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Makka Pakka
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Re: Southport...

Post by Makka Pakka » Thu Oct 28, 2021 8:40 am

I don't buy this "gone as far as we can". At least not in a footballing sense, the ground situation is clearly holding us back. We already have a big enough budget to be successful in this league, it is temporarily tougher due to clubs with more dosh but they will either go up or go pop sooner or later.
Minnows such as Morecambe, Crawley, Fleetwood, Sutton, Barrow, Hartlepool can get to the football league but we can't get to the conference?
"At a meeting held at the Grammar School on Friday last - Mr Phillip Wood M.A., in the chair - it was resolved to form an Association Football Club for Darlington and neighbourhood. The opinions of those present were so unanimous as to the desirability of this step, that a committee was formed to complete the organisation of the club, and Mr Craven, 17, Garden Street, was appointed secretary pro tem." - The Northern Echo, Monday 23rd July 1883

Quakerlad
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Re: Southport...

Post by Quakerlad » Thu Oct 28, 2021 10:16 am

We are always going to find it difficult to compete against the teams in our league who are bankrolled as generally in every league of football those with the biggest budgets will compete towards the top. Exceptions I know, but generally that’s the case.
The point is though as mentioned by others, that we are consistently underperforming given the budget that we do have, which is disappointing.

Old Git
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Re: Southport...

Post by Old Git » Thu Oct 28, 2021 10:37 am

Watching the lowlights of the Southport game I have to say the referee was a complete joke the way he handled the sending offs at the end of the game. He didn’t appear to have a clue about what had happened and then seemed to get in a right muddled with the linesman about who was actually to blame. Quite honestly a yellow card each would have been sufficient in my opinion. It looked like he mistakenly showed a red card to Purver before changing that to a yellow card and then showed Charman a straight red. If he gets a 3 match ban I think he can count himself very unfortunate because he was clearly being held down and was trying to get back to his feet.
What is most annoying about
the performance is the shocking way we conceded 3 soft goals. The third is a clear misjudgement from Taylor and I think is just a one-off mistake. He is probably trying to keep possession of the ball to setup an attack rather than boot it out of play and give the advantage back to Southport. The first two goals are bloody awful defending and on both occasions we have allowed a free header on the edge of the six yard box without the forward even having to jump. Basic schoolboy errors that seem to blight our defensive performances on an all to regular basis.
Of course we missed Ellis but have we got any other decent central defenders on the books ? Cooper initially did well but he is not even our player. Storey sometimes looks ok but seems to need an experienced head along side him but has been playing at this level for 2 years now so should be better. Beedon quite frankly has looked all at sea whenever I have seen him and has been given another months loan at Billingham Town so does not appear to be in the manager’s thoughts. Brandon Taylor can’t even get on the bench when we need defensive cover and AA seems to prefer to use Purver a midfielder as an emergency central defender.
It seems to me that we are in this position because our preseason recruitment of central defenders was really poor and we are left with a glut of below par players in that position. For me our potentially strongest pairing is likely to be Ellis and Cooper both of which came in after the season began.

Heaton out
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Re: Southport...

Post by Heaton out » Thu Oct 28, 2021 10:59 am

hello all, I have been supporting Darlo since the early 80's (getting on a bit now) travelled all over to see the club, remember the old glory days of playing Rochdale etc in Div 4 and have read this forum for many years but never joined in until now! My grammar is not the best & I know many on here jump on that amongst other things.

I am one who isn't happy with the comment if this is our level then so be it, I do think we need investment but before I am shot down I wouldn't want to put the club at risk, the ground is the main issue for me, until we have our own ground I don't think we would ever get investment or can progress, I know DJ (who I think is fantastic) is working on this.

Regarding this season, yes it is early days but I'm starting to think AA is not the right man for the job, no plan B and poor recruitment post the initial Blyth influx, I believe he is good at bringing young players in with a view to selling on, which is good for the club and those players financially but ultimately wont take us forward in terms of progression.

Anyway all just my opinion & feel feel to have a pop at the grammar etc which is a result of my misspent youth :lol:

polam lane
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Re: Southport...

Post by polam lane » Thu Oct 28, 2021 11:09 am

Heaton out.

That wouldn't be Archie would it?

Happy days.

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Re: Southport...

Post by TFDM » Thu Oct 28, 2021 11:10 am

You could tell on Tuesday night we would be in for a long night pretty much straight away. Southport were probably in a false position ahead of kick-off, speaking to one of their media team they felt performances had been decent and a win would come eventually. Having watched some of their highlight prior to kick-off I’d probably agree.

Even so that doesn't excuse the performance. Inside the opening few minutes we could have been two behind. The first goal from the long throw is poor. It’s not great but better teams than us have been undone by a long throw routine. So you take it on the chin, regroup and find a way back into the game. However we simply didn't learn our lesson. They had countless long throws in the box (honestly I could have done a 10 minute reel of those alone) and you could tell they'd score again from one at some point - which they did.

Frustrating for a brief spell before the second goal we suggested we might find a way of getting back into things. But conceding the second, particularly in the manner we did, finished us off. Yes we had plenty of the ball in the second half but Southport were happy to let us have it. We never really looked like scoring and it suited them to save a bit of energy and manage the game.

The third goal is a mistake, a horrendous one, but a mistake. I don't think it’s worth spending too much time on it. In fairness to Tommy Taylor he's made a good save from a deflected shot and stopped the penalty afterwards. The game was well beyond us at 2-0 anyway.

As for the red card... it’s embarrassing from the referee and linesman. Charman is being held down and prevented from getting back up. At that stage of the game it requires nothing more than a yellow card for each player. Instead the referee loses control. The fact that he mistakes Purver for Charman suggests he's not got a clue over what’s gone on. I thought he was poor all night tbh. He let Southport take an eternity with each throw in. He's not the reason we lost but the standard of officiating at this level is so poor.

I don't buy into the overreaction from some about the club having gone as far as it can. Bar a handful of loaded clubs at this level we should be in a position to compete with most other sides. Summer recruitment clearly didn't go the way we wanted it to. The arrival of Ellis has helped but losing one player shouldn't make such a difference. The fact that it does is a major worry. I also hope we're not putting too much weight on Ellis either.

We have some tough games coming up now. Some collective fingers need pulling out. Tuesday night is the sort of game where you end up questioning your own sanity (taking time off / flexi, traveling time, late home and tired for a couple of days afterwards). However if we hadn't cocked up the Leamington result the previous weekend then perhaps that result on Tuesday is easier to take.

H1987
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Re: Southport...

Post by H1987 » Thu Oct 28, 2021 11:12 am

There's plenty of teams with inadequate grounds in this league who still do better. It shouldn't prevent on-field results. We're not very good right now because the team isn't quite right, isn't playing very well, and the squad is a bit imbalanced. Gray got us to the playoffs when the ground was objectively worse than it is now.

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divas
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Re: Southport...

Post by divas » Thu Oct 28, 2021 11:28 am

Unfortunately we’ve lost any sort of momentum. Gray got us to the play offs purely on the back of the steam we’d built up in previous seasons. The season after was a similar story to what we have now.

More had to be changed in the summer than Alun would have liked and any team bringing in 10 or so new players will struggle initially. No matter how good the recruitment is you’re not going to get it all right so it needs to be refined over time. We effectively went back to square one.

The biggest worry for me is Alun’s demeanour since the start of the season, he seems to be carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders and I’m sure that’s having an effect on the players. He’ll know the recruitment wasn’t what he wanted it to be but at some stage you’ve got to draw a line under it and make the best of what you have

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loan_star
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Re: Southport...

Post by loan_star » Thu Oct 28, 2021 11:35 am

H1987 wrote:
Thu Oct 28, 2021 11:12 am
Gray got us to the playoffs when the ground was objectively worse than it is now.
Different team and on a promotion high. Not unusual to see a promoted team do well in its first season in a new league.
Virtually the same team in the next season struggled and Gray walked out. The rest is history!

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Re: Southport...

Post by Heaton out » Thu Oct 28, 2021 11:44 am

polam lane wrote:
Thu Oct 28, 2021 11:09 am
Heaton out.

That wouldn't be Archie would it?

Happy days.
yes that's the one, was struggling to think of a username and I remember singing as a kid outside the main stand many years ago

Heaton out
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Re: Southport...

Post by Heaton out » Thu Oct 28, 2021 11:47 am

H1987 wrote:
Thu Oct 28, 2021 11:12 am
There's plenty of teams with inadequate grounds in this league who still do better. It shouldn't prevent on-field results. We're not very good right now because the team isn't quite right, isn't playing very well, and the squad is a bit imbalanced. Gray got us to the playoffs when the ground was objectively worse than it is now.
I wasn't necessary meaning inadequate more the fact we rent which effects revenue and limits potential etc

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