Accrington Stanley

[pompeygunner]

[quote="BlueinPLtwenty"]Over the whole season we beat everyone at the top once, apart from Blackpool. The Cowleys took 20 points from 12 games. We made lots of chances that we did not take and gave away too many free kicks in dangerous positions. Hull & Peterborough were the `stand out` Teams who we beat before christmas, the Posh one in front of a noisy Fratton End. If we had had fans in this season who knows where we would have finished. Disappointment all round lets move on. If it is to be the Cowleys, get it done quickly. If someone else equally do it now![/quote)

+1

[jam tomorrow]

If the Cowley's do stay on i will be interested to see the type of players they recruit, do they know where all of the hidden gems are to stiffen the backbone of this flakey team, without spending a fortune? As mentioned on here teams like Accy, Blackpool have been very astute in the transfer market we should be able to do the same. The money we spent on Marquis for example would probably bring in two or three better value players, Peterborough spent a bit like us but obviously got their recruitment plan right.

[Betelgeuse]

I notice that as far as I remember nobody has criticised the owners. They bear the ultimate responsibility. Brick by brick. At this rate I’ll be long gone before we make the Premiership again. I did note the previous post.

I've been criticising them for over a year. They know jack ****** about football and if I'm honest it seems they're living in Disneyland when it comes to how they expect the the team to get promoted with crap players and a has been manager.

The Eisner's, Catlin, Jackett, the players...all to blame but the buck stops with the owners basically for trusting Catlin to bring in the right manager, and and to stick with a failing manager for so long is criminal.

I hope they sell up because they clearly don't want to invest in the club.

[Sam_Brown]

If the Cowley's do stay on i will be interested to see the type of players they recruit, do they know where all of the hidden gems are to stiffen the backbone of this flakey team, without spending a fortune? As mentioned on here teams like Accy, Blackpool have been very astute in the transfer market we should be able to do the same. The money we spent on Marquis for example would probably bring in two or three better value players, Peterborough spent a bit like us but obviously got their recruitment plan right.

How much of it do you think is down to smaller teams see playing us as a "big game" and wanting to beat us to prove a point? A lot of the games we've lost were against teams who have been on a bad run of form. It's very easy to motivate a team if you frame it as "we're the underdogs taking on the ex prem team - lets show the world what we can do".

I completely agree when people say some of the players aren't good enough but I think the issue is mainly down to motivation and the players just going through the motions. Some of them have shown glimpses of what they can do but they just don't turn up 90% of the time and that's not good enough. You can have all the skill in the world but without the desire to use it you might as well not bother.

There are probably a million opinions on why the players haven't been playing well but maybe we need some players to come in who have something to proof. Maybe going with tried and tested players and paying over the odds is the wrong strategy. I hope the manager next season will be able to find some hidden gems that they can get the best out and want to prove a point and ca get fired up for every game. Not just once in a blue moon.

I also feel we need a few players who can be leaders on the pitch and in the dressing room. That's something we've been crying out for as well since Burgess left. Also some bl**dy good experience in the team to pass on to the players. I'm thinking along the same sort of calibre as when we had Merson in our Div 1 winning season. Surely there are some decent ex prem \ championship players that we can get one more season out of that are near the end of their career. It's not just about what they can do on the pitch but the culture they can help bring to the team as well.

[Sam_Brown]

I hope they sell up because they clearly don't want to invest in the club.

I'd like to think you're in a very small minority with that sort of thinking. Surely on the wind up no?

[jam tomorrow]

Good post Sam entirely agree with you I think players come in and think thats it got to a big club can relax now dont have to prove myself. Maybe its just me but I think Naylor is not a leader on the pitch and debateable whether he is a decent player. So IMO first player in should be a true leader who we can make captain, who is brave and can get the players motivated on the pitch. We do need a radical shake up if we are move on but have to be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. There are players here that can fit into the brave new world we are seeking.

[Pompey Penguin]

OK, confession time.

Having got over the initial disappointment yesterday and not having play-offs to look forward to, I find this morning that I am really not that bothered.

Previously, when we have made the play-offs I have thought that we were better or equal to all the other teams involved, and had a real chance of promotion. This year, it is very unlikely that we would have beaten Blackpool across two games and then Sunderland/Lincoln. I have no feeling that we would have "deserved" promotion, or been in any position to capitalise on a fortunate move to the Championship.

I can now start to look forward to the squad development over the summer and a new season in L1, where we will continue to watch competitive games and Pompey will be at the upper end of the table (unless it goes horribly wrong). "New" manager, new players, new season, and going to Fratton Park in the sun.

[Selsey Bill]

Good post Sam entirely agree with you I think players come in and think thats it got to a big club can relax now dont have to prove myself. Maybe its just me but I think Naylor is not a leader on the pitch and debateable whether he is a decent player. So IMO first player in should be a true leader who we can make captain, who is brave and can get the players motivated on the pitch. We do need a radical shake up if we are move on but have to be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. There are players here that can fit into the brave new world we are seeking.

Agree 100% - Naylor is actually the player I have been most disappointed by this season. I haven't a clue what has happened to his head, but something for sure has. It's like he has already got another club lined up for next season. When was the last time he played well for us? I'd suggest around the time Catlin came out with all the contract & money talk.

[Berkshire Blue]

A week ago, I, along I believe with many others on this board, were happy to stick with the Cowleys and allow them to have a good clearout of players to be replaced by players of their choosing, capable of playing in the style that the Cowleys wish to play. We had a poor performance yesterday, but it hasn't changed my opinion. We should be building for the future, and I would like to see a team assembled with players who are able to perform both in League One and in the Championship if and when we are promoted, as there seems little point in getting promotion and then immediately coming down again. I would like us to have a squad of young exciting players both from lower leagues and from young players who haven't quite made it at Premier League clubs, with a few older experienced players, including a midfield general which we have been sorely lacking in recent seasons. I do not expect the owners to go on a wild spending spree, but to provide a reasonable budget, which I believe that they have done in the last few seasons.

Doing this is a big ask and will take time, but I believe that the Cowleys are capable of it.

Oh, and please crack on with it while I am still around to enjoy the journey!

[New Forester]

Having witnessed two English titles, albeit long ago, plus cup wins I’ll go a happy man. But a bit more success would be good. Any Brit around 80 has had a great sporting life.

[Blue Walter]

The blame game has now started and really kicked in, and rightly so. Before we can look to the future the club has to analyse why we have underperformed and part of that process has to be finding out what went wrong, play the blame game.

We are a big club in this league and still seen as a decent 'scalp' but are we a big club in name only? I pose this question because it could be argued that we actually over performed to a certain extent. I read an article just recently concerning the expenditure and finances of League 1 clubs and the findings would suggest we are a big club in name only. The main points were that we were seen as joint 6th highest in playing budget but surprisingly (or not) we came out as down in 14th (behind Fleetwood) for the value of playing stock. Working on these figures finishing 8th in the league is par on p;laying budget but above par on playing stock value. That doesn't tell the whole story, of course, but it does give an insight as to where we need to be. People point to clubs like Accrington, who are quoted at the bottom of the financial table, but still out performing us and other bigger clubs. On yesterday's evidence they have a better team than us, both in skill & teamwork, better manager and better prospects. What does help these clubs is a much better player recruitment policy but, crucially, the loan system enables them to bring in players that otherwise they could not afford to buy. We could do that but we don't seem to bring in loan players that make the same difference as they do at other clubs. In any case if we are to be a forward thinking club there should be as little reliance on loan players as possible in my view. Rightly or wrongly our owners are underpinning the club with financial backing the infrastructure and the playing budget is self financed by the club. Probably the sensible way to go when you consider where we have come from but going forward is that enough?

Next season is going to be much tougher to get promotion with the caliber of teams coming down and two clubs already in this league who have said they are going to spend their way out of it. We have Sheffield Wednesday coming down, who have been relegated due to points deduction as opposed to points failure. That means that if they can keep their best players they will be above League 1 standard. Then we have Ipswich Town and Sunderland under new ownership who have declared they are going to spend big, Ipswich reportedly willing to spend £10 million on one player alone. We have all the teams above us who have outperformed us to contend with plus a resurgent Bolton under new owners, who again reportedly are prepared to spend big to climb their way back up the leagues. In our present stance we will be just a mid table League 1 club if we don't match our competitors in ambition.

That means that we have to build up the clubs playing resources in value as well as getting the right management team to carry out this process. This is where it gets sticky. Do Portsmouth owners recognise these points and what are they willing to do about it? My view is that if we are to be successful the clubs owners will need to spend more on the playing squad but will they?

[portchesterblue]

Okay, let's have the compelling arguments why the Cowleys are better than other managerial options out there.
I keep asking but the silence speaks for itself.....as do what our eyes have been witness to.

No you are completely right. What we should do is bring in someone else, anyone else apparently, and if they don't win all of their first 10 games, we ditch them and start again, and repeat the cycle, that's the way to get on in thus game, been proves time and again

I'm not sure that's what anyone is suggesting.

I believe it was an attempt at irony. Although it could have just been fatuous.

It was an attempt at irony, although it is exactly what people have been suggesting

[Locky_McLockface]

Okay so we say goodbye to the Cowley’s who have blown it although the players shoulder most of the blame however we should not let Catlin or the Eisners make a decision on who takes over because they know jack shxt about the game. Let’s appoint a Sports Director that knows the game has a vision who can plan the way ahead and make the right coach appointment.

If they know jack shxt about the game, how are they to appoint an effective Sporting Director?

[Locky_McLockface]

My thoughts, as I have said time and again, are that the players are not rubbish. They were top at Christmas, under Kenny Jackett, who everyone says is a rubbish manager.

There is some problem in that dressing room. I thought that it was that the players had turned against Jackett, and that may well have been the case, but perhaps there has been some further unrest after those first 4 games?

This squad is good enough to be top at Christmas, therefore they are good enough to be top in May. The Cowleys need to restore team spirit, whether that be by getting rid of the troublemakers, or by taking them on a team-building outward-bound course, or whatever it takes.

Just as an aside, I am convinced that Marquis has been playing with an injury. We know he was out for a while with an injury, and knew that Harrison was out for the season, knew that Hiwula was also injured, also knew that Hiwula wasn't up to scratch, so he has forced himself back to early. I am also pretty convinced that Naylor has been doing the same.

[No Shot Sherlock]

The biggest obstacle that needs to be overcome is the mindset that we're a big club - we're NOT!