Thank God thats over !
Just got in from the cricket and I am confused. How did the match finish and has Mr. Finley really gone?
WHS.
Finley has gone!
4 months too late ?
Funny thing…i would say that the Cammell Laird home game was the one. The season before, i thought the same fixture should have been Nige’s last game.
Today’s game was a typical one really. Bossed it for long periods, plenty of ball around their penalty area, but didn’t kill it off at 1 nil. It had ‘draw’ written all over it.
I take it we drew 1-1?
WHS.
Can I put my name down for the Manager’s job, I have been a Wittoner for many years so I must be qualified!! Let us please talk sense instead of saying we should appoint Pritch, he has said in the past he does not want it and just because he has been, and is a great servant of the club both on and off the field does not mean he would make a good manager. I believe what we need is a Player/Manager like Nigel Gleghorn was; someone who can control a game at this level and has contacts to get good players to come to the club. It is either that or someone who is great at coaching young players. But what do I know, personally I am happy to leave it to the Board.
WHS.
I think that the Board would make a poor player-manager.
Oh I don’t know, at least they would give it 100%!!
WHS.
PS I would do the Manager’s job for virtually nothing and so would any BIG Wittoner. But you know what you get if you pay peanuts?
WHS.
Considering the events leading up to this game,i thought the players put on a good show.Paul Henry played the captains role to perfection.The runs from deep he made in the second half deserved a goal.Their keeper and defenders made some good blocks,second half.
Naturally,all of this counts for absolutely nothing today.A group of Dynamo fans were sat near me in the stand and they were very impressed with our play.There is a fine line in football that separates what you want,from what you get.I think this sums our season up.
Gary left the pitch with dignity and even clapped the spectators gathered around the tunnel.Gary is a bigger man than i ever will be,because if i was the manager i would have left a week ago and told one or two to F-OFF.
The crusade to run Gary out of town has been very ugly and at times juvenile.
In by saying that we all want the same thing for our club,is by no means me back peddling,this last fortnight has been disgraceful and we now find ourselves in a delicate position.
I am entitled to my opinion and as part of a group of hard-core supporters we have done ourselves no favours.
That is the plain and simple truth after the dust has settled.
I’ve been trying to find the words…and that ^^^^ just about sums it up!
Normally missing games is a disappointment but having missed the last three I am quite grateful (thanks Iceland)!
After the away game at Lairds I posted my predicted final table (below) and whilst the points were not accurate the top eight finished in the order I thought they would. No great achievement but more to do with how predictable the outcome was. Had we have won our final three games we would have finished fifth, however equally as certain is that we would have fallen short in the play-offs!
I can’t claim to be sad to see Gary go, but there is nothing personal in that, I simply didn’t think he was the best person for the job. I wish him all the best for the future. No witch hunt, no personal insults, no malice, just my opinion on his results whilst in the job with the backing and resources he had. For the fans to be so divided and vocal tells it’s own story, a club of this size cannot have over half the fan base against the manager!
There is no point debating it further, we have to get the right replacement and build from the ground up (with academy links, some kind of reserves set-up, local trials, etc). Our best chance to go back up quickly was this season and we might be in this division for a couple of years now. If this is the case we have to accept it but we have to make progress. The club needs it’s loyal fan base to be united in their support of the club. I believe that Mark and the board have been let down by on the pitch performances and off the pitch the club is well managed!
After nearly 125 years of history we need to write the next chapter and ‘progress’ rather than crumble!
Re:Lairds versus Albion 2 Weeks, 5 Days ago
I hope you’re right WHS. Yesterday was 2 points dropped rather than 1 gained and we are running out of opportunities. I think if we won the remaining three games then we could possibly finish fifth although of course even winning them all does not guarantee this.
My predicted table would look something like this;
Mickleover 91
Chasetown 79
Glapwell 79
Kidsgrove 77
Sheffield 74
Belper 74
Witton 73
Leek 73
Fully respect your opinion Mario !
Time to move on now after 2 years of stagnation ?
I respect Gary for his decision to resign and the fact he has done this with dignity and at no financial loss to the club. I genuinely feel Gary has something to offer but not in a managerial role probably more a scouting and recruitment type roll maybe with a small league club. Anyway hope things work out ok for him.I know I’ve been a big advocate for him to go and this needed to happen if our club is to move forward in the future. As for the new manager the best one in non League football is Liam Watson and if you notice he gets all his signings and departures sorted before the end of May. Our Board needs to act quickly to get in a new manager to be able to do this. I suspect an incoming manager would want to bring in his own men as the present playing staff have let the club down very badly with just several exceptions! Shame Liam isn’t available but thats the impossible dream Liam Watson as Albion manager!!
As regards the match on Saturday there was more excitement in the club after which just about sums up the season. Well done to Pritch he doesn’t like the fuss but he handled it with his usual dignity and strength.
Ok I guess aprocess of application, interview, selection will now decide our next manager. I wonder who it might be, and I wonder how long he will be given to mount a challenge to get the Albs out of this poxy league? How long will the moaners hold off for?
Interesting to note that little Mickelover Sports started the season very badly, and they (including thier manager) would have been happy just to stay up! They cannnot be praised highly enough for what they have achieved!!
Rabbit, academy links, reserves set up and local trials? are these aims financially viable or will the new manger want this??
P.S Mona I agree wholeheartedly with your post, I also commend Gary Finley for doing what he has done with dignity, and for praising the fans in Saturday’s programme too, it didn’t work out for GF but good luck to him in the future from me anyway!
marston mauler wrote:
Whether the new manager will want them or not will be his decision and more importantly the board’s decision (as was the decision to part company with Gary). My opinion is that we need to be bringing more local and youth players into the club. We have an excellent Witton Juniors structure that currently stops at 15/16 year olds and therefore there is little benefit of this for the first team.
There were times last season when we were only able to name one fit substitute, times when we had to name subs who had not traveled and had injuries, times when an outfield player had to go in goal. The budget plays a big part in this but there are talented local players who could be brought into the club. Take the lad at V*** who plays for mid-cheshire academy and scored their winner in a televised FA Cup game or for that matter Ryan Broadhead who was one of our best players last season but started playing pub football.
If we can find and school young players then they are a potential asset and source of revenue. Shaun Whalley netted us £10k the ability to find one or two of these a season could be a massive boost to our income.
The benefits of any youth and reserve set-up needs to be considered with any cost. What is not achievable financially however is to bring players in on £200 a week plus who have season by season dropped down the leagues and are only playing for their weekly wage packet!
Regards how long the new manager should get I suggest a minimum of one full season. Unfortunately we didn’t give Nigel Deeley enough time, he was shown the door after less than 3 months of the season to be replaced by Gary. I don’t believe that knee jerk reactions should be taken and stability is essential, however Gary’s record showed relegation in his first year and very poor consistency in his second season with 15 league defeats, less than a 50% win rate and 42 players used including 7 goalkeepers. If you think that warrants him keeping his job then likewise that’s your opinion. I don’t.
Mid-Cheshire Acacdemy are playing at Wincham Park next season are they not ?
Does anybody know who is on the " Board " at the moment to decide who will be the next manager or is it left to the Chairman ?
I hope Mark does’nt choose on his own and I’m sure he won’t. He has other board members and a guy in Ernie Fryer who has good football connections. Surely Ernie could perhaps get one of his good football people connections to sit on the interview panel. Mark’s Chairmanship has been excellent but his choice of the last two managers has not been that good. Its a difficult task and I don’t envy Mark but I know he will do his best to get the right manager on board. Its crucial if we are to progress and all the hard work off the field has not been matched this season on the pitch.
There has been a noticed lack of committment by the majority of our players this season who have let the club,chairman, manager and themselves down.Frankly I’m not bothered about keeping any of them though Pritch,Danny Warner,Baker, McCalister, Supermike and Ryan Broadhead did give their all.
I found the Player of the Season thing in the club afterwards somewhat uncomfortable and embarrasing apart from the awards made to Pritch. Here is someone the other players need to look at as a perfect role model.
Bringing a youth/reserves set up in would be great if affordable, but the problem of two clubs in a small town makes it a real challenge, especially if the “others” are the bigger club (mind you for how long, i hear you cry!)
I was utterly shocked when Nige Deeley was sacked, and looking back I still feel now it was wrong!
As for a new manager surely AT LEAST two years, particularly if the board expect the youth/reserves links to be created, otherwise we’ll end up with a new manager and team every season, and that is a recipe for terminal decline (even more).