Ambitious

I like Warne as a person, can see why he was hired and why Clowes likes working with him. 
All that said and done, I don’t think he’s right for the club. He simply has to get promoted this season, because the relationship with the fans won’t last another year in league one and commercially the fans are the lifeblood of the club at this level. 

Ironically, my fear is promotion with him in the role is equally as bleak as I don’t have the faith that we have the competency within the club to rise above our financial station. Clowes hasn’t got financial muscle to have us do anything other than treading water in the Championship. The foundations of this club, post-administration, has been unfortunately built on sand. Restrictions has made it difficult, obviously I take that into account, but there is no real philosophy other than to ride the coattails of journeymen Championship footballers, mostly on the downswing of their career, to overpower the dross standard that we found ourselves in. 

I like Warne as a person, can see why he was hired and why Clowes likes working with him. 
All that said and done, I don’t think he’s right for the club. He simply has to get promoted this season, because the relationship with the fans won’t last another year in league one and commercially the fans are the lifeblood of the club at this level. 

Ironically, my fear is promotion with him in the role is equally as bleak as I don’t have the faith that we have the competency within the club to rise above our financial station. Clowes hasn’t got financial muscle to have us do anything other than treading water in the Championship. The foundations of this club, post-administration, has been unfortunately built on sand. Restrictions has made it difficult, obviously I take that into account, but there is no real philosophy other than to ride the coattails of journeymen Championship footballers, mostly on the downswing of their career, to overpower the dross standard that we found ourselves in. 

Pragmatic is a choice word that a lot of people use, but by very definition I find it is actually synonym for how Warne approaches football strategically.
Pragmatic, to me, would be more Rosenior - with Cashin playing 140-odd passes backwards and sideways, attempting to move players out of position. Safe, controlled, usually with limited risk. 
Warne beats the drum of chaos, nothing about how we approach games is controlled and therefore can’t at all be described as pragmatic. 

I like Warne as a person, can see why he was hired and why Clowes likes working with him. 
All that said and done, I don’t think he’s right for the club. He simply has to get promoted this season, because the relationship with the fans won’t last another year in league one and commercially the fans are the lifeblood of the club at this level. 

Ironically, my fear is promotion with him in the role is equally as bleak as I don’t have the faith that we have the competency within the club to rise above our financial station. Clowes hasn’t got financial muscle to have us do anything other than treading water in the Championship. The foundations of this club, post-administration, has been unfortunately built on sand. Restrictions has made it difficult, obviously I take that into account, but there is no real philosophy other than to ride the coattails of journeymen Championship footballers, mostly on the downswing of their career, to overpower the dross standard that we found ourselves in. 

I like Warne as a person, can see why he was hired and why Clowes likes working with him. 
All that said and done, I don’t think he’s right for the club. He simply has to get promoted this season, because the relationship with the fans won’t last another year in league one and commercially the fans are the lifeblood of the club at this level. 

Ironically, my fear is promotion with him in the role is equally as bleak as I don’t have the faith that we have the competency within the club to rise above our financial station. Clowes hasn’t got financial muscle to have us do anything other than treading water in the Championship. The foundations of this club, post-administration, has been unfortunately built on sand. Restrictions has made it difficult, obviously I take that into account, but there is no real philosophy other than to ride the coattails of journeymen Championship footballers, mostly on the downswing of their career, to overpower the dross standard that we found ourselves in. 

I like Warne as a person, can see why he was hired and why Clowes likes working with him. 
All that said and done, I don’t think he’s right for the club. He simply has to get promoted this season, because the relationship with the fans won’t last another year in league one and commercially the fans are the lifeblood of the club at this level. 

Ironically, my fear is promotion with him in the role is equally as bleak as I don’t have the faith that we have the competency within the club to rise above our financial station. Clowes hasn’t got financial muscle to have us do anything other than treading water in the Championship. The foundations of this club, post-administration, has been unfortunately built on sand. Restrictions has made it difficult, obviously I take that into account, but there is no real philosophy other than to ride the coattails of journeymen Championship footballers, mostly on the downswing of their career, to overpower the dross standard that we found ourselves in. 

I like Warne as a person, can see why he was hired and why Clowes likes working with him. 
All that said and done, I don’t think he’s right for the club. He simply has to get promoted this season, because the relationship with the fans won’t last another year in league one and commercially the fans are the lifeblood of the club at this level. 

Ironically, my fear is promotion with him in the role is equally as bleak as I don’t have the faith that we have the competency within the club to rise above our financial station. Clowes hasn’t got financial muscle to have us do anything other than treading water in the Championship. The foundations of this club, post-administration, has been unfortunately built on sand. Restrictions has made it difficult, obviously I take that into account, but there is no real philosophy other than to ride the coattails of journeymen Championship footballers, mostly on the downswing of their career, to overpower the dross standard that we found ourselves in. 

I like Warne as a person, can see why he was hired and why Clowes likes working with him. 
All that said and done, I don’t think he’s right for the club. He simply has to get promoted this season, because the relationship with the fans won’t last another year in league one and commercially the fans are the lifeblood of the club at this level. 

Ironically, my fear is promotion with him in the role is equally as bleak as I don’t have the faith that we have the competency within the club to rise above our financial station. Clowes hasn’t got financial muscle to have us do anything other than treading water in the Championship. The foundations of this club, post-administration, has been unfortunately built on sand. Restrictions has made it difficult, obviously I take that into account, but there is no real philosophy other than to ride the coattails of journeymen Championship footballers, mostly on the downswing of their career, to overpower the dross standard that we found ourselves in. 

Started brightly, got the goal. The game became somewhat of a mess after that, compounded by Wildsmith being an absolute f****** idiot. Lost a tight game mostly down to poor decision-making at crucial times. 
In the grand scheme of things, we are a pretty f****** dreadful football team but that goes for every team in this league.
Promotion would be great, but I have no faith in the club to make any great success of it. We simply get away with it in this league because we’re able to pay three or four times the wages of other teams. When we’re financially competing with others, notably financially outmatched by others, there’s nothing I’ve seen from the club that shows we can exceed expectations. 

Started brightly, got the goal. The game became somewhat of a mess after that, compounded by Wildsmith being an absolute f****** idiot. Lost a tight game mostly down to poor decision-making at crucial times. 
In the grand scheme of things, we are a pretty f****** dreadful football team but that goes for every team in this league.
Promotion would be great, but I have no faith in the club to make any great success of it. We simply get away with it in this league because we’re able to pay three or four times the wages of other teams. When we’re financially competing with others, notably financially outmatched by others, there’s nothing I’ve seen from the club that shows we can exceed expectations. 

Started brightly, got the goal. The game became somewhat of a mess after that, compounded by Wildsmith being an absolute f****** idiot. Lost a tight game mostly down to poor decision-making at crucial times. 
In the grand scheme of things, we are a pretty f****** dreadful football team but that goes for every team in this league.
Promotion would be great, but I have no faith in the club to make any great success of it. We simply get away with it in this league because we’re able to pay three or four times the wages of other teams. When we’re financially competing with others, notably financially outmatched by others, there’s nothing I’ve seen from the club that shows we can exceed expectations. 

Started brightly, got the goal. The game became somewhat of a mess after that, compounded by Wildsmith being an absolute f****** idiot. Lost a tight game mostly down to poor decision-making at crucial times. 
In the grand scheme of things, we are a pretty f****** dreadful football team but that goes for every team in this league.
Promotion would be great, but I have no faith in the club to make any great success of it. We simply get away with it in this league because we’re able to pay three or four times the wages of other teams. When we’re financially competing with others, notably financially outmatched by others, there’s nothing I’ve seen from the club that shows we can exceed expectations. 

Started brightly, got the goal. The game became somewhat of a mess after that, compounded by Wildsmith being an absolute f****** idiot. Lost a tight game mostly down to poor decision-making at crucial times. 
In the grand scheme of things, we are a pretty f****** dreadful football team but that goes for every team in this league.
Promotion would be great, but I have no faith in the club to make any great success of it. We simply get away with it in this league because we’re able to pay three or four times the wages of other teams. When we’re financially competing with others, notably financially outmatched by others, there’s nothing I’ve seen from the club that shows we can exceed expectations. 

Started brightly, got the goal. The game became somewhat of a mess after that, compounded by Wildsmith being an absolute f****** idiot. Lost a tight game mostly down to poor decision-making at crucial times. 
In the grand scheme of things, we are a pretty f****** dreadful football team but that goes for every team in this league.
Promotion would be great, but I have no faith in the club to make any great success of it. We simply get away with it in this league because we’re able to pay three or four times the wages of other teams. When we’re financially competing with others, notably financially outmatched by others, there’s nothing I’ve seen from the club that shows we can exceed expectations. 

I've had a look at the fixtures for every team and it definitely seems that we have the best run-in on paper. Bolton have four of the top six to play away in their remaining seven away games. They're a good side, but that's a tough ask of any team - especially a team conceding so many goals of late. Barnsley have a fairly steady run-in too, so may actually be the ones to watch, even if their games are often uninspiring wins by the odd-goal. 
Honestly, as a betting man, I would be looking at that thinking it will be Derby who have the easiest opportunity to pick up points. The next four games are crucial - three home games and away at a poor side. If we come through unscathed then we could be sitting in a very good position. 
Portsmouth - 
Home: Oxford, Burton, Barnsley, Derby, Shrewsbury, Wigan. Away: Blackpool, Peterborough, Wycombe, Bolton, Lincoln. 
Derby - 
Home: Charlton, Port Vale, Reading, Bolton, Blackpool, Leyton Orient, Carlisle. Away: Bristol Rovers, Northampton, Portsmouth, Wycombe, Cambridge. 
Bolton - 
Home: Cambridge, Oxford, Shrewsbury, Reading, Portsmouth, Port Vale. Away: Wigan, Barnsley, Exeter, Derby, Stevenage, Bristol Rovers, Peterborough. 
Barnsley - 
Home: Bolton, Lincoln, Cheltenham, Cambridge, Reading, Northampton. Away: Wycombe, Carlisle, Portsmouth, Burton, Charlton, Stevenage, Blackpool. 

Gayle is far too intelligent of a striker not to score goals by the hatful in this league, he’d help us take a big stride towards automatic promotion. 
Hopefully the EFL don’t put the breaks on, but even if they did at least announcing it will give us a ‘us against them’ siege mentality for the remaining part of the season - that’s not to be underestimated especially in terms of creating an atmosphere around the club. 

Gayle is far too intelligent of a striker not to score goals by the hatful in this league, he’d help us take a big stride towards automatic promotion. 
Hopefully the EFL don’t put the breaks on, but even if they did at least announcing it will give us a ‘us against them’ siege mentality for the remaining part of the season - that’s not to be underestimated especially in terms of creating an atmosphere around the club. 

I didn’t watch the game, and when the team was announced I was more than a little disappointed in our approach, but it was clear that Warne thought we just needed to do a job without a striker to call upon.
In the end we won the game thanks to a player who I would have absolutely had in from the start as he’s at least proven to score goals when given the opportunity in attacking positions.
We did a job against the team who specialise in ‘doing jobs’. A huge three points, more so with Bolton drawing. Barnsley will be a tougher challenge but hopefully we will have a striker to call upon by then, depending on match fitness & EFL approval. 

Gayle is far too intelligent of a striker not to score goals by the hatful in this league, he’d help us take a big stride towards automatic promotion. 
Hopefully the EFL don’t put the breaks on, but even if they did at least announcing it will give us a ‘us against them’ siege mentality for the remaining part of the season - that’s not to be underestimated especially in terms of creating an atmosphere around the club. 

I didn’t watch the game, and when the team was announced I was more than a little disappointed in our approach, but it was clear that Warne thought we just needed to do a job without a striker to call upon.
In the end we won the game thanks to a player who I would have absolutely had in from the start as he’s at least proven to score goals when given the opportunity in attacking positions.
We did a job against the team who specialise in ‘doing jobs’. A huge three points, more so with Bolton drawing. Barnsley will be a tougher challenge but hopefully we will have a striker to call upon by then, depending on match fitness & EFL approval. 

I didn’t watch the game, and when the team was announced I was more than a little disappointed in our approach, but it was clear that Warne thought we just needed to do a job without a striker to call upon.
In the end we won the game thanks to a player who I would have absolutely had in from the start as he’s at least proven to score goals when given the opportunity in attacking positions.
We did a job against the team who specialise in ‘doing jobs’. A huge three points, more so with Bolton drawing. Barnsley will be a tougher challenge but hopefully we will have a striker to call upon by then, depending on match fitness & EFL approval. 

Incredibly solid performance. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but Adams gives me hope not only for this season, but in the competency of the club going forward. A player who had done nothing in football past tier four, doubted at tier two, but highlighted by ourselves as a player who could provide the stability and balance much required to our midfield. Player recruitment is everything and we showed we have more to ourselves than just looking at a player’s CV. 
I do still think the top two is a bridge too far, for us, Portsmouth have picked themselves up after a good January window. Bolton, for me, have been the standard since the start of the season despite blips. I’m confident we can go into the play-offs with some confidence. 
Stevenage haven’t been in great form recently, but I’m still worried about Steve Evans doing a number on his bib & cone boy, as he so eloquently put it. Barnsley is a real litmus test. We will see how well we fair against them, away from home, especially as last year was such a f****** disaster. 

After 31 games this season, I think most of us know roughly where we are as a football side. Results have been impressive, at times,  performances just haven’t been. Days like this are going to happen, especially when the performance levels aren’t there to back it up, so it’s not one to get stressed about. 

I love this signing for nothing more than this being a competency test for both our recruitment and coaching staff.
A player, who lets be fair, hasn’t proven anything beyond fourth tier in English football has been bought in and plays a position where we have five or six options already on the books, potentially 7 or 8 depending on how far down the list you want to go: Hourihane, Bird, Sibley, Thompson, Fornah, Smith, Radcliffe and Robinson. A position of the pitch where despite the quantity of players and individual ability there still causes us a problem with regards to balance. 
The recruitment staff have essentially nailed their colours to the mast and essentially said we can highlight a player, out of favour, who isn’t proven at our level because we can see ability. This is a good case study for their ability to judge a player and not just going off a CV and availability - like with Bradley, Elder, Ward and so many others we’ve signed. If he turns out to be pony, then we know that the guys tasked with highlighting players couldn’t tell their arse from their elbow and get them promptly binned off.
Warne, despite the options available to him, has brought this player to the club to address the balance and make us a better team. Does his analysis, coaching and strategy all click on the basis of this signing? Is he going to be the dynamic piece we all hope for, or have we just signed another Springett? Can he make use of this signing, does he win his place, does he facilitate what Warne wants to do? 
I have no idea, which is the exciting part, because I’m really keen to see how this one plays out. 

The budget was set at the start of the season, we’ve manipulated it as best as possible to accommodate CBT on the basis we were getting another in. I don’t think there is any issue with Clowes’ financial commitment to the club at all. 
I don’t know his opinion on the recruitment, going by what Warne said the whole thing was planned out and everything documented but the dominos didn’t fall. Clowes will have an insight into the inner-workings of the strategy so perhaps won’t be as blunt as we are as supporters who can only really focus on the results of the recruitment. It’s not been good and we’ve brought in a lot of players who have struggled to string games together. I’d imagine the one thing the owner hates more than anything is signing players on wages that they’re picking up sat at home.