[Revived Red]

Originally Posted by Wynonie Harris

But if we get rid of him, will his replacement be able to do much better in keeping a club in the football league which only attracts an average gate of 1,600 (a full 300 below the average of the next worst supported club)? How will he go on juggling a miniscule playing budget?...or trying to tempt talented players here with a £25k wage when other division 2 clubs are offering £50k+? Will he not end up struggling just as Coley has done?

.......Because what this club needs is a totally fresh approach to attracting the local public - new ideas, innovative concepts and fresh initiatives to take us out of the rut we are currently in.

There can be new ideas, innovative concepts, fresh initiatives etc, but ultimately people go to watch a football game to .... watch football. We HOPE our team will win. We know that they might lose because they were outclassed, or they were unlucky, or they suffered some poor refereeing decisions. But, no matter what the outcome, we want to see our team create chances, be inventive, see movement off the ball, and even do basic things reasonably well. (Has anyone noticed the lack of movement by Stanley players at throw-ins, never mind the lack of guile at corners and free kicks?) These do not require a huge budget or talented players earning a huge wage. As others have said in other threads, what happens on the training ground? We do not see any evidence of it on Saturday afternoons (or Wednesday evenings). Maybe another manager could not tempt talented players here - but what about promising players? Let's compare Jay Harris with Branch, Rogers, Grant, Miles. We have Billy Dennehy on loan - are we going to see him given a reasonable chance?

We are sometimes guilty of being too introspective. Let's look around. I know there is a lot of banter and (usually) friendly rivalry but we really ought to consider why, for example, Hereford and Morecambe are currently enjoying more success than we are. Let's hope that, as some have said, this dip in form is only temporary - but the worrying signs have been there for some time.