Appleton to Lincoln

[werthersoriginal]

2-0 home win

He could carry on their momentum and get them promoted, or fail and get sacked, leaving him back at square one. Bit of a risky strategy as their success is so founded on the Cowleys

 

[ubermeistervonmeat]

He got the going rate.

What he didn't get at OUFC was backing by the chairman who, by that time, was looking for an exit without losing too much. Funding was pulled, and any prospect of getting a budget that would allow him to continue went as well. Ashton was already going (or gone) and it was clear that the future under Eales was not an attractive prospect.

Talk about Lincoln being a "smaller club" is silly. The fact is that the driving force behind the success of Lincoln is an ambitious chairman who is prepared to put his money into the club. They appear to be operating under sound financial targets. That the Cowley's have had a lot of success on the pitch is certainly a reflection on their abilities as a management team but, without the backing they have enjoyed, would they have been as successful?
Appleton's early career was unfortunately blighted by clubs that were financially troubled and he had little option but to move on. To say that a mid table finish at Lincoln would be viewed as a failure is very short sighted. By those standards KR is an abject catastrophe. (ah, hold on. . . )

Talk about Lincoln being "smaller" is arrogant - currently riding higher than us with more momentum and larger attendances - what we undoubtedly have over them is FAR greater past successes but they are very much in the past at the moment
At the present time, which club is more likely to get into the Championship - clue - it isn't us
As has also been said, would far rather have MAPP at the helm than KR but that ain't gonna happen
Let's be honest many of would be gutted if he goes there hence many of the snide remarks about Lincoln

 

[yellowbow]

RO report that Mapp has cancelled all of his media commitments. Local media in Lincolnshire believe that the club and he are in advanced talks although it might not be completed until early next week. He’ll probably be watching from the stands on Saturday though which will give the Lincoln players an added incentive to put a shift in.

 

[Steve Gilbert]

For people saying Lincoln is a smaller club than Oxford, their lowest home league attendance this season is 8361. Their highest is 9016. Yes they have had a lot of success in a short space of time but in the season back in league 1 after promotion we had an average home crowd of 7403. Whether we like it or not, Oxfordshire isn't that interested in their local football club and you have places such as Lincoln where there is much more interest meaning there is great potential to build a club like Lincoln.
They also have a state of the art training ground too.

 

[Mellowyellow]

Hopefully Tiger is trying a late bid to get Map’s in to replace KR..or make him Director of football ??

 

[Mellowyellow]

RO report that Mapp has cancelled all of his media commitments. Local media in Lincolnshire believe that the club and he are in advanced talks although it might not be completed until early next week. He’ll probably be watching from the stands on Saturday though which will give the Lincoln players an added incentive to put a shift in.

Could he be watching in the stands, with a view to joining us on Monday??
?

 

[RyanioBirdio]

Eales put the budget up by nearly a million quid on the previous season when Appleton left. Clotet merely spunked it all, but it was VERY good. Appleton left because yes, he did get a very good pay rise, but more than that the club had been ripped apart. Craig Dean was crucial to our scouting and recruitment and had left for Leeds, and that was pretty much the end of the line once he moved on. Believe me or not, doesn’t matter, it’s true on all fronts. I’ve got nothing to gain by making it up, especially when my identity is freely known. Eales yanked the playing budget up as a final gamble at getting us into the Championship so that the sale was more valuable, but it didn’t really matter as he was off either way, and was going to get his money no matter what while the club foot the wage bill. Unfortunately by the time he did this Appleton was gone and Clotet had set about doing his own thing and paying a fortune for duds, leaving us right in the s**t, but anyone suggesting Appleton left solely for money is wrong. It wouldn’t have hurt, but he saw he’d gone as far as he could with the club being wound down and sold to god knows who. He left while his stock was high.

And as for the comments about Lincoln being a small club, behave. They sold out of season tickets in 48 hours back in June - almost 6,500 of them, which is more than our total attendance v Tranmere including over 600 away fans - and sell out the home ends most games. Their attendance was over 8,700 when we had 6,200 last weekend and they’ve won trophies every year for the last three seasons. Their backroom staff is set up nicely, especially recruitment wise, and they’ve got a brand new training facility. Live in the now, not in the past. They’re on the up however long that lasts, and while that’s the case they’re at least equally as attractive as a club like ours. Probably more so - they’ve got everything we have just with bigger crowds in a stadium not owned by Firoz Kassam.

 

[Paul Cannell]

Will ye no come back again?

 

[uptheus]

Eales put the budget up by nearly a million quid on the previous season when Appleton left. Clotet merely spunked it all, but it was VERY good. Appleton left because yes, he did get a very good pay rise, but more than that the club had been ripped apart. Craig Dean was crucial to our scouting and recruitment and had left for Leeds, and that was pretty much the end of the line once he moved on. Believe me or not, doesn’t matter, it’s true on all fronts. I’ve got nothing to gain by making it up, especially when my identity is freely known. Eales yanked the playing budget up as a final gamble at getting us into the Championship so that the sale was more valuable, but it didn’t really matter as he was off either way, and was going to get his money no matter what while the club foot the wage bill. Unfortunately by the time he did this Appleton was gone and Clotet had set about doing his own thing and paying a fortune for duds, leaving us right in the s**t, but anyone suggesting Appleton left solely for money is wrong. It wouldn’t have hurt, but he saw he’d gone as far as he could with the club being wound down and sold to god knows who. He left while his stock was high.

And as for the comments about Lincoln being a small club, behave. They sold out of season tickets in 48 hours back in June - almost 6,500 of them, which is more than our total attendance v Tranmere including over 600 away fans - and sell out the home ends most games. Their attendance was over 8,700 when we had 6,200 last weekend and they’ve won trophies every year for the last three seasons. Their backroom staff is set up nicely, especially recruitment wise, and they’ve got a brand new training facility. Live in the now, not in the past. They’re on the up however long that lasts, and while that’s the case they’re at least equally as attractive as a club like ours. Probably more so - they’ve got everything we have just with bigger crowds in a stadium not owned by Firoz Kassam.

He’d (MApp) would still prefer it here though!!

 

[TailsWeWin]

He’d (MApp) would still prefer it here though!!

Presume that’s ironic arrogance following the previous posts?

 

[werthersoriginal]

Eales put the budget up by nearly a million quid on the previous season when Appleton left. Clotet merely spunked it all, but it was VERY good. Appleton left because yes, he did get a very good pay rise, but more than that the club had been ripped apart. Craig Dean was crucial to our scouting and recruitment and had left for Leeds, and that was pretty much the end of the line once he moved on. Believe me or not, doesn’t matter, it’s true on all fronts. I’ve got nothing to gain by making it up, especially when my identity is freely known. Eales yanked the playing budget up as a final gamble at getting us into the Championship so that the sale was more valuable, but it didn’t really matter as he was off either way, and was going to get his money no matter what while the club foot the wage bill. Unfortunately by the time he did this Appleton was gone and Clotet had set about doing his own thing and paying a fortune for duds, leaving us right in the s**t, but anyone suggesting Appleton left solely for money is wrong. It wouldn’t have hurt, but he saw he’d gone as far as he could with the club being wound down and sold to god knows who. He left while his stock was high.

And as for the comments about Lincoln being a small club, behave. They sold out of season tickets in 48 hours back in June - almost 6,500 of them, which is more than our total attendance v Tranmere including over 600 away fans - and sell out the home ends most games. Their attendance was over 8,700 when we had 6,200 last weekend and they’ve won trophies every year for the last three seasons. Their backroom staff is set up nicely, especially recruitment wise, and they’ve got a brand new training facility. Live in the now, not in the past. They’re on the up however long that lasts, and while that’s the case they’re at least equally as attractive as a club like ours. Probably more so - they’ve got everything we have just with bigger crowds in a stadium not owned by Firoz Kassam.

Bit like Luton I guess. A local club for local people

 

[Mad Dog]

I must say, I respect KR and support him fully (for now..)

But it does make me sad to think Mapp was obviously available, and we didn't make a move for him, as I'd have him back here in a heartbeat.

We were a serious, professional club who were going places when he was here, he'd already lined up Liam Lindsay who'd agreed to sign, and is now worth at least £6million, so was already clearly planning for another big season, and I'm still gutted that he left.

I think one of the reasons he did leave (among other things) was that after everything he'd been through at Blackburn, Blackpool and Portsmouth, he saw the potential shitstorm and uncertainty that was on the way with the new owners, and after working so hard to rebuild his reputation, decided to jump ship, can't blame him really.

I think if he's backed financially, the way he was here, then he'll be a success wherever he goes, and if it is Lincoln, then I back them to be in the championship within the next couple of years.

Such a shame Darryl Eales ran out of money, just imagine where we might be by now.

That said, we have to move on, he's gone, and he ain't coming back.

In Robbo we trust!

 

[werthersoriginal]

I must say, I respect KR and support him fully (for now..)

But it does make me sad to think Mapp was obviously available, and we didn't make a move for him, as I'd have him back here in a heartbeat.

We were a serious, professional club who were going places when he was here, he'd already lined up Liam Lindsay who'd agreed to sign, and is now worth at least £6million, so was already clearly planning for another big season, and I'm still gutted that he left.

I think one of the reasons he did leave (among other things) was that after everything he'd been through at Blackburn, Blackpool and Portsmouth, he saw the potential shitstorm and uncertainty that was on the way with the new owners, and after working so hard to rebuild his reputation, decided to jump ship, can't blame him really.

I think if he's backed financially, the way he was here, then he'll be a success wherever he goes, and if it is Lincoln, then I back them to be in the championship within the next couple of years.

Such a shame Darryl Eales ran out of money, just imagine where we might be by now.

That said, we have to move on, he's gone, and he ain't coming back.

In Robbo we trust!

He may well flop at Lincoln, these things are so unpredictable. He surprisingly didn’t get far with Leicester or West Brom

 

[Mad Dog]

He may well flop at Lincoln, these things are so unpredictable. He surprisingly didn’t get far with Leicester or West Brom

Very different, he was No 2 at those clubs, although he had one game in charge at Leicester, and won.

He has all the attributes to be a top manager in my opinion

 

[tonyw]

And as for the comments about Lincoln being a small club, behave. They sold out of season tickets in 48 hours back in June - almost 6,500 of them, which is more than our total attendance v Tranmere including over 600 away fans - and sell out the home ends most games. Their attendance was over 8,700 when we had 6,200 last weekend and they’ve won trophies every year for the last three seasons. Their backroom staff is set up nicely, especially recruitment wise, and they’ve got a brand new training facility. Live in the now, not in the past. They’re on the up however long that lasts, and while that’s the case they’re at least equally as attractive as a club like ours. Probably more so - they’ve got everything we have just with bigger crowds in a stadium not owned by Firoz Kassam.

I pointed this out on the Cowleys thread - but Sincil Bank has a capacity of just a shade over 10k.

In other words, they have good crowds now, but no room for them to grow. At all.

You can certainly make a case that they are a similar sized club to ours - slightly larger crowds now (although some of that is surely a double promotion bounce); slightly smaller stadium.

But you can't make the case that they're a club that's set up to compete in the Championship.
They're not - as we wouldn't be - without a new ground, or substantial redevelopment of their current digs.


In other words, Appleton has left an 8th place club in League One, who are playing at roughly the right level for their current infrastructure and attendances and are going to need a substantial, and highly ambitious cash infusion to sustainably go any higher......

…...pfaffed around for two and a half years...….

…..and now joined an 8th place club in League One, who are playing at roughly the right level for their current infrastructure and attendances and are going to need a substantial, and highly ambitious cash infusion to sustainably go any higher......


You're going to have go some to convince me that this was a sensible career trajectory for the man - given all the insanity he went through early in his career. I hope the money at Leicester was worth it.

 

[FalmouthOx]

Isnt it about us being able to match players/managers ambition? We have a chairman who says he aspires to the championship this year, and then gives KR a bulletproof 3 year contract - whatever we have spent in relation to other clubs we can all see it hasnt been spent well - we must be seen as a smokes and mirrors club at the moment and all the players who joined and said they were impressed with "the plans" must now be scratching their heads, as are we the fans. We are living on hype, but look at the Bolton thread - so much anger amongst fans about where we REALLY are at the mo - when the fans start to lose it, we aren't attractive to any players to come here (unless they are saying the right things and playing the corporate game from day 1) or managers of MaPPs calibre. We need to show some steel and the Chairman needs to stat to visibly back up his ambition

 

[Mad Dog]

I pointed this out on the Cowleys thread - but Sincil Bank has a capacity of just a shade over 10k.

In other words, they have good crowds now, but no room for them to grow. At all.

You can certainly make a case that they are a similar sized club to ours - slightly larger crowds now (although some of that is surely a double promotion bounce); slightly smaller stadium.

But you can't make the case that they're a club that's set up to compete in the Championship.
They're not - as we wouldn't be - without a new ground, or substantial redevelopment of their current digs.


In other words, Appleton has left an 8th place club in League One, who are playing at roughly the right level for their current infrastructure and attendances and are going to need a substantial, and highly ambitious cash infusion to sustainably go any higher......

…...pfaffed around for two and a half years...….

…..and now joined an 8th place club in League One, who are playing at roughly the right level for their current infrastructure and attendances and are going to need a substantial, and highly ambitious cash infusion to sustainably go any higher......


You're going to have go some to convince me that this was a sensible career trajectory for the man - given all the insanity he went through early in his career. I hope the money at Leicester was worth it.

Very good points.

He has weirdly come full circle!

I think he saw the potential basket case club that we were about to become, and given his history, probably just wanted out before he got caught up in anything, so decided to get out ASAP, and was offered a well paid job from his mate, so took it.

However, I actually respect him even more for the fact that he didn't just take any old job after Leicester, just because it was at a higher level, and he has had opportunities, but he's waited until something felt right, like he did with us, and he's been humble and down to earth enough to drop down to where he was before, and give it another go working his way up from this level again.

But like you say, if they were to go up, they would need some serious investment, and a serious stadium upgrade to have any hopes of surviving in that league, as would we right now, but hopefully if our board are as serious as they say they are, then in a few years time, we might be in a position to give it a go.

But will it be Robbo who's in charge by then, or might Mapp return to finish what he started?!?

 

[Grumpy Git]

I wonder who would get the bigger cheer from Oxford fans, Robinson or Appleton?

 

[Foley]

I pointed this out on the Cowleys thread - but Sincil Bank has a capacity of just a shade over 10k.

In other words, they have good crowds now, but no room for them to grow. At all.

You can certainly make a case that they are a similar sized club to ours - slightly larger crowds now (although some of that is surely a double promotion bounce); slightly smaller stadium.

But you can't make the case that they're a club that's set up to compete in the Championship.
They're not - as we wouldn't be - without a new ground, or substantial redevelopment of their current digs.


In other words, Appleton has left an 8th place club in League One, who are playing at roughly the right level for their current infrastructure and attendances and are going to need a substantial, and highly ambitious cash infusion to sustainably go any higher......

…...pfaffed around for two and a half years...….

…..and now joined an 8th place club in League One, who are playing at roughly the right level for their current infrastructure and attendances and are going to need a substantial, and highly ambitious cash infusion to sustainably go any higher......


You're going to have go some to convince me that this was a sensible career trajectory for the man - given all the insanity he went through early in his career. I hope the money at Leicester was worth it.

Spot on Tony.
When MAPP left there is no way that he would have expected to be going to club. 8th in L1 with a capacity of 10k.
I loved having MAPP as manager (and:was one of the few who didnt want him sacked after a bad start), but would far prefer he went to a top L1 club or a Championship club.

 

[MarkG]

Why didn’t our friends in the north get him in at Sunderland?