I suppose he's had to steer clear of the reasons for why recruitment hasn't been better in recent timesHmm, not a particularly impressive first impression. Still, we'll see how the squad is next season I guess.
UnsurprisinglyWas disappointed that they never addressed the comment at the beginning which was about the previous poor windows in terms of why they were poor, and what lessons have we learnt. It was just brushed aside.
Why is that is he going to pay our bus fare maybe he will treat us to a burger king aswel(us fans can go to town on KR though of course).
You can have BK, I'm getting some white trainers.Why is that is he going to pay our bus fare maybe he will treat us to a burger king aswel
But we were led to believe that it was a 7 person team that covered player recruitment, and most of those 7 are still here, so what lessons have been learnt.Could also be that they didn't want the conversation to degenerate in a session of whining about how bad it's been - everyone knows why so probably little value in just reiterating that it was down to Karl's totalitarian attitude and only being able to recruit his mates.
Better to focus on the future (us fans can go to town on KR though of course).
Hope Ed is a success, but from what I can see we have a Head Coach with no experience in the transfer market, a CEO with little experience in getting deals over the line and a poor track record in the windows so far and a Head of Recruitment in his first senior role with no proven record of identifying talent. It might work, but I don’t really understand why you’d think it will.
My personal feeling is that Tim Williams has recruited people who he feels he can handle pretty easily and who won’t be bullish or dominant. I think his main concern has been whether or not they’ll flush his head down the bog or steal his pocket money, because he sure as s**t couldn’t handle the last fella.Hope Ed is a success, but from what I can see we have a Head Coach with no experience in the transfer market, a CEO with little experience in getting deals over the line and a poor track record in the windows so far and a Head of Recruitment in his first senior role with no proven record of identifying talent. It might work, but I don’t really understand why you’d think it will.
Two sentences that I can easily agree with. I experienced first hand how he defended Robinson at the infamous Friday meeting. Also, deserves to be highlighted the point you make about the recruitment of Ed Waldron - why did it take so long to appoint from within OUFC? All along TW was saying that they had some very serious candidates for the role, where did they go?My personal feeling is that Tim Williams has recruited people who he feels he can handle pretty easily and who won’t be bullish or dominant. I think his main concern has been whether or not they’ll flush his head down the bog or steal his pocket money, because he sure as s**t couldn’t handle the last fella.
I was very pleased by Williams’ appointment on paper when he was announced, and apparently he said all the right things internally when he first started and looked as though he would be able to settle things down, but within weeks he was in Robinson’s pocket and showing that he may well be a bean counter getting to play real life Football Manager. He’s since shown that he has incredibly thin skin and has preferred to penny lecture people in defence of a lame duck, when more and more people were screaming for the obvious. We might just get relegated on the back of it all. So far the bloke looks a clown.
Probably because half the 'poor window' signings are still at the club. Don't think he could realistically come out and say Baldock and Murphy have been a fecking disaster.Was disappointed that they never addressed the comment at the beginning which was about the previous poor windows in terms of why they were poor, and what lessons have we learnt. It was just brushed aside.
Excellent post!My personal feeling is that Tim Williams has recruited people who he feels he can handle pretty easily and who won’t be bullish or dominant. I think his main concern has been whether or not they’ll flush his head down the bog or steal his pocket money, because he sure as s**t couldn’t handle the last fella.
I was very pleased by Williams’ appointment on paper when he was announced, and apparently he said all the right things internally when he first started and looked as though he would be able to settle things down, but within weeks he was in Robinson’s pocket and showing that he may well be a bean counter getting to play real life Football Manager. He’s since shown that he has incredibly thin skin and has preferred to penny lecture people in defence of a lame duck, when more and more people were screaming for the obvious. We might just get relegated on the back of it all. So far the bloke looks a clown.
Like you, I felt on paper that the HoR role was where the board could show its ambition a bit and inject a bit of dynamism and savviness, similar to when Eales hired Ashton, but instead we took until nearly April to replace a guy who handed his notice in at Christmas, with his own junior. According to EW himself on RadOx, he will be the person negotiating deals with agents and clubs, with Williams et al able to help out a bit if need be. Let’s see how that pans out. Hopefully he’s got a bit about him, because he’s going to be competing with some smart and experienced operators.
My main worry is that he’s an excellent analyst who is being asked to be a de facto DoF. Similar to how Williams might well be a great accountant but doesn’t seem to have a clue as to how to manage a company or engage with the public.
If that makes me a doom merchant, so be it. Got nothing against EW or LM - I don’t know them and know almost nothing about them. I hope they do well for us and I’m not saying it won’t turn out okay, because I can’t know that it won’t any more than anyone else can know that it will. But we are in blind hope territory with a CEO and HoR in their first jobs, and a very young manager at the helm while we struggle to stay afloat.
With regard to that “Friday meeting “ I have since emailed TW to say how disappointed I was that Robinson was allowed to attend, and that it clearly inhibited discussion from that moment on. I pointed out there was real anger amongst the supporters and that it was difficult to express at the time.Two sentences that I can easily agree with. I experienced first hand how he defended Robinson at the infamous Friday meeting. Also, deserves to be highlighted the point you make about the recruitment of Ed Waldron - why did it take so long to appoint from within OUFC? All along TW was saying that they had some very serious candidates for the role, where did they go?
I do believe, albeit from the very little I have heard from Ed Waldron, that he does have something to offer. Hopefully, that turns out to be a significant something. We need it!
But hold on, all the defence of his abysmal performance this season was that the poor guy had loads of rubbish foisted on him!(It’s also worth noting Manning had an input over MK signings so wasn’t just handed players to work with)
I’m not sure that it’s necessarily Stadium related. They ploughed so much cash in this season (on and off the pitch) that I don’t think it would make a huge amount of sense to suddenly get spooked. They didn’t care six months ago, so I doubt they care too much now.I also think (not surprisingly given the figures yesterday) that we have cut back substantially until we know the stadium outcome.
It was a scandal that was allowed to happenWith regard to that “Friday meeting “ I have since emailed TW to say how disappointed I was that Robinson was allowed to attend, and that it clearly inhibited discussion from that moment on. I pointed out there was real anger amongst the supporters and that it was difficult to express at the time.
That sounds a little lame now, but you had to be there to see it. It’s not difficult to appreciate how intimidating that man could be, even across the width of a table. Good points were certainly made about our dissatisfaction but when the guilty party is sitting there staring at you, then it tends to moderate the language…..
Tbh the teams below us have generally been even worse than us (possibly apart from when we've played them)I’m not sure that it’s necessarily Stadium related. They ploughed so much cash in this season (on and off the pitch) that I don’t think it would make a huge amount of sense to suddenly get spooked. They didn’t care six months ago, so I doubt they care too much now.
My guess as to what has happened is that they turned off the taps on Robinson thinking that the season would fizzle out into lower mid-table obscurity and they could reassess in the summer, we then entered an enormous death spiral which meant he had to be sacked sooner rather than later, and we are now in a situation where because we don’t know which division we will be in, it’s difficult to nail down the best people. A L1 club is vastly superior to a L2 one when it comes to this sort of role.
Combine all that with TW not wanting any conflict and suddenly bumping someone up the chain who is already here works on all levels. Cheap, non-confrontational, owes his paymasters a debt of gratitude for giving him the chance to step up, and eliminates all uncertainty or need to wait. Also, if you were EW and you applied for a job in January only to be told that your employer was going to wait and see if the team can stay up before they decide whether you’re good enough to move up, you would probably tell them that you’re going to leave unless you get it. So there is every chance that we simply ran out of time.
As I say, pure guesswork on my part, but I do get the sense that we are stuck in a whirlpool of our own making right now, because we’ve put ourselves in a situation where nobody knows what division we’ll be in and potentially won’t know for sure until the final day of the season. It all stems back to failing to act before Christmas. This is the domino effect, IMO.