Robinson - Worth a new contract?

[Marked Ox]

I also think there will be an upward curve with his goal return. He hadn’t played much football before coming to us.

Indeed, it took him until his 6th game to score his 1st goal. Of those 6 games, he started 4 but only really finished 1 basically when getting subbed in the 2 min of injury time.

 

[Scotchegg]

Oxford suits Robinson, he's local and knows this level. I can't imagine that he'd be looking to rush to another club, and I can't imagine he'd be massively in demand. So I don't think there is any rush to sign him up and it is worth focusing on the team until September/October.

But there can be few who wouldn't recognise the progress Robinson has made. If we put the blame at his door for signing Sam Smith and Ricky Holmes then we also need to give credit for him signing Whyte, Kashi, Sinclair, Sykes, Graham, Mackie etc. He has developed players like Baptiste and Long, introduced youth when appropriate and given more ownership to senior players. Eastwood, Mackie, Nelson, Brannaghan, Mous and Henry have all taken on leadership roles this season.

He has adapted his play to get the best from the players available, and has delivered play off form over the last 30 games and promotion form over the last 8. We've seen battling performances, freeflowing football and some rubbish, but generally we look to play football the right way.

He cares about the club and is involved in everything from top to bottom. Arguably he has become much stronger since all the off field issues have happened and has had to put up with more than most managers would ever dream of behind the scenes. He might not always come across polished in the press, but who honestly cares? If we were at the top of the table then no one would give a toss what he said after the game.

So, other contracts are more important, but we could do a hell of a lot worse than to give him an extension when the time is right.

 

[LondonRoader]

For the purposes of this post I will assume that we will be a L1 club next year and that Tiger won't be dismissing KR any time soon.

Cast your minds back to the last season under Wilder. He'd just been given another year by IL but the owner wouldn't commit for a longer period. CW became unsettled and after failing in his application at Pompey, he got the NTFC job, despite OUFC being quite well placed for the play-offs. KR signed a 2.5 year deal and will, at the start of next season, be entering into the final year of his contract and could be faced with a similar situation.

The Wilder situation was a little different, but not much, so do we let his contract run down and see him distracted or should Tiger extend?

The response from many will, I'm pretty sure, be something like 'let it run down until Xmas and see how it goes'. Is that the sensible thing to do though?

Thoughts?

Wilders situation was vastly different, it wasn't only the pompey job he chased, he looked at plenty of different jobs before moving on, he was/is ambitious and it was all about him.

As for KR, he has turned our season around, he has got a settled and more balanced team now, he has got more fit players to choose from and we are getting results, both tiger and KR have admitted their pre season failings in the transfer market hopefully they both will learn by their mistakes, if the current form continues then next season does look encouraging, ST will sell and the goodwill factor should return if the off field antics are sorted.
The way the players are putting in a shift and the way they celebrate is a testament of team moral, I think KR and the staff have this squad at it at the moment and everyone is enjoying the results, can't see him going anywhere soon..

 

[Foley]

I think that he has done very well to keep us up and get into the top half after the appalling first quarter of the season.
He kept the squad with him and has clearly improved the team throughout the season.
Having said that recruitment in the summer transfer window was poor and the start to the season was disastrous.
So I agree with a lot in here. Judge him.at Christmas next year. If we are in the Top 8 or so then offer him a new contract at that stage.

 

[Paul Cannell]

I think that he has done very well to keep us up and get into the top half after the appalling first quarter of the season.

Not on you, Foley, but I wonder how many posters will act like the start of the season was not his fault?

 

[Dubai Yellow]

Let’s look at it, for arguments sake, from anyone in any management job, who is given a year to prove himself, before getting an extended contract.

1. A person inherits the new job from the previous manager comes in doing really well and does every thing that’s asked, to a better than expected standard for 6 months and then basically it all falls apart and it all goes from bad to worse to near in disaster, and taking the company on a complete downward spiral to the find of the year.

2. A person inherits the new job from the previous manager, has a terrible start where absolutely everything that could go wrong goes wrong. He ends up at rock bottom 6 months in, already staring down the barrel of a gun only to turn it around to a point where they are now over achieving and exceeding expectation and everything seems (results wise) to be on an upward trajectory.

They both achieved the same in one year but which one do you offer a new contract?

In my line of work, 2 would get the offer and 1 would be out the door. I’m not sure when his contract is up but if he’s still got another year then yes, I also agree with the above, best to wait.

 

[greatunclekip]

Definitely not at this stage. Deserves credit for the turnaround but still in deficit for me for the horrific recruitment in the summer and some of the horror shows on the pitch, and his tactical inflexibility.

I think someone like a Tisdale would have got more out of this squad. But there are positive signs. Jan recruitment and youths coming through.

Xmas is the time to review.

 

[Peterdev]

I think fairs fair and we should seriously consider offering him a new contract. He could even finish the season with more victories than losses. A great result when you consider we were bottom of the table. He’s brought in Sinclair, Whyte, Dickie and Browne all who’ve performed well, Dickie more so recently.Now I’m looking forward to seeing the Wimbledon game on Saturday.
He’s had terrible problems with injuries.
I think Robinson is still learning and it is great to see that he is not haranguing referees and officials like he did.

 

[tonyw]

Could we do a conditional contract extension?

Hey Karl - he's a two year deal for 2020-21 and 2021-22 that activates automatically if we're in the top half of League One on January 1st 2020.

Would be the ultimate incentive!

 

[Paul Cannell]

Why are we talking about being in top half? Surely with the level of ambition at the club simply being out of the relegation places will do?*





* yes, it's sarcasm.

 

[Manorman]

KR’s biggest challenge is yet to come. His budget next year will be smaller and we are about to lose a key defender in Nelson and possibly Eastwood as well. Graham, Sinclair, Kashi and to a lesser extent Garbutt have all been very influential in recent weeks and it is highly unlikely that we will be able to afford one let alone all four. That means we stand to lose half of our team before next season has begun. Recruitment over the summer is CRITICAL. We still need a better front man who can hold play up and score and then of course a left sided centre back. Hanson needs to improve a lot and Baptiste come back fit and performing at the same level prior to his injury. If we hit mid table or higher next season then KR will certainly have earned a new contract.

 

[Londonroader1]

Oxford suits Robinson, he's local and knows this level. I can't imagine that he'd be looking to rush to another club, and I can't imagine he'd be massively in demand. So I don't think there is any rush to sign him up and it is worth focusing on the team until September/October.

But there can be few who wouldn't recognise the progress Robinson has made. If we put the blame at his door for signing Sam Smith and Ricky Holmes then we also need to give credit for him signing Whyte, Kashi, Sinclair, Sykes, Graham, Mackie etc. He has developed players like Baptiste and Long, introduced youth when appropriate and given more ownership to senior players. Eastwood, Mackie, Nelson, Brannaghan, Mous and Henry have all taken on leadership roles this season.

He has adapted his play to get the best from the players available, and has delivered play off form over the last 30 games and promotion form over the last 8. We've seen battling performances, freeflowing football and some rubbish, but generally we look to play football the right way.

He cares about the club and is involved in everything from top to bottom. Arguably he has become much stronger since all the off field issues have happened and has had to put up with more than most managers would ever dream of behind the scenes. He might not always come across polished in the press, but who honestly cares? If we were at the top of the table then no one would give a toss what he said after the game.

So, other contracts are more important, but we could do a hell of a lot worse than to give him an extension when the time is right.

Spot on

OUFCX

 

[AbbeyOx]

Manager on course to deliver a mid-table finish with a top 10 budget having seen his team languishing in the nether regions of the league for vast swathes of the season - and some sections of the faithful want to reward him with a new contract! Let's set the bar slightly higher chaps...

who would you like to see come in if he did go? and if they don't get off to a good start, then what? sacked before xmas and on it goes. Bradford have got through enough managers this season and sit at the bottom of the table with the delights of lge 2 football to enjoy next year.
think 3 transfer windows is fair enough then judge him after that. if there's no obvious signs of improvement then I would make a change

 

[Scotchegg]

KR’s biggest challenge is yet to come. His budget next year will be smaller and we are about to lose a key defender in Nelson and possibly Eastwood as well. Graham, Sinclair, Kashi and to a lesser extent Garbutt have all been very influential in recent weeks and it is highly unlikely that we will be able to afford one let alone all four. That means we stand to lose half of our team before next season has begun. Recruitment over the summer is CRITICAL. We still need a better front man who can hold play up and score and then of course a left sided centre back. Hanson needs to improve a lot and Baptiste come back fit and performing at the same level prior to his injury. If we hit mid table or higher next season then KR will certainly have earned a new contract.

Nelson will be off, but I would be surprised if Eastwood follows. He has set up a goalkeepers academy locally and his family are settled so can't see him desperate to move. Whilst we don't know who might come in for him in the summer, he is the one position we really don't wnat to be changing so unless the bid was ridiculous I can't see him leaving.

I'm also not sure why we won't be able to keep some of those mentioned. Kashi will not be on a high contract and we should be able to pick him up for a nominal fee, whilst the other three are all potentially available for long term loans again. We might not get all of them but I would imagine that we would have a good chance of getting Graham or Sinclair next season without busting the bank.

So, there is every chance that we won't needto make wholesale changes and can hopefully continue the improved transfer buisness that we saw in January.

 

[WALLY OX]

100% yes.

Hi Karl.

 

[moomooland]

Robinson has done well and we should do everything we can to keep hold of him. He has created a spirit among the players
which makes us more than the sum of our parts.
Some people seem to think we are a "big club" and should walk into the Championship. They are deluding themselves. Tiger has shown he doesn't have the financial muscle to compete with clubs in the second tier which are much bigger than us.
Every year the loanees move on and we have to start all over again. This seems to be the modern way with loans making up a large
part of the squad.
If we change managers now we could easily end up back in league 2 before you know it. Sorry to disappoint people but unless we
bring in a serious owner with financial clout, then we are probably as high as we will ever be.

 

[PottersRightBoot]

The best we can aim for under current ground strictures is where Appleton left us. As Playoff contenders. Robinson can get us there as well.

He doesn’t deserve a contract extension though - yet.

I’m interested to see how we finish the season. Personally I think we will do well.

 

[Big Ronaldo]

When you look at the players here and available for next season, We look to be in solid shape. Keeping most of what we have and adding a few, it is reasonable to hope that next season offers promise.
Uncle Karl has turned it around, in no small part by his astute acquisitions in January.
It is well documented where we now need quality and we will all Know well in advance of Christmas whether karlo has got it right.
If we have, then it would be right to offer him another contract then.
Goals win games Karl.

 

[yellowbow]

Interesting quote from Robinson in today’s OM, I assume lifted from his post match interview:

“If I have to make a decision and it falls on my shoulders – I’m asking for more responsibility in the transfer market, like I did in January – then I have to do the dirty work as well by getting out there and making decisions for the club.”

Pretty much confirms that a lot of last summers cock ups in the transfer market were due to others making the decisions, before he wrestled back more control over it in January.

 

[Leysboy]

Well let’s face it last summers recruitment was a disaster, but players like Ricky Holmes and Samir Carruthers we’re his signings. They came here unfit and injury prone.

I’d say Jamie Mackie was another, but lately that signing looks to of paid off.

I don’t think Sam Smith was a KR signing, and I don’t believe Jamie Hanson was either.

Gavin Whyte and Mark Sykes, are two very good signings by whoever. They will be BIG players here.

The recruitment needs to of started already. Identifying targets to improve the squad, and being in contact with agents. Then as soon as the window opens we are poised to unveil them. Get them in early, and get them used to the surroundings, and gel with what we already have squad wise. Let’s start next season on the front foot for a change.