The case for Andy Crosby

[Brian Johnson]

42 minutes ago, NorthwoodValiant said:

In my opinion he's got the Next four games (Not including the pisspot game), lose all 4 and he's gone, only win 1 of the next 4 and not win one of the two league games and he's got to go. 

Calling Peterborough a 'Poor side' when they are 5th is Disingenuous, Bristol beat us because we had a player sent off

Bristol were already winning by the time we had a player sent off, so, it is total nonsense to suggest we only lost because we had a player sent off

[NorthwoodValiant]

3 minutes ago, Brian Johnson said:

Bristol were already winning by the time we had a player sent off, so, it is total nonsense to suggest we only lost because we had a player sent off

Apologies, I thought we conceded after the sending off

[Playa Amodores]

2 hours ago, smithie said:

In brief, here's my defence case for AC;

1. We are seriously hampered by several injuries. No doubt we should have the squad capacity to cover these but it's rare to have so many at once. If the recruitment (or lack of it)  is done at a level above AC then he can't be held responsible for the squad shortcomings.

2. l think it's fair to say that Saturday v Cheltenham was the first truly poor performance since the 2nd half at Barnsley. Given the number of inexperienced youngsters in the side against a resurgent Cheltenham with a motivated DC leading them, it was never going to be a home banker. I certainly didn't enjoy watching it but I think it's important to remember we gave Posh a decent game less than a week ago. 

3. AC is in his infancy as a gaffer but he's a veteran on the football scene. You only have to listen to him to hear how he analyses and thinks through pretty much everything he and his team does. He's in no way naive nor is he arrogant in the way l often felt Micky Adams could be. It would be highly unusual if he got everything right first time in his first stint as manager and we shouldn't realistically expect him to.

4. There are over 6 months of the season left. That's an awful lot of football to be played and we all know that a stroke of long-overdue luck could come our way and change things quickly. And no, I'm not relying on luck - but our fortunes in the past have hinged on good luck, like the goal that took us up in 2013, the ball sticking in the mud v Stoke in the Cup and the Gibbons/Stone near-disaster at Wembley last year.

5. For what it's worth, Andy Crosby wants to be here. As much as we all appreciate what DC did for us, it seems he was ready to jump ship to Portsmouth once the opportunity presented itself and that must have been a bad influence on the rest of last season. My hunch is that AC probably wouldn't act like that.

That will be all, m'lud! 

They say you need to be careful what you wish for. I like many others didn’t want AC as our manager. I was reliably informed that he was the temporary manager after Christmas as DC wasn’t deemed to be carrying out his duties. Look at our results from Christmas and how lucky we were to avoid relegation. We do have injuries but if you look at our forwards we release a player who is extremely injury prone and then panic and re sign him on a six month contract(which I think will turn into a 12 month deal). Thomas’s strength is his pace he plays off tge defender and needs the ball on the ground to go through one on one with the keeper. Loft then arrives (free)and he’s injured and not ripping up any trees, very poor. Then Uche arrives (free), apparently they had not shorts to fit him, totally unfit. Why did we let Ellis go.?

I think AC is still inebriated that he was given the job and probably has to Google, who is the manager of PVFC. If the effort was there in the performances I’d agree he should stay, but they’re not. Get rid of Flitcroft first and see if things improve if not then clear them all out. If there are influences at the club that are beyond his control that are affecting performances, either call them out, or resign. I’d like him to turn things round but he doesn’t turn a game round when it’s going against us still plays same boring possession football. It’s as though his strategically he writes the game off and thinks, things will improve in the next game.

[MBE]

I don't think you can aim a lack of effort at anyone, players or management. I haven't seen one game where you don't see players sprinting hard to get back but they are lacking confidence. Thats the big issue, taking the easy way out on passes which is why it ends up at the goalkeeper.

The squad is much much better than last season, recruitment, although with its issues has been 10x better than last season, we are just stuck with a coach who has job title of manager incapable of changing things because injuries and form mean we can't play his preferred formation and system. 

I hope history doesn't repeat itself and the players perform for him tomorrow night at Mansfield. I still have visions of John Askey's final interview emotional interview. I still feel sorry for the poor bloke now. The players throw him under the bus that day.

 

[Splodger]

I think AC has these next two games to seal his future at the club,lose by a significant amount tomorrow against a club a division below and lose on Saturday and he'll be gone imo 

[valeparklife]

I think the 'streaky' comment is a great point to remember.

15 league games this season, won 5, drawn 3, lost 7.

Our form was: L W D W W W W L D L L L D L L

The angst has been built from the 8 game winless run.

Say our form was: L W D L D W L W L L W D L W L, would people still be calling for his head?

[JoeB2]

5 minutes ago, valeparklife said:

I think the 'streaky' comment is a great point to remember.

15 league games this season, won 5, drawn 3, lost 7.

Our form was: L W D W W W W L D L L L D L L

The angst has been built from the 8 game winless run.

Say our form was: L W D L D W L W L L W D L W L, would people still be calling for his head?

But I think the streakiness is inherently Crosby.

He finds something that works, sticks to it for 8 games, teams then figure it out, and he doesn't react well. It happened in the promotion season too.

The danger of streaks is that confidence plummets and it can have a compounding effect.

[valefan16]

2 minutes ago, valeparklife said:

I think the 'streaky' comment is a great point to remember.

15 league games this season, won 5, drawn 3, lost 7.

Our form was: L W D W W W W L D L L L D L L

The angst has been built from the 8 game winless run.

Say our form was: L W D L D W L W L L W D L W L, would people still be calling for his head?

No but in this case momentum isnt going one way which it is at the moment. I like Crosby, I wanted him to get the job and felt he earned the chance to do it but at the moment I dont think he has the ability to turn this around as not a lot has changed throughout this run of form.

I would love nothing more than us to win tomorrow and kick start us into a steady run of form and Crosby to be a success but what I am seeing so far that doesn't look likely and the worry is the longer this rut goes on the harder to turn it around and before long we'd be in the bottom 4.

I was less troubled by the run in that we were playing well enough but Saturday was far below that.

[Valiiant]

4 hours ago, smithie said:

In brief, here's my defence case for AC;

1. We are seriously hampered by several injuries. No doubt we should have the squad capacity to cover these but it's rare to have so many at once. If the recruitment (or lack of it)  is done at a level above AC then he can't be held responsible for the squad shortcomings.

2. l think it's fair to say that Saturday v Cheltenham was the first truly poor performance since the 2nd half at Barnsley. Given the number of inexperienced youngsters in the side against a resurgent Cheltenham with a motivated DC leading them, it was never going to be a home banker. I certainly didn't enjoy watching it but I think it's important to remember we gave Posh a decent game less than a week ago. 

3. AC is in his infancy as a gaffer but he's a veteran on the football scene. You only have to listen to him to hear how he analyses and thinks through pretty much everything he and his team does. He's in no way naive nor is he arrogant in the way l often felt Micky Adams could be. It would be highly unusual if he got everything right first time in his first stint as manager and we shouldn't realistically expect him to.

4. There are over 6 months of the season left. That's an awful lot of football to be played and we all know that a stroke of long-overdue luck could come our way and change things quickly. And no, I'm not relying on luck - but our fortunes in the past have hinged on good luck, like the goal that took us up in 2013, the ball sticking in the mud v Stoke in the Cup and the Gibbons/Stone near-disaster at Wembley last year.

5. For what it's worth, Andy Crosby wants to be here. As much as we all appreciate what DC did for us, it seems he was ready to jump ship to Portsmouth once the opportunity presented itself and that must have been a bad influence on the rest of last season. My hunch is that AC probably wouldn't act like that.

That will be all, m'lud! 

 

Someone should lock you up and throw away the key.

[Valiiant]

4 hours ago, smithie said:

In brief, here's my defence case for AC;

1. We are seriously hampered by several injuries. No doubt we should have the squad capacity to cover these but it's rare to have so many at once. If the recruitment (or lack of it)  is done at a level above AC then he can't be held responsible for the squad shortcomings.

2. l think it's fair to say that Saturday v Cheltenham was the first truly poor performance since the 2nd half at Barnsley. Given the number of inexperienced youngsters in the side against a resurgent Cheltenham with a motivated DC leading them, it was never going to be a home banker. I certainly didn't enjoy watching it but I think it's important to remember we gave Posh a decent game less than a week ago. 

3. AC is in his infancy as a gaffer but he's a veteran on the football scene. You only have to listen to him to hear how he analyses and thinks through pretty much everything he and his team does. He's in no way naive nor is he arrogant in the way l often felt Micky Adams could be. It would be highly unusual if he got everything right first time in his first stint as manager and we shouldn't realistically expect him to.

4. There are over 6 months of the season left. That's an awful lot of football to be played and we all know that a stroke of long-overdue luck could come our way and change things quickly. And no, I'm not relying on luck - but our fortunes in the past have hinged on good luck, like the goal that took us up in 2013, the ball sticking in the mud v Stoke in the Cup and the Gibbons/Stone near-disaster at Wembley last year.

5. For what it's worth, Andy Crosby wants to be here. As much as we all appreciate what DC did for us, it seems he was ready to jump ship to Portsmouth once the opportunity presented itself and that must have been a bad influence on the rest of last season. My hunch is that AC probably wouldn't act like that.

That will be all, m'lud! 

 

1) Yes we have injuries. So do most other clubs in the league. We still have a team available that should be more than good enough to beat Cheltenham at home.

2) Nobody expected an easy game. But it was a pathetic and feeble performance against a team lower than us in the table.

3) Are you in love with him or something? Christ.

4) The fact that there's still 6 months of the season left and therefore things to play for as of right now is one of the main reasons a change should be made. Give the new manager a chance.

5) Of course he wants to be here. He knows full well no other League One and possibly League Two side would go near him, ya plonker!

[NorthwoodValiant]

12 minutes ago, Valiiant said:

 

Someone should lock you up and throw away the key.

That's nice.

Surprised no-one has mentioned that maybe we should have a replacement ready, or at least lined up, before we sack the manager

[Valiiant]

3 minutes ago, NorthwoodValiant said:

That's nice.

Surprised no-one has mentioned that maybe we should have a replacement ready, or at least lined up, before we sack the manager

 

He'll be sacked once we're out of both cups and the only success we can possibly have this season is staying in the league again.

[smithie]

14 minutes ago, Valiiant said:

 

1) Yes we have injuries. So do most other clubs in the league. We still have a team available that should be more than good enough to beat Cheltenham at home.

2) Nobody expected an easy game. But it was a pathetic and feeble performance against a team lower than us in the table.

3) Are you in love with him or something? Christ.

4) The fact that there's still 6 months of the season left and therefore things to play for as of right now is one of the main reasons a change should be made. Give the new manager a chance.

5) Of course he wants to be here. He knows full well no other League One and possibly League Two side would go near him, ya plonker!

I do love intelligent discourse. 

[DazFred]

My main concern is Crosby s stubbornness to play 3 CBs. Surely a 442 or 451 would be better? If you start with 3 CBs and there are no defenders on the bench,what happens if one is injured or sent off?

If he wanted a LWB then pick Shorrock who is at least left footed rather than make Planty look terrible. Planty is struggling and trying his best...people were slagging him off all game...he is only 19 for Petes sake.

If Blaster is carrying a knock,play Rhys Walters in MF. Not Chizzy AND Devine. Neither will chase back...you can only play either/or,but not both...it doesn't work.

To give the team a chance then it has to play in a shape. We ended with Sang at LWB on Saturday. He took every corner and free kick in the attacking third. Why? What has happened to Chizzy and Devine?

I feel sorry for Crosby regarding the number of injuries. However,to give the team a chance you cannot persist with tactics that don't work and a setup that doesn't work either.

[NorthwoodValiant]

33 minutes ago, Valiiant said:

 

He'll be sacked once we're out of both cups and the only success we can possibly have this season is staying in the league again.

We're currently still in 3 Cups

Also, do you think sacking him today makes us more likely to win the two games this week? i think not