Barrow v Cambridge United, match thread

[Main Stand SeasonTct]

I don't deny all the marvellous things which Wood has done and is still doing - it's a real boon to the club.

However I may be wrong but it seems he is having an undue influence when it comes to buying players. That used to be the prerogative of the team manager as was - head coach as now is - and it was his decision who to buy.

I may be completely wrong but I get the feeling that Wild left because he felt that Wood was having too much influence over the signing of players.

I know they now say that Wood, Whing and Harvey all contribute to the signing of players, but I would rather see the Whing and Harvey do it on their own as the two men who have had more experience on the footballing side.

A major part of recruiting a player is the financial structure of any deal. Salary and contract length. Wood has experience in that department as he was an agent before joining us. That experience has undoubtedly and still is invaluable to the club and is why he is one of the three part recruitment team.
Other than saying yes or no to who we can or cannot afford I don’t believe he has a bigger say than Whing or Harvey when it comes to identifying targets. That is a collective that all three have to agree on

[Pedro]

Absolutely spot on!

Remind me. Who sourced the training ground we currently use and built and worked on the infrastructure at the training site enabling it to be suitable for a league two club? It’s no secret he spends many hours during in the off season doing work on the training ground in prep for new season Who worked alongside the GMV with the ideas for the facilities under the grandstand for the players families making it more appealing and comfortable for them to attend games. Who negotiated the contracts and salaries for any incoming players? Doubtless that’s just a fraction of what he does. The infrastructure of the club has been transformed since Iain Wood came in.

So in other words he could not negotiated extensions to Gott, Campbell or Spence earlier so we received a fee or kept them.
The players he replaced them with are far inferior and as far as sorting the infrastructure out we are not Man United.
You can have the best set up in the world but if you keep recruiting poor players you are going no where but down the league and none league.

We cannot throw money at players but that does not work as Carlisle found out .

He should have built a scouting system to pluck players with potential from lower leagues.
It's who is on the pitch plus the Manager.
I fear for Andy Whing he is a very genuine man but probably too nice .

[Pedro]

"Wonder of we can get Emile back on loan coz hes better than all of this lot"

spot on-big mistake letting him go.

Very few if anyone was saying that at the time. The massive surprise was that we actually got a fee for him.
Like many have said we don’t have bad players what we do appear to have is a coaching team who are incapable of coaching and setting a side up to get the best out of them

At the end of the day it was Pressley Dad who bought him.
Really.poor player .
I bet the Board could not believe they were getting rid of Aquah never mind getting a fee.

[HenneysKnee]

I along with many others were very vocal about the lack of a right back during the summer/start of the season; it seemed baffling at the time and even more so as we go along. That and paying a fee for Booty, who was never going to suit this style of football was another baffling one.
I know it’s been said he wants to play centre back these days but for me at the moment you have to get MJ and Harper in the middle of midfield with McCann and AN Other playing behind Gordon (a proper change of formation just isn’t really realistic at the moment)
Despite being shot down in flames on the signings thread I still think in January we need a quicker centre back to play on the right of the back 3 if we are carrying on that formation, plus a right back and some pace up front.

[Main Stand SeasonTct]

So in other words he could not negotiated extensions to Gott, Campbell or Spence earlier so we received a fee or kept them.

Pedro, you cannot force a player to sign a contract when they harbour ambitions to play at a higher level that they feel cannot be reached by their current club.
Gotts gave us four good seasons he deserved his chance as did the other two. Football at this level from a players perspective is about playing at the highest level your ability allows and maximising your income in a short career. Both things might not have been achieved had they been under contract with us.

[Rushy]

Im not sure this is all Whings fault or Ian woods for that matter.
The cycle of sacking and paying managers off needs to stop.we can't afford players because the Kitty is empty.
We need to realise we are not financially equipped to stay in this league.
If not this season then next we will go down.
The board have worked miracles keeping us in the league season after season but its not sustainable.
The pressure on Andy Whing is immense. He is obviously struggling to hold it together which is excruciating to watch. He needs a break. He is an employee of the club and the Board should be making sure he is ok . Maybe a garden leave break or a parting of the ways by mutual consent but I dont think the club can stand by and watch the man destroy himself.
Things obviously improved with Rob Kelly on-board so maybe Whing needs a more experienced assistant along side sharpish.....putting all previous prejudices aside would someone like Paul Simpson fit the bill??
Don't hang me its just a suggestion.

[Methuselah]

Whilst I appreciate we have a limited budget for players I think what put a lot of people off on Saturday was the lack of commitment by a lot of the players.
People in the stands were telling them to move the ball forward,but they kept passing it sideways and backwards.It is almost they didn't want to.go past the opposition with the possibility of getting injured.Andy Whing himself said he had instructed the players to move the ball forward but it looked as though they were ignoring what they had been told and carried on doing what they wanted to
.As soon as a Cambridge player ran towards them the ball went sideways then backwards.
Andy Whing looked totally dejected in his interview..It needs an older head to help Andy Whing and put a bomb under some of the players to at least getting them playing as a team.Saturdays performance was a disgrace.

[russell_anderson]

Very few if anyone was saying that at the time. The massive surprise was that we actually got a fee for him.
Like many have said we don’t have bad players what we do appear to have is a coaching team who are incapable of coaching and setting a side up to get the best out of them

At the end of the day it was Pressley Dad who bought him.
Really.poor player .
I bet the Board could not believe they were getting rid of Aquah never mind getting a fee.

Aquah may not have been brilliant but he was a hell of a lot better than what is there now!

[Jim]

Andy Whing looked totally dejected in his interview..It needs an older head to help Andy Whing and put a bomb under some of the players to at least getting them playing as a team.Saturdays performance was a disgrace.

I believe it was mentioned when Kelly left that we are looking for a replacement. Nothing heard since though.

[Main Stand SeasonTct]

Whilst I appreciate we have a limited budget for players I think what put a lot of people off on Saturday was the lack of commitment by a lot of the players.
People in the stands were telling them to move the ball forward,but they kept passing it sideways and backwards.It is almost they didn't want to.go past the opposition with the possibility of getting injured.Andy Whing himself said he had instructed the players to move the ball forward but it looked as though they were ignoring what they had been told and carried on doing what they wanted to
.As soon as a Cambridge player ran towards them the ball went sideways then backwards.
Andy Whing looked totally dejected in his interview..It needs an older head to help Andy Whing and put a bomb under some of the players to at least getting them playing as a team.Saturdays performance was a disgrace.

Everything you have posted screams the manager has lost the dressing room something I thought before Rob Kelly came in and Saturdays performance did nothing to change that imo

[Adam29]

Andy Whing looked totally dejected in his interview..It needs an older head to help Andy Whing and put a bomb under some of the players to at least getting them playing as a team.Saturdays performance was a disgrace.

I believe it was mentioned when Kelly left that we are looking for a replacement. Nothing heard since though.

Was mentioned in the pre match discussions that they are still on the look out, they’ve spoken with people and want to make sure they get the right person in

[Jonty]

Im not sure this is all Whings fault or Ian woods for that matter.
The cycle of sacking and paying managers off needs to stop.we can't afford players because the Kitty is empty.
We need to realise we are not financially equipped to stay in this league.
If not this season then next we will go down.
The board have worked miracles keeping us in the league season after season but its not sustainable.
The pressure on Andy Whing is immense. He is obviously struggling to hold it together which is excruciating to watch. He needs a break. He is an employee of the club and the Board should be making sure he is ok . Maybe a garden leave break or a parting of the ways by mutual consent but I dont think the club can stand by and watch the man destroy himself.
Things obviously improved with Rob Kelly on-board so maybe Whing needs a more experienced assistant along side sharpish.....putting all previous prejudices aside would someone like Paul Simpson fit the bill??
Don't hang me its just a suggestion.

If you don’t think we are financially equipped for EFL then we certainly won’t be financially equipped for the National League where the operating costs will be similar. There would be lower crowds and we’d lose between £1.25m and £1.5m from the basic Sky deal award for each club and the Premier League solidarity payment. Like the deal or not, for a club our size it’s a is a massive part of our income stream. National League is absolutely brutal with some very good clubs in there that are fully set up for EFL.

[Main Stand SeasonTct]

If you don’t think we are financially equipped for EFL then we certainly won’t be financially equipped for the National League where the operating costs will be similar. There would be lower crowds and we’d lose between £1.25m and £1.5m from the basic Sky deal award for each club and the Premier League solidarity payment. Like the deal or not, for a club our size it’s a is a massive part of our income stream. National League is absolutely brutal with some very good clubs in there that are fully set up for EFL.

The playing budget of the current top four in the national league will blows ours and a few others in league two out of the water. Our chairman said as much after we played Rochdale in a pre season friendly and was gobsmacked at the level of wages they were paying

[Bigfathoss]

If the players are substandard, it's down to the manager to get a tune out of them, engender attitude, commitment and team spirit.
I wish I could say otherwise, but don't thing Whing is showing he can do it anywhere near effectively.
Interviews before and after matches are generally regurgitated rubbish, and he's very very poor at them.

You're not going to get a symphony out of recorders, tambourines and a triangle. If the players are substandard then it is 100% only down to recruitment. They ARE substandard in the main, but no manager is going to get consistent league performances out of non-league players.

[JayBee]

So 2759 home fans. That's worrying.

Yes it is, and that's why we should replace him, see my earlier post about how much we are losing in gate money each home game at least £7.500. to £10.000. with the loss of 500 to 800 supporters paying an average of £15.00. per game