The Darren Edmondson Thread

[Suffolk Blue]

Don't know Edmo personally. He's clearly a really decent bloke but he seems to me to be very structured in his approach (not surprising as a former teacher - if that's not too stereotypical).

He clearly wants his team to adopt a particular shape and method of play, which they appear to be able to do but then find it very difficult to adapt to changing circumstances. Jason plays for 70 minutes every game; Howarth plays for 75. Cookie is the man - everybody feed the Cookie monster. Great as Cookie is our entire game seems built around him hence the reason he scores and others don't. Hence also the reason why he is so closely marked.

Good managers are both methodological and instinctive. They occasionally play hunches that they get right more often than not. But there are no wild cards in the BAFC team however because they don't belong in Edmos pattern of play. Elliot Newby is a great example. He's actually different from Cook, Walker et al. Put him on for 20 minutes and he will pose a different threat. Saying he is too lightweight for that is utter B****cks and in my view is being economical with the truth - which in Edmoworld is putting Ashley Grimes on for Walker is a better options because its a like-for-like swop and maintains the pattern - or so he thinks.

We already know enough about Elliot Newby to know that he is a handful in small doses even at this early stage in his career. You have to be prepared to chuck him on and watch the opposition scratch their heads - especially when everybody is watching Cook. You have to do what the opposition patently don't want you to do - not what seems logical. That why sometimes (we are not always wrong) we can see this watching but Edmo is unable to.

An instinctive but lucky manager with sound but not brilliant credentials is always likely to be more successful that the guy with badges that can only think in terms of patterns or systems systems.

I don't think Edmo is instinctive. It will be the death of him.

[Steeley]

His attitude? Examples? He wasn't the worst today, he gets bypassed by all the shite long balls. Clearly a talented player, the same can't be said about Symington, been very poor so far but is still getting gametime.

[thegaffer77]

Early days but I've been unimpressed with Grimes' demeanour and attitude so far. Sourcing the opinions of fans from his recent clubs suggest talent but poor work rate.
The Rochdale perspective:
http://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/members/ro ... eTA4GqCPCQ

Bang on. Let's just say his training sessions haven't covered him in any glory either. Why else do you think he's not starting?

[barrowfan]

Don't know Edmo personally. He's clearly a really decent bloke but he seems to me to be very structured in his approach (not surprising as a former teacher - if that's not too stereotypical).

He clearly wants his team to adopt a particular shape and method of play, which they appear to be able to do but then find it very difficult to adapt to changing circumstances. Jason plays for 70 minutes every game; Howarth plays for 75. Cookie is the man - everybody feed the Cookie monster. Great as Cookie is our entire game seems built around him hence the reason he scores and others don't. Hence also the reason why he is so closely marked.

Good managers are both methodological and instinctive. They occasionally play hunches that they get right more often than not. But there are no wild cards in the BAFC team however because they don't belong in Edmos pattern of play. Elliot Newby is a great example. He's actually different from Cook, Walker et al. Put him on for 20 minutes and he will pose a different threat. Saying he is too lightweight for that is utter B****cks and in my view is being economical with the truth - which in Edmoworld is putting Ashley Grimes on for Walker is a better options because its a like-for-like swop and maintains the pattern - or so he thinks.

We already know enough about Elliot Newby to know that he is a handful in small doses even at this early stage in his career. You have to be prepared to chuck him on and watch the opposition scratch their heads - especially when everybody is watching Cook. You have to do what the opposition patently don't want you to do - not what seems logical. That why sometimes (we are not always wrong) we can see this watching but Edmo is unable to.

An instinctive but lucky manager with sound but not brilliant credentials is always likely to be more successful that the guy with badges that can only think in terms of patterns or systems systems.

I don't think Edmo is instinctive. It will be the death of him.

Good post SB.

[SKIPPER]

a real bag of mixed opinions on here not all in complete agreement. I touted Edmo for the job in the first place and backed him when others were calling for his head after FGR/Grimsby. However... I don't think the fault lies with tactics/subs etc but with recruitment. Edmos contact book appears to consist of Carlisle and you tube videos. I'm sure fans of most clubs in this League waited with baited breath to see us spend PC's money on Bogle etc in the summer. What we saw instead was truly underwhelming.
What we got.
Dixon -So far so good despite the goals against. Problems lie with whats in front of him
Ashton - My son-in-law told me we were getting a solid professional...but his legs have gone and he'll be done for pace.
Haworth - Needs to get out of the aim to score spectacular goals and bring teammates into the game.
S.Williams - But for his FGR stupidity would be in the first team now. Problem is his FGR stupidity may be a common trait
Mellor,Fofana,Grimes - Lumped these together because they were meant to be the 'marquee'signings. Haven't got any stats but I figure their time off the field has been more than on it. Fofana was missing yesterday with no explanation whatsoever. Conspiracy theorists are beginning to have a field day.
Symington - Missed a big chunk of last season injured - spent summer in rehab-now thrown in with no match practice
Van de Broek - Last club was in Romania god knows how long ago. Can Edmo seriously bring a player with that pedigree straight into the action.
What we could have had
Matt Young - Allegedly made a derisory offer so moved to Dover where he'd already trialled. Dover unbeaten since their loss at HS.
Andy McWilliams- Know he was here last term but he picked up later on after injury. When Ashton arrived he saw the light and left for Harrogate now 2nd in Cof North
Danny Parslow- Just as experienced but younger than our current CB's. Joined unbeaten Cheltenham even scoring against Wrexham yesterday.
Andy Bond- Joined Chorley on non-contract terms. After his impressive debut at FCUM an unnamed NW club apparently put in 7 days notice of approach. Chorley swiftly got his name on a contract. What a waste.
George Bowerman - Unsung trialist (one or two games ?) Trialled with Alty who snapped him up. Scored five already this season and hasn't started every game.
And they are the ones we know about.
To finish with I must mention locals.It is a well known fact (Rockerlad will bear me out)that Edmo and locals are two words that don't belong in the same sentence. He shunned them at Wukkie and was even supposed to have said "there are none good enough" . Skelts came close to proving him wrong last season. Which makes me wonder if PC had some input into the signing of Eccles,Carroll and the Newby's and Edmo is just ignoring them. If he has no intentionm of playing them then surely they should be loaned out (with a recall clause) to get match practice.

[Jim]

A lot of things blamed on Edmo that are not his fault, like individual errors, but having said that, there are some questions to answer. Why wasn't Newby in the squad. Even if too lightweight, he is surely worth a place as an impact sub? Where are Fofana and Mellor - unfit or out of favour?

It has certainly been a disappointing start. Some (possibly most) signings don't appear to have made the impact to take the team to a higher level. Tactics are a bit one dimensional, too much reliance on Cook. I do think we have the nucleus of a team that can hold its own this season, perhaps too early to pass judgemnet on some players, but in 6 to 8 weeks if things haven't settled we will need a rethink of players and tactics.

[Kieran]

Regarding Elliot Newby, I agree with Edmo that at the moment the lad is too lightweight. If we're looking to him to be our saviour then we're in trouble, not good enough to start by a long way and for me needs a loan spell somewhere.

Edmo - Recruited terribly in the summer, has massively under estimated the gap between this league and Conf North just as I feared he would do. People like Simon Grand might be dominant at the level below but he's not up to it at this level, although he's far from the only one.

We're a poor team, paying over the odds for players that the management team thought were better than they are.


The football is seriously dire to watch and I'm getting fed up of it now. Could live with it last season as when all was said and done we still won the league, albeit a lot more unconvincingly than it should've been with the players we had. But people are not going to keep paying to watch the shite Edmo insists on serving us up, as a bloke I like him but as a manager he's being found out. I can't see him seeing the season out and he's only got himself to blame.

[Steeley]

Regarding Elliot Newby, I agree with Edmo that at the moment the lad is too lightweight. If we're looking to him to be our saviour then we're in trouble, not good enough to start by a long way and for me needs a loan spell somewhere.

True i dont think we can put all our eggs in the Newby basket, but I would rather be throwing him on the pitch than the Van Den Brook bloke, Cosgrove or Symington.

[The Real Slim Azza]

Edmo - Recruited terribly in the summer, has massively under estimated the gap between this league and Conf North just as I feared he would do. People like Simon Grand might be dominant at the level below but he's not up to it at this level, although he's far from the only one.

We're a poor team, paying over the odds for players that the management team thought were better than they are.


The football is seriously dire to watch and I'm getting fed up of it now. Could live with it last season as when all was said and done we still won the league, albeit a lot more unconvincingly than it should've been with the players we had. But people are not going to keep paying to watch the shite Edmo insists on serving us up, as a bloke I like him but as a manager he's being found out. I can't see him seeing the season out and he's only got himself to blame.

Thats exactly my thoughts Kieran. Good post.

[barrow-mike]

Raheem Sterling. Position, attacking midfield. Height, 1.70m. Weight, 69 kg. D.O.B., 8 Dec 1994. another lightweight player who wont make the grade.
george best and dennis law to name a few were brilliant lightweights .so come on edmo give this lad a chance

[Matty]

When would Casson say -"Enough's enough, being under threat of Conference North football next season doesn't fit into my five year plan?"

[xerxes]

Why is his mindset sitting back on leads? Sounded like we did at on the radio with him saying we were sat in our area at one point.

I was there and I can assure you we did NOT sit back on the lead. Several others have confirmed this on the match thread.

[Lancaster Branch]

Indeed. There's a difference between sitting back and having men behind the ball to defend when the oppo is attacking.

[K-Man]

There's a difference between having the ball and controlling the game. We had the ball in midfield did some average passing in the middle of the pitch then lost possession. Their goalkeeper was hardly under siege getting peppered with shots and apart from Cooks goal I can't remember him having to make a proper save. Gary Neville summed United performance up against Swansea fairly well which was similar to us.

[Moonwatcher]

Some good posts on this thread, and I agree with most of the points. The default setting under Edmo's tenure has been to play the "direct" long game, which is tedious to watch, and I would imagine a dream to defend against for most teams. That said, there have been spells in most games when we have played intelligently, moving the ball neatly, playing one-touch possession football, and we look much better side when we do that. Most of our goals have come in those spells. last season was the same. All too often though, we revert back to type, and end up relinquishing possession. The final ball has often lacked quality, but in Andy Cook we have an exceptional striker who can somehow manage to score goals consistently despite the indifferent quality of delivery to him. Goodness knows where we would be without him.
All football teams are inevitably a reflection of the manager. It is him who recruits players, him who selects his eleven on matchday. It is him who sets the team up to play how he wants them to play, and rings the changes when the need arises. At this point in time, none of these things are working for Edmo.
However, the margins are slender in football, and I do have some sympathy for him. The guy is now officially "under pressure" largely due to individual errors costing us vital points. Would we still be having this debate if certain individuals had been a little smarter at key times in certain games? If we had been more professional and hung onto a hard-earned lead at Cheltenham, if we had not gifted Guiseley an equaliser thanks to an idiotic push in the back, and not gifted a frankly awful Halifax a free equaliser yesterday we would now be sitting comfortably in the top half of the table and talking about a satisfying August. All "ifs and buts" I know.
Darren has done well to get us to where we are from where we were when he took over, but now his leadership qualities are under severe scrutiny, and we will see in the next few weeks whether he can manage a football team at this level. Is he the man to take our club onwards and upwards from here? There are plenty who already doubt it, and I myself am not sure. One thing is for sure - he has his work cut out. Let's see what you're made of, Edmo.....