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But he didn't and it wasn't 'the board' you refer to that got rid of him it was the current ownership...

The club no longer has a board; it has one owner employing a General Manager who oversees the team management, backroom staff such as it is; and various admin and commercial staff plus a groundsman.....surely you're aware of that?

You're welcome and entitled to your opinion of what you believe the previous management might have achieved with the capital backing of this management; but the FACT is the owner didn't have the confidence in him to provide him with it and so far no other club's board have entrusted him either; and it is worth noting that since his predecessor but one (Hargreaves) got his marching orders neither has any other club's board of directors trusted him either; and he's been out of the management game for two and half years now.

It just goes to show the need for the applicant to carry out due diligence on the prospective employer as much as the prospective employer has that need also.

I would surmise that whilst Hargreaves never really carried out his due diligence on Thea Bristow neither did Dave Phillips' board carry their's out on Kevin Nicholson.....and how about Nicholson being so desperate to work for such an under capitalised board anyway? He's more than likely terminally damaged his CV

When you say 'board' who do you mean? There isn't one. There's only Clarke Osborne as Chairman of no board. So who made the decision to sack Nicholson just Geoff Harrop? He was certainly the front man to find a successor but presumably had to have his eventual choice signed off.
The problem as I see it is there is no proper leadership, on or off, the pitch.
The club needs visible leadership off the pitch while the team needs a proper hard man, preferably in mid field, driving the side and leading from the front.

I have a little question. Do people think if Hargreaves was not sacked after our first season in the conference, would we still be in this mess?

Before I get shot down, I know a lot of people did not like the way he bigged himself up, but he did recruit some decent players for us. Ryan bowman was a quality striker for this level. Then he signed ajala, Richards and Achaempong, who were all very good in the preseason and first third of the season.

Do people have more faith in Owers now, than they did in Nicholson and Hargreaves previously?

Whether it was a board or an owner is immaterial, As you say the “fact” is they lost confidence in him, why though? Pressure? Influence? I don’t know! Please whatever you say do not compare Hargreaves to any other manager we have had, Hargreaves wanted us to go down as he thought he would be a cult hero bouncing us back up first attempt and we all live the result of that! Can’t stand the sight of him in on sport and he still speaks the same old shite like he knows it all!
Nicho was quiet, methodical, honest, hardworking, trustworthy, he is young, inexperienced but was energetic and keen to cut his teeth here, however, despite the lack of financial backing, he managed to put a bunch of players together that worked for him and each other. obviously osbourne couldn’t see that and as I said, he didn’t like Nichos honest relationship with the fans.

Cruisinho wrote: ↑01 Jan 2018, 20:48I have a little question. Do people think if Hargreaves was not sacked after our first season in the conference, would we still be in this mess?

The club that dispensed with Hargreaves was not the club he was so desperate to work for remember.....

He was lobbying on his own behalf whilst Alan Knill was being undermined from within and making public statements in the media like "something needs to change"

Of course something did change ~ he took us down and out of the Football League; ultimately failing to get us back up the next season and when Thea Bristow and her board finally washed their hands of the club, the poisoned chalice was picked up by people who had no intention (or the wherewithal) to continue paying his exorbitant salary and those of his staff.

So to answer your question; yes I do as it happens because there was nothing about Hargreaves that suggested he could cut it as a manager; and more to the point, neither has any prospective future employer.

Cruisinho wrote: ↑01 Jan 2018, 20:48 I have a little question. Do people think if Hargreaves was not sacked after our first season in the conference, would we still be in this mess?

Before I get shot down, I know a lot of people did not like the way he bigged himself up, but he did recruit some decent players for us. Ryan bowman was a quality striker for this level. Then he signed ajala, Richards and Achaempong, who were all very good in the preseason and first third of the season.

Do people have more faith in Owers now, than they did in Nicholson and Hargreaves previously?

Are you serious? Bowmen! ?? Ajala had lots of energy and determination but not every week! Richards, had the same enthusiasm but couldn’t pass the ball to one of our own players! acheampong had the same inconsistency! Frustrating the lot of them! With owers Et al I feel they don’t have time, results are being forced and that won’t work, never has.

Hargreaves was indeed Manager when we were relegated. Of course, he was lumbered with the dross Alan Knill left him and for much of the next season as well, but he still managed to accrue more points per game with Alan Knill’s team than Alan Knill did. Alan Knill built the team that got relegated from the league and couldn’t buy a win with it.

Yet we hear how he was undermined by players. Funny though, as a criticism levelled at Nicholson was that he couldn’t handle strong minded players. In this instance it is presented as a weakness of Nicholson the manager. Yet when Alan Knill was unable to deal with strong-minded players, it is because of the players (Nicholson again, funnily enough) according to some.

Our problems started when Alan Knill was appointed manager. We are still paying for the dreadful decision now. Knill’s failings weren’t because of players undermining him. It was because he signed rubbish like Karl Hawley and Ben Harding.

Hargreaves resigned the team to relegation well before they were mathematically down which sent the wrong message to the team! And supporters!

Stop it now, our problems didn't start when Knill was appointed manager, they started long before that, they started when bungalow Bill turned up at the club, and, the then board failed to back Martin Ling.

notnow wrote: ↑01 Jan 2018, 20:59 Whether it was a board or an owner is immaterial, As you say the “fact” is they lost confidence in him, why though? Pressure? Influence? I don’t know! Please whatever you say do not compare Hargreaves to any other manager we have had, Hargreaves wanted us to go down as he thought he would be a cult hero bouncing us back up first attempt and we all live the result of that! Can’t stand the sight of him in on sport and he still speaks the same old shite like he knows it all!
Nicho was quiet, methodical, honest, hardworking, trustworthy, he is young, inexperienced but was energetic and keen to cut his teeth here, however, despite the lack of financial backing, he managed to put a bunch of players together that worked for him and each other. obviously osbourne couldn’t see that and as I said, he didn’t like Nichos honest relationship with the fans.

"He put a bunch of players that worked for him and each other ".
And struggled for two & a bit seasons , never clear of the threat of relegation until the last moments of the relevant seasons, in his third season he " won the lottery" (his words) with the bunch of useless fraudsters impersonating professional footballers & was sacked by the current owners for being consistently around the relegation zone.
Bloody good manager he's NOT !

“Winning the lottery” another typical example of Nichos honesty! If they were fraudsters what do you call the current lot just for interest?

forevertufc wrote: ↑01 Jan 2018, 21:18 Stop it now, our problems didn't start when Knill was appointed manager, they started long before that, they started when bungalow Bill turned up at the club, and, the then board failed to back Martin Ling.

Our problems started when people in the club took advantage of a family that gave a lot to the club. We then had idiot in charge after Colin Lee left. The leader of football club left and we had no football people who knew anything about the professional game. This season since Owers and Kuhl have been here I've taken a step back because they know what they are doing. By the end of the season I still believe we will just about survive. Yes we do need a couple of players up front.
The club needs all the supporters to get behind the players and management.

Yes we do need strikers but they are few and far between obviously.

Gowling
Pittman
Gosling
Higgins
Davis
Osborn
Clarke
Klukowski
Reid
Keating
Lathrop's
McGinty
Young.
All Nicholson signings, every single one of them, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

History (League Tables) will show that Nicho kept us up for two seasons and Owers took us down in one!