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Post by Joe Totale on Jan 11, 2005 22:10:13 GMT 1
This is a question I've asked myself lately due to a couple of factors - mainly relating to moving to the new ground.
I've been told that in the last six months or so we've been lined up to acquire Neil Mackenzie from Mansfield and then Lee Thorpe from Bristol Rovers.
Apparently terms were agreed by the clubs in both cases only for the players to veto the deals because they didn't fancy joining us.
If this is true then the fact we are now seen as a lowly league team in a crappy ground must go some way to explaining it.
The point is this - if we had stayed in the Conference while our ground was sorted out with all the reduction in overheads would it have helped us in the long run?
To come back with a shiny new ground after a few seasons away - a club re-born in effect - may have been a more attractive proposition to prospective signings.
Would we be better off out of the league until we get the ground sorted? There is a kind of logic to it.
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Post by jamo on Jan 11, 2005 22:12:22 GMT 1
NO....you take every opportunity that comes your way in football and then make as good a job of it as you can.
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Post by harmerhillshrew on Jan 11, 2005 22:15:38 GMT 1
Sorry Joe but that is a load of tosh. The quicker we got out of that league the better. If we had stayed in the Conf the new ground would not have happened , full stop. We would have been the Hereford United of Shropshire
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Post by Calderwoods Claret n Whites on Jan 11, 2005 22:16:45 GMT 1
IMO you can never go up too soon but we lost in a playoff final in 98 and wonder what if we had gone up to the old division 1 then, where would we be now, many fans then thought it would be too soon just think, Dean Peer playing at that level
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Post by MarkRowley on Jan 11, 2005 22:18:27 GMT 1
No chance, we had to get up first time to save the sanity of the supporters more than anything else - some of the away trips last season were great days out but the novelty would definitelty have worn off if we were still in the Conference for this season. No one can pick and choose when they get promoted. The Board would have been lynched if they had stated a policy of having a few years in the Conference and then try and get back in the League after that
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Post by Joe Totale on Jan 11, 2005 22:50:05 GMT 1
The fact that we couldn't sign those players shows we've got an image problem which a time away from the league could have cured.
Maybe the new ground will lead to some sort of regeneration - we certainly need something to turn this club around.
New ground followed by a new board would be my preferred option - we won't do much until Laurel and Hardy move on aka as Wycherley and Sayfritz.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2005 22:51:40 GMT 1
Last year was the best opportunity we had of coming straight back up.
Had we stayed in that league our revenue would have become seriously depleted and I doubt we would have survived.
Our ground will come but we must still be patient.
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Post by Stevenelsonfanclub on Jan 11, 2005 23:00:36 GMT 1
I'm not so sure that it was about when you came back up, more about the way it was prepared for!
The simple thing is you could have been promoted last season as well as bringing in younger players and saving loads of money. If the opportunity of last season had been taken and you had a forward-thinking manager in place, then you could easily be in a play-of place now and attracting those sorts of players!
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Post by SeanBroseley on Jan 12, 2005 1:18:30 GMT 1
We're going through the changes this season that Doncaster went through in the close season after they came up. Much better to do them in the close season.
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Post by mattsnapper NLI on Jan 12, 2005 1:45:53 GMT 1
NO....you take every opportunity that comes your way in football and then make as good a job of it as you can. THATS FIVE THINGS ON THE TROT WE AGREE ON !!
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Post by jamo on Jan 12, 2005 9:31:27 GMT 1
Yes indeed. Slowly, bit by bit you are beginning to come down off that cloud you obviously live on and understand that other's too have an opinion on STFC.....
.... but Jim Kerr is still an overrated, warbling pygmy who has no place in the pantheon of British Music.
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Post by yorton shrew on Jan 12, 2005 10:17:09 GMT 1
the logic is lost on me. a mid table conference team more attractive to new players than a league two team? and like you can pick and choose when or how you go up from the conference? like hereford have been doing i suppose....
and what's more attractive to new players, away at gravesend or a trip to the fab new stadium at darlo for example. fa trophy vs coca cola cup anyone? i could go on. the point has been made that without league status the club would lose credibility and getting a new stadium would be even harder.
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Post by Pilch on Jan 12, 2005 13:07:40 GMT 1
actually we didn't go up soon enough mid april would have done nicely ;D
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Post by SlimShandy on Jan 12, 2005 13:27:27 GMT 1
We're going through the changes this season that Doncaster went through in the close season after they came up. Much better to do them in the close season. Agreed. We didn't adjust quickly enough and it was soon obvious that Quinn wasn't the man to keep us here even if he got us here! I think another season in the conference would have felt like a huge disappointment and we would have lost the will of the fans. I know Exeter kept the fans on board but they had huge debt problems etc when they went down and there was no expectation of them bouncing back up.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2005 14:11:22 GMT 1
If we'd stayed down we would have been down for a very long time indeed-look at Newport and Southport! unless you bounce back quickly ur in deep trouble, ur support drops off, revenue dries up etc. The club would probably gone part-time and we would have been looking at a few seasons of club re-structuring at best. Also we gambled heavily on going up-signing Darby for £1500+ p/w etc. If had failed without the football league pararchute payment & cup money to support us we would certainly have struggled. Anyway i'd rather be 21st in League 2 than in the top half of the conference
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Post by BelleVueShrew on Jan 12, 2005 14:35:34 GMT 1
Last year was the best opportunity we had of coming straight back up. I think you'll find Phil that last year was our ONLY chance of coming straight back up. After that it would not have been straight back up!!! And in answer to your question Joe, NO! For all reasons already stated.
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Post by stainesr on Jan 12, 2005 14:46:02 GMT 1
Jamo: Jim Kerr may be a warbling pygmy, but it is well known in showbiz circles that he has a huge nob.
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Post by BelleVueShrew on Jan 12, 2005 14:56:01 GMT 1
Jamo, I like Simple Minds - will this affect my future sales of the football card to you So Patsy Kensit left someone with a big knob for someone who IS a big knob (tho I do like the music, doesn't mean I have to like the pratts that are the Gallagher brothers!)
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Post by Joe Totale on Jan 12, 2005 14:59:34 GMT 1
Overall I agree - much better to be struggling in L2 than top of the Conference and I think GP is taking us in the right direction.
Still worried though that we're not seen as serious contenders for much and are viewed as a very unfashionable club - even at this level - in need of a major shot in the arm.
That's why we can't get decent players in. I looked at the team sheets for the Darlo and Bristol Rovers games and thought we'd get murdered but we did really well.
But with a front line of Langmead and Grant I worry about where our goals are coming from. Both try hard but to be honest they don't set the pulses racing do they?
We were lucky to get a point at Rushden and Saturday's game looks tricky. If we stay up this year great - but where do we go from there?
I can't help feeling we'll be struggling next year if we hang on this time. I really hope I'm wrong though.
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Post by BelleVueShrew on Jan 12, 2005 15:18:41 GMT 1
With Gary Peters in charge i'm convinced there is only going to be movement one way, and that is up. It won't happen overnight, but surely you have seen the improvements already Joe? We are now a TEAM, not 11 lost individuals. We will survive this season, and I believe comfortably so. Under Quinn we were going back down, make no mistake about it. We are now heading very much in the right direction. Gary Peters Barmy Army
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Post by wiganshrew2 on Jan 12, 2005 16:33:13 GMT 1
I agree with Taffy; if we'd stayed down, we'd have been down for a long time- especially with Quinn. His agenda was simply to get us into the Play-offs, remember! The board were evidentally satisfied with that for the first season, anyway. We'd have gone down and down, and he'd have just walked, anyway!! Maybe it was a fluke; maybe, to be brutally honest, Barnet, for instance were better (but maybe not if they hadn't got Grazioli- and he didn't get the better of us, did he?) Nevertheless, it was meant to be- and it's up to everyone concerned to see that we stay up. If we go down again, we'll be down for a very long time. The main thing is to hang on in there. I agree with Belle Vue- under G.P. it's more than likely that we're headed in the right direction. As long as we survive in this League, then we can build on it, surely? The Only Way is Up- and that's where we're going!!
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Post by hooverfoxat2 on Jan 12, 2005 17:30:16 GMT 1
Said it before and will say it again - With Sir Gary Peters at the helm we are witnessing 1 of the best Town managers in the clubs history - if not the best. 28 yrs a Town supporter and this is the only manager I can remember that excites me. Gary Peters walks on water!
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Post by jamo on Jan 12, 2005 17:44:15 GMT 1
Jamo: Jim Kerr may be a warbling pygmy, but it is well known in showbiz circles that he has a huge nob. I'm a little suspicious as to why you would appear excited by this information.
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Post by rob on Jan 12, 2005 18:10:04 GMT 1
could it not have had anything to do with the manager in charge???
Players talk... And from all accounts their were a lot of unhappy players at the club (not to mention those that left through the side door).
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Post by stainesr on Jan 12, 2005 18:23:51 GMT 1
Jamo: I am due to appear on mastermind and celebrity body parts is to be my specialist subject
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Post by jamo on Jan 12, 2005 18:54:47 GMT 1
Jamo: I am due to appear on mastermind and celebrity body parts is to be my specialist subject Excellent news stainesr, if you want some information on arse's then mattsnapoper's your man
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Post by hooverfoxat2 on Jan 12, 2005 19:20:51 GMT 1
Hard to imagine somebody answering questions on The Hershey Highway or Bournville Alley.
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Post by skunkie on Jan 12, 2005 20:20:44 GMT 1
I have not read the previous threads, so heres my slant on things .We went up on a large slice of old Irish luck,having played poorly in many of the games the old Town would of won well,the team were well behind the pace setters all the time,but when it mattered against Barnet and The Shotts came out on top.We were very nieve to believe that side could hold its place in the division without major changes in the main playing side,that would cost serious money,Money we could not afford with the New Meadow on the Horizon.We now have a chance at both staying here and survival in this league.Wow betide the manager and the board if that is thrown away,after a large slice of Irish luck.
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Post by MartinB on Jan 13, 2005 8:07:02 GMT 1
Said it before and will say it again - With Sir Gary Peters at the helm we are witnessing 1 of the best Town managers in the clubs history - if not the best. 28 yrs a Town supporter and this is the only manager I can remember that excites me. Gary Peters walks on water! Totally agree with this post, I feel the same way.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2005 9:30:45 GMT 1
Like I said before, with Gary Peters in charge I feel really positive about the way the club is going! And as anyone that knows me will tell you...THATS A FIRST!
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