Meh

[ty cobb]

So I didn't go to H'pool but I did listen to Radio Oxford and know some people who did - indeed the excellent article that headlines on this website also informs my view.

Which is we're not a great team, we're not even a good team. We're a slightly below average team and there are 16 better teams than us in the bottom division of English football (two teams better than us so far this season..................must amusing thing I've read on here for sometime).

So to answer Pauls questions, and to add one of my own

Do you think Michael Appleton will turn things around? (By that I mean play-offs / promotion)

Yes, I think if you give any reasonable manager a couple of seasons they will do better than half a season and it is unfair to judge them too soon. With our resources you should only need to be a little bit better than reasonable to get us in the play offs.

If yes, then when and importantly how?

We may sneak into the play offs in the season after next when he has worked out he needs to change his style sometimes and has had a chance to bring in some players which can play this famed passing style. If he doesn't learn from his mistakes and brings poor players in and we see no sign of improvment in the next 12 months he should be gone before the next years transfer window.

If no, then why not?

N/A

What is an accpetable season?

For me it's play offs. When our last proper manager left, unwanted by the chairman and large number of fans, we were entrenched in the play offs and reached the third round of the cup. This season we are struggling to string two wins together and have been entrenched in the bottom half of the division. It's simply not good enough and I simply don't understand how the fans that were unhappy with Wilders methods are happy with Appletons style of play and the results that have come with it.

[neilw]

Appleton is not up to the job. We won't see promotion under him, unfortunately. Ideals and intention are great, the execution naïve and lacking. All this talk of play offs is nonsense and worrying. We still have a relegation battle to win. Failure to recognise this concerns me.

Meanwhile, the football's enjoyable.

[recordmeister]

I don't think a lot of Wycombe fans thought Ainsworth was up to the job last season. Look at them now... Just goes to show a little bit of faith can get you a long way....

[Ancient Colin]

Meanwhile, up the road and at the dizzying heights of 19th in division four, our "last proper manager" has the Cobblers fans deeply united behind him under the banner "Sack Him" deja vu all over again.

[ty cobb]

Meanwhile, up the road and at the dizzying heights of 19th in division four, our "last proper manager" has the Cobblers fans deeply united behind him under the banner "Sack Him" deja vu all over again.

Have you actually read that thread - the vast majority don't want to sack him. Deeply united............ho ho ho.

19th is still an improvement on the position he took them over from. Wheras under MA we have dropped down the table despite having largely the same squad as last season when he took over, with the added bonus of one of the top scorers in the league being added.

What would success look like for you this season? Under Wilder anything below play offs was a failure it seemed, under MA it seems anything is ok provided the football is pretty (and i heavily question that - passing along the back and to and fro to midfield is NOT pretty football).

[Eric Pollard]

Oh no, it's Moaning Myrtle again.

Let's have a little bet as to where we finish in the league this season. Bet you a tenner I'm closer.

Your go first.

[Ancient Colin]

Cognotive dissonance and confirmation bias if you are reading that as solid support, TC. Festive greetings, nonetheless!

[Snake]

Q. “Do you think Michael Appleton will turn things around? (By that I mean play-offs / promotion)”

A. Not this season, but “pretty football” does work so long as you stick with it. Yes, it can even become boring to watch but the key is patience and getting the players used to it. After that a team can move on once you sort out which players like to play a possession game, and which don’t, so it will need some squad changes and shrewd acquisitions.

Q. “If yes, then when and importantly how?”

A. See above.

Q. “If no, then why not?”

A. If the plan fails it will be because a lack of cash/backing and the right players were not made available by the Board.

Q. “Our next two opponents are second and fifth. Should they merit a different game plan to that against a rock bottom side like Hartlepool?”

A. No. But a Plan B would be handy when Plan A goes tits up. That’s the really hard bit.

[Kernow Yellow]

The first question is irrelevant without the second. If he can't make it work within a reasonable timeframe then there's no point in it. Appleton needs to get us properly started in the New Year and at least looking like we might have made the play-offs despite the disastrous start. Preferably getting us there this time around. There's only a ten point gap after all, and we have another transfer window coming up soon.

Do I think Appleton will make it work? I have serious doubts. He hasn't made anything work particularly well at his other clubs, and I just don't see us playing with the kind of spirit and togetherness that you need at this (or any) level. We've had a large number of loans and short-term signings, some of whom have disappeared already, and are still nowhere near finding our best eleven. We're relying on the success of players we haven't even seen yet to make any kind of a challenge.

Meanwhile three of our last four games have come against teams below us in the table, and we haven't won any of them. I hope my pessimism is misplaced, and after Friday I'll be watching the next three games in a row in person so will hopefully feel better about things after that...

[Baboo]

If yes, then when and importantly how?

We may sneak into the play offs in the season after next when he has worked out he needs to change his style sometimes and has had a chance to bring in some players which can play this famed passing style. If he doesn't learn from his mistakes and brings poor players in and we see no sign of improvment in the next 12 months he should be gone before the next years transfer window.

.

Sneaking into the play-offs the season after next is obviously not good enough as we all know. And it will be interesting to see when the owner's patience runs out. Although I sincerely hope it does not come to that. It may be that the older I get the more impatient I get because there's a realisation that I've not got as many years left to watch the Yellows as I had when I was a fresh faced teenager many decades ago.

[Jimski]

I guess the trouble is one always has hope things will change suddenly for the better. I remember just about giving up on a season when the table looked like this:

http://www.yorkcity-mad.co.uk/snapshot_ ... ndex.shtml

only for it to end up like this:

http://www.yorkcity-mad.co.uk/snapshot_ ... ndex.shtml

Unfortunately we don't have players anywhere near the calibre of Elliott, Gilchrist, Joey, Moody, etc. Not even in a relative sense (adjusted for being one division lower). But that kind of crazy season does keep even me dreaming in some silly way. Whereas rationally I know that the conference relegation season is probably a better fit for this one.

[theox]

The thing that scares me is that I remember a season which looked like this at Xmas:

http://www.statto.com/football/stats/en ... 2005-12-26

that ended up like this:

http://www.statto.com/football/stats/en ... 2006/table

[ty cobb]

Oh no, it's Moaning Myrtle again.

Let's have a little bet as to where we finish in the league this season. Bet you a tenner I'm closer.

Your go first.

Look Mr R.T Spectacles if you can't have a moan when you fail to beat the worst team, by a distance, in the division then when can you?

I'll happily bet you a tenner we'll finish 9th or below this season.

Also be grateful if you could get me some of those happy pills you're on - I could do with them over Christmas.

[Snake]

As per usual it’s another dollop of both hope and despair, half empty and half full stuff, so like ty cobb I will predict that come May the glass with be neither empty or full. My Christmas message to RO readers is simple - sort it out off the field and the rest will follow in due course.

Have a good one chaps, and in the meantime I hope that every lucky deflection, every shot that hits the inside of the post, and every referee/lino decision is in your favour.

May the Force be with you.

[neilw]

I'm genuinely staggered at how bad that was today. There's certainly never been an equal to that Boxing Day experience. I'm done with Appleton. Get him out before it's too late.