Keates Factor

[moynkeepthefaith]

Originally Posted by Phils-an-alki

But he could only improve us by throwing money at it and that improvement has been a real slow process.. The majority of this squad came pretty close to winning the league so you could argue a very good manager would have come in after BH and turned things around a lot faster, seeing us make real progress up the league.

Fact remains when he came in at the beginning of October we were in a relegation battle, its now almost March and we still are. There's been ample time for him to pull us clear, he hasn't been able to even with January spending.

I just don't rate him, as everyone has probably guessed. The way he sets his team up is ultimately negative and designed to win games 1-0. I'm far from convinced he's good enough to manage us and is far inferior to Ricketts in every single way.

Happily eat my words this time next season, obviously.

I also do not rate him but am prepared to accept that he may just have learned from a chastening experience at Walsall. I saw more entertainment for example in the woking game and away at Harrogate than in his entire time here first time round. We all suspected that we (to be fair the board) had unearthed a jewel in Ricketts but life in the 5th tier came back to bite us.
We need to get out of this league and obviously in an upward rather than downward way !

[draigwrecsam]

Last time around, he got us into a playoff position with desperately boring and negative football. Would we settle for that again next season? Hmmm....

This time, I'm encouraged by all the signings he's made (including Reid who's injury meant we didn't see enough of him for a full assessment). His recruitment appears to be attack minded and (is it after Dixie had a word?) and the approach seems more positive. I think we will avoid the drop (especially if only 3 go down) and then it will be down to his Summer recruitment - will he get these players to sign for another year?

[Redpensioner]

I very much agree in what's been said, but Keates has a lot to prove before I'm on his side. It's going to be a long summer for him and I hope he'll let go the long term players in our squad if humble pie is dished out next May so be it and I'll eat my share.

[Haruki]

Originally Posted by draigwrecsam

Last time around, he got us into a playoff position with desperately boring and negative football. Would we settle for that again next season? Hmmm....

This time, I'm encouraged by all the signings he's made (including Reid who's injury meant we didn't see enough of him for a full assessment). His recruitment appears to be attack minded and (is it after Dixie had a word?) and the approach seems more positive. I think we will avoid the drop (especially if only 3 go down) and then it will be down to his Summer recruitment - will he get these players to sign for another year?

That style of play might get us into a playoff position but it us nowhere near good enough to beat 3 good teams in back to back playoff matches. Simply you need fire power to get through the playoffs

[Robin Redvest]

I've just watched the highlights of the Bromley game and we are a different team. The front 3 are lively and we haven't had that type of energy and guile in the side for quite some time. Davis Keillor Dunn and Ponticelli look good players as does Jarvis. Without getting to over optimistic we are going in the right direction.

Redvest

[AndyCobra]

Redvest

100% agree

[Nibs]

Guess the bar has been set low....

[redinsaudi]

Stats are facts I’m afraid and his win % as a manager is 33% which absolutely doesn’t make him a decent manager. I think we showed a lack of common sense when reappointing him.

[cardiffred]

Originally Posted by Phils-an-alki

But he could only improve us by throwing money at it and that improvement has been a real slow process.. The majority of this squad came pretty close to winning the league so you could argue a very good manager would have come in after BH and turned things around a lot faster, seeing us make real progress up the league.

Fact remains when he came in at the beginning of October we were in a relegation battle, its now almost March and we still are. There's been ample time for him to pull us clear, he hasn't been able to even with January spending.

I just don't rate him, as everyone has probably guessed. The way he sets his team up is ultimately negative and designed to win games 1-0. I'm far from convinced he's good enough to manage us and is far inferior to Ricketts in every single way.

Happily eat my words this time next season, obviously.

The majority of the squad may have been here last season but the quality of the squad is worse. We also never replaced Walker.

The biggest issue, though, was not the ability of the players in the first eleven but more so the toxic culture within the club. Changing a culture over night is particularly difficult. It often takes months.

To help him with this, he's brought players in. New players, with new enthusiasm etc help drive a change in culture. These players are also better than previous squad members.

Repeating your mantra re. we're still in a relegation battle is true but is also too simplistic. This season, we are only 2 points off the final points tally for the team that finished 21st with 11 games left. The league is squashed with very little difference for this stage in the season with only 10 points separating 7th and 20th. so even though we've improved, others have too.

Bartonbank's stats showed that we're clearly getting better. While I wish we were further up the table it would be churlish to say we haven't seen a big improvement since Hughes' reign.