Is this a fair statement ?

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ARNU
Posts: 3746
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2013 4:43 pm

We support a club whose board have no ambition other than finishing 5th bottom (20th) in league 2.Until the club raise those expectations,the rot will continue to slowly erode the fan base,whoever the manager is,whatever the entrance fee,roof or no roof at the Bury Road end.

In no way do I think the manager and players have that same lack of ambition.But it is clear to me how easily complacency could set in.
Bollix to Shampoo, it's real poo we want !
Mark
Posts: 1550
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2013 5:04 pm

I don't think it is fair. We punched above our weight for a long time to establish ourselves at this level. You don't do that with a lack of ambition. The board have tried many things to improve support but it won't happen unless we are consistently good at home. We have been largely crap for 4 or 5 years.

We now have a budget that compares favorably with other sides in the division and have invested in the squad. Players like Murphy and Hines don't come cheap. We've invested a lot of money in the youth setup. We've spent vast amounts on the ground to appease the stupid FL rules.

I get incredibly frustrated with the price we receive for our players and the lack of visibility of the club in surrounding boroughs but largely the board has done very well to enable us to get to where we are.
matt_drfc
Posts: 1332
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2013 1:58 pm

I think we are where we should be, honestly in terms of budget and fan base who are a smaller club than us?
Diggerthedog
Posts: 3893
Joined: Tue Dec 31, 2013 6:08 pm

Look at where ambition/overspending has got clubs at this level in the past. See Rushden and Diamonds for a prime example.

What we have achieved for a club of our size is staggering. I for one never thought we would play at this level and one higher for more then a few seasons.
NickMurphy
Posts: 538
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2013 6:37 pm

There's a difference between lack of ambition and simply being realistic, which is why although they frustrate me (and I'm sure others sometimes), I'n glad we have the board we do at the club.
matt_drfc
Posts: 1332
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2013 1:58 pm

NickMurphy wrote:There's a difference between lack of ambition and simply being realistic, which is why although they frustrate me (and I'm sure others sometimes), I'n glad we have the board we do at the club.
Spot on
PaulHornchurch
Posts: 169
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 6:17 am

Until a rich sugar daddy pops up and drops a tonne of dough, we continue to have to abide by the financial rules set upon League 2 clubs.

We get excited if we exceed 2000 home fans, how many home fans will Pompey have tomorrow night ??

I don't want to go back to Conference so will continue to back Wayne, and keep fingers crossed.

The one thing I do want this season is a FA Cup run, 2 wins and I'll happily watch Chelsea stick ten past us at the Bridge with a cheque for £500k coming back on the team coach.

Be careful what you wish for
redboy
Posts: 299
Joined: Fri Oct 25, 2013 6:41 pm

I don't think that it's a lack of ambition, more like a lack of knowledge. Who on the board knows much about football? Who has played the game at a decent level? I'd like to know who sanctions all of the signings, not on a financial front but on the football front. I'm not a fan of this "Director of Football" role, but someone with nouse on the field rather than off of it wouldn't go amiss and maybe we wouldn't be turning up each week with Snow White in goal and the Seven Dwarfs.
Adrian
Posts: 1261
Joined: Mon Apr 07, 2014 4:09 pm

It's completely unfair. They don't lack ambition, they just don't have the same ambition as some of our supporters. They're very different things.

In the 96/97 the club was in the Isthmian League and was in a right mess. If someone had said we'd go on to play in the Football League within 15 years of that, they'd have been sectioned. The club has achieved massively and without anyone pumping in stupid amounts of money.

Regarding the comment on sanctioning signings from a football perspective, that's one of the roles of the manager - identify the players he wants in his team. There doesn't need to be someone at board level then questioning that.
How many other clubs have someone on their board doing that?
dagger4eva
Posts: 1735
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2013 1:39 pm

Yep l think its a totally unfair statement.

I too remember where the club was in the Ryman League. And if you think we are a small club now, we were miniscule back then.

Thats not to say we shouldnt have new ambitions now but bar the odd season or two, we have competed highly every other year in the football league. That achievement really shouldnt be underplayed
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ARNU
Posts: 3746
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2013 4:43 pm

I put this out there for discussion purposes really.
I see Dagenham and Redbridge as a bit of a catch 22 situation.Stuck in the rut of just having to survive each season.The season we reached the play-offs nobody expected us to win them,indeed,I think everyone saw it as just a day out expecting us to have tried but fail.We handled league 1 badly and were promptly relegated.Not that there wasn't good days.Beating Charlton at home,the draw away at Colchester and the Brighton 4-3 defeat away and the infamous Marvin Morgan miss at orient.But we were never good enough and since then its gone downhill.Last season was refreshing though in that we finished mid table but a lot of the atmosphere and enthuisiasm has gone.How do we get that back ? £7.50 a ticket has retained a great many but has failed to capture quite a few.I don't think even I would make it any cheaper,quite how the club climb out of this rut I don't really know.My advertising ideas get rubbished left right and centre,so lets bin them then.What do we do instead ? Sadly a whole lot more nothing is the likely outcome.

My expectation is mid table.That is more than possible.Im not sure any other fans expect much more than that.Its realistic.But I think Wayne couldn't get sacked unless we got relegated and judging by their total bending over forwards pants down for Still and Harris I doubt even that would trigger such an event.

I fear We'll just have to settle for just winning occasionally and hopefully not getting relegated and that's it.(That wont fill the terraces)
Bollix to Shampoo, it's real poo we want !
Diggerthedog
Posts: 3893
Joined: Tue Dec 31, 2013 6:08 pm

The club is not in a rut it's just average at the moment. Burton are a similar size in to us so no reason for us to be matching what they do.
Richie
Posts: 705
Joined: Sun Oct 20, 2013 9:52 am

NickMurphy wrote:There's a difference between lack of ambition and simply being realistic, which is why although they frustrate me (and I'm sure others sometimes), I'n glad we have the board we do at the club.
Well said Nick
redboy wrote:I don't think that it's a lack of ambition, more like a lack of knowledge. Who on the board knows much about football? Who has played the game at a decent level? I'd like to know who sanctions all of the signings, not on a financial front but on the football front. I'm not a fan of this "Director of Football" role, but someone with nouse on the field rather than off of it wouldn't go amiss and maybe we wouldn't be turning up each week with Snow White in goal and the Seven Dwarfs.
We have a manager for that surely
IanC
Posts: 631
Joined: Sat Oct 19, 2013 5:29 pm
Location: Emerson Park

Totally agree with the two posts above.
IanC
Posts: 631
Joined: Sat Oct 19, 2013 5:29 pm
Location: Emerson Park

Adrians and daggers4eva that is.
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