Paul Cannell
Well-known member
- Joined
- 7 Dec 2017
- Messages
- 7,464
Is that the right question? 10th in league one is about right for us in terms of size of club, but it takes a lot of work to keep us there, you can't just assume we can jog along and not be overhauled by new pretenders. It's hard to make substantive progress when you need to sell your best players every year. Where we haven't progressed is improving our recruitment process to make it less of a last minute panic every time. Where we have progressed is things like the training ground and the development of youth, which Robinson has at least had a hand in.
Pfff, well I posted the question in response to @horseman 's impassioned "Don't matter to must as we must look like Champions League contenders every week or else we're just a s**t mid table team with s**t players and manager. How dare they have a poor performance or dare lose a game of football." to try to understand (obliquely) whether his aspirations were to support an inconsistent, mid-table third division and (directly) in what ways Mr Robinson was exceeding that brief and leading the playing side upwards. Answer came there none, so far.
To your points:
The club is spending a lot more on the squad and investment than 10th place in Div 3 warrants - so @Scotchegg insists and I wouldn't dream of doubting someone with such close contacts to the club. I'd say Tiger wants his club to be up with the big(ger) boys and he's funding that. I don't get that a "lot of work" is particularly relevant - the club's not in business to dig holes using a shovel, the manager is supposed to use skill, knowledge and experience to deliver what the owners deem to be success; a side goal is what used to be called 'creating customer delight', as far as I can see he's nowhere near either of those and the first team has stagnated, no regressed, over the past 2 seasons.
Of course it's hard, but the up-and-coming teams in this division all survive by selling players. It's simply part of the job. I'll come back to the recruitment process in a minute.
You said "Where we have progressed is things like the training ground and the development of youth, which Robinson has at least had a hand in." Well, pardon my whimsy but are you saying Karl did the hard work and dug the foundations? I don't know what his role in the training ground was, nor can I see tangible benefits from it - fitter players, growing tactical acuity - what are they (realised tangible benefits) today? Whose youth have we developed? Barely ours: Stevens grudgingly admitted to the regular position, Baptiste - who else has emerged from the academy during Karl's tenure and is a regular in the squad or has been sold for profit? I don't think Tiger's spent a small fortune on facilities so we can be a feeder team for Oxford City.
If you think of OUFC as a start-up business (or a re-boot, which is more the case) it seems to me there's one manager who's not delivering (could be more, I don't know) the results the club needs to progress and become a more or less self-funding minor footballing power. Maybe he should be better than the average manager at this level - you usually need to be better than your rivals to win things.
Case rests, yer honour.