In or Out? New poll.

[Woodcote Royal]

Possibly grasping at straws here but;

Having given Stam £13m in the summer, if he's still as safe as Gourlay would have us believe and we are midway through a long term project, would such a medium term view involve completely turning off the financial taps in this window?

It seems far more likely that, having been given more than all previous managers could dream of and what that has produced on the pitch, quite rightly, he's not getting anymore.

I think relegation would be very likely under Stam with this squad; who in this division do we currently look like beating

While we'd all like another striker survival is all that matters now and this squad, in the right hands, would have been mid-table at worst.

On that basis, getting Stam out of the door is all that matters and if push came to shove, I'd trust Adi Williams or Mick Gooding (don't know if either have the coaching badges ) to keep us up. We shouldn't be using the "who else is available" argument for keeping someone who has turned this talented squad into prime relegation candidates.

Whatever it costs, the cheapest way out of this nightmare is paying off Stam and spending the the square root of FA in this window so, I'm just praying the recent rumours are true.

And who knows, perhaps Danny Loader, our World Cup winning striker, may save the club a fortune if we can find someone prepared to give him a chance. All those matches when Stam was playing a winger up front, was Danny in the dressing room cleaning boots

All I wanted for Christmas was to drop Stam at the station. The offer still stands.

[genome]

On that basis, getting Stam out of the door is all that matters and if push came to shove, I'd trust Adi Williams or Mick Gooding (don't know if either have the coaching badges ) to keep us up.

Good lord no

[Old Man Andrews]

that is true. I do think at some point Gourlay will have to say enough is enough though

It begs the question how bad will it have to be before that happens? I personally think there is a far greater chance of Stam walking than Gourlay pulling the trigger. The longer Stam stays the more damage is done to his reputation and value as a manager. I'd be shocked if his agent isn't throwing his name around in Holland or Italy where he is well known.

[Royalwaster]

that is true. I do think at some point Gourlay will have to say enough is enough though

It begs the question how bad will it have to be before that happens? I personally think there is a far greater chance of Stam walking than Gourlay pulling the trigger. The longer Stam stays the more damage is done to his reputation and value as a manager. I'd be shocked if his agent isn't throwing his name around in Holland or Italy where he is well known.

That IS actually an interesting point ... if he gets us relegated his name will surely be mud. Everyone will look at him as the guy who wasted £13million and still got a club from the play-offs to relegation within 1 season.

[Hound]

yep fair point about Stam's rep. Currently his CV reads got a team into play offs and left them in lower mid table. If the latter changed to relegation thats a huge stain on it

there is no argument about nobody else being available. There are plenty who could do the job short or long term

[bcubed]

On that basis, getting Stam out of the door is all that matters and if push came to shove, I'd trust Adi Williams or Mick Gooding (don't know if either have the coaching badges ) to keep us up.

Good lord no

Hard to imagine anyone doing any worse
In fact I'd be happy to give Woodcote a go!

[John Smith]

that is true. I do think at some point Gourlay will have to say enough is enough though

It begs the question how bad will it have to be before that happens? I personally think there is a far greater chance of Stam walking than Gourlay pulling the trigger. The longer Stam stays the more damage is done to his reputation and value as a manager. I'd be shocked if his agent isn't throwing his name around in Holland or Italy where he is well known.

I think I make that the second decent post you've made in your time here. And it's also the best.

Perhaps a spin off thread/poll could be made from this?

Personally I think he will only go if we go down. I don't think we will go down so we'd better used to that bald head in our dugout for quite some time.

[Old Man Andrews]

that is true. I do think at some point Gourlay will have to say enough is enough though

It begs the question how bad will it have to be before that happens? I personally think there is a far greater chance of Stam walking than Gourlay pulling the trigger. The longer Stam stays the more damage is done to his reputation and value as a manager. I'd be shocked if his agent isn't throwing his name around in Holland or Italy where he is well known.

I think I make that the second decent post you've made in your time here. And it's also the best.

Perhaps a spin off thread/poll could be made from this?

Thank you sir, it means a lot.

[Snowflake Royal]

that is true. I do think at some point Gourlay will have to say enough is enough though

It begs the question how bad will it have to be before that happens? I personally think there is a far greater chance of Stam walking than Gourlay pulling the trigger. The longer Stam stays the more damage is done to his reputation and value as a manager. I'd be shocked if his agent isn't throwing his name around in Holland or Italy where he is well known.

That IS actually an interesting point ... if he gets us relegated his name will surely be mud. Everyone will look at him as the guy who wasted £13million and still got a club from the play-offs to relegation within 1 season.

Nope. Don't buy it.

Name me 5 managers to walk in the last five years without a new job set up?

And there are loads of examples of managers who fail badly and get another job.

Just for us you've got Clarke and Rodgers. Paul Lambert is back in the PL!

I think it's important to remember that those in charge of making the push are much closer to this than the fans. They don't just see what happens on the pitch. They have a direct working relationship with the manager, interaction with him and access to the training field. They're less emotionally involved. They have detailed knowledge of the finances and must have a costed plan if they are going to terminate. Plus a tight legal basis to do so.

They're always going to be slower on the trigger than fans unless they have a specific approach like Watford.

[Denver Royal]

It begs the question how bad will it have to be before that happens? I personally think there is a far greater chance of Stam walking than Gourlay pulling the trigger. The longer Stam stays the more damage is done to his reputation and value as a manager. I'd be shocked if his agent isn't throwing his name around in Holland or Italy where he is well known.

That IS actually an interesting point ... if he gets us relegated his name will surely be mud. Everyone will look at him as the guy who wasted £13million and still got a club from the play-offs to relegation within 1 season.

Nope. Don't buy it.

Name me 5 managers to walk in the last five years without a new job set up?

And there are loads of examples of managers who fail badly and get another job.

Just for us you've got Clarke and Rodgers. Paul Lambert is back in the PL!

I think it's important to remember that those in charge of making the push are much closer to this than the fans. They don't just see what happens on the pitch. They have a direct working relationship with the manager, interaction with him and access to the training field. They're less emotionally involved. They have detailed knowledge of the finances and must have a costed plan if they are going to terminate. Plus a tight legal basis to do so.

They're always going to be slower on the trigger than fans unless they have a specific approach like Watford.

Excellent post.

I doubt his name would be 'mud'. Not 'everyone' in footy will look at it that way at all. Keep in mind, it's his first stab at management. It's no stroll in the park and there's a lot to it, as Ian outlines above. For his first gig, he seems to have done pretty well handling things overall. We've not heard of many controversies or dramas off the field. Despite the struggles on the field this season, it still seems a pretty harmonious and tight ship off it. Within the club, we've not heard of many fissures in the ranks, as it were. So, I'd imagine his reputation would still be pretty much intact, and quite likely even enhanced.

[Millsy]

Possibly grasping at straws here but;

Having given Stam £13m in the summer, if he's still as safe as Gourlay would have us believe and we are midway through a long term project, would such a medium term view involve completely turning off the financial taps in this window?

It seems far more likely that, having been given more than all previous managers could dream of and what that has produced on the pitch, quite rightly, he's not getting anymore.

I think relegation would be very likely under Stam with this squad; who in this division do we currently look like beating

While we'd all like another striker survival is all that matters now and this squad, in the right hands, would have been mid-table at worst.

On that basis, getting Stam out of the door is all that matters and if push came to shove, I'd trust Adi Williams or Mick Gooding (don't know if either have the coaching badges ) to keep us up. We shouldn't be using the "who else is available" argument for keeping someone who has turned this talented squad into prime relegation candidates.

Whatever it costs, the cheapest way out of this nightmare is paying off Stam and spending the the square root of FA in this window so, I'm just praying the recent rumours are true.

And who knows, perhaps Danny Loader, our World Cup winning striker, may save the club a fortune if we can find someone prepared to give him a chance. All those matches when Stam was playing a winger up front, was Danny in the dressing room cleaning boots

All I wanted for Christmas was to drop Stam at the station. The offer still stands.

Well said. I'll buy him the ticket and pay for your fuel.

[Delboy]

In years past we would get fans feedback from players, the kit man , Nigel Howe etc. But now nothing, no rumours on Stam or players in/out why so quiet surely someone has the inside track or knows a player?

[Old Man Andrews]

In years past we would get fans feedback from players, the kit man , Nigel Howe etc. But now nothing, no rumours on Stam or players in/out why so quiet surely someone has the inside track or knows a player?

Have you considered that there is absolutely nothing to say? The club has stagnated, there is nothing to see and nothing to say.

[Lower West]

They're always going to be slower on the trigger than fans unless they have a specific approach like Watford.

Watford are in the premiership so the owners need to protect their investment. No long term interest in the club or in the supporters for that matter. Money, money, money......

[Snowflake Royal]

They're always going to be slower on the trigger than fans unless they have a specific approach like Watford.

Watford are in the premiership so the owners need to protect their investment. No long term interest in the club or in the supporters for that matter. Money, money, money......

It's not just being in the PL though is it, they've been quick on the trigger way before that. And all owners are after protecting their investment.

[Reading4eva]

We do not want to leave this as late as 1998. We still have time for a manager to come in, kick everyone up the arse and scrape to safety. However remember to when Terry the Taxi Driver was kept on for so long.

Say whatever you say about Tommy Burns' reign here BUT he stood no chance at all of keeping us in Division 1. He had to panic loan to try and keep us up. Our new manager wouldn't even have that.

Who do we bring in? Straight away my mind goes to managers who have turned clubs around. Megson whilst not being popular would do the job. If we stay up and that IF is become bigger by the day, he wouldn't be able to take us to the next step.

I'd go with Gilkes or lure Parky back home. He's done a decent job with little resources at Bolton. You need to realise how far Bolton have fallen and there financial plight since Gartside passed away to respect what he's done there.

[Forest Gump]

This might sound far fetched but I think Stam is deliberately trying to get us relegated.
For me he is not genuinely trying to change things.
I’m not sure why he would try this but we know he is angry that the club failed to
back him in the summer window.
Also he doesn’t like the Reading fans much.

[CountryRoyal]

This might sound far fetched but I think Stam is deliberately trying to get us relegated.
For me he is not genuinely trying to change things.
I’m not sure why he would try this but we know he is angry that the club failed to
back him in the summer window.
Also he doesn’t like the Reading fans much.

I've literally seen it all now.

Just wow.

[JIM]

GET RID OF THE OWNERS
They promised so much but it seems they came up with nothing,

[strap]

We do not want to leave this as late as 1998. We still have time for a manager to come in, kick everyone up the arse and scrape to safety. However remember to when Terry the Taxi Driver was kept on for so long.

Say whatever you say about Tommy Burns' reign here BUT he stood no chance at all of keeping us in Division 1. He had to panic loan to try and keep us up. Our new manager wouldn't even have that.

Who do we bring in? Straight away my mind goes to managers who have turned clubs around. Megson whilst not being popular would do the job. If we stay up and that IF is become bigger by the day, he wouldn't be able to take us to the next step.

I'd go with Gilkes or lure Parky back home. He's done a decent job with little resources at Bolton. You need to realise how far Bolton have fallen and there financial plight since Gartside passed away to respect what he's done there.

TBF with the (alleged) FFP issues hanging over us I fear we will only be in the market for managers currently without a club. Not sure if I am 100% up to speed with the list, but would seem that Pearson and Megson are the only 2 possibilities of "named" managers. Other than that it would mean a punt on a foreign manager (and let's face it we've not done well there), or someone from the lower leagues.

Maybe, just maybe, the owners realise this situation and are keeping theor powder dry until the close season when the FFP "season" starts again with a clean slate.

Or more likely they are working up their asset stripping plans. Wish I could find my post regarding a doomsday scenario I posted here a couple/three years back. That "6000 capacity Community Stadium" next to the new Green Park train station, whilst we play in the 4th tier doesn't look so far fetchcd now does it??!?!