What's going on at Stonebridge Road??

[Andy Y. (G&NFC)]

Brave post Drummer Boy! I'm not going to give you any stick for voicing an opinion.

 

That is the point of a forum after all.

[russboy]

Well said drummer boy, it is refreshing to see an opinion that differs from the majority of posters on this forum, and you are not alone, there are other fans who feel Andy is not quite cutting it for one reason another - how justified some of their claims are can be questionable, however I have also heard from good authority what it can be like on the end of Andy's man management skills - let's just hope that he's more of an Alex Ferguson (having it his way or not at all) than a Kevin Keegan (losing the plot when it all go's pear shaped)

[Stu B]

Correct me if i'm wrong but i thought we couldn't afford to sack Andy Ford?!I'm not sure how much good a new manager could do anyway,they wouldn't be able to buy players(especially after paying andy off!),they'd take time to get to know the players etc,and really,its the players who win matches,not the manager.

If we could sack Andy i don't think we should...yet...its been one game into the season,give him a chance,let the players gel...we'll survive. <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

[James]

I have to say I completely disagree with Drummer Boy I think Andy, Phil and Ron have done wonders with this club where were we when Andy first took control shall we go back to the days when we used to change our managers every October after we lost our first half dozen games. Yes Andy will make mistakes and we will not agree with all his decisions and one day Adrian Pennock will be a great manager but I think that we owe Andy and his team a little bit more loyalty than get rid of him after one defeat. I accept that we do not want to start with several losses and be in trouble from the word go but I think Andy is painfully aware that we need a target man which is the area that we are weakest in and lets face it I do not think we can blame Andy for Bentley and Jackson leaving any ambitious player would leave for Dagenham. Hatch leaving was probably good business to get £17,000 for a player that would only play half your games anyway is excellent. Lets all be positive get behind the team and sing your hearts out at Woking tonight and see if we can get Che on loan for one match

[Richard C]

Andy is absolutely fine where he is. He is strict over the players which is good, the moment the players get control of a club it goes wrong. A good manager who has taken us a long way and with a few helpful loan signings in the next few weeks i think will secure our survival with ease and go on to prove the bookies wrong on 2 fronts. Andy and Brian get on well and its up to us remember to get behind the team and make them want to play well in front of us.

 

Plenty of noise tonight and we will be ok. Trust me!!

[mightymole]

it's start of the season lets get behind andy ford and the red and white army which is the fleet.

[Alan ( GNFC )]

Good on ye men , one decent forward and its not for the want of trying .

 

[Hirsty]

Just to add my voice to the debate.......

 

Those who think Andy has lost the plot ( and I am not taking sides here...)....come up with an alternative, taking into account financial constraints...Don't think we can afford Big Ron just yet or Arsene!!

 

It's all very well voicing an opinion...which is fair enough ( don't want to upset S Daz again !!)...but, as they say......

 

....don't bring me problems, bring me solutions !!

 

so.....what is proposed then ??? What's the way forward ??

 

Please bear in mind before submitting your answer that the Chairman of G & N is not Jack Hayward, Jack Walker or the Russian guy from Chelski....

 

Cheers,

 

[Vera]

Re the comment that someone has it on good authority why two top players left the club. Maybe too many people have this information on good authority, but I wonder at the end of the day who this is damaging mostly, Andy Ford or the club. If the aim is to put players off coming to the club it has worked and who is that punishing mostly. If Andy Ford gets the sack he will doubtless get another job, but where will we be as a club. We need to encourage players by pointing out the good points of the club, not whinging. When one has gone that should be sufficient, no need to keep stating why they went.

[Hirsty]

Quite right V....we should not be at home to Mr Whinge !!!

...regretfully though, I hear more than enough of it !!

 

Cheers,

[Drummer Boy]

Well Vera... There are alot of good points about the the club but players are only put off by Andy Ford being the manager here!!! A player in one team in the league generally knows atleast one player from another team in the league, and because of this word gets around between players about various clubs. Most of the players in the conference probably know now that Andy Ford is sh*te when it comes to man management so they won't join us. The fact that we are odds on to get relegated makes it even harder to sign half decent players!!

The players that we are currently attracting are nowhere near the standard we need to survive in this league!!

As soon as Adrian Pennock "Football Genius" is made player manager the better in my and many others opinion. We would have a manager that most players in the conference aswell as the football league know and respect for his abilities.

Phil Handford and Ron Hillyard alongside Adrian Pennock would surely take the club to greater heights, whereas Andy Ford has come as far as he can take the club and has ran out of ideas.

 

Tick, tock, tick, tock Andy!!!

[Alan W (GNFC)]

Andy has succeeded in surviving 7 seasons at the club and has won us 3 Kent Senior Cups, plus we have got back to the Conference - if his man management were that poor, he wouldnt have got these results from the team.

 

Give him a chance - I'm sure the issues we have can be resolved.

 

Struggling in the lower part of the Dr Martens/ Ryman in the years gone by would you not have accepted where we are now?

[James]

How short peoples memories are do they not remember some of the teams we turned out prior to Andys arrival and the days when we challenged for the Eastern division etc Give the bloke a chance if his man management was so poor would he have had the success we have had 5 cups , a league title, and survival in the conference but one last point ANDY SIGN A STRIKER

[FleetFanatic]

Quote:

James said:
How short peoples memories are do they not remember some of the teams we turned out prior to Andys arrival and the days when we challenged for the Eastern division etc.....

On that note people, just consider this:

Things could be worse, you could be watching Dartford!

Earlier in the week, I was tempted to post lots of comments but I held back to reflect on the first two games.

Despite everything, we are in the conference for a second season - come the end of the season, hopefully we'll still be there. As for the experimental line-ups - somebody else commented that Andy normally learns from his mistakes.

I have no doubt that Andy and the club are desperately looking at other strikers; however if they rushed to sign another one right now and they turn out to be 'not very good' everybody on here would be the first to criticise.

Pinnock looks class, whilst there are high hopes for Drury when he is fit again. Trott looked impressive overall, O'Reilly hasn't been a bad stand-in for Wilkerson (but hurry up and get fit Wilko!).

Rob Owen looked great against Woking, Pennock has looked solid (but can he last 90 mins every game?), Strouts & McKimm both appear to be up for it, Abbey & Perkins were ok - so there are plenty of promising signs that things will come good. Even more so when Duku shakes himself up and Tostao manages to return to some of last seasons form! Mind you, I would prefer to see Evans start with Pinnock.....

To those of you that are going to Halifax on saturday (blasted wedding to attend to this end) - get behind the team, get behind Andy & enjoy the game.

[Wobbly Wayne rides again]

Our improvement since Andy took over has been great, and our progress thru' the Ryman league was built on a well organised team, with players carrying out the plans laid out by the manager. We did not always have the best players and we certainly did not pay the best wages, but we were better organised on the park than the others, and as a team we progressed.

 

Also, last year we managed to survive during injury and suspension crisis' and at the end of the season the team really rallied round , and produced the goods.

 

This progress would not have worked if our manager did not possess man management skills and got the best out of the players.

 

It is interesting to note , that players like Darren Smith and Danny Lye, whom both looked Ryman premier class in a Fleet shirt , have fizzled out since they have left the Fleet. I presume that they have found the new managers that they played for, less inspirational than our very own Mr. Ford.

 

Yes , our close season was uninspiring, yes our pre season friendlies were poor, and yes, the for the first 135 minutes of our season we looked like 'The Dog and Duck' all over the park....

But Andy has proved he can turn these situations around before, and I am sure he can do it again..

I find the current Ade Pennock for manager whispering campaign ( after 2 games of the season !!!! ) distasteful and exetremely disrespectful to a boss that has delivered us a lot more success than we have been used to.

Has Ade at any time said he wants the job ? I don't seem to have heard or read it anywhere.....

 

Keep the faith , keep cheering the boys on, keep those turnstiles clicking and lets get behind the team and the management.

 

C'mon you rip roaring reds...

[John@TheFleet]

Quote:

Super Daz said:
Earlier in the week, I was tempted to post lots of comments but I held back to reflect on the first two games.

I've been doing exactly that as well, just for once sitting on the proverbial fence and letting everyone else get on with it! Even though I was pretty well embarrassed by our 1st half performance at Woking, I too can see many positives coming to light. Doubtful they'll materialise at Halifax but some day soon, possibly Telford, we'll start seeing the old Fleet grit coupled with classy football, just like a couple of seasons ago, and the results will happen as a consequence. We've got the players to do it, no question.

As for Andy, he's been first team manager for, what, five years now and I still feel he has something to offer. He's taken us a long way and we should all be proud of his achievements. However, managers don't last forever and unfortunately, that's a fact of life. I sincerely hope when his day does come, it's an amicable & mutual decision between Andy & club and comes at a time when the team is doing well. Probably won't be but never mind, eh? Keep on playing Championship Manager 4. It may be your turn next!!!!

[Drummer Boy]

Well after reading all your views I have decided to give Andy Ford a few more games to prove me wrong!! I sincerely hope he can!!

Good luck to the fleet todey at Halifax!! Sorry the drum cant be there but my usual car full have decided that it s not worth travelling all that way after tuesdays performance!!

I do hope Andy can give me something to drum about sooner rather than later but personally I am struggling to see where it is going to come from!!

 

Drummer Boi!!

[Drummer Boy]

Well after reading all your views I have decided to give Andy Ford a few more games to prove me wrong!! I sincerely hope he can!!

Good luck to the fleet today at Halifax!! Sorry the drum cant be there but my usual car full have decided that it is not worth travelling all that way after tuesdays performance!!

I do hope Andy can give me something to drum about sooner rather than later but personally I am struggling to see where it is going to come from!!

 

Drummer Boi!!

[Matt (GNFC)]

3 games, 3 defeats, exactly what i predicted and what a lot of people saw coming. Yes, Andy Ford has got the best out of the resources that he has had at his disposal over the years but is he still getting the best out of them? That is what we need to ask ourselves. There has been a lot of rumours on here about his lack of man management towards some of his players and i still maintain that his transfer dealings this summer are on the whole pretty crap. He has had X amount of cash to spend and what has he spent it on??? His first signing was Anthony Hogg who he put on a contract but has now been deemed not good enough,

Trott was dropped after 1 game, McClements after 2. Gradley doesnt get a look in now, Pinnock didnt start the first two games, Huggins has gone awol from the squad, Jeran Meah didnt start a game before he went, he cant find a place for Shearer in his defence.

Abbey, Perkins,Pinnock and Drury look to be the only people who are really decent additions to the squad. You can argue that im wrong but this is just not good enough from Andy. Every year we seem to go through about 45 players. We had the chance in pre-season to get some continuity and we just blew it and look where we are now. Leroy Griffiths would have been an excellent addition to the squad and he has joined Farnboro.

Also, id like to ask what is the full time roll of the Chief Executive? How much new business do we estimate he will bring in over his salary? The situation we are in now is not Andys fault. One of the realitys of football management is that you get sacked or resign eventually in your career. Andy is unfortunately having to make up for the deficiencies of others. He's in a no win situation as he doesnt have the cash to improve things and then he gets the stick off people like me. I just think that the club needs a change of direction just as Forest Green got last yr when Colin Adisson took over. Thats my piece again and im sure we'll get the people coming on saying yes he has done a great job in the past and give him time. I agree that he has been our best manager ever but things have just gone a bit stale.