Passing, Passion,Pace and Luck

[Oldyeller]

I was disappointed with the comments from Mark in the post match interview stating we had a good pre season and how good the opposition were on Saturday, let’s not put a positive spin on the situation, we are bottom of the league.
Let’s be honest we are at a ‘tipping point’ either the players are good enough and results/performances dramatically improve or we have to change the players/manager.
I will be at St Ives on Tuesday supporting the team and wanting us to come away with 3 points.....

[Kate Deller]

Love your post Jacqueline!

Mark has my full support, and I hope with all of our support he will get things done. Some of the best managers in the world have had their darkest hours and turned things around.

Come on you Canaries, each and every one of the players, staff, management and supporters need to dig deep.

It's perfectly reasonable for supporters to question the tactics and ultimately the results of any football manager. Football managers come and they go all the time. It's the nature of the beast.

But here's the thing. I think people need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture, particularly outside of football right now. Without bringing politics into this, we are going to be in for quite a tough winter by the looks of things. There will be more pressures within the game and increasing pressures outside the game in society at large.

So, some of you want Mark to resign. As someone who backed his appointment in 2013, but have raised my fair share of criticisms of his management along the way, nevertheless, I don't feel that Mark resigning at this point in time would benefit either the club or Mark himself.

1. I'm a big believer that when people leave any job or profession they should aim to go out on a high, or a reasonable high at the very least. It's the right way to do things. Reactive disappointment to being bottom of the league right now is entirely natural, but lets' try to find another way up and up is the only way we can go now.

2. Who have you got in mind who could seriously do a better job right now than Mark, without paying out the exhorbitant wages that other clubs are forking out right now for many of their players. Half of them could very well fold as a result of their lack of financial judgement. If you're going to call for someone to walk then it's pointless unless you can back up such a strong statement with a replacement in mind. From all the comments I have read on Twitter and elsewhere I have seen not one single alternative proposal.

3. So I'm sticking with my script on the other thread. All we need is three decent signings and we can, with patience, turn this situation around.

[Stuart]

Love your post Jacqueline!

Mark has my full support, and I hope with all of our support he will get things done. Some of the best managers in the world have had their darkest hours and turned things around.

Come on you Canaries, each and every one of the players, staff, management and supporters need to dig deep.

It's perfectly reasonable for supporters to question the tactics and ultimately the results of any football manager. Football managers come and they go all the time. It's the nature of the beast.

But here's the thing. I think people need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture, particularly outside of football right now. Without bringing politics into this, we are going to be in for quite a tough winter by the looks of things. There will be more pressures within the game and increasing pressures outside the game in society at large.

So, some of you want Mark to resign. As someone who backed his appointment in 2013, but have raised my fair share of criticisms of his management along the way, nevertheless, I don't feel that Mark resigning at this point in time would benefit either the club or Mark himself.

1. I'm a big believer that when people leave any job or profession they should aim to go out on a high, or a reasonable high at the very least. It's the right way to do things. Reactive disappointment to being bottom of the league right now is entirely natural, but lets' try to find another way up and up is the only way we can go now.

2. Who have you got in mind who could seriously do a better job right now than Mark, without paying out the exhorbitant wages that other clubs are forking out right now for many of their players. Half of them could very well fold as a result of their lack of financial judgement. If you're going to call for someone to walk then it's pointless unless you can back up such a strong statement with a replacement in mind. From all the comments I have read on Twitter and elsewhere I have seen not one single alternative proposal.

3. So I'm sticking with my script on the other thread. All we need is three decent signings and we can, with patience, turn this situation around.

Totally agree Jackie and Kate, I was one who supported Marks appointment as manager and I still believe him to be the man for the job now. At the end of the day, it is about an afternoons (or evenings) game of football and a chance to forget about all the "real" issues of the world, and I think on balance I have come away from more games happy than disappointed (frustrated at times, but never angry). Ever the optimist I believe that with Marks guidance it will come good again.

[Archie’ Dad]

I feel slightly disloyal criticising either players or manager. Neither, I’m sure wants to loose games as disastrously as they did on Saturday and they certainly aren’t involved with Hitchin for the financial rewards - this isn’t the Premiership where one can legitimately ask why such huge sums of money are changing hands if players and managers can’t deliver. Neither is it fair to make judgements based on single games- we all have bad days. BUT Saturday’s performance, like a few others recently, was depressing to watch. It seemed so clueless. The problem wasn’t just that we lacked technical skill (which might be slow to change without cash we don’t have) but we didn’t seem to have any direction or shape. Surely, even a player of limited ability can be told where they should spend most of their time and try and stick with that most of the time. If this is happening one can only assume they aren’t being told or aren’t listening both of which seem inexcusable. We also seemed to lack any real desire on days like Saturday- I know it’s hard when you are struggling but we need someone either on the management team or on the field who can inject a bit of passion because without it we won’t win however good or bad we are. Moreover, watching your team loose despite trying their hardest is one thing watching them loose when some of them don’t look like they want to make too much effort is just a depressing way to spend an afternoon

[anthony.brown]

I rarely leave a match before the end as it sends a negative message to the team when fans do this in numbers. However, I admit it. This time I left. My nephew, using his season ticket for the second time this season had no objection when I suggested leaving after Needham's sixth was placed so easily into our net. I've never seen my 14 year old nephew so quiet!
However, I'll be back more keen than ever to watch our team battle back to our usual position of safety.

[Piltdown]

in reply to jackie, you state," managers come and go , its the nature of the beast", you are correct.
managers generally go due to poor results, this is the case here , like in any business if the person is not doing what is required they get the push, why should we be any different? this is not just based on results this season but over quite a period of time.
you state sacking him would not benefit the club, why wouldnt it? we are bottom and have been around this area for a good couple of seasons now!
IMO the manager has lost interest and this shows through the team, tactics never change, game management has to be questioned such as subs /timings etc .
no disrespect to the players we have bought in but they do not look not up to it or lack motivation , these signings were made by the manager!
As for who could do a better job, im sure there are people out there who are more than capable and certainly show a bit more motivation toward the job.
Bit of a silly comment to say who would i or the others who are unhappy want as a replacement as until a decision is made by the club it is irrelevent
i do not think for one minute that the board would take any notice of our opinion in choices , what we may want may not suit the club structure, judging by your comment it seems we should stick with him even if he takes us down or at best just keeps us up for it all to start again the following season!!
On the basis of what you have said about name a replacement for the manager, let me ask you this.
you state we need three players to make us decent, who are they?, what positions do they play? why would they come and play for us in the position we are in other than for the money?, which you also state could see clubs fold because of of doing that?
Do you not see that sometimes things run their course and normally its best for all concerned to move on......just my opinion

[Piltdown]

i probably need my head examining for replying ,but here goes in the order of your numbers
1. you are correct about not stating "sacking" , whatever way you want to dress it up, it ends with the same outcome
3. firstly, i think it very important to ensure that if you quote someone you quote accurately(your words)so with this in mind:
i did not state "we have been bottom and around this position for some time"
what i actually said is "we ARE bottom and have been around this position for a good couple of seasons now!
so where am i factually incorrect? we finished 11th in 2017 after being in and around the lower end, we finished 18th after being in the lower end most of the season, and this season we are bottom !! do not try to be clever stating the lost seasons , as far as im concerned that has just delayed what is happening now, facts show we have got progressively worse!
4. i had to read this twice, what has callum stead tearing down the motorway got to do with the manager losing interest!!
he may well have wanted to help the team/manager but has no relevence to the manager losing interest
what we should be more concerned about is why the manager actually entertained this situation and was happy to put the guy on the bench despite "tearing" down the motorway, not good preparation for the team or the player, that to me is desperation and certainly not good managing , things must be bad when he is relying on a player becoming available last minute and including him despite all the circumstances of him getting there.
6. Tactics, you state it depends on the team we are playing, and adjust tactics to suit the oposition, clearly this is not working then!
i think there are many others who question the tactics as they never change from one game to the next.
7. i would agree that there is never one particular aspect as to why things go wrong, however the manager is in charge so the buck stops with him!!
8. with regard it not being your call to what players should be bought in. to that end why is it mine and others call to name someone who should be next manager if it did arise?? that is what you have said in previous comments i believe?
As regard good scouts and trusting their judgement , our current position does not bear that out
i have not said any where that we need to bring in players for silly money , i pointed out that due to our current position the only way your three players would come to us would be for the money ,one thing we agree on is that i do not want to go down that route ,saying that the way things are going we may end up having to do so to stay up!
with regard bringing youth players through i would agree, however we have had a good youth system for a while now , i have not seen any evidence of quality coming though to the first team. whilst that may be the way forward it is the here and now that needs sorting.
To conclude we are currently bottom , playing poorly and unless something happens there is a real chance we could be relegated .
Our stats do not make for good reading and if this was a PL manager or any one else for that matter they would be sacked or the manager himself would do the right thing and walk, if you are happy with that then thats your choice, it is not mine.

i am not really interested in the tit for tat war of words , i have given an opinion and backed it up with my reasons.
At the end of the day WE are all concerned with what is going on , my reaction to try and solve it is obviously different to yours

[Piltdown]

thanks jackie, cannot say i enjoyed it as i am not very good with words and setting out etc(as you have seen!)
what i will say is despite our differences in opinion ,the one thing we do share is our love for the game and Hitchin town.
i would love to be proved wrong on my opinion as that would mean we are safe!

[CanaryHatter]

Been a while since I’ve posted on here so I thought hey, why not get involved.

One point to highly disagree with is Mark “losing interest” - which from what I can see is absolute nonsense! IF he had, he wouldn’t be bothered about our current plight - whereas I can assure you he 100% is.

One other thing to add here - and it’s not necessarily relevant to this particular thread, but it’s supporters’ general expectations of our performance as a club. I for one would be really intrigued to see a poll as to where people think we “should” finish, considering our league opposition, at the start of each campaign.

The reality is - we are are a mid/lower level step three club. We just are. Anyone who believes we aren’t because we over-performed in coming within minutes of promotion 6-7 years ago needs a reality check. Mark should be commended for that over achievement - not have the constant comparison of it.

There are players at our level paid obscene sums of money to turn out for our league competitors - ie some rumoured to be on four figure sums per week! Some of half a squad of ex-league players. The reality is that we don’t have those sums of money and the club is working within its means - something I 10000% support!

Of course we all want to stay up - but staying at step three should be our expectation - not promotion, nor challenging toward that end of the table.

Finally - drawing comparisons to “well a premier league would remove the manager” - i mean come on… if that comparison is relevant then you need to stop watching non-league and subscribe to sky sports.

Also just quickly - I often hear the “our gates are much bigger than others”. The reality is, gate receipts rarely fund a playing squad. Numerous examples of this over the years - but we shouldn’t be finishing higher than another club “because we get higher gates”. Newcastle are testament to that!

[DarrenW]

Really good to see a good constructive discussion on this forum all it for the wrong reasons.

Im with Mark in my support. He has bought us 10 years of success and trophies arguably as far as the budget will allow. Certainly as far as 2015/16 and 2016/17 he achieved far beyond our budget.

He deserves some time and happy to give him that myself. For those that quote lack of ambition look at the number of clubs we have played in the last 10 years who have crumbled and playing at a lower level? We''re not one of those clubs so we have to be thankful for that.