What would you change from before the rot?

[SeattleCanary 0]

So i know we are trying to look forward now and rebuild and the last few years are nothing short of a catastrophe, but if you could go back what things would you change or rather earmark as the turning point(s) that have led to where we are today.

My dad always said from the second we got promoted that he wasn''t looking forward to the prem season (strange i know), but i now know what he meant when he explained to me exactly what he meant. He said that we would face an obvious season of struggle and disappointment, and have to face being thrashed by the likes of ''''the bigger clubs.''''

Although this was not his main concern, it was more the fact he was concerned that once we were promoted and as expected struggled in the prem, it is very hard to get a team that is used to losing week in week out to win again, and so he was proven right as when we were relegated, and carried on the losing trend only to lesser teams and have not really competed or played football anywhere near he standard of the promotion season since.

Now i know it would be silly to suggest that promotion was a bad thing as promotion and being at the top of the table is what football is all about. But looking back and knowing now what you do would you have traded our place in the prem that season if it meant playing decent football, having a steady flow of our own players, an ever present management team to provide the stability.

Finally we all have our opinions on the board i know that they are 99% to blame in effect for what has happened but the last few years since relegation is all i really have to complain about with regards to them, so everything they have done in the last 2-3 seasons is well noted i want reasons that may have also affected us other than the ones the board have made

So in conclusion what would you have changed in the last few seasons before this one?

Do you think buying Ashton at the start of the prem season would have kept us up and we''d still be there now?

Would you rather we never got promoted when we did?

A different manager after relegation?

for me it would be ashton at the start of the prem season, his goals would have been paramount and obviously a better centre half.

 

 

[CaptnCanary 0]

Buying Ashton at the beginning of the Prem season alone may well have seen us survive. But I would also have hung on to Malky and Iwan for another season. Maybe even Holt too. Those characters/leaders were sorely missed and needed preplacing with other quality leaders before they were moved on.

There''s obviously other stuff too but those are the key ones for me.

After relegation obviously Worthy should have gone sooner, etc.

[Disturbed 0]

Oh please stop it.

Next season will be fun.

Nt enough of that in our live sol ets be looking forward.

[The Chief 0]

Getting rid of Malky was our biggest mistake. Our defensive record since then has been shamboilc. None of the centre halves we have had since then would be fit to clean his boots.

[SeattleCanary 0]

I agree on the malky point and when he retired we should of kept him here to coach the defence. Has done ok for himself at watford.

[Mello Yello 2,279]

[Gazza 0]

Interesting post... There have been so many factors since we got promoted to the Prem.

Our problems obviously started with relegation from the Premiership.  I am convinced signing Ashton at the start of the season rather than halfway through would have been enough, remember all those early draws on when we just had no presence up front.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ron obvious 1,498]

Just read this thread & found it very interesting.I have posted here before with the same sentiments, my main point being that NCFC went up with THREE premiership players in the entire squad - Hux (world class - better than Tevez), Green & Francis (when he could be asked). Acquiring another world class player (Ashton) gave hope, but 4 players is just simply not enough.I know it''s hindsight, but you could imagine the ensuing worst case scenario playing out; I, like many others, tried to ignore it, but it has come to pass.The root of the problem is the deep-seated feeling (or delusion) that this is naturally a premiership club. The facilities & level of support belong in the premiership. It''s just that the team doesn''t.The season after relegation nearly everybody expected the team to be there or thereabouts throughout the season. I think the first match (against Coventry) gave an inkling of things to come, but we hoped it was just a ''blip''.Not so.After Worthington (who I think made a series of rather bizarre signings), I hoped Grant could shake things up, but, again, there was this niggling worry that he was that sort of garrulous Scotsman who starts off saying one thing & talks himself round in circles until he ends up saying the oipposite.Roeder again gave hope. Perhaps here was the man with the steely-eyed killer mentality that could REALLY shock the club out of its inbuilt assumptions & get things going. And he started bringing in some premiership quality starlets who, we hoped, he could mould into a ''mini-Arsenal'' that would play the opposition off the park.Oh dear.So what are we left with? A relatively poor (& getting poorer) pair of owners at their wits end, a manager who couldn''t motivate a bunch of loanees sufficiently to avoid relegation (& I''m not saying anyone else could have done better) & half a team.My last remaining hope is that The Board & management  forge something out of the embattled "us against the world" mentality they obviously now have. I think we are agreed they desperately need some top class advice.If Gunny can unearth a few more Cody''s & get the youth motivated there may yet be some joy to be had.Per ardua ad astra!

[InLambertWeTrust! 0]

Getting rid of Hucks.....

[whoareyou? 0]

Going back even further i would suggest letting Rioch walk so easily was a mistake. He had started to build a half decent team from nothing.

But we should have invested £2million in Crouch at the start of the Premier season and then it''s been the sale after sale of our better players who have been replaced by nobodies who seem to be only in it for the money.