Linnets' Fans' Forum

Quote from: Mallard on November 16, 2025, 05:28:11 PMJohn, Cully basically said either the players on the bench weren't fit or young kids.

I don't understand why we don't pull Toll and Williams and Van Lier back from loan spells.  Can't use a player from the bench makes no sense when we have players like those 3 out on loan.

You have to hope that IC has some irons in the fire in terms of getting two or three in the door otherwise I would agree with you but no point just bring players back from loans for a single game although it could be that one or more might be brought back this week.  I took it that Collins was a late injury rather than naming an inured player and if he wasn't 100% then no point risking him and making things worse with how we are at present.

Totally agree with JohnH, loans involve 3 parties - the two clubs and the player and I can't see any of those parties would have been happy for the loan to have been extended - the player wasn't getting much playing time and we had a player making up the numbers but not really adding much more.  The fact that he has dropped another step for the rest of the season is probably an indication that IC has got this one right.

Really good point on the road, we were probably never as bad as some were making out under JS, just the upheaval of Rowe leaving, tough run of fixtures and inexperienced manager you could see the confidence draining out of the squad.  IC has come in, couple of (relatively) easy fixtures and the belief seems to be coming back so hopefully we can now keep that bit of momentum going forward.

Quote from: John H on November 05, 2025, 06:19:29 PMTony M - re Chapman, a work colleague and. Boston United fan says that they all loved Chapman when he was there for a bit. He was signed after their goalkeeper got injured. Said he was excellent and would have him back.

Maybe Chadwick will get the nod for the upcoming FA Trophy game v Harrow.

All about opinions, as I said IC has gone out of his way to praise him the last two games so he obviously rates him and we have to accept that he sees more of him than we do.  Strange that in a young squad the two most talked about selections (certainly near where I stand) are Chapman and Gold who are two of the more experienced players.

FA Trophy is probably coming at the wrong time, would be good for IC to see a few of the fringe players in a match situation but equally a win is probably more important from a confidence building perspective.  At least no midweek games for a couple of weeks so chance for IC to have some proper time with the squad.

Funny evening, although not much to laugh about with the ref who seemed to be watching a completely different game to everyone else.  I bet JS was looking at Leamington with a rye smile given he had to face Scarborough (now 5th), Fylde (now top) and Radcliffe (now 3rd) in his three home games.  I think if we had played as well as we did first half against Radcliffe, even with the ref, we would have been three or four up but such is way of football management.  That said it was great to see IC back in the dugout and listening to his post match interview the half time tweaks worked (something we missed under JS?)

Positives - confidence boosting 3 points, whole backline looked much keener to try and win that first ball, Marriott's link up play, more movement when Collins introduced, can't just rely on Crane (who had a good game)

Negatives - we won't play Leamington every week so still very much 'work in progress', Clements getting involved in some nonsense and then going down in the final minutes - one of the few things the ref got right by making him go off (as he had with a Leamington player earlier in the half)

Finally, yet again IC praised Chapman as part of the back line, he obviously sees something me and those around me don't as he just looks a liability to us, got away with walking out of his area last night because of who we were playing but think he will cost us more than he saves over the course of a season and why two keepers on the bench but not Wilson or has he gone back to Norwich?

Quote from: Windy Linnet on November 02, 2025, 10:54:35 AM...I cant understand what all the faffing about with the Trust money is and why they just cant give it to the club in a time of need and sort the shares out later on.

Because, quite simply, the Trust is governed by a set of rules and that isn't what was put to the membership in the vote.  I can understand your frustration but the Trust reacted quickly to the proposal by the club arranging the vote, which I think raised expectations that the share transfer was imminent, that appears not to have been the case.  Why would you think the club is in 'a time of need'?

Quote from: Windy Linnet on November 02, 2025, 10:54:35 AMIf its going to be a relationship built on trust whats the problem.If the members asked for a vote for the money to be moved over straight away I' sure it would go in favour of the money going there now and not when its too late.Just get on with it!

If it is a relationship built on trust then presumably the club have told the Trust directors what the hold up is and for whatever reason (and there could be many) the Trust board have not seen fit to come back to the membership with anything along the lines of your proposal so maybe we are not anywhere near the 'too late' stage as you seem to think we are

Just out of interest, are you a Trust member?

Quote from: Windy Linnet on October 25, 2025, 09:53:49 AMI remember the COVID season well.
The right manager. 
Great football.
Local based part time squad.
Passionate Chairman
Fan engagement.
What went wrong?

Can't argue with the first three but think you might find the answer to your question in points four and five

Quote from: Mallard on October 24, 2025, 06:51:15 PMThe Trust board I seem to recall were keen for the membership to vote to go with the Bal and Jo deal.  All seems a long time ago now.  Is that deal any further forward than it was back then ?

It's really not a good look all of this.

The Trust board presented the deal as it was offered to them from TSI without giving any 'direction' as to how they would like the membership to vote, the vote was overwhelmingly carried 77 for, 16 against with the result reported on 23rd July and the board would report back to members once the deal was completed, can only assume this has yet to happen.  https://www.thelinnets.co.uk/trustnews.php

Mall, the 'vote of confidence' last week from the club only seems to have intensified the short term approach to Joe's tenure with lots of social media posts over the weekend calling on the club to 'get an experienced manager in' so in many people's eyes it probably is a 'must win'.  Personally I would rather stick with Joe, whilst he would probably admit himself that he is still growing into the role, there are risks with any new manager.  Not sure that Robinson is a particular help and looks a bit of a 'top down' appointment but maybe him and Joe can make it work?

As for tonight, I don't think too much needs to be tinkered with the team that started the second half on Saturday with the addition of Crane and hopefully T Wilson.  Yes we all have views about individual players including Gold (I am not a fan but lots of managers have now given him more minutes than I would have done so they must all have seen something many fans can't) but all Joe can do is set them up and rely on the players play to their potential.

Quote from: dillydilly on October 20, 2025, 05:29:38 PMWe have a set of aggressive energetic triers, but very little cohesion affording passing movement in midfield between players. That showed Fylde to have those team players while we had individuals having to fight for the ball all the time following too many punts neither to players nor into anticipated spaces.  Crane and Wilson will improve us, but we'll often still be short of the skill needed.  Nyahawema improved us, but our team play doesn't often match that of opponents.  Effort isn't lacking, but team play is.  I excuse Williams from my (friendly) criticism....

Dilly, I agree to a point but it was a new system on Saturday so maybe needs a bit of time to bed in, also it was difficult to play passing attacking football in the first half with a front three of Gold, Kamara and Lambert and yes I agree that too much was in the air but maybe that was where JS thought we could find success?  We looked a lot better second half with roughly the same shape but with better movement and players capable of receiving a pass.  Hopefully Crane returning from suspension will help tomorrow evening

Quote from: Windy Linnet on October 19, 2025, 09:20:38 AMIt's a sh*tshow.Jo needs to look at the appointment he made!Is he rarely up to the job?How long is Jo going to let him keep making bad decisions before he acts?The season is just about over for us all ready!

Guess it's a glass half full or half empty moment although not sure how our 'season is just about over' when we are only four points off the playoffs (with a better goal difference than the team in 7th) and with a new manager still trying to adapt a squad to his style of play.  I really do think people need to consider what a realistic expectation for this season is, personally I would be happy top half / in the playoff mix come the end of the season and seeing some entertaining football which to me is far more important than a pipe dream promotion that almost certainly couldn't be paid for next season. 

This league has been and continues to be a tough environment to throw money at and get results so far better to consolidate and just enjoy being at NLN with some entertaining football to watch most weeks

Football, as has been said a number of times, is a game of opinions and I didn't come away from the Walks yesterday quite as negative as some.  Really difficult for Joe given the woeful 'backing from the director' in midweek did the brave thing and switched the formation and, whilst there were obvious teething troubles, individual errors and a couple of players in the first half who really let him down, on the whole I thought we looked better for the switch.  Hopefully the return of Crane and T Wilson on Tuesday evening will strengthen the team as both were missed today.

Positives - I thought Collins had a really good game in midfield but nothing in front of him first half didn't help but thought him and Clunan worked well together, likewise when Maja came on he did nothing wrong so would be happy with either starting on Tuesday.  Wilson from Norwich stepped in and commanded the back line, appreciate it was only a half of football but looked very good.  Also Marriott showed he has still got something about him, might not be as fit but still has enough to warrant more minutes even if it is off the bench.

Negatives - having praised one loan signing, Kamara has to be from the other end of the spectrum, hopefully it just 'wasn't his day' but saw nothing that justified waiting until half time to replace him, same could be said of Lambert who again was wasteful with what ball he had.

So onto Tuesday, hopefully Joe sticks with the back three, I would have Wilson, Wilson and Dickens, decision to be made on midfield two and could be Williams at right wing back over Hall-Johnson to give us a bit more in the middle, Crane an obvious starter at 10 and then the difficult choice of who are the front two.  Gold is never going to win over his detractors so we either accept him for what he is or maybe mix things up - if Maja starts we don't need the defensive cover at set pieces so maybe go with Gyasi up top with Collins and Crane behind?

Quote from: Mallard on October 14, 2025, 12:34:16 PMWhy can't the external person be named ?... 

That was my first thought unless they are currently in a role and working their notice which hasn't been made public yet?

Also not sure a "week to week" review is really the right approach, surely if Joe is the right man today and the club have recognised that there needs to be more structure in place to support him then surely that is good enough for the foreseeable?  The main worry I had looking at Joe vs Scarborough was the lack of anyone to bounce ideas off and if the club have now addressed that then I would rather see them publicly back him for the rest of the season.  Transition from coach to manager isn't always easy but agree (from what I have seen from the outside) with the club's comments about how Joe has conducted himself so far and wish him all the best.

Quote from: Blue_and_Gold on October 14, 2025, 10:14:13 AMThat's unless Trust funds are moved across before the transfer of the shares.

Can't see how Trust funds can be 'moved' without the transfer of the shares.  Personally would have thought this would have happened already so not sure what is holding up the full transfer of shares to TSI/Trust.

With or without the money from the Trust, I can't see us being able to fund TW and all that would come with his appointment.  That purple patch leading up to and including Doncaster was some of the best football I have seen at the Walks but realistically TW's tenure was part of SC's unrealistic spending spree, the consequences of which the club is still living with today, although whether all the lessons that should have been learnt have been is perhaps open to debate.

Disappointing day, I am sure people will point to Scarborough's unbeaten run and (another) poor refereeing performance but neither of these should paper over Lynn's performance which really wasn't good enough to warrant anything from todays game, as Clunan put it in his post match interview with Radio Norfolk - "we can't be unlucky every game" and going on to say we have to learn from today.

Thought Clunan himself had a good game but ultimately we didn't have enough in midfield and appreciate I haven't seen too many home games but we can't carry all three of Lambert, Nyahwema and Gyasi in the starting lineup based on how little they contributed today, whatever Gold's shortcomings he did at least give their centre halves something to think about.

Aside from next weeks distraction, feel the club need to make a decision on the manager's position sooner rather than later and if they are going to stick with JS then he needs to have some experience in the dugout with him asap, looked like today he had no one to bounce ideas of when it was pretty obvious from the stands that changes needed to be made.