New years day defeat for Linnets.

[rod]

Hughes was being lauded until the Kidderminster play off debacle, where he was found out big time but has there been any discernible and consistent improvement under the new management team?

[Linnet]

Yes there has Rod

Don't know how much you have seen , I understand you used to be a regular
WE looked much better against Scunthorpe for instance and Warrington
It was only the penalty early in the second half which killed the game yesterday WE played some decent stuff in the second half but sadly without much penetration We have definitely been more competitive even with some disapointments

[little John]

A Darlington Club who have just appointed Ex York
City Manager Steve Watson as their new boss.

There 3 rd manager in nearly as many months!

[rod]

Yes there has Rod

Don't know how much you have seen , I understand you used to be a regular
WE looked much better against Scunthorpe for instance and Warrington
It was only the penalty early in the second half which killed the game yesterday WE played some decent stuff in the second half but sadly without much penetration We have definitely been more competitive even with some disapointments

Hi Linnet. No i haven't been to a game for a while....That is why it was a question rather than an assertion. I accept that there have been some decent one off performances - hence the word consistent: not least because with a full time squad surely a degree of consistency should be achievable?

[Linnet]

Can't argue with you on the consistency front Variation in results has been disappointing e.g Southport away and then the two Boston games

[TonyM]

Hughes was being lauded until the Kidderminster play off debacle, where he was found out big time but has there been any discernible and consistent improvement under the new management team?

Rod, just for balance I disagree with Linnet's assessment above.  We have been a little bit better in some games under AL compared to MH, some of which could be down to better player availability (notably Crowther and Hargreaves).  The two games Linnet quoted - Scunthorpe was a backs-to-the-wall / attack vs defence for the second half and, as often happens with night games, everyone got behind the team and the players responded with a really good performance, being fair to MH we saw something similar against Brackley earlier in the season with a much less experienced side that again on the night put in a really good display.  As for Warrington, that was two poor sides who didn't look like would have scored in a month of Sundays and really didn't see that as a performance of note.

To be fair to AL he has inherited the squad and pretty sure it isn't the squad he wants but we have played a few different formations now and none have really looked like they are the right one to get the best out of what we have and we just seem to be searching for something that clicks - maybe that is what happened at Southport but with the same side against Boston (h) all the same frailties we exposed by not playing a left back, trying to cover it with McFadden and Rogers which I don't think works but having brought in a left back from Peterborough it seems strange not to play him.  Appreciate it is difficult to overhaul a squad mid-season, particularly with the financial constraints that we can assume are not helping AL but with a full time squad in a predominately part time league I would have hoped to see a bit more cohesion and pattern of play given the time he has now had with the players.

[Pink]

To be honest, Lynn are in a real scrap and all that matters at the moment is points on the board. MH had 8 points from 10 and AL has 18 from 16. People were quick to label MH as out of his depth......as soon as the Kidderminster game. By that stage of the season, I felt Lynn were shot anyway, after a long hard chase in second place. They then came up against a team on a winning runand a lively Ashley Hemmings and the rest is history. I personally doubt that if TW had stayed, we would have beaten Harriers at that stage of the season.


We never did hear the full story of why TW left. My own thoughts are that he had probably wanted to strengthen the squad on the run in , funds were running out and he sensed the following season could be a downhill slide.
People blame MH for poor recruitment.......but did he have full control over those that came in..........bearing in mind we have the current manager wasting a couple of weeks "securing " a top forward and then not being able to get it over the line.Given  that most managers stand or fall according to "their" recruitment , it's difficult, I feel, to rationally assess any of their performances under the current regime.

[rod]

Admittedly with the benefit of some hindsight, I'm surprised TW stayed as long as he did. My argument, as with Scott, was not that they moved on, it was all about the underhand way in which they left.