Hats off to Messrs Parkinson and Murray for what did not happen yesterday. I still can't quite believe that we have manged to hold onto Shelvey, Bailey, Racon, and Sam, all of whom have attracted interest from elsewhere over the past few months. Whether the tide can be held back again come the January transfer window is another question, but one that can be left for another day.
It does show the ongoing commitment by the board to give the team the best possible opportunity to fight its way back into the Championship. It has to be considered a last throw of the dice though, as failure to achieve promotion this year, will see a fire sale at the end of the season. Unless the takeover happens, there is no Plan B for next season.
Whilst I remain unconvinced about the merits of Parkinson, one thing I do appreciate, is his straightforward, direct communication style. He said he wanted a striker, a left sided midfielder, and a central defender, and that is exactly what we got. The return of Sam Sodje will be almost universally welcomed by the fans, and represents a superb signing for the third division. Bigger risks, but for entirely different reasons, are McKenzie and Holden. The former has spent large parts of the last three seasons injured, but will be a potent force at this level, if he can just stay fit. The latter is an unknown quantity, a la Fleetwood, and Dickson. Time will tell if Parkinson's eye for a non-league gem is better than Pardew's.
With Moo2 and Fleetwood farmed out on loan, I am perhaps a little surprised that Chris Dickson is still with us, but not half as surprised as I am with the club's retention of our midfield four intact. Surprised, and delighted.
What would convince you about Parky, at least as a League 1 manager?
ReplyDeleteHow he conducts himself when the team starts to lose, or at a lower level, when they go behind during a match. Given the abject misery of last season, it wouldn't take too many losses on the spin, for fans to turn against him. The true test for me, is how he reacts in the above scenarios.
ReplyDeleteWhether he is able to motivate a losing team, and what tactics he deploys to achieve a turnaround, will indicate to me, whether he is a good manager at this level, or not. Although not of his creation, he did not manage that last season, although I am happy to concede that we were playing better football towards the end of last season.
His conduct thus far has gone a long way to repairing damaged faith, but I still have lingering doubts, as to whether he possesses the wherewithal to dig the team out of a hole. In fairness to him, he hasn't had that opportunity yet, although he did manage to almost single handedly create that situation during the Wycombe game by switching to 4-4-2 for no apparent reason. That caused the team to take on pressure that wasn't present until that point. There was no further input from the bench to alleviate that pressure, and thus I still have my doubts.
I suspect that the retention of Semedo will prove to be more important than the "midfield four" you list.
ReplyDeleteHe really has been the lynchpin of the team this season and the base to allow our attacking players free rein.
COYA
A very fair point Anon, and I am more than happy that we have a "Famous Five".
ReplyDelete