Has Alan Knill got his transfer strategy wrong?

usagullmichigan · Post by **usagullmichigan** » 29 Jun 2013, 13:10

AustrianAndyGull wrote:We need 7 or 8 decent additions and there is a month until the season starts. It is extremely worrying but the next 2 weeks hopefully will see all these spaces filled and see Knill and Brass getting down to the nitty gritty of training / friendlies and bedding everybody in. Knill knows who he is bringing in and when. I say that because if he doesn't then we've got immense problems. I have no reason to doubt him and so i'm sure we'll be absolutely in rude health come August the 3rd and ready for the Wombles. In Knill we trust.

If we have not made at least four signings by Friday then I think we are deep slippery wet stinky doggy do do.

coley in stripes · Post by **coley in stripes** » 29 Jun 2013, 13:11

Yes maybe Andy, but as you say, there is only a month to go...I'm getting the feeling that AK's instructions are to survive next season on the minimum finance. However, I think this a Club issue and not the manager's fault.

I reckon that he is waiting to see what is available at the cheapest cost, perhaps not desperate but players that he can do something with...It's all about money !

brucie · Post by **brucie** » 29 Jun 2013, 13:25

You have got to start to wonder what is going here surely. We only have half a squad yet are somehow being fed the line that is too early to sign players (when nearly every other team has in the league has signed players already).
We are told that Jordan Robertson (probably the only viable triallist out of the three and closely connected with the manager) was coming here when in fact it appears he isn't.
The way things are going we will be having half a dozen triallists that noone else wants a week before the season starts and probably ending up having to sign most of them.

coley in stripes · Post by **coley in stripes** » 29 Jun 2013, 13:40

Good points Brucie, but I think that I put it better (as above). Trying not to get frustrated and want to believe in any thing thing that might seem positive.

yellowforever · Post by **yellowforever** » 29 Jun 2013, 13:40

I'm willing to give him a week here, for all we know by next Saturday we could have signed 5 players and the squad would be starting to look good. You often find these things happen in bursts and I'm confident by Friday next week, we'll have made AT LEAST 3 new additions. If not, panic stations it is.

coley in stripes · Post by **coley in stripes** » 29 Jun 2013, 13:46

Beckham, Owen & Neville ?????

AustrianAndyGull · Post by **AustrianAndyGull** » 29 Jun 2013, 14:18

I don't see it as panic stations at all. Even if we end up signing a load of players at the death just to make up the numbers then it is not a certainty that they are all going to be crap and we'll end up getting relegated. I think Knill is a good enough manager to get these players performing to a decent standard and to garner enough results in the right manner to keep us comfortable. Of course he may go out and sign 3 or 4 really notable lads and we'll all be saying how pleased we are.

Knill got us out of the sh*t last season when the drop was looking something like the gap inbetween a real possibility and a certain probability. Let us not forget that, he was under immense pressure at the time and had to work with some bloody awful players and he added Labadie and Chappell and also played Benyon when that clown Taylor left him on the bench in games when we needed goals. The two lads that Knill brought in almost certainly helped keep us up and although you could argue that he had the budget to do this he still had to identify the players, persuade them to come down AND get them performing in a struggling team instantly. He did that.

Meanwhile the pair of jokers who are responsible for getting us into this hole are now using up our playing budget because they have to be paid off. Yes, rub your eyes in disbelief ladies and gentlemen because little old Torquay has now become Chelsea. Rewarding people for failing. If Alan has zero funds and has to wait until the last chance saloon to sift through the detritus of unwanted and unattached professionals then that's fine by me. It's not ideal and in such a scenario we'll just have to wait and see what transpires on the pitch in terms of results and performances but so long as he approaches football in the right manner then i'm sure Knill and Brass are more than capable of guiding us to a respectable finish.

Ling and Taylor have crippled this club with their clueless, inflexible and energy draining approach to football management and left us in some real cack and it seems crazy to say that he got us to the play offs last year! The gulf between the rapid success they built upon with 'nick one and hang on' football and the fall from grace suffered by playing the same way even when it was obvious 3 months into the season it wasn't working was incredible and just highlighted IMHO just how clueless these pair of buffoons were at the job. A simple plan B or a willingness to change would have sufficed enough to have kept us comfortably mid table but we all know where we ended up.

So in effect the club is still paying for their weaknesses, personal and professional and that rankles but the main priority was cutting our losses and getting those two as far away from Plainmoor as we possibly could and to the boards credit that is what they have done. It's now a new era and this season will be very tough, I don't expect to be happy finishing 3rd bottom like the poll on another thread suggests. I expect a little better but i'm certainly not putting any pressure on Knill and Brass or the new players to achieve unrealistic targets like play offs or near the play offs. So long as our new team wants to win football matches then i'll be over the moon and I am confident we will get enough points to be comfortable AND have an enjoyable season watching the mighty Gulls. I don't mind long ball so long as it's effective and we get men in support and I certainly don't mind pass and move football, what I do have a problem with is a weekly defensive approach regardless of opposition and i'm thoroughly looking forward to the new season now Ling has gone.

What I am trying to say in a long convoluted way is that we should cut Alan some slack, let him get on with doing what he's doing and be confident he is going to do a good job. I can accept we,ve got bugger all playing budget this season for various reasons and I have every sympathy with Alan who must be trying his hardest to pull in the players we need and after all the Ling bashing (which I was one and it was thoroughly deserved) what we don't need is doubt and negativity to start creeping in before we've even kicked a ball in anger.

That might be rich coming from me talking about negativity but Alan hasn't done anything yet to warrant any criticism and if he gets his chosen assembled squad playing some entertaining stuff with mixed results this season then i'll be absolutely over the moon. We'll be absolutely fine, we'll get enough bodies in to the club in time, we'll play attacking football and we'll do ok without pulling up any trees, that works for me on so many levels and i'm counting the days. COYY!! COME ON KNILLY!!

ROADRUNNER · Post by **ROADRUNNER** » 29 Jun 2013, 14:27

this is all getting ridiculous, who says its financial who says we arent offering decent money, we are better off that quite a few clubs, if ak is reading this is must be thinking what the hell is wrong with people down here, he got us out of the deep brown stuff and i fully expect a decent season ahead and also expect several signings this week.

AustrianAndyGull · Post by **AustrianAndyGull** » 29 Jun 2013, 14:37

What i'm saying RR is that I don't care if we've got 50 million or 50 quid, I trust Alan will do his job properly and we should just leave him to it. If we've got some cash then great, Alan will have more options but if not then i'm sure he'll wheel and deal and get the job done in the end and people should not panic although I can see why they may be very concerned.

AustrianAndyGull · Post by **AustrianAndyGull** » 29 Jun 2013, 14:50

I'm just going on what others are saying RR. The true fact is I haven't a clue if we have any money or not, i'm not privy to any information and I don't care in all honesty because i'm right behind Knill and Brass all the way regardless (until they start playing defensively and then they'll know about it! :na:

).

Plymouth Gull · Post by **Plymouth Gull** » 29 Jun 2013, 15:17

Crippled the club? Bit OTT really. We were always going to have to pay them off if we wanted to change, the joys of a rolling contract. Not their fault that the club AGREED to it really.

I bloody hope Bodin starts well because otherwise this will just get tedious and crap.

AustrianAndyGull · Post by **AustrianAndyGull** » 29 Jun 2013, 15:19

Ok , I give up again.

We've got loads of cash! YES!!!!!!!!!

We've got no cash. NO!!!!!!!!

Pick some more f*cking holes, oh the joys.

Plymouth Gull · Post by **Plymouth Gull** » 29 Jun 2013, 15:26

Brilliant.

AustrianAndyGull · Post by **AustrianAndyGull** » 29 Jun 2013, 15:27

Giraffes

AustrianAndyGull · Post by **AustrianAndyGull** » 29 Jun 2013, 15:32

Thought I posted something really sensible and positive about the situation and it is actually my opinion but pick out the one thing you can pick me up on and throw it at me. I meant the club is crippled in terms of playing budget which is what I have been led to believe not literally but if some people wish to pick tiny things and ignore the rest of the post then i'd better get to college and get some English lessons.

Positive, negative, bi sexual. It doesn't really seem to matter anymore.

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