The Hotel End

I'm interested to gauge views about how we all feel regarding Keith Curle's position as manager of the football club at the moment. There was a definite increase in anti-Curle sentiment on the forum, in the stands today and on Twitter after the disappointing performance against Macclesfield.

I personally still back Curle, although I am beginning to doubt my convictions on this. I suspect I am now in the minority as a supporter who is behind this manager, but the poll will hopefully show what proportion of fans still support him.

Too early to sack for me, but hes worn our a lot of patience today.

Curle out..Hes usless. Get someone else in quick.

I'm voting in. I wasn't happy when we appointed him and I'm still unconvinced after last season's dross, although I will credit him with steadying the ship and keeping us up last year.

We can't keep chopping and changing managers, particularly after letting them spend all the money over the summer and then getting someone else in whose hands are then tied. We have to give Curle at least until Christmas in my view, even though I personally don't like the bloke or his style of football.

I was close to starting this myself. I’ve voted out.

Piss poor attendance today shows that fans aren’t interested in seeing how awful football anymore.

With the squad at Curles disposal we should be doing a lot better.
As I predicted a month ago he’ll be gone soon.

He could be in trouble after today's performance and result because our next league fixtures are Swindon (a), Colchester (a), Plymouth (h), Bradford (a) & Newport (h). Not a good looking set of fixtures for an under pressure manager. If he's still in charge after the Newport game it will mean we have picked up some useful results.

I think KC is in big trouble looking at those fixtures, I honestly can’t see a point.

In amongst that tough set of league games we've also got Peterborough and Arsenal Youth in the Leasings.com Trophy- although neither will really make much of a difference to Curle's fate, they are further difficult additions to the fixture list.

I'm in the not sure camp, we can't keep replacing managers and giving them money to spend every window in the hope it works.

But the hoofball or give it to Adams football today really has me wondering.....

Yeah because sacking managers has got us so far up till now

English isn’t a subject you did at schools was it?

Curle has put himself under pressure by saying he needs a promotion on his CV. I notice he recently changed that and said the team need to be operating in the top ten of the league. His contract is also up at the end of this season, so in the next few days we'll probably hear his contract has been extended  ;D

Don't joke about a contact extension...

Pete Walton (ex ref) was encouraging the club to give him one after the Swansea defeat on Radio Northampton ::)

He says, dangling his participles.

I don’t trust Kelvin to pick another manager

I also want to know why we are £5 million in dept when it was £0 when Kelvin took over.  Would understand some if he had finished the bloody embarrassing East stand

It’s hard for a club to progress when the chairman is not interested

I don’t like him but we can’t change again

I have to be honest, polls on fans forums are not a good thing, it's like trying to influence people or the club.

We all know that people connected to the club read forums, hence as soon as someone writes something slanderous - the forum admin will be contacted.

Now with a poll, other people who may be on the fence regarding Keith may think ohh x amount think he should go so I'll join that side.

Forums also have a lot of readers who just browse but don't sign up, if they read a forum and think everyone wants Keith out - it could influence their views and when they have their half time pasty and chat to the guy sitting next to them the negativity could soon spread.

Also, polls can be manipulated to push agendas, there are a host of proxy sites on Google, you can make as many free emails up via outlook, gmail, GMX et al and then sign up on here to vote.

Of course a forum administrator may now tell me that - no this can't be done - people can only have 1 account, if they have more than 1 we will know about it straight away.

I will say... wrong, if you go to the 3 mobile network home page, they offer a free sim card with 200 mb of data pre loaded - you don't need to top up to get it. It's called "internet with legs" apparently other networks offer this too.

Anyone can order as many of them as they like, pop one in their phone, sign up and that's another Hotel End account, pop another one and repeat - another Hotel End account.

I feel this needed to be pointed out because sometimes you will see certain local journalists saying how an online poll revealed x amount of fans think this or think that... totally ignoring the fact that said online could be manipulated so easily and may not really reflect the opinion that it claims.

Good amount of waffle Lukey. Just say you voted him to stay and that'll do you.

You should know about multiple accounts FRANKY BOY.

forget about my education it's got nothing to do with this thread has it

In an ideal world I'd like him replaced immediately with someone with a modicum of tactical intelligence who has more to offer than plan A: hoof it up to the big man and plan B: bring on more big men and hoof it up some more.

However, I agree with the argument that we somehow need to break the cycle of September sackings, January panic buys and latish scrapes to safety.

If his contract is up in the summer then that might be the time to get rid, providing that we don't get in serious relegation trouble in the meantime. What we don't want is to fall into the trap again of sacking a manager and rushing into appointing any Tom, Dick or Hasselbaink who happens to be available. If you do it in the summer from a position of safety then you can take your time and have a proper application process.

On the other hand, if there was a genuinely outstanding candidate waiting in the wings who had a long-term vision for the team then I'd make the change immediately.

I think to credit the club with any kind of long term plan either on or off the pitch is stretching credulity to the extreme - if KC gets sacked it will be the usual fiasco of a recruitment process and the failed manager merry-go-round will start again. The common denominator in all of the poor appointments over the last few years is KT - you do the maths.

Out ....Sh1thouse

Curle has to be given the season. However anything less than a top 7 finish should see him gone.

I think he's bought in some decent players but the balance of the team/squad is all wrong. Lines, Watson, McCormack and McWilliams are all too similar in what they offer the team, ditto Smith, Oliver and Williams up front.

IMO Martin is no LWB. Adams will play best for us this year when we have an out-and-out right back behind him. He may have played at RWB last season for Bury and assisted a high-number of goals, but their personnel allowed that system to work and also meant that he was still far from relied upon for creativity in the final third. (take away Adams' assisted goals and they still scored more than us last season). We don't have the players to make it work.

Hoskins isn't good enough and so we are left largely relying too much on Warburton to step-up.

If Morias stays and we get in another winger and attacking midfielder I think the team can still be very competitive this year, otherwise I see nothing better than a 10-16 place finish and another frustrating season.

Tell him you went to Harrow- WC couldn’t spell either!

I'm 50/50 at the moment, like lots have said, changing managers every Sept is not good, but unless were have a great improvement in the next few games, the knives will be out.
     I was surprised that when Curle came in, we gave him a just under 2 year contract. Why not give the next manager a 1 year rolling contract because we all know that if he's any good he will be gone from us pretty quick anyhow !
     I think a fair few Cobblers fans thought he was an uninspiring appointment, given his record, and it looks like they were right. I think we need to break this habit of appointing failed managers and try an up and coming manager out of non league, it can't be a lot worse can it?

Based on 4 games this season it is far too early to be calling for KC’s departure. Based on what we have seen from KC over 11 months I don’t have much confidence in him. 

I don’t see any change happening yet. 

We have to break the cycle.

If we get rid - new man comes in - is given time because it's not his squad - declares clear out needed after steering us to safety (just) - big summer clear out - new players brought in - lose first 4 games - calls for manager to be sacked - we get rid - new man comes in - is given time etc.....etc.....etc....etc

This lunacy has to end.

Quite right some seem bent on the clubs destruction!

Thomas has had plenty of goes at getting in a decent manager but hasn’t, no point sacking Curle cos the next fella will be s***

Curle shouldn't keep his job just because all KTs other choices have been shat.

Just out of interest, do people actually bother reading other people's posts on here? Lot's of people saying exactly the same as a previous poster without adding anything new to the discussion.

Just out of interest, do people actually bother reading other people's posts on here? Lot's of people saying exactly the same as a previous poster without adding anything new to the discussion.

Pointless vote as the matter is in Thomas's hand, any speculation is better focused on Thomas' previous track record in firing managers particularly Austin and Edinburgh. Not afraid to sack a manger when in preseason he has given the manager cash to spend so I would give Curle a maximum of 10 games in before him getting the Thomas heave ho if things don't improve. Lack of scoring goals is the Cobblers achillees heel ever since Wilder left and based on the EFL career records of those he has signed in the close season and current form to date the future for Curle looks bleak. He will need all of his Warnockesque arrogance and stubbornness to survive.

Although it is worrying that our start to the season is following recent patterns set by JED and DA as mentioned above, the real problem is if poor results have a negative effect on confidence and the situation goes from bad to worse. Despite unconvincing performances, we should still have at least 4 points from our opening 3 games based on chances created (I actually mean from our home games, because we were lucky to get a point a PV). If we had, players would be confident and nobody would be getting on KC's back too much. As it stands we have 1 point and the tension may start to show on the pitch. When DA got sacked we had started the season playing good football but without scoring goals. After a few early defeats the performances stopped and the defeats got heavier.

I hate to hear managers use the phrase, but it really is a question of "fine lines" and I reckon we must win one of the next two to have a chance of building confidence and momentum in the team and preventing the kind of downward spriral that got DA sacked. There are still problems of imbalance in the team, but a bit of confidence and less "tweaking" from KC this year, might make a significant difference.

That made me chuckle  ;D

Good one Larry well spotted

Very Good Post,

Although I dont think its just confidence with the players. Wins bring about confidence amongst the fans making them more supportive and easier to play in front of. When you are berated for your every touch you will start to over think things and take less risks.

I was following the Chelsea/Leicester game on the bbc website whilst sat waiting for my flight home from my holidays when I read a post that amused me from a disgruntled Chelsea supporter. He/she was bemoaning Lampards tactical nous and in particular, his choice to adopt zonal marking!

For me, that is something I cant get my head around. Zonal marking. And its costing us at the minute. It reminds me of the time when JE (RIP) elected to play Rico and Revell as a forward partnership, whilst persisting with that crazy wing back system for the first few games of the season he got sacked in. JE proved himself once again to be an excellent manager after his departure here, taking Orient back into the football league at the first attempt.

For now, I'm firmly in the Curle In, 'camp'. He earned a good crack of it steadying the ship last season, and finally stopping the rot which had well and truly set in aka Chesterfield. The football wasn't pretty, but I swatted that away given the resources he had at his disposal.

He then spent the summer bringing in some decent players, but strangely kept playing 'past it' trialist's including Tyson and that useless bod from Milton Keynes in the friendlies at the expense of Morais; 3 games in, he's back in the match day squad. Ditto, Billy Waters. That made no sense to me at the time, and still doesn't.

We are now leaking goals, not in open play (our defensive line is pretty solid), but from set pieces.

KC needs to go back to basics, like he did on his arrival. We now have better players and I believe the football will come good, but the team needs to start winning again and quickly. Get Bunney involved, another curious situation that again makes little sense. Played as a centre back throughout the pre-season, then omitted from the first team, despite us not having any other decent left sided midfield option.

He needs to stop over thinking things, just stick his best 11 players on the pitch in their favoured positions (we have more than enough fit players to do that); man mark at corners/set pieces; stop putting players publicly up for sale (a buyer will be made aware due to the involvement of agents and its considerably more dignified), and mix things up a bit in the final third. Again, we have the players who we can hoof the ball up to, but we also have players who we can pass the ball to as well!!). We are too predicable at the minute.

Finally, though, and for balance. We are 3 league games into the season. Its still too early to properly gauge what we think our tactics actually are; any football team can appear to be direct in just a few hours of football, when in reality its more down to confidence, lack of synergy with team mates etc.

We also need to learn from whats happened to us during the last few years. The obvious candidate that will be discussed to death if KC does get the bullet anytime soon would be Sol Campbell. Lets say he comes in, gets us promoted...you can be absolutely 100% sure that he will be off to a higher level club, just like Chris Wilder did. And just like Colin Calderwood did. And just like JFH did after some success at Burton. We then start back at the beginning again! At least if KC was to do well here, we'd more than likely continue the journey together given his age/cv/profile etc.

People talk about the fact he's never got a team promoted. Well Graham Carr only got one football league promoted during his career. Kevin Wilson/Broadhurst likewise. Colin Calderwood did manage eventually to take Forest up after he left here, but only back to their 'natural level'. Ian Atkins had one promotion.

There is no reason why, if he evolves his tactics and tweaks the squad a little in the next couple of weeks, he cant be successful and get his one and only promotion to date here in Northampton. He's come close a few times before. His record isn't great, but its not terrible either. I question whether we would get better. Rob Page, JFH were both useless. I thought the same about JE, but either side of his stay here he was a successful manager. He does need to win a game quick though, otherwise the knifes will be out when we play Bradford next weekened. We need a win either tonight or on Saturday to avoid a likely toxic atmosphere. But that, as they say, is football.
 

Great post. Firmly +1 from me.

Get him out.

All that summer recruitment and we carry on with square pegs in round holes.

Clown.

You were saying?

 ;D

For what it's worth I thought zonal marking really worked well tonight.

I think any thoughts of Curle getting the boot so early is ridiculous and feel he should be given the season, but to be fair to threeinabed, one swallow does not make a summer, and it sounds like we got very lucky with the winner (which was our only shot on target). It seem we're still struggling to create chances.

still round pegs in square holes.
all those players signed - and the majority of his team were here last year.
played terrible.
offside goal.

one smash and grab doesnt change any of that.

Very astute comments but we did plenty of S & G in the Championship season! Please clarify ‘played terrible’. When we scored nobody bemoaned offside that came later. We made our own luck last night.

i would have thought a person of your superior intellect wouldn't need this explaining.

I think he will have until Christmas .
It’s a case of what KT deems acceptable .
We could easily be in the bottom 5 by then

By then?
We are already!

True !!!
KT is not a patient man

I think he is gone if he loses the next two league games.

No win situation...

He won't get sacked (if KT is even bothered anymore) at least until we lose our next two league games...

By then the window will pretty much be shut, so whoever comes in won't be able to address the issues KC hasn't managed to do since he took over...add pace, get in proper wingers & get in a proven striker

KC is a tactical dinosaur who sets his teams up to play anti football & it's fvcking boring dross to watch...

Fair play to those that travel away, it's bad enough being a season ticket holder, having to watch the dross dished up at home games...

Can see us easily doing a Notts County if the rot doesn't stop sooner rather than later.

The new team was going to built around having McCormack as the pivot.  Unfortunately, that went pop half-way into the first game of the season.  Sad, because he is clearly the best player we have had in years.

So, we have lost our best player (by a long chalk), and we are going to manage without him for a few weeks, yet.

So, let's all sack the manager because of that injury?

That smacks of Sammo at Corby.  He burst his budget on Andy Holt, setting his team up to have him as the focal-point.  Sadly, Holt was injured before kicking a football in anger for them, and subsequently retired.  A few games into the season, with a stunning record of losses, Sammo was sacked.  So, although I love Sammo to bits..... he needs to look in his mirror, and watch his words when he's on Radio Northampton.....

.....

Other players at the Cobblers are struggling to cope with the move, and to adjust to being at Northampton.  As is often the case with a completely new squad.  Good deals have been forged to get players in.  Many of those have "issues", that good management will resolve (eg, healing long-term injuries, good coaching to bring out their latent talent, and help with mental welfare).  If this squad were all perfect, they would be playing in higher divisions, if not turning out for England.

For those scum who think that footballers are all FIFA 19 tokens to be treated like toys, remember that Smith is just one of those who has had severe problems with depression.  It does not help slagging him off.  For the Walsall game, some total w@nker spent the whole of the first-half slating him for even being on the pitch.  What kind of low-life do we have as supporters?  (By the way, I decided to move 40 seats North at half-time, for fear of being banned for life by punching the tw@ts lights out.  Next time, I'll just do it before kick-off, and worry about the consequences later).

I wish every one of you doubters the same misfortune in your careers as you wish for Keith Curle.  (Oh, one exception.... Dr.Feelgood deals with peoples' lives.... maybe he had better not make a mistake, eh?  Although, on second thoughts, if he's dealing with some scum american who wants to buy the NHS.... well, it could be a win-win if he corks-up...???)

Peace, goodwill, and patience.

There's some really interesting points raised here. There has been multiple posts on here I have seen where comments like KT making the same recruitment mistakes over and over again with his managerial appointments, but what if it's the negative attitude of some of our fans that is the root cause of the decline of the players abilities once they arrive here?

Just wondering?

While I agree McCormack is a very good signing, I don't see this as a valid defense of Curle so much as another example of his ineptitude. If he really has built a team around an aging player with a well documented recent history of injury problems without having a plan B then it's a very worrying sign of his naivety.

Valid points raised. A game of fine margins indeed, and spot on because at this level injury, ill health, loss of form or moral direction are all serious hazards to the best constructed squads. The problem with players at this level is they are generally prone to one or even some of these traits on a regular basis, that’s why they are well, er, at this level as you say. Even the worlds best manager needs a big slice of luck in division 2. And as for signing a proven goal scorer as some are calling for, how many have we signed in the last 20 years at the point we signed them? Or put another way how many times has a player of ours scored 20+ league goals in a season in that period. Everything you need to know about the difficulty of that task is right there in that answer. That being said as the cliche goes it’s both a results and entertainment driven business. Consistently provide neither and you will get the chop. KC understands this as well as the next man and if you don’t like it get a job doing something else because that’s the way it is. Is Curlios time up? It shouldn’t be, it’s a ridiculously short period of time to make that call with a new squad, especially when the marquee signing has barely kicked a ball. However, none of us on here obviously get to make that decision, but we know a man who does. Historically he’s not known for patience or tolerance in these matters, so irrespective of what any of us think if he loses the next 4 it will probably be adios, whether it’s deserved or not.

I am not a fan of KC and his dull brand of football.  I would not be sorry if he was fired but it is too early to be calling for his departure.  However, if things continue as they are the pressure will rise.  If his intention was to build his side around the ageing and injury prone McCormack then KC's thinking has to be deeply flawed.  Luton fans were warning us before the season began that we would not get enough games out of him and early signs are bearing this out.

you were saying?

Do you sit by your radio hoping we lose just to try and prove a point?  ::)

So last season was dire but as much expressed no Keith Curle’s team so some quarter given - but having seen 4 out of 6 games this season I’m completely disillusioned with the unimaginative football we are playing - most of the new signings desperately uninspiring and all this talk of effort, fighters and winners currently seem laughable.

Chris Wilder had a very poor run with us but you could see what he was trying to do albeit missing at that time some key players - Curle on the other hand will it seems play the same way even with a Man City IX  - remember this is a man who has failed to achieve a promotion in 17 seasons as a manager.

I absolutely don’t know the answer to the NTFC problem but I’m pretty certain Keith Curle is not the solution

I agree, 100%.

Im still backing him.

I went yesterday. It was proper dross. He will know thats not acceptable, I think its clear to him and Thomas that we need creative reinforcements before the deadline.

Nothing else to add.

I think the question is "Can Curle keep us in League 2 ?", if he can, I think we will be stuck with him this season as KT won't want to pay off yet another manager. But what happens at the end of the season when his contract runs out, surely he won't be offered another and then we are at the mercy of KT to appoint another manager, with a not brilliant record of doing so.

Spot on. Same remit as Page had only difference being the division.
Keep us in it.

Reasonable but I disagree - yes there are some clear gaps but Curles attempt to replace gaps/replace with better has been dire - whilst I accept Buchs for example had lost half a yard but can anyone honestly say our defence on the flanks has improved?

I have heard he has 2 games
I’m afraid our man is on borrowed time

Is that arsenal under 23’s and Plymouth or Plymouth and Bradford (in all seriousness if you are right he couldn’t have 2 harder games - and then Newport)?!

good

only worry is we win them both.....................and then go back to our current form!!

League games .
Curle is doing himself no favours within the club either .

I have heard the same and deservedly so. The phrase “lost the dressing room has been mentioned”.

How the hell have we got into this position again - I thought half the new signings came in proclaiming how they love working with KC, that was only 4 or 5 weeks ago?! If this 2 game ultimatum is true there’s no way on earth we’re getting anything against Plymouth and very unlikely to get anything at Bradford so what’s the point - just pull the trigger now if that’s the case. It also has implications on any additions before the deadline - why would you give KC more funds if it’s highly unlikely that he’s still going to be here in 2 weeks?

correct - if he has lost the dressing room and the players know that he can be gone with 2 defeats then we all know what is coming!

professionalism will sadly go out the window as it has many times before.

Maybe it’s not KC who will choose the new players, mind you the fact we need a left winger and goal scorer both with pace isn’t exactly rocket science is it, maybe self proclaimed “football man” KT already has his new man.
KC is clueless he sold one of his best players, constantly tinkers with the team, buys footballers in Lines and Adams and then plays hoof ball to smith. The football is dire boring and predictable he needs to go.

I know it's repetition but simply look at his record - no promotions in 17 years of management - most clubs, however poor seem to manage a promotion season at least once every 10 years. I was absolutely prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt last season but here and now its not even the results but the manner in which they have come about - we are truly awful and for me it's not down to the players, KT, the unfinished East stand, Brexit, Trump etc etc - one person has to take responsibility and that is Keith Curle.
I'm still amazed people think a couple of decent signings will change everything - they simply won't because Curle has a simplistic restrictive approach to tactics coupled with blind loyalty to some players allied to seemingly disrespect of others (I suspect those that have superior knowledge to him) - I guess some will leap on this comment and quote his playing career at a top level but good players do not automatically make good managers.
He will be gone by the end of the season but hopefully not taking us with him - the last 3 games (yes even in spite of the 3 points at Swindon) we look relegation fodder.

How do you know he's only got 2 games? Are you friends with Thomas? Or are you being mischievous.

He could be friends with Curle.  ;D

Well the transfer deadline is, what, a week away?

It would make absolutely zero sense to give him 2 games, then sack him, and we are left high and dry until January with regards to any transfer dealings.

He's either sacked now, or its business as usual. Get a couple of additions in (we currently only have 20 senior players, 3 of which are goal keepers), and hope that things improve.

Without having any inside knowledge, I'm still firmly behind KC, despite us looking useless. I just cant get NTFC 1 Dagenham 2 out of my head, which was the 6th game of our championship winning season. IF we were to beat Plymouth next week, we'd have the same record after 6 games as we did then. That Dagenham game was one of the most woeful performances I've ever seen from a Cobblers side, but we all know what happened afterwards.

On a positive, we look totally solid. 5 games in, w'eve only conceded (I think) 1 goal from open play, and the zonal marking has vastly improved this week when we are defending set pieces. Obviously its going forward where the problems lie, not helped by the fact we have 3 strikers whom have very similar attributes. And Hoskins.

Curle dumped plan A to quick, which was to have Warburton as the deeper forward. He needs to revert back to that in the next game because having 2 lumps up top is not effectively, and its horrible to watch. Against Walsall, we looked close to being a decent team. I didn't see us v Port Vale or Macclesfield, but obviously followed them closely. The last two games, we've not created anything of note, Adams has been crap, and there's zero creativity coming down the left or through the middle. Its not rocket science. The squad is decent on paper minus a left winger and a goal scorer. Its weird that 5 games in, we are not seeing those spaces filled. Has the money ran out?

I think you might be very much in the minority come Sat night mate, unless he goes all out attack against Plymouth which I simply can’t see. He will set up ultra defensive terrified of losing and we will suffer another 1-0 defeat at home and the natives will definitely turn. fair play for your optimism though.

I don't believe the 2 matches deadline to turn things around rumour mill. Whatever I may think of KC and his dire brand of football it is too early in my view for the taxi.  It will come but not just yet.  KT or more particularly DB will be thinking about the financial side first and foremost. Our owners are doing the bare minimum on the football side as they seek to advance the reason for being here.

In any event, the very notion of letting KT loose for the sixth time in less than 4 years to appoint a new manager fills me with dread. 

We are between a rock and a hard place on this.

Completely agree with the last bit, football man my ar5e

I don’t think KT will hold off sacking him for financial reasons, look at Edinburgh and Austin, when he needs to he’s willing to sack them regardless.

The ironic thing is we’ve looked quite solid at the back despite having our 1st choice keeper, 3 of our 1st choice back 4 and our main defensive midfielder out injured. I’m sure most teams who lost 5 of their starting defensive players would look weak at the back but we haven’t particularly

Going forwards though it’s dreadful. We’ve replaced the pace and skill of Powell and Morias with 2 big men who make us very one dimensional. If he’s spent all of his budget, and he’s reliant on players like Waters to leave to bring anyone else in, then he’s messed up the recruitment big style in my opinion. If he still has spare budget, and is going after a left winger and pacey striker, then it might be all ok. A couple of new signings can make a huge difference

I agree for the most part, however I think Curle strongly believes in that a rigid, hard to break down defensive game plan with the ball going out wide (to Adams) with the aim being to score headed goals (Smith) from deep crosses is the best way to play - a little bit like Lincoln with the Andrade / Akinde combination. I don't think Lincoln played quite as much on the back foot as we do though and I agree with what another poster said somewhere on here that we don't have enough people comfortable on the ball / able to carry the ball forward. Lloyd Isgrove looked very good at that against us recently and perhaps we need a player like that

I dont think he's going anywhere yet.
Why would they sack him?
It would only make sense if there was a real risk of going non league.
We are only five games in.
We are two points ahead of 23rd and four points off 7th.
That's midtable over a season.
Mind you, I havent witnessed the football so maybe I'm missing something  ;D

Quite the contrary, if you haven't witnessed the football you've missed precisely nothing. That's the problem.

That didn't stop him sacking Justin Edinburgh or Dean Austin.

We had 'money' when Edinburgh was sacked and Austin I assume, was a cheap option with a plan b already in the air should he fail (and another 5 games in).

Don't forget we are a work in progress.

I don't think we've ever had much money, I've assumed it's been a question of treading water until the Council stuff it sorted. Neither Thomas or Bower have any affinity for the club or have buckets of cash so why should they pour their hard earned money into it?
Let's just stick with a manager for a couple of seasons to give him the chance to put together a coherent team, it's the constant sackings that are the cause of the problem, wasting money with payoffs and the inevitable player changes. We are not likely to experience another season like the recent champions one so we should treat it like the fluke it was and be more realistic in the future.

I was referring to the so called Chinese money real or imaginary. We seemed to go on a spending spree appointing JFH and some supposed better calibre players at a similar time. We're our owners duped back then?
I largely agree with you otherwise. Not sure I'd automatically give Curle more than this season...he will need to make real progress, but I wouldn't sack him either unless our league status is seriously called into question.

No mate. Its the appointment of s*** managers that are the cause of the problem.

It’s interesting as I watched a lot of Carlisle games under Curle and it was the complete opposite, they were often referred to as ‘kamikaze carlisle’ and lost 4-3 rather than 1-0!

Money talks, and if gates are consistently 500 down, that’s potentially £10k per home game in lost revenue. The boring football puts people off, coupled with poor results.
Then the question is not how much does it cost to sack him, more how much it costs to keep him.

100% agree.

Absolutely this.

No you got it wrong as Larry is quite right. Some of the sacked managers have gone on to better things Page, JE for example. I suspect it is us
with a manic desire for instant success and the negative carping by many on here.

Please enlighten us why “our manic desire for instant success and the negative carping” have influenced results, performance and the entertainment factor we are witnessing?

Whilst you undying support is commendable sometimes as a grown up you have to accept something is wrong and be able to discuss it.

What an utterly pathetic, but entirely predictable thread. The majority just need to f*cking grow up.

He has a point I have written many times on her that the club success mirrors the fans it has. There is a significant number on here that crave failure and when we get that then carp it's someone else's fault. We get what we deserve and to be honest that's not much.

Having said that I cannot get excited at the moment. I am a season ticket holder and will go the majority of home games but to be honest if an alternative came up on Saturday I would not miss it. There is zero entertainment and nothing to warrant the time spent down at Sixfields. It's boring, no excitement and to be frank a waste of time. Having gone to the majority of away games only a few years ago I would never contemplate it for more than a few seconds these days.

 I never ever thought I would be this apathetic, but I am. I do not blame the owners per se but I am unispered by their choice of managers and their playing styles. My love has gone and I am unsure wether it will ever return.

Strangely enough I would not have included you in the ‘negativitos’ but if the hat fits.......

The question is , will Curle change his methods ?
I doubt it .
It’s predictable and archaic .
Changing the manager is the last thing we need but we are heading towards a relegation fight under this dinosaur .
He has done nothing to improve this club since he got here and I said the same throughout last season .
KT is never here and much depends on his patience.
As I said previously , KC is on borrowed time .

Talking about dinosaurs your views are well known on KC is there any real need to repeat the same old same old every post. He will probably keep us up so lighten up and don’t be such a great baby bore!

At the risk of being accused of having unreasonable expectations, I have to say even with all our well documented short comings as a club I expect a little more than that!

This is probably true, but really, is that the height of our ambitions ? We are a big club by League 2 standards with only Plymouth and Bradford significantly bigger, KT tells us we have a top 6 budget, we certainly generate more money over half the clubs in League 2, surely we should be looking for more than just surviving in this division ?

Err i don’t think the CEO or the chairman would be happy with your ambition of simply surviving.
Neither would some of the experienced players brought in.
Furthermore , the club is expecting the young players to develop and not cast off to the shadows .
No one wants yet another change if manager but the question is , will the manager himself change ?

I said probable and your comments misrepresent mine. To me survival is paramount but promotion is he ultimate target.

Not champions of europe?

Bored to tears under KC, get rid!

Didn't he say he wanted free flowing attacking football?

(https://media3.giphy.com/media/l0HlMGXpKShkWMT5e/giphy.gif)

Now that I have calmed down after Saturday’s abysmal showing I have a few observations. Firstly, we do not have a single player in the squad that is capable of consistently beating his man whether through skill or sheer pace and power. Colchester had it with Courtney Senior, Swindon had it with Kaiyne Woolery, Port Vale had it with David Amoo. The lack of pace and creativity (particularly in wide areas) is awful.

Secondly, some of our players are either a) unfit, b) not being demanded to play with more urgency and intensity on and off the ball or c) are being demanded to play with such intensity but are choosing not to buy into this. KC doesn’t appear to be too disappointed by the effort of the players so I would rule out option c. My gut feeling is that KC is not being hard enough on the players in terms of the intensity at which we play.

Thirdly, what was so disappointing about Saturday was that at 0-0 you never really got the sense that we wanted to commit men forward and go and win the game. Obviously we don’t know what was said at half-time but it was as if the players were told ‘we’re not losing so we’re doing well, just keep doing this’. After the game KC said ‘we’d have taken two draws from the Swindon and Colchester games this week’. The Swindon game I accept but on Saturday we were playing a Colchester side who had not won before Saturday and for large parts looked fairly average. We are lacking a winning mentality and KC is to blame for this. It is no coincidence that in Curle’s last four seasons of management his teams have always been top three in the league for most draws.

I’m not in the Curle Out club just yet as I feel as though sacking yet another manager will do no good at this present moment. We must still remember that we are only 5 games in and have had a large turnover of players throughout the summer. However it is time for KC to start delivering as he is now out of the ‘steadying the ship’ phase and has his own squad of players. He is very articulate and talks a good game but even the most ardent of KC supporters must now accept it is time to start seeing some big improvements as our record over the past 15 games is very poor.

definitely full of bulls h i t!

would rather have someone in like wilder (after his interview on sat) who just says it like it is instead of a load of football cliche and utter shat.

At the moment there is far too much defeatist attitude: ok let’s blame the manager syndrome that’s easily justified! As Pedji suggests we get what we deserve. Just look at the attitude of those not going tonight so proudly proclaiming this; then some follow like sheep. It would not surprise me if 60% of those proud absentees did not even go to Colchester. Putting aside Saturday’s dismal performance we should rally behind the team and show some of us at least care.

A good post , except I dispute he is articulate ! He likes to think he is .
The problem is , we don’t know how many of these players he is restricting with his tactics and game plan .
Similar to last season , some of the players could flourish if only they were allowed to express themselves .

See what I mean - what a great fan!

A spot on post, on all counts.

I would add that Adams looked injured or unfit on saturday and just didn't want to take the opposition on. Every time he received the ball but was not in a position to put in a cross unhindered he was playing it backwards. Albeit on the basis of only one match attended, not the player I saw during THAT season.

Curle out..

Blend of the squad is wrong, not using the talents we have correctly, no pace ( the only one with pace is spending more time defending, but cant cross anyway )
Whats the point in decent footballers like Adams, Watson, Lines and Pollock if we haven't got the right set up to use them, may as well have signed 3 Dean Peer types with the style we are playing.
How can we be playing 4 4 2 but only seem to have 1 player within 30 yards of the striker.

All Curles weird and wonderful ideas.

thanks

you're aren't a great fan

Should kick your 3rd member out as they are influencing your mindset; which I didn't think was humanly possible.

Totally correct .
Furthermore , apparently the players are confused as to how they should be playing and the youngsters have been left to one side .
It’s no wonder we are in a mess . Plus I don’t see a way out unless Curle admits he is wrong .

Perhaps, but how many of our recent managers would you have identified as crap when they were appointed. Most of them looked OK on paper and much of the fanbase was happy with their appointments. There are no guarantees re managers at our level.

  :o 'And again....and again....and again....'. The trouble with Curle is that his tactics are stuck rigidly in the 80s and 90s and the game has moved on, even in the basement division.

Anyway, IMO KT will be thinking about this one pragmatically. Curle has a contract until the end of this season. If KT pulls the trigger now he will have to pay 1. compensation to Curle     2. Wages/possible compensation for the new man  3. bundles of cash in January when the new fella inevitably decides he needs ten new players.


Alternatively, he could stick with Curle (providing we're not in genuine relegation trouble) set him some targets (e.g. play-offs, string more than three passes together, go a whole match without playing someone out of position etc) and if (when) he fails to meet them then get rid in the summer.

A summer change from a position of safety would hopefully shift us out of the cycle of panic appointments and panic buys and allow something resembling long-term thinking and proper recruitment to occur.

This personally is what I would advocate. It won't be fun but it might be the only way of getting us out of this perpetual cycle of stagnation.

Agree completely. While I am disappointed in the sum-total of KC's summer transfer business, and the one-dimensional, negative way he is setting the team up in these early stages of the season, I think any talk of sacking is madness. Unless we are in genuine danger of relegation come January/February (which I don't think we will be) then Curle has to be given the whole season. However if KC achieves anything less than a top half finish (minimum) then the club can part ways with him in May.

Some good points from Drilling (as usual).

The main issue with Warburton is that he appears to be, as you say, a 'deeper  forward' rather than a creative, play-making no.10 type. This wouldn't be an issue if we had a creative left-winger to take the pressure off Adams as the sole provider.

However, as it is, when played together in a 4-2-3-1 Warburton and Hoskins (another 'deeper forward) are essentially competing for the same scraps, with neither playing the creative role. I'm not convinced that the two should play together.

Another related issue that puzzles me is that all through pre-season Curle appeared to be gearing up to play 3 at the back with wing-backs only to seemingly change his mind in the last friendly against MK in favour of 4-2-3-1. I was in favour of this switch at the time - and the MK game suggested it was promising - but only on the proviso of the all important left-sided attacker being brought in.

A young, pacy premiership loanee on a season-long loan might do the trick - it doesn't have to be a permanent signing necessarily. 



 

I don’t know why, but I keep forgetting about this option? It’s just occurred to me that playing these U21 outfits might have some fringe benefits? Anyone seen a suitable candidate?

I don't recall any of the Arsenal U21's having a fringe.

From what I understand , there are deeper issues.
It centres around training and youth development . What we are seeing on the pitch represents a complete lack of structure all over the place .

I have found it rather strange that for the past season or so Jon Brady has set up the U18's to play exciting, freeflowing, goalscoring football which has proved to be pretty successful, yet the senior team has been set up to be defensive, compact and the complete opposite of the youth setup.

Surely there should be some kind of "connect" between the two squads to allow smoother transition of the younger players to the senior setup?

U18's this season played 4 won 3 drawn 1, scored 18 (yes EIGHTEEN) conceded 6
Senior Team played 5 won 1 drawn 1 lost three, scored 3 conceded 5

The deeper issues (according to my sources) are more to do with the hands-off ownership by our current moneymen.

Much like the fate of the last few managers, if the owners don't set the right agenda & milestones, then what does a manager do, other than tread water (then go on to manage National squads - eg, B & P)?

Everyone needs targets and a sense that they are being measured.

The playing budget has been drastically reduced, which is good business.  Big tick for Mr.Curle

So long as the club survives a going concern, the owners have on-going dividends.  Big tick, Mr.Curle.

Distress is shown when crowds plummet, or season ticket sales fail.  Question, Mr.Curle?

Has Curle managed absolute s***e before?  No.

Have the Cobblers been absolute s***e before?  Yes, multiple times over the last 50 years.

Mr.Holmes.... your deduction, please?

In response to the 2 posts above :
There is no synergy whatsoever between the youth and first team . It’s not Ajax put it that way .
KT is never in the country . Ask yourself who is running the show .

Whiting?

The poll deems Curle In, so shut up and get behind him

A win for remainers

I think we should have another poll, we could call it a 'peoples poll'.

I'm suggesting we prorogue this message board  :)

Fcuk it I want to keep have polls until it say Curle out  ;D

There are some on here who could do with a 15-day shutdown, that's for sure!

How do so many people have insight into who is at the club each day and how the youth links are? Genuine question.

Je ne comprend pas.

Think it is time to pull this back up.

Based on the tripe on display yesterday, I'd like to think that Keith doesn't have much longer in charge. He can take a good number of the players with him too.

Why didn't you think it was time to "pull this back up" after we beat PLymouth and Newport with ease?

Keep him until the end of the season and then wave him off down the road .
Accept this season is going to be transitional
.

Transitional or regressional?

If it's Transitional then we keep him until at least the end of the season. If it's Regressional then we have to get rid in January which means more upheaval, change of staff and players. I'd been thinking that we were showing signs of improvement until yesterday, that was dire, let's hope it was just a backwards step(!?)

it’s just the same as last year win a couple then go on a losing streak win a couple and finish 17th just as I have predicted  :P
Curle out purely because he is tactically inept, spouts utter bollox and hasn’t managed to get a team promotion in 17 attempts.

Difficult to argue with this, but as it stands, keep him to the end of the season and then get rid when it doesn't cost anything. We don't need KT to load more debt onto NTFC by paying off yet another inept manager.

Because all of the Curle Apologists said "Give him time". I gave him time. Thought maybe he was onto something. But shock horror, he wasn't. The guy is dreadful. If we keep him to the end of the season, that's cool. It'll be my lowest number of games attended in a season since I started going and the same for the majority of my group.

Good points - the non-entertainment served up irrespective of results will definitely start telling on the gates

I'm beginning to think the same in that it seems we're not capable of stringing more than 2 or 3 decent results together and will therefore end up around mid-table, which is not good enough with the squad we've got. I also agree however, that we should get rid at the end of the season unless things take a dramatic turn for the better or worse. Changing manager mid-season hasn't worked at all well for us in recent years apart from the expense of it.

I think we as fans are beyond caring what debts the club run up now because it already owes KT and his mate 5 mill. So any more debt will just be racked up to them. They cannot possibly sell it with the debt attached so it doesn't benefit us one way or another. Having said that I don't think getting shot now will help us, we ain't getting promoted this season.

This time last season we went into a Tuesday night League Trophy game against Oxford, won 2-1 and went on a run of 6 wins in 7 games. Can history repeat itself?

If we don't then the Curle apologists won't be able to say we are in a better position than last season for much longer.

Given what recently happened to Bury I think debt is still a worry for most fans.

With the greatest of respect I think you’re wrong to refer to “Curle apologists” - I think a better term would be Curle realists. I’m certainly not in the minority of those who were underwhelmed when he was appointed but realised there was nothing to do except buckle in and hope that he could put together his team/squad and try to support him as much as possible. I think it’s starting to sink in now that there are major issues and it is depressing to think that we might have to write the season off in early October. Having said that we seem to have been here before and KC then pulls a couple of results out to buy more time - looking at the potential returnees for the weekend there is every chance of this happening again but we have no consistency so I fully expect it to recur. As others have said the main reason we’re not getting anything out of the likes of lines, warburton and Adams is possibly to do with the direct style of play KC is employing - at least in the Newport, Plymouth and bits of the Crawley game we mixed it up a bit but on Saturday we just reverted back to hoofing it and playing for knockdowns which is depressingly primitive.

Has the 'mysterious Curle' rendition been sung much recently?
I somehow doubt it!

I don't think that it's just the brand of football, you really have to question things like who thought it was a good idea to loan out Jay Williams with Goode and Turnbull both on 4 bookings ? Surely someone MUST have thought "We might be a bit short in this position" ?

Or the straw hat bol**cks that the club used to desperately try to create some kind of connection with the supporters!

I agree entirely - also the complete lack of Pollock, Williams or Roberts this season after they were so impressive last season.

If we keep the same points per game ratio we will finish on 56 points, more than enough for safety. With that in mind unless there is a serious drop in form then I cannot see him going before the end of the season.

The decision to loan Williams out seems farcical , despite Goode pulling out late in the day .
I assume he did play for Wellingborough on Saturday ?
The notion of it being somehow acceptable that Curle keeps us up is nonsense . He has the budget and free reign to challenge for the play offs at least and should be doing so . Furthermore , he will he expected to develop the youngsters through his coaching staff that he appointed .

Have you got your money back from the charity shop?  ;)

🎩

It is now his own squad, his own "style".

There are NO excuses. His recruitment has been shown to be poor, he has recruited a team of mundane players with no excitement and a very dull (and obvious) game plan.

So as the fifth manager in 4 years is under pressure still nothing to do with the tools at his disposal??? or his working conditions?

I've mentioned it before but I think there is a more deep rooted problem with the club. Curle, Page, Edinburgh and Hasselbaink can't all be bad managers. In fact, we are the only blip in what was a strong managerial career for Edinburgh. Is it a coincidence that Hasselbaink, Page and Edinburgh all had their lowest win percentage with us?

Barnsley interested?

If he is the same at Northampton as he was at Carlisle he will go nowhere near the youth team/youngsters, he simply isn't interested. He watched ONE Carlisle Youth team IN 3 SEASONS!!!! (and he didn't watch all of that game) Since he left, 4 youngsters have been on the bench or have been included in the first team, (and they were all here when Curle was, infact two of them have moved on to Leeds United), kind of says a lot doesn't it?

He hasn’t been the same here. He’s given more game time and more contracts to young academy players than any of our  managers I can remember in the last 15 years.

That’s one way of viewing it I suppose !

On the subject of KFC,  can anybody remember a time when he made changes to tactics or a substitution during the game to change it for the better.

Keith biggest problem is the on the 50% of occasions when Plan A is flawed her has no plan B,   other than making random subs with no real plan of why.

The sooner he is gone the better.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, he’s a dinosaur. His main tactic is to stop the opponents from playing. He can identify the better teams threats and set out to nullify them, but when we play the weaker and lesser teams he’s clueless. Look at the results....remember the ‘easier games to come’ thread...that would look good at the moment wouldn’t it?!

Most times in watching this team I can not see what the plan is at all. Width or no width, passing or long ball, there just seems to be a mish mash of everything and nothing done very well.

Take the shackles off, play to OUR strengths for once, give the opposition something to think about for once...we have good players, but I don’t think they are being ‘allowed’ to play.

There's a worrying trend that every manager since Wilder has been obsessed with stopping the opposition rather than imposing our game on them.

What is it about our club that puts them in a negative frame of mind?

There was a time after the miraculous avoiding of relegation and before the run that led to league champions that Wilder was heavily criticised for his style of play. He was serving notice at Oxford because they did not like his negative tactics. Even at the beginning of the run we were winning games playing in a pretty dour way with fans appreciating the win rather than enjoying the performance.
Let's be realistic we want 3 points and it doesn't matter how we get them. I've never ever seem a fan's report saying his team played the right tactics and expansive football after they lost.

Playing the way KFC does he has to win games.  If he dosnt then he isnt going to win any friends due to his lack of style.

At best he has an average plan A and no plan B.

Keiths motto to his players is win together,  lose and your on your own

CurleOut

   I think he MUST BE GIVEN MORE TIME.

Yeah, because after fifty eight games in charge, he’s just about to go ‘back to basics’

Why  ? 

KFC should not keep his job just because we have sacked our previous 4 managers.

Get him gone

I agree, he is unaware of his best 11, his best formation, or his best substitutes. Or the timing of them. He sets out not to lose, far too
early, and does not know how to win. Its boring s***e at best. And he can do one with the time wasting as well.

Curle’s players , Curle’s tactics , Curle’s team selections.
Some of the worst football I have ever seen us play in 45 years . Nil entertainment . No development of the younger players at all.
Lost interest in the home games and completely stopped going to away games.
It’s down to one man . Keith Curle .

If he loses against Salford the crowd will turn on him for sure.

I am pretty sure from day 1 most Cobblers supporters didn't think he would achieve anything. Some hoped he would and others prayed he might but let's face it he really doesn't evoke confidence.

No they won’t, they’ll sit there with their blankets across their knees, stay quiet for the whole 90 minutes and applaud the team off!

Stevenage, went 2 up top when Harry Smith came on at half time and that change worked really well

Don't want to get rid of another manager and have to pay them off but a few good results a few weeks ago and we thought it might have just clicked in place then a few bad and everyone wants him out   I don't think we that bad to go down and I don't think curle is that bad a manager to take us down so stick with him till end of season and then say thanks but not anymore ( he only got till end of season in his contract hasn't he )

Thats 1 ....

Yep, and this would suggest it'll be KC until the end of the season bar a huge meltdown.

He's at the 35% win mark that he's managed pretty much his whole career.

7 points in 9 has become 8 points in 18.

Next up, Salford (h), Carlisle (a), Cambridge (h) who are 14th, 20th, 16th.... mid to lower table sides who we've been struggling against mind  :-X

Could help himself by
a) playing some of the talented youth players
b) be more attack minded
c) have a plan B and admit when plan A is wrong

yeah keep him bar huge meltdown agree.  If he plays youth players we moan he pickin inexperienced players or tinkering with team. Have plan b is out the question cuz we struggle to have plan a. It's ok to be more attack minded if we could finish our opportunities but we don't then more than likely go and concede one at the other end

Alan McCormacks fitness will have a big bearing on our final position this season going by his performance and influence yesterday.

I make no opologies for repeating that our midfield should include our best younger players (who have scope to improve).

Therefore; Adams, Pollock, McCormack, McWilliams, Morgan (MOM for Direones).

Balance- creativity-positivity............................and no Hoskins!!!!!!

he should be MOM for diamonds - terrible standard of football

Curle’s way of mitigating himself whenever we don’t perform is that he states the players are not carrying out the instructions he has given them.
I would say the instructions themselves are at fault . I am not sure the players but into the team ethic and want more freedom .

I know this will create an opening for some of the negative fcukers to attach my comments to their agenda  :P ;D But I am more interested in a fair appraisal of my thoughts, so I know I'm not the only one that views it like this.

I'm not too sure what the logic was in appointing Curle in the first place. On the whole I have been quite supportive of most of our appointments. Mostly because they have achieved varying success at other clubs. But with Curle this was not the case. He has been the recipient of numerous opportunities to show his worth, but has never once achieved what I would consider a prerequisite of a lower league manager, namely a promotion. I would be a lot more tolerant if there was some historical value to his appointment. But whether he interviewed well, or somehow winged is way into the job, you have to seriously question the process behind his appointment.

The claim that it is nigh on impossible to know how a manager will do, just doesn't stand up to scrutiny. Especially in the case of Keith Curle. If I receive a CV or an application from a prospective employee, I have nowhere near the insight into the candidate that KT would have had with Curle. There is an extensive array of statistics, videos and other chairman that he could have relied on to make an informed choice. But even without that, the lack of a promotion has to conjure up a huge red flag against his appointment.

Only in football would this be acceptable. To employ a candidate into a job, where he has a proven record of failure. If that sounds unkind, I'm afraid it should do. What I say is a minor affront to Curle, compared to the affront to us as supporters and customers of the club. How much ambition does it show to the squad, when they are aware that their boss hasn't managed to succeed at the very thing he should expect from them.

I say let's have a change. I'm sure like most, I am happy if KT spends my money on bringing in someone that least has a taste of success to refer to.. 

I stated on the first page of this that we had to give him until at least Christmas (despite my misgivings about him) as chopping and changing managers is a proven route to failure. I've shifted a bit though; I think there's potential in the squad Curle has assembled but he clearly has no clue about how to realise that potential.

We're going backwards at the moment and I think he'll be gone before the end of the season, so I'm starting to think he should go sooner rather than later. That would give a new manager a chance to work with the current squad to see if they can get more out of them (which I'm pretty sure any manager worth the name could do) between now and the January transfer window. If we can avoid yet another costly slash-and-burn of the squad in the next transfer window then it can only be a good thing.

We'll have none of that "common sense thinking" on here thankyou very much!

Curle served a purpose.....which was to steady the ship and dispel any thoughts and fears of us being relegated from the Football League. Don't forget he was appointed early in the season, in October, so it would be difficult for anyone to say that we were going down if he'd not come in. There was still three quarters of the season to go when we were served up that abject performance at Mansfield, that which led to Austins dismissal.

Curle steadied the ship, but as you say, his extensive CV doesn't show anything which you can grab on to and say that he is the man to get us promoted.

Capitulations like that late on at Morecambe and that on Saturday are no better than what we were getting under Austin. For Curle to now say that we're going back to basics after 58 games at the helm is a bit rich.

Apparently Curle had been interviewed before Austin was appointed but, in my view, KT gave Austin the job because he seemed to have a positive effect on the players and probably because he was a cheap option.

KT had already decided he wanted to bail from the club asap and didn't want excessive outgoings for that reason. When Austin failed dismally he just wanted someone to keep us floating so resorted to Curle. He didn't want, after so many managers, to spend more on a guy that may have taken us places.

Fair comment Tel, but it’s sort of the wrong question? Dean Austin was sacked in a panic, so the question is not what qualified Keith Curle, rather how did he compare to the other potential candidates? That is the only decision that mattered at the time. That is the problem with knee jerk sackings, the immediately available selection pool is limited. I mean come on, in the event we pulled the trigger on Curle right now who are we going to get that is obviously ideal? The perfect opportunity for the right appointment was when Chris Wilder left. A great squad on the up and once that ship sailed we have been forced onto the hire em fire em manager merry go round ever since. The solution is to stop blowing the budget on the best of a bad bunch. Pick the best you can get at the time and stick with them. At least until you can hire your perfect choice. Otherwise we will have to keep rolling the dice until we get lucky. That’s fine, plenty of clubs play that game, but FFS stop moaning when it doesn’t work out because the chances are it won’t. Not unless you chuck major money at it and take someone who isnt on the dole, but is currently doing a great job in similar circumstances. Even that doesn’t guarantee success. Give KC till the end of his contract to succeed or fail and in the meantime make sure you know exactly who you want and why, and then if necessary go and get them. Either way the golden rule should be don’t sack anyone unless you have a very clear detailed vision of what you so want to achieve by doing so. That will almost certainly mean your perfect target candidate primed and ready to sign on the dotted line once the latest failure has been frog marched out of the door.

Some fair points, but it's worth remembering that when KC was appointed we were in the bottom 2 and had only won 1 in the first 10 matches. KC's main remit that season would have been to avoid relegation and 'steady the ship' and in that regard he was a solid appointment. His second remit would have been to rebuild a competitive squad on a reduced wage bill over the summer. He has also only been given a relatively short contract and a failure to challenge for promotion this season can see it not renewed at no cost.

Whether or not he has managed to rebuild a competitive squad over the summer is open to debate and time will tell where we finish this season. While the leading pack are opening up a gap we are still only 4 points of 8th. I still think we will finish comfortably in the top half of the table this season. Enough for promotion? So far I'd have to say probably not, but a decent foundation will have been laid for the next appointment to build upon.

I still maintain that Page, Hasselbaink and Austin were KT's most disastrous appointments since Wilder left and that Curle will at worst prove to be a steady if uninspired one.

I have a few concerns with Curle, first is the lack of a plan B during games and being able to effectively change a game although I feel that Southgate also struggles with this and generally makes only like for like changes.

Second is his public speaking and contradictions, say one thing does another.

But the most concerning currently is the (in my opinion) mis-management of the youth team/graduates. We have arguably the best group of youth players we have ever had at this club and I fear most of them will just be cast off. There is a development plan for all the graduates but only a couple have gone out on loan and when they have its been for a month before they return  to probably train separately from the first team and maybe sit on the bench. Sean Whaler (2yr contract), Camron McWilliams and Jay Williams (both 18 month contracts) will be out of contract at the end of this season plus any others that were only given a 1 year deal. If Curle was giving regular suitable opportunities to youngsters (by that I mean playing them alongside an experienced player e.g. Pollock or Newell & McCormack, Camron McWilliams next to Goode & Turnbull in a back four etc. so they can learn and have someone to talk them through a game rather than just being chucked in when Curle feels he has no other option) I could probably forgive the up and down performances as I could see that we are building for the next few seasons and/or developing talent that would bring substantial money into the club to fund other signings. But as Carlisle fans have mentioned he does seem to favour experienced pro's (prime example at the end of last season when he gave experienced pro's the opportunity to earn a new contract rather than giving experience to players who were going to be here this season).

Whilst I don't want more money being wasted by sacking Curle if he stays until the end of the season I fear we will lose a good few younger players who could at worse case provide competition in different positions rather than relying on one player to cover 3 positions.

My current position is keep Curle, once we have got to 50 points get rid, let Brady manage the first team with an emphasis on younger players and start interviewing so the successful candidate (if needed) could watch a few games, attend training to get an idea of the squad before decisions are made regarding new contracts.

Top post mate and exactly where I also stand on this .
It’s not just the abject results and the dire style of football , it’s much deeper than that . Curle is squandering the best chance we have of bringing through our own breed of player.
There is no development of talent going on at all with these lads as the manager focuses entirely on recovery and nullifying the opposition.
It’s a disgrace that it’s being allowed to continue by the club.

The debate rages on.

Hamster's point ref his CV has become the ultimate catalyst as to why so many are inpatient. They look at his previous record, which doesn't give out too much hope. That said, the CV's of Johnson, JFH, even Page (2 solid seasons at Port Vale), Justin E (Gillingham wobble aside), all displayed potential. In particular Gary Johnson. Wilder's CV wasn't doing him too many favours as we trundled up the hill back to our cars after THAT Dagenham defeat!

I'm probably contradicting myself here, even Im not sure what Im trying to say!  ;D

So back to Keith Curle. I've tried to, for once, measured a manager purely from day one of coming to our club and ignoring previous records. I wouldn't have employed him, said so at the time. But the man with the power, did. So we had no choice other than to get behind him.

Once the dust settled (after his appointment) there was a logic to it. Namely it was a low risk appointment. Results and performances there after proved that, we didn't win many but we didn't lose many. The odd capitulation, the odd very decent display.

That patterns, with a very different set of players, has continued this time round. We've seen the sublime and the close to sublime (Plymouth, Newport), the gritty Atkins-esque 1-0 away wins (Stevenage, Swindon), a fair few average ones and some utter dross (Colchester, Leyton Orient and Sc***horpe).
A total mixed bag.

Injury wise, we've not had luck but Id argue we've not had bad luck. Overall. Pretty on par with football, having 2 or 3 first team starters unavailable for whatever reason most weeks.

We've chucked away far more points than we've earned in opposite circumstances. We'd be comfortably in the top7 with those extra 6/7/8 points. To emphasise, we've not gained any by scoring late on in matches. A gallant come back. Not one, by my reckoning.

So in my view, its that last paragraph that Id like to focus on. Im going to 'pretend' for a minute we didn't throw away 2 goal leads twice, and that we held on for the win at Bradford. We'd be sitting 7th, and reasonably happy. All things factored in. Even though, in reality, it was mainly tactics that were at fault (in my eyes) as to why we lost those points. But that is of course subjective.

After Saturday, I'd tipped into sacking territory. I'm now balancing on the edge of it. Do I think we will succeed under Keith? Probably not. But there's a bit of sympathy still in me, for the loss of those points. Not much though!  ;D

Its bloody unlikely that KT is going to fire him this week, I think thats a given. So Ill show up Saturday and hope for the best. But I've definitely reached the point that another really poor showing will be it for me. I think we've a good squad, given the budget restraints he's had to work under. Less so the the actual figure itself, more so that he's had to wheel and deal quickly to make the numbers add up, whilst trying to improve a very poor squad that he inherited with over inflated wages across the board.

I don't buy into the argument that continuity with managers gets you success. Never have done. Its right place, right time. And luck. Sacking managers that are under performing is standard football industry business. When we sacked Atkins, Wilson took over and got us promoted after a terrible start. The shackles were released. There's a big part of me that thinks the right manager coming in now could achieve something similar. Its for that reason Id like to see a change made sooner rather than later unless he gets us going with immediate effect. I don't want to see this season peter out!

I do think that Curle was a safe option for the owners as he is unlikely to get us relegated but also unlikely to take us very far. If all they want to do with the club is keep it ticking over then I assume they will stick with him. I personally would like to see our owners come to a decision on where they want the club to go and head in the direction of bringing in a decent Director of Football who knows the bottom 2 divisions well and then promote Brady to manager, on the understanding that we will be looking to promote our youth players into first team roles. Then using a good mix of youth and experience to achieve a successful team. This could if done correctly see us in a position long term where we are developing youth to sell on to help the clubs finances.

Absolutely pointless sacking him until KT leaves. As others said a cheap established manager who isn't going to be demanding of more from the owners.

Again some are talking of longer term plans, Tel of his CV etc, well these are all things that were in the infamous Trust (not Trust) leaflet, about developing plans, investing in the football club, best practice etc etc, none of this appears to be happening at NTFC. If they haven't been started now they never will under current owners.

My idea of developing players for medium term gains got ridiculed by some of here (back of the net) when I said we should be prepared to be around 18th for a couple of season IF young players were being blooded and developed, with the savings of higher wages being put into off field investment like training, fan facilities etc. But no in the last 2 seasons we have spend £7m with no to show for it and nothing to show in the medium term either.  BTW whats our league position ??

Hopefully the differences between us and Wycombe (trust owned) continue to grow in order for more Cobblers fans to see that a community based club CAN and DOES work

I'm sorry but I think this is probably the easiest season to manage the Cobblers in recent history and that's why I'm fed up with Curle.

Only one relegation spot, a lot of very average opponents, a decent budget for this level, the best crop of young players we've ever had and all this coming off the back of several seasons of absolute rubbish.  Add to this the ability to COMPLETELY rebuild the squad during the summer having had 6 months+ of watching the previous players.

All he had to do to please me personally was to play with some fire in our bellies.  Be positive and attack teams playing proper football i.e. not long punts up the field to a lone striker.  I didn't EXPECT promotion or play offs I just wanted to enjoy watching the side again with players that wanted it and had a bit of quality on the ball.

I also expected us to use the opportunity to bring some of the young players through.  I fully expect some of them not to make it.  That's the way of the world.  However I was certain Pollock and Jay Williams at least would be regular starters with others getting bench time while the rest were out on loan.  This is where I agree with Random to a small extent.  I'd have happily took mid table if we were building something that included our best young players.  Looks like we have another good crop this year coming through with no plan how we will ever integrate them into the first team.  It makes me think back to the Open Forum with Curle and whether his joking response about what happened at Carlisle and whether he simply kept the young lads cause he had no choice.  He clearly has little intention of playing any of them.

We appointed what was a "safe pair of hands" in Curle at a time when his remit was to keep us in the division and stabalise us.  That's what his CV told us he could do.  Nothing more, nothing less.  I think he has made some positive changes and it's churlish to ignore them but it's just so bloody boring.  It was a low risk appointment with zero long term thinking.

I felt quite positive with some of the signings in the summer especially with Nicky Adams as we finally had some quality, pace and attacking threat.  This was ruined though by only having one dimensional big man attacking options and flogging the guts out of players like Williams, Adams and the rest when you should be using them creatively.

There have been some good performances but even during most of those you could see the underlying style of play was worrying. 

I go back to my original point.  It's the easiest season in years to manage the Cobblers such are the low expectations and lack of decent competition.  So let's not waste it and let a dinosaur achieve a late play off push and settle for that.  Get rid of him, make a long term plan that includes the youth integration and get a manager in who can build something more exciting.

 

Hi MC, the problem is I think many of you underestimate how much the owners and clubs 'reputation' play into this. You say you want players with fire in their bellies, well that is very hard to find this day and age with such a pampered society, let alone footballers but again I say that this club will not attract those players who want to better themselves. If you were a hot shot travel agent, determined to bring quality and dynamic experiences to the travel industry would you choose Thomas Cook as your employer (before they went bust?) or BHS if you were into fashion. 

NTFC is a dinosaur and so is it's manager
 

Great post.

One other discussion topic I would like to introduce re the young crop of players is this. Did KC agree to them or did KT tell him it was happening?

Personally, I would agree with a few on here who would accept some up and down performances in exchange for some youth development and a bit of exciting football (hopefully) more often than not.

It certainly is. It's exactly what he said the day after being appointed manager, so how much progress have we really made?

The overriding factor for me still resides in the pathology of the decision around appointing Curle. If the decision was based on initiating a quick survival package, or to shore up a sinking ship, it still doesn't make sense not to appoint someone who can demonstrate ambition past the here and now.

If I was asked to appoint an interim manger purely to get us out of a mess, I would not have then invested further time and money in to allowing them to repeat history at my club. I do not want to labour the point anymore than I have. But it has to be said that not only was the writing on the wall with this appointment. It was on every statistics and football forum site that exists within our particular arena. From a clemency perspective, you could almost argue that it was unfair on Curle to expect anything more than the usual script. It brings to mind Einstein's Theory of Insanity:  ;D

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"..   

Eat your words you keyboard tossers!  Curle is our man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What's a matter with you?
Sort yourself out.

Curle back in again

Why?

'Why' seems to hit the spot which irritates some on here . I like him; does not throw his toys out of the pram if we have a ......err a bad day ;)

Oh go on then knock yourself out, upto ninth- the titles as good as ours.
You are right all along Overseas, Curles a footballing genius who has ntfc running through his veins.

CJ, old chap.....  When someone named "Why?"  posts "Why?".... maybe you should answer something like "CJ.... That's WHY!" ?   You know, continue the jest?  (Please?  For me?)

Not sure what you mean about "Overseas".  I fly in for a lot of our games, when schedules allow.  But, my heart is always Northampton, regardless of where I am in the World!

What I do know is that Curle is a great ambassador for the club, and behind the scenes is doing a fantastic job to ensure our future success.

Fly in for a lot of our games...Kelvin, is that you?

Be careful where you fish.  Especially in open water.

Still Curle out for me.

I'm still not completely convinced by Curle, but whatever you're opinion on him now is surely the time to really get behind the team and the manager. 9th in the league, 3 points off the playoffs, we could really do without too much negativity right now. This spell in the lead up to Christmas could be crucial in shaping our season.

https://www.ntfc.co.uk/news/2019/october2/kc_praise231019/

Safe bet that you aren't David though eh?

Continue to play the ball on the floor , retain possession and filter through the youngsters and I will back him .
Return to egg chasing and I’d rather go to The Saints to see them do it better !

Continue to play the ball on the floor , retain possession and filter through the youngsters and I will back him .
Return to egg chasing and I’d rather go to The Saints to see them do it better !

Absolutely this.

Yet to be convinced we'll put together a sustained good run, but he'll be here for the season.

This negativity towards KC is nowt getting a bit tedious, the bottom line he is he has achieved more than any of the other managers Thomas trusted to run the Cobblers. I suppose the in bound negativity of Northamptonians is something that cannot be erased, I think back to Wilders time and even then witnessed people in the West  Stand giving him abuse even during the promotion season. Just to shut you negative shower up I hope KC delivers on my stake at Ladbrokes and that he gets the Cobblers promoted this season. It will give me the greatest possible motivation to stop commenting on this site until the end of the season and then come back and mock all of you have hounded KC all season on this site.

Nothing in life will ever get 100% backing!

Football management is a results industry and generally we are slowly improving, with hiccups.

Yes I would like to see more high tempo passing football.
Yes I would like to see 3 or 4 of 'one of our own' youngsters consistantly selected in the squad.

Next examination Cambridge.

.

So will I but in a gentle and courteous manner ;).

Many list Jon Brady and as potential contender for replacement. On the cobblers show last night he mentioned the negativity that can come from certain corners of the west stand.

Good post. I've no problem with people being critical of KC, but a lot of the criticism on here is so over the top it is beyond ridiculous.

3 successive 2-0 wins, McWilliams and Pollock playing prominent roles and learning form McCormack - there's definitely some positive signs there.

This season has something of a Boothroyd-play-off-final-season aura surrounding it: a glut of big target men (Bayo, Platt, Smith, Oliver), a bit of bite and guile in midfielder (Guttridge, McCormack) and some efficient L2 football.

However, what makes this side different (hopefully) is its sense of youthful vigour. I'd still like Curle to sign a left-sided winger and pacy striker in January, but other than that you would have to say that the squad is pretty good.

For me, Curle is proving again that he knows how to build a team and get decent results at this level. The big question mark is - and always has been - whether he can deliver a career-first promotion. As I said, the signs at the moment are positive. 

I've given him some stick but you have to give credit where it's due.  3 in 3 since Sammo returned.  Its no coincidence.

But Sammo doesn't start in his role until mid November  ;)

 ;D ;D

Touche

Schoolboy Error, missed the old accent ….. touché.

Sammo is there now.

Credit where it’s due I think the upturn by KC is all down to the sound advice he gets on here, especially from me.

But he doesn't 'officially' start until mid November (according to the club).

Ouch😁

Nice smile yesterday from Keith in reaction to the mysterious Curle song.

Whilst any comments that descend into abuse of KC and indeed some players (Hoskins in particular) are in my opinion out of order I think a lot of the comments on KC are more about the style of play and entertainment value  - of course good results tend to diminish such comments but if you watched one of our games as a neutral I’m not sure you would come again,

I’ve changed my mind a bit given how ordinary this division is and think with an ordinary batch of talent and an ordinary manager and a fair bit of luck, we could take one of the four promotion places but I don’t have big expectations on high level entertainment.

I think KC invites a bit of pressure because he both likes to tinker (never popular) and the style of play sometimes doesn’t endear him to the support base. Supporters like to think that every managerial decision and performance is controllable and if either appears unsatisfactory then that is the fault of someone, often the manager. However, as unpalatable as it is I believe that sometimes much of what happens negatively in football is uncontrollable. In the case of Keith Curle I would point to injury and individual form being the defining factors this season. KC obviously identified where it was vital that the squad needed improving and took steps over the close season to rectify this. My view is that it was vital as well, particularly regarding the  mental make up of the squad. I believe the 4 marquee signings in order of importance were arguably as follows. McCormack, Adams, Goode, Watson. Of the 4 only 1 has contributed as the manager would have liked so far. Adams has struggled a little bit for form and 2 have been missing through injury. Only Goode has so far come off. Now I’m sorry but if your 4 main signings end up contributing to this level then you are going to struggle a bit. It’s no coincidence that we are already looking a different side with the return of McCormack. As unpalatable as it is I believe that where we end up this season will be uncontrollable to a significant degree. Keep all 4 of those signings fit and in form and I believe we will win automatic promotion. If we don’t and some get injured or lose form, and dependant on who, how many and how long and we could end up in the bottom half or worse. To reiterate, as supporters we like to believe that everything is controllable and fixable. Don’t perform to expectations and that is someone’s fault. The truth is that often this is not the case and results and the standards reached are a result of unfortunate circumstance. Like I said, I think sometimes KC doesn’t help himself, but given the circumstances I think some of this is enforced as both him and us have been very unfortunate so far with our summer signings. Add to this the recent emergence of the transfer windows this is more true than ever. Given that, I also believe we are currently performing slightly above par regarding league position. That’s what I think anyway.

Really? How about Smith who was bought for money and was clearly earmarked as our first-choice striker? Or Reece-Hall Johnson and Martin who were clearly ear-marked as first choice full-backs? Or Lines who clearly didn't sign to merely sit on the bench?

Smith is starting to hit a bit of form so that signing may well come good. However, I'd say that Martin has been inferior to Harriman and that Reece-Hall Johnson has yet to establish himself.

Overall, Curle's summer recruitment was OK rather than spectacular IMO. Oliver and Smith are too similar IMO and he would have been better off signing a pacey striker to add another option alongside one of them. As I've said many time, we also still need a proper left-sided winger IMO.

McCormack has been very good and if we get 20+ games out of him he will probably be a **** worth taking. The long-term plan should be for McWilliams and Pollock to learn everything they can from him so that they can take over.

All fair comment and of course all subjective. My view is that the general point remains the same. The more of your key players you keep fit, the more likely you are to succeed and that is out of any managers control. Therefore teams seasons and managers fate are often mainly dictated by circumstance rather than poor decision making. IMO of course.

On a separate note I would argue that Smith was not as vital as Williams can do a similar and some would argue better job even without the benefit of hindsight?

If you are just above average in this division , you can do reasonably well .
The standard of player seems pretty low . I wonder if that is due to the reduction in loan players and clubs playing safe .

Here's a question for all, has Curle got a better squad of players now than this stage last season? Squad, not individual talent within the 1st XI.

Given that the Prem is chock-a-block full of Johnny foreigners you would think the standard in the lower divisions would be higher than 20 or 30 years ago. This would be on account of higher quality home grown players filtering down the divisions? Something I’ve always wondered about anyway?

On paper, I think the defensive spine of this team is arguably better than the 2015-16 title winning squad.

You could argue about Zander Diamond, but Goode, Turnbull and Wharton are all better than the other CB options that season.

McCormack is definitely an upgrade on any of the defensive midfield options.

What this group lacks is the flair option in the attacking part of the team.

I think the standard is actually higher than before the rise of the Prem. The Championship is roughly the equivalent to the old 1st Division and this can be shown by the number of clubs doing so well in Europe these days.

I think less loan players are available from the top two divisions due to league rules and so clubs have had to be more circumspect . Wages have also been preventative as the gap grows bigger.
Personally , I think it’s better that you have committed full time players at clubs and the supporters have an identity with them .
I do think it’s a good reason why the standard has plummeted to much of a muchness amongst all the clubs though .

I see this thread has gone a bit quite of late

Yes it has gone strangely quiet. No posts from the anti Curle brigade of Manwork, Grange Park Cobbler, etc but they are probably still convinced that he will be "gone by Xmas". More likely he will still be here next season.

You tell 'em WSO ;D

I'm still not a fan of him. And still don't see him as anything more than short term. He's doing okay at the moment now that he's abandoned his ridiculous tinkering. Hopefully that continues.

The tinkering is to find the players that fit best in the team
Successful teams keep the same formation and have great team spirit. Less succesful teams need adjustments and struggle to get that good team morale. Let's hope the tinkering continues to work.

I don't think he has abandoned his tinkering. Many would have expected Smith to start on saturday after scoring at Chippenham.
Because we have recently been successful playing 3 centre backs does not mean that at some point we won't revert to a flat back 4. Maybe even this week against Grimsby as they tend to play 442. When the opposition has 2 wide midfield players and overlapping full backs you probably need to match them up and play conventional, better defensive full backs than attack minded wing backs. This then releases the wing backs from some defensive duties to play further forward.
Because we have just won 4-1 a lot of supporters will be expecting an unchanged team this week but as KC says he assesses each oppositions strengths and weaknesses then selects the team accordingly.
All managers have their critics and at times will be criticised for team selection, substitutions and signings and of course will at times get things wrong. Most of us were surprised when Paul Anderson was resigned yet he is now commanding a regular place and doing a decent job wherever he is asked to play.
Personally I think that KC is the best manager we have had since CM and because he has not got a promotion on his cv will not him getting one with us.

Do you actually mean CW? Afraid some on here believe they are better Manager than KC  Don't include Manny Boyo tho'!

Sorry, yes CW not CM.

Happy to bet the price of an ice skating tkt that this season we will have less goals against than the CW side.

He's got to go. We don't want any of this 6 games unbeaten malarkey. Won 5 and drew 1. In a play-off spot, we don't want any that. Lots of people smiling clapping the team off the pitch. What is the world coming to. He's got to go!

As pleased as I am with the recent progress, the next month or so will tell us more. December's fixtures look ridiculously tough:

07-Dec: Exeter (A)
14-Dec: Forest Green (H)
21-Dec: Mansfield (A)
26-Dec: Crawley (A)
29-Dec: Cheltenham (H)

If Forest Green, Crawley and Cheltenham are hard fixtures then we certainly have come down in the world.

They are tough games but good tests for us. Earlier in the season we looked a real scruffy bunch of individuals but are now starting to look like a team. These games might tell us if we are genuine playoff/promotion contenders.

To be fair I thought Forest Green were the best 'footballing' side in league 2 last season and I'm sure their style of play this year is easier on the eye than their shirts!!

Last 7 games. Won 6 drew 1. Fifth in the league, lets face it he's got to go!

I'm sure Manwork and Grange Park Cobbler would agree that he has to go but they appear to have gone strangely quiet.

It can't be down to KC, I reckon someone has found their lucky pants from the 2015-16 season at the back of their draw and started wearing them again  😜😂😂

Why don’t you wait and see what happens at the end of the season or do you have a history of being premature?

I was in the give Curle longer camp but he did sound very concerned and miserable before the beginning of the current excellent run.

I don't need to wait until the end of the season Manwork, I have recently posted that I regard KC to be the best manager we have had since CW. I also said that because KC does not have a promotion on his cv does not mean he won't get one with us possibly even this season.

Bit self destructive Boyo - unlike you to adopt the now famous 'neutral' position. Wish you could spend more time canvassing on ticket (stand/travel) prices. Or Champion the Trust and their objectives. Just think of the Hero Status you could claim or achieve.

#curlein again

Several on here said. He would be gone by Christmas. Cannot remember who but perhaps they will front up.

I've yo-yoed a bit on this topic - initially "in" (despite misgivings), I had a bit of a wobble in early October where I'd have been glad to see the back of him and now "in" again. He's got us playing well and getting results, but I'm still not entirely convinced; it's no coincidence our upturn in fortunes has coincided with the return of McCormack. If/when he gets injured again I'm really not convinced that Curle has a Plan B that caters for McCormack not being the fulcrum of the side.

His cod philosophy can really grate sometimes but at least he's dropped the jigsaw metaphor. Nicking pieces from other boxes always ends in tears.

Deffo out.

You don’t have to scroll back very far to see who they were  ;D

And they probably wrote FACT after their prediction.

Our style of football has changed . We are not bypassing the midfield any longer and there is much more focus on ball retention .
Every aspect of our play has improved .

I actually think our defending was just as good before as it is now. The difference now is that we keep the ball way more than before and we have more of an attacking threat. The more you keep the ball is the less defending you do. The less defending you do generally means the less goals you concede.

Our last 3 home games we have won despite the opposition having more possession than us.
v Grimsby we had 46% possession.
v Crewe we had 46% possession.
v Cambridge we had 43% possession.
I found it particularly noticeable during the last world cup how often teams with very low % possession won, ie Germany had far greater possession than Mexico could not break down Mexico's defence and whenever a German attack broke down Mexico broke at speed and could have won more comfortably than 2-0.
I don't remember Cambridge offering much of a threat with their 57% possession, nor Grimsby in the second half last saturday.
So it is how effective you when in possession and nullifying the opposition when they are in possession and recently we are doing this pretty well.

So it seems at last we are all in agreement? Anyone on this thread that wanted Keith Curle out should be lined up against a wall and shot. That is until we lose 4 or 5 in a row, at which point the polar opposite should happen?

yeah and those shot were hopefully shot with blanks. Nope not at all, said from the start give kc a chance and I was right, so yeah league 1 here we come..... I hope 😁

Bit harsh Melly - bit harsh ;)

Not really, I’ve been so indecisive on this subject I’ve put myself up to be shot twice.

You must know how Corbyn is feeing about Brexit.

Bit like Boris, didn't he vote against it twice ? :-\

Jacob Rees-Mogg. There, I've said it.  :-[

Who does he play for? (ARSEnal)

Is he a VERY RIGHT winger?

Sad to see some on here introducing 'clever' political comments! Hope the Admins take robust
action?

Why? I don't think even the most ardent of Conservative supporter would dispute that Rees-Mogg is a right wing arse, would they?

JRM is a true legend, a throw back to the empire when the union flag covered a third of the globe, when the poor looked up to a well dressed gentlemen and bowed their heads.
#labourwipedout.

Ok political pundit but why use a KC thread to voice political comments?

I think it's called topical banter.

No

Yes. The third time grudgingly

Take this political clap trap off this site.

He has never voted against Brexit.

He only voted against Mays version of it.

BTW I proudly have never voted.

You cannot know if he ever voted against because the referendum vote was secret and he is a proven liar.

I like him, I think he’s got spunk.

On a separate note have you all noticed that the enthusiasm for the Keith Curle Hokey Cokey debate appears to have run out of steam? Always a sign things are going well?

They are all liars. That’s why I don’t vote. And quite frankly couldn’t give a flying fcuk about any of it.  ;D

So what was Mays deal, a version of what ?   Johnson said he voted against it and I'll take his word  :o :)

Politics Out / Curle In !! ........... for the time being :)

KT should run for election! He certainly has the ability to spin a line.

 ;D

There are no versions of a Brexit, until you try to make it palatable for the weak.

 

Which ever way you look at it , IT WAS A BREXIT DEAL, and Johnson voted against it                                             TWICE !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes because both include anti money laundering, and tax evasion legislation. London's economy would be devastated if this were to pass.

That's more like it.

I know you struggle with democracy. But you know there was only one vote. It was to leave the EU, lock, stock and barrel. Anything after that, was to appease the weak.

And I say that as a staunch europhile
 

Looks like you struggle with pretty much everything if you think there was only one vote on Brexit
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-46885828     
 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-47547887

I'm afraid you are wrong
https://www.historyextra.com/period/modern/britain-decides-the-first-european-referendum/

I take it after 2 pages of classroom banter. it's Curle in then?

Or out maybe.

It's a shame his Dad had!

I'm not. There was one vote to leave the EU. Anything after that was to determine the terms under which we would leave.

Nigel, you are the only one talking about the referendum, everyone else is talking about the various versions of the Brexit deal, do try to keep up !  ;)

Can we lock this off and start a new thread “Brexit, closer than ever?”

And that would get to over a million views with nothing happening as well.

Strange one Melbourne. Threads get locked very quickly when people start p***ing about on them, or they get warned to stick to subject of the thread. We're now going through a really good time (on the pitch) with things going well. I'll ask again, are we now going to close this thread as, it seems all the Curle doubters have gone VERY quiet. Or will we get back to the subject when we lose a couple of games? I'm very surprised (but perhaps I shouldn't be) how quiet people go when we start to do well. Oh well, like I voted in the first place. Curle in!

The situation appears to be very much in the 'Curle in' leaning of the majority irrespective of what the voting buttons revealed above.
If/when the situation changes, when we lose the next half a dozen  ;D, it will require a new thread and vote, therefore this thread has run it's course and is closed down.  8)