I can’t see anything other than 10th at best with what we’ve got.

I’d say Brady has a bit of a free pass but will be under more pressure than many expect, simply because Calderwoods a ready made replacement if things look sour. He’s had 20 odd games already; he’s got his squad. He now has to perform. Good luck Jon.

I agree Dan

When he did a Q&A on Facebook in 2019, I was vocal… this was my first chance to speak face to face and felt it was right.

I’m not happy with the final drawings as I want to see a full rebuild, but the design is far better than the current eyesore.

He did allow me A LOT of time today and I am confident that I’ll have been more honest with him than anyone else who went about critiques. I sense he actually appreciated some honesty and in fairness, I’d say that was mutual. He said a lot which would not be featuring in a Gareth Wilshere Broom cupboard video and I respect that.

I’m not sold on things at all and told him as much. But I am getting my season ticket. I want to back the boys and get them back to League 1.

Well done Dan, hats off to you mate.

Wasn't it at the bottom end nearer to Drum Lane?

It was in Gold Street, left hand side as you you walk down it. Just before John Levers record store.

yes, taking a team of journeymen and mostly unheard of but seasoned pros to 2 wembley appearances in 2 years was simply disgusting
[/quote
 Definitely, oh yes and saving us from non-lge football when taking over in January and then picking up pieces from Mr Barnwell. that was awful as well!

I think this thread is really stating the obvious, lets face it there's been quite a few players this season who could be singled out. Yes we are all aware of how poor  (most of the time) Mitchell has been. But why start this thread as soon as we're relegated? What purpose is it serving?

[We simply don't have the infrastructure to sustain a League 1 club.]

I'm now of the opinion that it doesn't really matter who the manager is.

We've seen managers come and go. Occasionally we get lucky and achieve some short term success. Carr, Atkins, Wilson, Calderwood, Wider and Curle have all got us promoted from the 4th tier.

But any success is never sustained. At best we might hang around in League 1 for 2-3 seasons but the wheels always come off eventually.

We simply don't have the infrastructure to sustain a League 1 club.

We are a tin pot little club just off the M1, that play in a dilapidated Mickey Mouse stadium with no training facilities. How on earth can any manager achieve anything tangible under these circumstances? Any short term success is in spite of, not because of.....

Until we address these issues we're destined to just go round and round in circles and never get anywhere.

             Good, truthful post, the problem is with a few on here is the truth hurts! It hurts me but at this moment in time I can't see anyway forward or anything changing.

Apparently according to tele-text gossip column today (yes I still use it) Spurs are interested in Chuck.

Not one bad performance from our lads tonight. Kioso was excellent goal scoring full-back and keeping a clean sheet. Forwards & midfield all worked really hard & Mitchell did very well. My MOM though has to go to Lloyd Jones, seemed to be in the right place at the right time all night.

We all have varying views on the clubs current 'status', both on and off the pitch. Heres mine....

For as long as I've supported the club, 1987 it was when I started, the 'ground' has ALWAYS been whats held us back. I recall back in 1987/88 season, there were plans to build a new stand at the county ground whilst we were on a bit of a roll, on the pitch. Nothing happened. We soon nose dived and hit the financial hardships that have on numerous times since surfaced.

Then, when we did finally leave the County Ground, things very quickly started to progress (on the pitch, albeit once Atkins was appointed), but again, no expansion of Sixfield's, no extra seats installed, just talk. Talk about how easy it was to add extra tiers etc. Again, we were on a roll, sell out crowds quite often, 4500 fans at Watford, 42000 fans at Wembley. Local owners who were in it for the love, not the money. But for whatever reason, no additional seats, we still didn't own the ground, investment as it was was not forthcoming.

Then things changed. After another series of bucket collections and another relegation, DC splashed the cash. Took on the lease, saving the council 500k a year in subsidising the stadium. Remember it well. The BIGGEST mistake in many a year, before that and since. We had a good rental deal, but he got rid of that on the proviso that he could redevelop the land etc. Of course we know what happened next...after around 10 years of politics and an ever increasing debt.

We then got new owners, again after nearly going bankrupt. A lot of parallels again, history in many ways repeating itself. 5 years, a completed promotion, relegation, unexpected promotion, a likely relegation. Lots of owner debt mounting up, with no clear indication as to where we are heading next.

For me, until we have a situation where the ground (or land or as it is now, both) is not being used as a political football, where we have owners who are only interested in developing the football club and trying to get the team up the divisions, we are likely to carry on as we are. A small chance we could fluke it and 'do a Wycombe' but a bigger chance that we will go the other way. We've only bounced around 2 divisions, but its been a close call on a few occasions where we've nearly slipped into non league. It wasn't looking too healthy 2 seasons ago after 10 games before Curle arrived and steered us clear.

Big decisions need to be made once this season is out the way with. A clear and concise plan put in place as to what the intentions are, way beyond the 'do a deal with the council' stuff. The fans need to be 'brought together', there are too many factions developing and mutating. The louder ones amongst our ranks (I'm talking online at the minute obviously!) spend their time slagging of anyone who may be a bit indifferent, may have different opinions, or quite simply might not want to get involved in the politics and just support the team/club. When we had the 'we want answers' campaign, Id say around 25% of our fans were behind it, 25% were absolutely against it, the other 50% were fence sitters. Until its accepted that we are all bloody supporters, all really want the team to do well, and all have different personalities, views etc, then these factions will continue to mutate. Its not healthy. Look at Lincoln, how their fans 'are one'. We've only been like that twice in the last 30 years, around 96-98 period and in 2015.

Whatever happens in the coming months once this season is done and dusted, its vital that as a club and support base we move forward as one. Then we stand a much better chance of being successful. The owners and the fans both need to play their respective parts in this. If one doesn't do so, then mutations will continue to develop. And we could end up quickly moving down towards the bloody national league.

In my mind, the club has massive massive potential. I don't buy into this 'well we've always been sh1t, we've still got a club etc. However I wont slate anyone off for having that view, I fully respect it, it doesn't mean Im a better supporter than they are, or worse, or whatever. It just means I'm different to them in my views. I think with the wind blowing in the right direction, the right plan in place off the pitch, a support base 'fully behind the project' etc, we can make the 2nd tier in the coming few years. But so many things need to fall into place for that to realistically happen. I live in hope that it will. UTC!

Spot on post Drilling.

This must be the worst post-promotion season ever mustn't it? 4 points from the opening two games was the high point. We've been a nothing team and the creativity and forward play as bad as anything I can remember and I go back 35 years. Recruitment and budget have played their part no doubt. Who gets promoted and rips up the squad, only us. It wouldn't be so bad if we thought we'd get better players. We haven't and it's been woeful, truly woeful.
So back to League Two. Will we try to creat an identity, build solid foundations, or just muddle our way through with journeymen, cheap cast-offs and loanees? We've had players coming through the academy but rarely get enough game time. I'd rather see us develop a Chukwemeka than play Edmondson.
We need a football man at the top, and also someone with vision in how to take the club forward on and off the pitch because we're stagnating. We're only one bad season from a fatal relegation.

Spot on post Wadey. Summed up excellently, I must admit this is the most downbeat I've felt about the club since the Barnwell era.

Some very harsh posts here.

I myself called Brady 'risk averse' on another thread.

However, the revelations about Marshall's hamstring problems cast his recent tactical caution in a different light.
Curle left Brady with ridiculously limited options in terms of creativity and assists; the few remaining options (Sowerby, Miller and Marshall) are now injured.

The one area where I would like to see him taking more of a risk is by selecting Jones (and possibly Chucks) up front, but as I've said before: changing the strikers in this team is to some extent like shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic - largely pointless unless the fundamental problem of creating chances is addressed. The caveat I'd throw in is that of all the strikers we have, Jones and Chuks look to be the most capable of creating chances for themselves through their movement, something which we might have to turn to if Marshall's injury persists. I think Brady has largely selected Rose/Edmondson for their superior pressing ability and workrate in comparison to Jones/Chucks - this was probably the correct strategy in games such as Shrewsbury at home but he needs to start gambling a bit more now.

Overall, I would say that Brady has played his ridiculously limited deck of cards just about as well as he possibly could so far. For me questions about his style of play and win ratio are all largely moot at this point because he hasn't been operating with anything resembling a proper League One squad (thanks to the **** poor recruitment of his predecessor). On the plus side, I would argue that he has:

1. Got the players working hard and fighting.
2. Transformed the defence from a basket case into a decent League-One-quality unit. In fact, the core unit of Horsfall and Jones with McWilliams screening them could provide the spine of a very decent side next year (providing that the latter signs a new contract).

I understand the pessimism on here, but if I were Brady I would be largely ignoring results elsewhere and focusing on what is under our control. We have 5 football matches with 15 points to play for. If we won three of these I would be pretty confident of avoiding the drop. Teams have pulled off greater escapes than that in the past and it is still achievable. As I keep saying, no one gave us a prayer of going up last year after the Cheltenham home leg debacle. KC showed last year that if you get it right psychologically and tactically then you can upset the odds.

At the very least, what I want to see is some fight.




 

Cracking post Bungle, especially the last paragraph mate.

McWilliams

Jones the striker has had the equivalent of a pre-season with us now. You'd think he could take on a greater burden.

Definetly

Lets face it, our squad is not good enough for League 1. Our team sometimes is good enough to get results but we have very little "back up" if someone suffers a loss of form.
    Classic example is our keeper, Mitchell has, in my opinion, been poor and has cost us quite a few points, but we have no one else. Edmondson really doesn't look like scoring, but I think we are a better team with him playing. Shaun McWilliams had a terrific run of form around 6 weeks ago, but looks like he needs a rest, but again we have no one to bring in. Rose is more likely to score and wins more in the air than Sammy, but lacks Sam's pace. Sheehan is probably our best defender but we are a better team with a back 4 than a 5 and Jones and Horsfall have probably been our most consistent players under JB.
 So I would be tempted to pick the following team, as I think it's the team most likely to get results

                                                                            Mitchell
                                   Kioso                Jones                             Horsfall            Mills
                                               Sheehan                                          Morris
                                                       Hoskins                           Watson
                                                Rose                                                Edmondson

Maybe bring Mark Marshall on when the opposition are tiring a bit

That's a reasonable side, maybe start Jones instead of Edmondson? I like the look of Sheehan as holding midfielder.

A lot on here are saying how important the game against Rovers is on Saturday is.  I am not sure that is so.  Even if we win the game that gives us 42 points and that will not be enough to keep us up as I really cannot see us picking up anything in the 5 games that will remain after Saturday.  Our away form is so dismal that we are not going to take anything from visits to Peterborough, Gillingham, or Sunderland.  That leave us with 2 home games against sides battling to be in the play-offs and both in reasonably good form.  Ok so we might scrap a draw in both games but draws will not be good enough.  Sorry to be a harbinger of doom but I sincerely believe it is over for us regardless of Saturday.  What a disaster of a season.

Hate to say it but I think you're bang on.

After that awful performance, I can honestly say a 3-0 defeat wasn't a bad result. Lets be honest it flattered us.

Well, last (and only) time we played at the KC Stadium, came away with an excellent 3-2 win, Hull also near the top that day.
16,000 in attendance on a warm day, with around 6-700 Cobblers.
A good stay over in Hull as usual, Beverley Road, Springbank, Old Town and the Welly Club!

Would of course, be happy with a draw.

I was there, Eric Sabin put in an amazing performance that day. Cobblers fans were out in force . I'm sure we had a massive banner/flag which The Chron & Echo gave us that day?

Battled well and deserved it. Well done lads.

Rose

Terrible news, like many others have said he was a cracking lad and a good player, who always gave his all. RIP Lee, condolences to his family.