Post

Agree! Easy to get lost in the fact that there is a long-term plan, which has been communicated, and is grounded in some successful examples. But you're right, the short-termism of the first-team decisions is making it feel less stable/enjoyable and seems to run contrary to a lot of the bigger plans

I wonder if they'd have been more patient had we not been flying under Bloomfield? Or perhaps it would just have made the extent of their planned changes less overt. That January window will be difficult to understand for some time I feel.

I've always assumed it was a naive scramble to try & guarantee promotion, that went very wrong. But apparently Blooms was aware of some signings, so it stays a mystery!

It feels a worrying contradiction to what they have communicated so far (quite well in my opinion). Duff was right that it's a really tough league this year. There is an argument that he wasn't getting the most out of the team, but I'm not sure another coach makes that big a difference!

Agree - I think that would be a great contribution to a future fans' forum, for what it's worth! Yeah, I don't see anyone else getting any more out of the team, especially with the dearth of options right now. I have frankly no clue who they'll go for...

This only works when you accept that players, managers and staff may leave at any time (hopefully for big fee's), so the challenge is to limit the impact when it happens. Having a consistent playing-style (or "identity") helps do this on the pitch, and the "head-coach" model does the same off it.

The idea is when a player leaves, you already have replacements scouted to sign as replacements, or have youth players ready to step up. For staff, the idea is when one goes, another can be brought in in a similar mould to keep things moving forward with minimal disruption.

On paper, this makes loads of sense, and it's clearly been working for teams like Brentford, Brighton and Bournemouth. The club have been transparent about this across several Q&A's, but in my opinion, they are making a right pigs-ear of it so far!