Have we lost four years?

[Linx]

At risk of starting a MrG debate :

If you look at the progress TP has made in just over a year: better players for almost no money; saved from relegation with astute loan signings and tailor-made tactics; climb to midtable now we've got over our 'new team settling in' blip.

It begs the question whether we've actually lost a lot of time by not appointing initially a similar manager who knows the Nationwide league and the type of players we need. Would we have been in a better situation now if Megson had been retained or MrG hadn't taken over? Would we have been in a better situation now if we had appointed TP instead of Quitterill when he first wanted the job before the 2002-3 season kicked off?

[JR]

I personally think if the Icelanders hadn't come in we'd be an average Div 2 side these days. Impossible to say what would have happened if TP had come in earlier, we could be back in Div 2, no one can say, we might be challenging for promotion.

One thing that has happened is steady progress. We made the Div 2 play offs 2 years on the row, won the Auto Windscreens, established ourselves in div 1 after a flirt with relegation and are now heading in the right direction. Can't fault what is happening. Another year of similar progress and who knows?

[marinog]

I think that for us, like many other teams, our status is about 50% down to luck and the other 50% has to do with hard work (or is it 70/30 or even 80/20).

The good og bad luck starts with the players we sign. Every single new signing is a gamble. Some of the best we have had in the last four years were Arnar, Hoekstra and Sthaniuk under GT and Crossley last year. We thought that signing Soluman and Petur would be major signings but both turned out sour. This year Eustace did not start brightly but has been outstanding resently while Halls is probably the catch of the year. TP took in Paul Williams for Petur and that has turned out to be a bad trade. The thing is that we never know how a new signing turns out.

The next thing is the make or break of every single game. We were some 90 seconds from losing to Cardiff less than two years ago. And if it had not been to the strange rule that away goals rule did not count we had been eliminated. So it was down to fluck luck that we made it the Millenium Stadium that year. Last year we could easily have been relegated but then we got Crossley. Need I say more.

I think that TP has a great understanding and knowledge of quality of players in the league and he is very good in single out the right player for the team. He has shown that since he came to Stoke. It has been our luck that the market has been like it has been and we have been able to get players cheap. If it had not been for that we would still be using players like Stefan. Rikki, Rowson, etc. because we would not have been able to get Ade, Asaba, Hill, Halls, GNW, Eustace, etc. for nothing or next to nothing. I think that Gary Megson also has this insight and he has proven with WBA that he can work well on tight budget. What would have happened if Megson would have stayed on? Well we might have got promoted that year and we might have gone to the Prem like WBA did. It is pointless to say because we did not. We are currently in a good position and should just be happy. Megson, Gudjon, Quitterall, TP it does not matter who is at charge, they have all contributed, but TP is here now and it is our duty to support him 100%. He has proven the people wrong that protested his appointment 15 months ago and to show him respect lets not dwell on what could have happened.

Kice

[McIce]

Kice.

Frábær póstur.

P.s. hvað heitirðu annars og hvaðan ertu?

Kv,

Snæþór Halldórsson - Reykjavík

[daverichards]

yes

[Pretty Little Boother]

Ah, if only we'd have known the future that awaited us...

[rorymscfc]

TBH I thought Petur was starting to look like a player before being basically chucked out by the Icelanders to save money.

RoryM