Rage Online

neilw wrote:I am genuinely concerned about our league status and existence of the club. I'm not a misery, or negative, merely concerned. Maybe unnecessarily, but I'm concerned. What I want is reassurance. What do I get ... THAT email from the chairman and the local rag telling me "boss Appleton frustrated at failure to make signings". Rather than reassure, concern increases.

There appears to be no strategy, on and off the field. A few scarfs, a charter and a genuine intent really isn't enough.

As Tim said, you are mixing up Appleton's performance with that of Eales.

Eales' job is to set the overall policy and ground rules and money and hire and fire staff as necessary, not to pick the team or dictate the style of play.

The message from Eales said all the right things. All things I want to hear from a Chairman wishing to be inclusive with staff and supporters and with a seemingly genuine desire to create a proper full on community club.

Appleton on the other hand is a different tank of squid altogether. Being critical of lack of on field progress is fine but it has little to do with an inclusivity message from the Chairman.

[quote="Brahma Bull"]OxVox have a meeting with the owners on Tuesday. Would anyone like any sensible questions raised?


I have one for you.
MApp said; "I believe everyone has a shelf life at any football club", when referring to Alfie leaving.

Can you ask the Chairman what MApp's 'shelf life' is?

Eric Pollard wrote:Yes, be negative about Appleton if you have to be as he has been somewhat disappointing to date - but Eales as well?
What is actually wrong with his message? Which bits don't you disagree with?

What I didn't like about the email was what I perceived the real message to be between the polished lines - it seemed to be a veiled dig at fans for a) not turning up to home games and b) being overly negative when they do so. I think this is unfair. Fans have responded in reasonable (if not spectacular) number to 'event' games (Wycombe, Bury, Shrewsbury) but have been put off coming back by desperately disappointing results and performances. Our last home game against Cheltenham was the worst of the lot, and I didn't hear too much in the way of booing until the final whistle, when it was well justified. In general I'm not at all comfortable with the narrative of 'fans are to blame for players not performing at home', which has been more explicitly aired by Appleton a couple of times recently and I felt subtly continued in this message.

Apart from that I applaud the efforts to engage with the fanbase (although the buzz-word corporate speak sets my teeth on edge too). It is good that Eales wants to reassure us of his intentions, and I hope he is as good as his word. But I think it is naive and unrealistic to expect everyone to come to games with boundless positivity as he seems to be asking - the season so far has been frankly poor. As Eales says, trust has to be earned.

"To me, life is about passion, commitment, enthusiasm, loyalty, fairness, trust, continuous learning, ambition, aspiration, friendship and camaraderie combined with perseverance, courage and resilience and finally, humility and a sense of fun."
GY, Mr P, etc - you are right, because these are all things I would want a Chairman to say. The trouble is, all he has done is put them all together in one long line, without any consideration of whether they are being delivered on. How, for example, does 'continuous learning' square with "Plan B is Plan A"? Also, plenty have commented recently about MApps recent interviews and a lack of 'humility'. Who are they aimed at? Us? MApp? And how do they relate to delivering a successful side?

And yes, he does not pick the side, but he had a central role in picking the person who does pick the side...

Quite simply, what he said was fine, word by word. How he strung those words together, however, meant they have come out as a stream of meaningless guff.

It comes across to me as one of those “We will always fully back the manger whatever happens” when he’s in trouble, and then two defeats later he’s sacked.

The only difference is that this relates to the whole club, not MApp. Scary stuff which contains no substance whatsoever, other than saying 'thank you' for continuing to turn up and prospect of more free tickets being dished out.

Nothing about finances, nothing about ground acquisition, nothing about a cash injection for new players – just a word salad that any passionate fan could have tossed together in half an hour.

Words are not going to bring people back, actions on and off the pitch will, just like at ANY football club.

#worrying

I've been thinking about my reaction while reading all the vitriol here. I know it doesn't really say anything, but I think on balance I actually really approve of the fact that I'm getting email messages from the club. Sure there's no substance, but all the time I was still a season ticket holder I was just completely ignored. The only communication I ever got from the club was the renewal form (frequently to the wrong address), and I rarely, if ever, got a response to an email. So on balance, this seems to me to be an improvement. Whether it has any long run implications, I have no idea, but - treated in isolation - surely it creates a better impression at minimal cost to the club.

Eric Pollard wrote:What do you want [Eales] to say? 'Appy wil be shot by firing squad at the end of the Exeter game if we don't win both matches?'

As calls to arms go I actually thought it was quite good. Had more substance than many of the depressing corporate missives that I read.

Then I genuinely pity you. It was a statement entirely bereft of substance. And your straw man doesn't wash either - of course we don't expect him to be imposing arbitrary expectations on MApp - but we do expect, on the rare occasions he issues a public statement, that our Chairman says something useful - about the stadium, about his investment plans for the playing side, about the long-term tangible objectives by which he can be judged. Listing abstract nouns is a waste of everyone's time.

I AM SICK TO DEATH OF HEARING SO CALLED FANS HAVING A GO AT OXFORD UNITED MANAGEMENT AND MANAGER , I FOR ONE AM MORE THAN HAPPY WITH THE MANAGEMENT AND THE MANAGER , RILEY HAD THE OPTION TO SIGN BUT WENT TO BURY FAIR ENOUGH , ON FORM THE RELEASE OF POTTER WAS LONG OVERDUE ,

NEW PLAYERS MAY OR MAY NOT ARRIVE THIS MONTH . I AM SURE THAT THE MANAGER HAS A LIST OF PLAYERS NOT ALL WILL WANT TO COME TO OXFORD , BUT ALL ANY CLUB OR MANAGER CAN DO IS TRY AND BRING IN PLAYERS THAT WILL IMPROVE THE CLUB .

THE MAJOR PROBLEMS AT OXFORD UNITED STEM FROM THE FACT THAT THE CLUB DO NOT OWN THE GROUND AND ONLY WHEN THEY DO WILL THE SITUATION AT OXFORD UNITED CHANGE , THE TWO MAIN JOBS TO BE DONE BY THE OWNERS OF OXFORD UNITED ARE FIRST AND MOST URGENT FIND THE MONEY TO BUY THE GROUND OUTRIGHT , SECOND WE NOW HAVE A GOOD MANAGER KEEP HIM I CAN THINK OF NO MORE STUPID ACTION THAN TO SACK HIM .

STEVE F wrote:I AM SICK TO DEATH OF HEARING SO CALLED FANS HAVING A GO AT OXFORD UNITED MANAGEMENT AND MANAGER , I FOR ONE AM MORE THAN HAPPY WITH THE MANAGEMENT AND THE MANAGER , RILEY HAD THE OPTION TO SIGN BUT WENT TO BURY FAIR ENOUGH , ON FORM THE RELEASE OF POTTER WAS LONG OVERDUE ,

NEW PLAYERS MAY OR MAY NOT ARRIVE THIS MONTH . I AM SURE THAT THE MANAGER HAS A LIST OF PLAYERS NOT ALL WILL WANT TO COME TO OXFORD , BUT ALL ANY CLUB OR MANAGER CAN DO IS TRY AND BRING IN PLAYERS THAT WILL IMPROVE THE CLUB .

THE MAJOR PROBLEMS AT OXFORD UNITED STEM FROM THE FACT THAT THE CLUB DO NOT OWN THE GROUND AND ONLY WHEN THEY DO WILL THE SITUATION AT OXFORD UNITED CHANGE , THE TWO MAIN JOBS TO BE DONE BY THE OWNERS OF OXFORD UNITED ARE FIRST AND MOST URGENT FIND THE MONEY TO BUY THE GROUND OUTRIGHT , SECOND WE NOW HAVE A GOOD MANAGER KEEP HIM I CAN THINK OF NO MORE STUPID ACTION THAN TO SACK HIM .

Steve - I agree that sacking MAPP would not be sensible at present and would just be disruptive. However, on what basis is he a good manager? His career track record (25% win rate) would suggest otherwise.

Steve F do you ever look at the league table. When we were in and about the top three three last season you complained about anything and everything. Now we're looking over our shoulder at the bottom two you feel you have a good manager.

To those thinking of leaving the forum for a time - fair enough, but it'll be a duller place without you, even if we disagree on the current state of things. Conversely, I don't think you can expect posters to moderate their posts so as not to appear 'negative', especially if they don't buy this crude negative/positive binary choice, the purpose of which, in my opinion, is to stifle debate.

#together - we're heading for the Conference.

Shoobedoo wrote:#together - we're heading for the Conference.

Do I think we will go down - No.

Do I think there is a chance we could go down - Yes and that chance is growing by the week.

We have had a poor last calendar month in which we have picked up just 5 of a possible 18 points. If that form were to continue, we would end with 45 points, not enough to survive I fear. More worryingly, this slump followed a period during which we were showing a bit of form and pulling away from danger - people even dared to think about the play-offs.

Make no mistake, we are in a relegation battle. Too good to go down - not a chance, I seem to remember hearing that before.

Do I think Appleton has the tactical nous to get us out of this position - no, but I do think the influx of a few new signings, Hartlepool's current position and the poor form of some other sides will be our saving grace. We're currently at about 14/1 to go down, I think that is quite generous (probably due to Hartlepool being quite a banker) but won't be having a flutter.

I expect we'll pull a few results together and stay up but for the first time I am seriously worried. Today's game was the sort of performance that gets managers sacked and if next week is no better he must surely go. Even though we were losing I had faith in him at the start of the season and thought that the formation of 4-5-1 or whatever it was had promise - at last we had some midfield. Now we have none and I don't think Appleton knows what to do. We are crying out for a third midfielder and for a leader that is nimble enough to play professional football. There's no point lining up goalhangers if no one passes or crosses to them.

Shoobedoo wrote:#together - we're heading for the Conference.

I'm not. The club may be but I'm not going with them this time.