League 2 relegation thread 14/15

[Luke Imp]

On the subject of the smaller, bankrolled money teams.

From the north, Barrow are leading with way with Flyde 2nd. So there's potentially two more. Not sure about Bromley in the south, but Whitehawk are up there, and they're another bankrolled one.

 

[BigDaveCUFC]

Are Carlisle fans now going to recognise that Curle hasn't done that bad a job given where they were when he took charge and where there are now?

For me its a no.

We were playing rubbish but he inherited one of the most expensive squads in the league with players that should have been able to get into the top 10.

we were almost a cert for relegation just 2 weeks ago, mostly through lots of bad man-management as he decided to try and push out the high earners to free up budget and when no one wanted them it left us with a bad attitude among the squad.

add in him constantly tinkering and messing about, never settling the squad at all and constantly worrying about the opposition than about our team and well its just plodded along really.

he was just fortunate that it seems a real public humiliation has clubbed the players together and he grabbed the correct formation at the right time, he could easily have been like Adams sacked sat evening had results carried on.

He'll get next season, but myself I think he'll be sacked by September and it'll all begin again, he frankly doesn't seem to settle things enough so reminds me of Collins.

 

[BigDaveCUFC]

On the subject of the smaller, bankrolled money teams.

From the north, Barrow are leading with way with Flyde 2nd. So there's potentially two more. Not sure about Bromley in the south, but Whitehawk are up there, and they're another bankrolled one.

yep it is the one aspect of the current conference I don't like.

quite afew clubs which frankly add absolute nothing to the FL except being far too small for the division and inflate the wages due to their owners......with no benefit to other clubs as they bring zero fans as should not be at this level.

I am really hoping Grimsby or Bristol R come up, not Eastleigh or FGR, I know clubs should be allowed their chance and its good to see Morecambe/Dag do it, but not ones which are frankly not ready for this level, yet at same time inflate the wage-bills due to their spending.

 

[AdamStag]

I think Forest Green would be about comparable in size to Morecambe and Dagenham (though that's not exactly hard to achieve) and have been in the conference for about a decade, strangely I wouldn't mind them coming up.

Like Dave, i'd prefer Bristol R and Grimsby to come up, both decent sized clubs, i'd more than lilkely go to both of those games as well.

 

[Luke Imp]

The only slight difference with FGR is that they worked hard to get to the Conference without a money man.

They've only had that sort of money in the Conference unlike Eastleigh, for example.

 

[iWomble]

I see Bromley are up into the Conference. If that's not bad enough, Boreham Wood could join them. Two absolutely lovely clubs whose fans will add greatly to the friendly non-league ambience.

 

[BigDaveCUFC]

they are not a FL size cluib though lets be honest here and not give them more boost than needed.

you don't look at their gates now, its their gates if things go wrong, its like Fleetwood, woopee 3,000 now, but if it goes wrong they will jump back down to 500-800 odd as most just go as they win most weeks.

same with Eastleigh/FGR, they won't get 1,000 fans when not splashing the cash, neither can sustain here long-term.

all they will do is come up, thrash out on wages which doesn't help them trying to run a budget, bring about 15 fans and zero interest to our home fans.

I know that sounds big headed, and I do not mind it when its a small club that has built its way up and knows how to work on the resources it has (like Burton/Dagenham) but not when its a one-man fund trip

 

[Chasing Rainbows]

Apart from the playoffs, i've never had a problem with York and can't see why anyone else would either from mansfield. It's a great weekend out usually for me (appreciate the deal for you lot in Mansfield probably isn't so hot)

You are 72 miles from Mansfield (I just come on the train direct from Manchester) and Northampton is 77 - shocking for a "derby". Hopefully Notts will come down

I think a fair few people blame Ingham for getting kicked in the chest and then Matt Green trying Thierry's hand of frog.

Its not a great away day at Mansfield but its close so we usually bring a few, the play off game was pretty good.

 

[AdamStag]

I think a fair few people blame Ingham for getting kicked in the chest and then Matt Green trying Thierry's hand of frog.

Its not a great away day at Mansfield but its close so we usually bring a few, the play off game was pretty good.

A lot of people miss out as they don't tend to come into town, fair dues there are better town centres, but the pubs are actually pretty alright.

 

[Chasing Rainbows]

A lot of people miss out as they don't tend to come into town, fair dues there are better town centres, but the pubs are actually pretty alright.

Yeah we went into the town for the play off game.

I'll never forget the night you smashed us 5-0 and played Chelsea Dagger after EVERY goal.

 

[Vanni]

There's at least one positive I can think of for those fans whose club's going down. The non-league section is the best one on this forum. Honestly.

 

[daviejones]

This relegation thread is humongous compared to all the other ones so our section must be the best on this forum surely, unless their banter is off the scales.

 

[wilsontown]

I was laughing like a drain at some of the comments on the League One relegation thread. Some of those guys are having desperate seasons.

 

[AdamStag]

There's at least one positive I can think of for those fans whose club's going down. The non-league section is the best one on this forum. Honestly.

Ha, thats true.

I miss winding up the Grimsby fans, bless them

 

[Richard Cranium]

I hope Grimsby come up, Some cracking posters on TFF, not sure how many moved over but they have served there time, Also if they take Palmer off our hands I'll love them.

 

[Vanni]

Yep Grimsby fans are a decent lot, and I really want them to come up as they've served their time. Their away's following's brilliant too, and loud!

 

[Gladders]

I hope Grimsby come up, Some cracking posters on TFF, not sure how many moved over but they have served there time, Also if they take Palmer off our hands I'll love them.

Not sure Palmer is the answer sure he scored a few when he first came in but last few games he is showing his true worth.

 

[AdamStag]

Not sure Palmer is the answer sure he scored a few when he first came in but last few games he is showing his true worth.

I was surprised he did alright for you at the start - he was a little slow, couldn't really hold the ball up, just generally a little lightweight.

I actually thought he would struggle more in the conference than league 2.

 

[JSMITH083]

posting this here as it is the busiest thread, but it should really be in the tinpot one.
Crawley's 50/50 prize pot for Saturday was £38.50 apparently, which is just a shambles and it has given me a good giggle.

 

[shakerandy]

posting this here as it is the busiest thread, but it should really be in the tinpot one.
Crawley's 50/50 prize pot for Saturday was £38.50 apparently, which is just a shambles and it has given me a good giggle.

Rushden and Diamonds mark two that lot.

 

[Jabba the gut]

I think Forest Green would be about comparable in size to Morecambe and Dagenham (though that's not exactly hard to achieve) and have been in the conference for about a decade, strangely I wouldn't mind them coming up.

Comparable in size to Morecambe and Dagenham? You must be joking - you've obviously never been to Forest Green's ground!

Nailsworth is little more than a village. By way of comparison it's only a fifth of the size of flaming Fleetwood - the entire population is roughly the size of Tranmere's average attendance FFS and yet if the Cheltenham chairman is to be believed they have a budget that would place them in the top-half of League 2.

To add insult to injury its not even remotely a football village/town - it seems to me to be a genteel well-heeled community if anything. (I was surprised to find that for some reason it attracts a lot of fairly well-known fine artists to live there). Honestly, it's as surreal as somewere like Arundel potentially having a club in the Football League.

Even the location of the place is ridiculous. As we know to our cost, the Westcountry is the back of beyond in football terms. At least the likes of Fylde, Eastleigh, Bromley, Fleetwood, Crawley et al are close to, or at least reasonably accessible from, the traditional centres of the football industry (i.e London, the Midlands and the North West). Being somewhere like Yeovil or Plymouth is bad enough in terms of accessibility, but Forest Green is accessed by a glorified country A-road twisting through what looks like Middle-Earth (although to be fair its closer to a motorway than Argyle or Yeovil)

Yes, they spent a long period in the Conference National, but in the early part of that era the Conference was a completely different kettle of fish - there was a much bigger gap between the ex-League clubs and the bigger non-league sides and the rest. When we first went down we found that teams like Forest Green and Woking used to come to SJP and quite literally put ten men behind the ball for the entire game - I recall an early game in our exile where there was a near riot after we only drew 0-0 with FGR. One of our fans actually invaded the pitch and tried to attack Buckle (our assistant coach at the time).

As the League got tougher FGR were left hanging on by their fingernails. Before their eco-warrior Sugar Daddy took over they were on the brink of disaster financially and only stayed in the division because Northwich were demoted for breaching ownership rules. They were reprieved in a similar manner in 2005 too - so their decade in the Conference is not quite the achievement it seems to be.

CUFC Dave is spot on - Forest Green in the FL would be an absurdity; and not the sort of fun absurdity it might be if they had done it by their own blood, sweat, tears, skill and judgement, but the sort of absurdity that is only made possible by the grotesque distortion of our football pyramid caused by the financial doping that is the worst legacy of the pernicious Premier League and the equally pernicious Sky. In the way that this sort of financial doping sometimes plays out the new Frankenstein club is also about to abandon its roots and move lock, stock and barrel to Stroud in order to "live the dream".

I'm old enough to remember when buying success and cynically trampling on tradition in the process was almost universally derided as bogus. What a shame that things seem to have changed.

 

[JSMITH083]

Rushden and Diamonds mark two that lot.

I look forward to getting rich at that away day next year...

 

[LondonOrn]

As the League got tougher FGR were left hanging on by their fingernails. Before their eco-warrior Sugar Daddy took over they were on the brink of disaster financially and only stayed in the division because Northwich were demoted for breaching ownership rules. They were reprieved in a similar manner in 2005 too - so their decade in the Conference is not quite the achievement it seems to be.

Not quite right; it was Salisbury who were demoted in 2010 for failing to pay back a creditor in time after coming out of administration - Northwich were relegated after a midtable finish in Conference North the same season for ongoing financial problems, but that in itself didn't affect Forest Green (I know a fair bit about this because I take a bit of an interest in the Conference with my local team Barnet having played several seasons in that division during the last two decades). They also had a fair chunk of luck the following season when they lost at relegation rivals Tamworth on the final day, but Southport and Altrincham failed to get the results they were expected to get to stay up, along with Rushden being expelled from the Conference (which saved Southport who finished in the bottom 4).

But you're right, FGR have been very lucky. In addition to those two seasons of fortune you mention, they were further blessed in 2005 by no teams going down from the Conference in 2004, which meant despite having an absolutely terrible season which would have seen them finish bottom most other years, in addition to Northwich's demotion, they benefited from two teams that should have gone down the previous season (Farnborough and Leigh RMI) being even worse.

Just as well you lot escaped the division before Histon (another village team that like FGR had similar aspirations of the Football League - shudder) became particularly annoying - after leading the table for much of 2008/09 only to end up losing the play-offs to eventually promoted Torquay, the predictable slide began and they are now 18th in the Southern Premier League, with possibly further to fall. Does anyone remember the 0 Histon fans at Wrexham?

 

[shakerandy]

What about Weymouth? I'm sure they were doing quite well about 7-8 years ago, we got them in the fa cup and scraped through at Gigg after a replay. Money dried up and soon fell back to their natural level.

 

[hellogregory]

Grays Athletic spring to mind as well. They were making waves in the conference, think they were top for ages but dropped into the playoffs. We got them in the cup 1 year and scraped past them in a replay at their place. This was when we were in league 1 and had the likes of Ian Harte, Danny Graham, Joe Garner etc as well.

Now grays no where to be seen.

 

[The Goblin]

How we're in our position is appalling management from Micky Adams who has been deservedly sacked albeit 7 or 8 games too late. Pretty convinced if he goes after the shocking display at home to Dagenham (early March) we stay up.

Our squad on paper has plenty of players who have done well at this level or some who have done ok higher up:

Molyneux (plenty of assists for Accy at L2 level, Micky bombed him out randomly for no reason)
Ridehalgh (played for a few L1 sides)
Hume (experienced, seen it all)
Odejayi (League 1 and 2 experience)
Donnelly (Swansea signed him for a six figure fee)
Laird (scored goals in L1 for Millwall, at a playoff side in Southend previously)
Dugdale (lots of L1 games for Crewe)
Holmes (was top of L1 with us for half a season, albeit mainly thanks to Ben Gibson and James Wallace)
Koumas (can't stay fit but when is, offers plenty still)
Myrie-Williams (10 goals for Vale in L1 last year, lazy sh1t though)
Taylor (part of the Vale squad who went up to L1)

When you look at this- yeah on paper it's good. It's not though. Yet it shouldn't be bottom 2 and Adams has done an abysmal job. He got backed by Palios in January to revamp the squad and made a huge mess when he'd done OK to drag Edwards' squad out of the mire at that stage.

Will we go now? We need 2 wins IMO as Pools will win at least one. We're undoubtedly the worst club to support in England since January 2013, though.

 

[Meadow]

Grays had a dire season in 2009/10 (they still managed to beat us after their relegation was confirmed).

Their chairman decided that they couldn't afford to compete in the Conference South the following season so they pulled out of the Conference set-up assuming that the Ryman would accept them. From what I remember, they didn't actually apply to the Ryman but just assumed that they'd be accepted. They then appealed to the FA when they didn't have a league to play in and the FA placed them in the Ryman North, one level below where they wanted to be.

Since then, they've been promoted to the Ryman Premier and narrowly missed out on the play-offs this season. Their ground has gone though - now a housing estate - and I believe they are sharing with Aveley. They put in an application for a new ground but the local MP put the boot in and the application was refused.

 

[Kim Mitten]

The Grays debacle, that was quite funny really.
As Meadow says they assumed they would be accepted to Isthmian set up, when the placings came out they had actually been placed in the Essex Senior. The Isthmian and FA saying because they had not applied they had to go to 'county level'. I believe however that Grays managed to get into the Isthmian as they found some loophole that it was only 'new' clubs who had to apply to leagues, so rightfully they should have been placed in the Isthmian. This saga went on and on, their first appeal was rejected, they took it to some arbitration, who ruled for Grays - the FA then appealed that, failed and tried another arbitration to keep Grays in the Essex Senior, that also failed meaning the Isthmian had to accept them. They were still pissed off to be placed in North 1 - but I think they got some kind of monetary compensation if they accepted North 1 so they took it and went up easily first season.
I believe they have just had new ground plans accepted by the council and have all the funding in place so will be back in Grays soon. Not that, that is a good thing if you've ever been to Grays!
Ex-Southend Mark Bentley is their current manager, doing really well, although they have some incredibly shady characters at boardroom level.

 

[Kim Mitten]

On the subject of the smaller, bankrolled money teams.

From the north, Barrow are leading with way with Flyde 2nd. So there's potentially two more. Not sure about Bromley in the south, but Whitehawk are up there, and they're another bankrolled one.

Bromley have loads of cash as well, their owner wants Football league status, I've said before if Whitehawk join them and Barrow and Fylde come up I could see all of them as top 10 sides in the Conference.

Someone mentioned FGR budget - last season in the Conference Luton and FGR were the only clubs with £1M+ budgets. This season I'd be surprised if they haven't got the largest budget . If FGR were to come up expect them right at the top of this division immediately, just like Crawley and Fleetwood.

 

[Jabba the gut]

Not quite right; it was Salisbury who were demoted in 2010 for failing to pay back a creditor in time after coming out of administration - Northwich were relegated after a midtable finish in Conference North the same season for ongoing financial problems, but that in itself didn't affect Forest Green (I know a fair bit about this because I take a bit of an interest in the Conference with my local team Barnet having played several seasons in that division during the last two decades). They also had a fair chunk of luck the following season when they lost at relegation rivals Tamworth on the final day, but Southport and Altrincham failed to get the results they were expected to get to stay up, along with Rushden being expelled from the Conference (which saved Southport who finished in the bottom 4).

But you're right, FGR have been very lucky. In addition to those two seasons of fortune you mention, they were further blessed in 2005 by no teams going down from the Conference in 2004, which meant despite having an absolutely terrible season which would have seen them finish bottom most other years, in addition to Northwich's demotion, they benefited from two teams that should have gone down the previous season (Farnborough and Leigh RMI) being even worse.

Just as well you lot escaped the division before Histon (another village team that like FGR had similar aspirations of the Football League - shudder) became particularly annoying - after leading the table for much of 2008/09 only to end up losing the play-offs to eventually promoted Torquay, the predictable slide began and they are now 18th in the Southern Premier League, with possibly further to fall. Does anyone remember the 0 Histon fans at Wrexham?

Good post.

I do remember Histon. I still had Setanta at the time and enjoyed laughing at the Turks - IIRC Histon met them in the playoffs.

I tend to keep an eye on the Conference a bit ever since we spent some time there - it might not be fashionable to say so but there were some things I enjoyed about it at the the time (not least the gallows humour when 600 fellow City fans were queuing up to use a portaloo at Forest Green's bizarre old ground in our first season of similar culture shocks). I would hate to go back though - it looks far more brutal now than it did back then, as many demoted sides have found to their cost.

I take your point about Histon in terms of size of club, but I'm not sure I'd put them in quite the same category of total absurdity as FGR. I stand to be corrected, but I don't think Histon is a full-blown chocolate-box village/toytown in the middle of nowhere like FGR - as I understand things Histon is not far off being a suburb of Cambridge.