Promotion thread

[Carver]

You've just called a 57 year old a stupid boy

Yes, a manchild.

 

[West Terrace]

To get promotion via plays offs you have to play once at an oppositions ground and once at a neutral venue. With all games being shown live on TV!

That combination is bad news for the fans of the Stylish Magpies. Lincoln on the other hand have recent experience at Wembley , a good memory and perform very well in front of the TV cameras
I have us as distinct outsiders to succeed through the play off system even if we’ve been above and better than the Imps , Sky Blues and Stags all season

The Saturday 3pm game won't be on tv so you might get lucky!

Agree with a lot of whats been said, I think all four teams are fairly evenly matched and it's too close to call. Would be happy for it to stay as it is and play Notts County at home first given their away record and hopefully take a lead to Meadow lane. Unless there are some crazy results on Saturday we won't be playing Lincoln over two legs which I'm relieved about, they worked us out last week.

 

[denzel ecfc]

The Saturday 3pm game will be on TV

 

[Davidimp]

All the playoff games are on sky.

 

[The_Viking_Magpie]

All the playoff games are on sky.

That makes me very sad.

 

[West Terrace]

I thought there was a rule that 3pm games on a Saturday can't be on TV? Or does that not count for games after the end of the normal season?

 

[The Reverend Skyblue]

That makes me very sad.

This also makes me very very sad. Sky has far to much power that it can use to affect game starting times. I wish they would get the fuck out of English football

 

[Richard Cranium]

Can’t believe we are even still in with a shout considering how shite we’ve been since fatty left. Really can’t see Coventry or Lincoln losing at home and us winning 2 in a row but stranger things have happened. As it stands though this season ranks as one of the most disappointing I’ve seen from us.

 

[Spanishstag]

The Saturday 3pm game will be on TV

Except the L2 final is on the monday this year

 

[The_Viking_Magpie]

Any half decent manager would have Mansfield already guaranteed in the play offs. Fatty McFatFat would (IMO) of secured 3rd place and automatic promotion by now.

Instead it’s the #handbrake, who has left with you an outside chance of the playoffs.

Due to our simply awful record against our little neighbours I would hate to play them in the semi finals, even under Mr Handbrake.

I’m hoping for Coventry, partly due to the Away allocations the two club’s will offer up to opposition. If Notts got the Imps it would need to come with a warning to potential viewers before kick off. Cert 18! Scary movie!

Tbh any game involving Notts away and/or on Tv fills me with zero confidence. But this season a play off spot is success IMO , I didn’t expect it

 

[darren gregory]

Nothing against any of the other teams, but purely geographical and decent away days out, can Exeter please go up !!!

 

[Richard Cranium]

In fairness Exeter is a good away day, It’s just miles for us dirty Northern bastards to get to

 

[Luke Imp]

I thought there was a rule that 3pm games on a Saturday can't be on TV? Or does that not count for games after the end of the normal season?

There is, but the PO games will be lunch time or tea time on the Saturday and then 7.45pm on the Tuesday/Wednesday I imagine.

 

[LongEatonPie]

Saturday 12th May: League Two A – 3pm
Saturday 12th May: League Two B – 7:30pm

Thursday 17th May: League Two A – 7:45pm
Friday 18th May: League Two B – 7:45pm

Final
Monday 28th May: League Two Final – 3pm

The 7:30 Saturday games a pain!

 

[Luke Imp]

Presumably 'A' is 4th vs 7th?

 

[The_Viking_Magpie]

I’m looking forward to Saturday already, a draw/win would certainly be nice to avoid two defeats going into the playoffs and an away leg 2nd wouldn’t be idea for us.

However, i’m gonna sit back and enjoy the game/occasion whilst listening out and checking up on the ‘must win’ games at Sincil Bank, Ricoh Stadium and Field Mill.

Big boys Cov City not making the top 7 in the 4th tier would be black humour at its finest. Pre season title favourites Mansfield missing out would obviously be hilarious when you think where they were and the run they’ve been on, but both maybe topped if Lincoln missed out on the final day of the season.

Can’t see it happening myself but one Imps fan on here would look very foolish if they bottled it at home on Saturday.

My prediction is a boring one, due to home games against poor opposition , I’m going for no change on the 4 urgent playoff sides

 

[Wooderson]

Nothing new there.

As an outsider looking in this seems pretty mad, even doing well this season Exeter having been getting less than 4k at times and have to sell their best players every year. Coupled with a bit of bad luck with injuries (Exeter would surely have been looking at automatic if they hadn't lost their two CBs?) and what more do the fans expect? Is it a just a vocal minority?

 

[Richard Cranium]

There is no way Coventry or Lincoln will lose at home to Morecambe and Yeovil. All we can do is win our game and hope that one of them do fuck up but both are decent at home and won’t bottle it Saturday.

 

[shoddycollins]

As an outsider looking in this seems pretty mad, even doing well this season Exeter having been getting less than 4k at times and have to sell their best players every year. Coupled with a bit of bad luck with injuries (Exeter would surely have been looking at automatic if they hadn't lost their two CBs?) and what more do the fans expect? Is it a just a vocal minority?

It's the Wenger effect, the longer a manager stays in place, the more the fans come to expect and the more flak they receive if those expectations aren't met. Rightly or wrongly I think a significant section of the Exeter crowd believe that if Tisdale hasn't turned them into a consistent League One outfit by now he never will, and a change of manager will be the answer because it's the only thing they haven't tried yet. I also think the Exeter fans always have one eye on Plymouth and their rivals challenging at the top of League One after spending so long in the same division as Exeter won't help much.

 

[Wooderson]

It's the Wenger effect, the longer a manager stays in place, the more the fans come to expect and the more flak they receive if those expectations aren't met. Rightly or wrongly I think a significant section of the Exeter crowd believe that if Tisdale hasn't turned them into a consistent League One outfit by now he never will, and a change of manager will be the answer because it's the only thing they haven't tried yet. I also think the Exeter fans always have one eye on Plymouth and their rivals challenging at the top of League One after spending so long in the same division as Exeter won't help much.

Good points Shoddy, personally I also pretty much blame Football Manager.

Anyway, congrats to Wycombe! Overcame a little blip, conceded four twice at home in recent weeks, but consistent enough to get over the line. That's all it needed, and they did it where others failed.

Play-offs for us now, I was expecting a meltdown after Saturday and the hope of automatic promotion that we'd harboured all season finally vanishing, but our fanbase seems to have handled it quite well. As others have said, it's hard to separate the four teams, all have their pluses and their flaws. Personally I'm just giving Lincoln the edge at the moment. We'll see!

 

[GTFCfish]

Just realised we won’t have to face Akinfenwa terrorising us next season, praise the lord!!

 

[thewwfc]

Just realised we won’t have to face Akinfenwa terrorising us next season, praise the lord!!

there's always the JPT...

 

[LongEatonPie]

Just realised we won’t have to face Akinfenwa terrorising us next season, praise the lord!!

Doesn’t he normally quit the club he goes up with to stay in League 2. If not it certainly feels like it.

 

[mowgli]

Doesn’t he normally quit the club he goes up with to stay in League 2. If not it certainly feels like it.

Not this time he's staying with us next season

 

[Tarzan]

As an outsider looking in this seems pretty mad, even doing well this season Exeter having been getting less than 4k at times and have to sell their best players every year. Coupled with a bit of bad luck with injuries (Exeter would surely have been looking at automatic if they hadn't lost their two CBs?) and what more do the fans expect? Is it a just a vocal minority?

It must seem pretty crazy looking in.

I wasn't there on Saturday I don't think that article linked to is entirely accurate. We went 2-0 down leading to calls of "Sort it out Tisdale", which doesn't seem unreasonable, but he responded with the five finger shuffle gesture. This then caused the less polite shouts mentioned in the article.

From the minute he arrived all those years ago there has been an element of the fanbase who just haven't taken to him. He is though his own worst enemy much of the time with his rambling post-match interviews, his inability to take criticism, or anything he sees as criticism and a perceived, or real, arrogant stubbornness. I've seen him first hand be very rude to a fan who dared to ask a non-controversial question at a forum as well as turn to fans behind the dugout to tell them to eff orf because of something less offensive they've shouted in his direction. He's also given two interviews in national papers recently which seem to have been carefully orchestrated to paint the picture of him as a victim in the whole contract saga.

Over the years there have also been several public moans about the Trust model and the financial restrictions this can place on him. Needless to say he hasn’t also congratulated the stability of our Trust model which has probably saved him his job moer than once (although that’s probably more down to the two year rolling contract he had combined with a very generous salary).

We’ve also had some very unattractive football being played in recent seasons, especially at home, and some people have just stopped coming although the ground redevelopment may be in factor in our slightly crap gates this season as well. I’m less convinced of that though.

So anyway, yes, it must look at bit odd that things like Saturday happened when we’re fourth in the table, have sold about £5m worth of home-grown talent over the past few years, been to Wembley three times under his management, been able to spend £700k on a 3G pitch at our training ground and so on but there are longstanding and deep-rooted reasons why some people feel the way they do about him and I can’t see that changing. Much of it isn’t Paul Tisdale the manager, it’s Paul Tisdale the person. In my opinion anyway.

 

[JJ1532]

A quote from the Dark Knight always springs to mind with managers like Wenger, Tisdale etc. "You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villian". Whilst that isn't literal in this sense, I think the general point is very true. If Tisdale had moved elsewhere after the 10-11 season, when he got Exeter to just outside the League One play offs, the height of their rise, he would have been revered by almost all the fan base. But he stayed too long, oversaw the decline and now he is resented. I've seen it at the Alex with Dario Gradi. Arsenal with Wenger. Probably the same for a lot of managers who've been at one club for a long time.

Football fans also have a recency bias, we're very much in a "what have you done for me lately" world where the achievement of the last 12-24 months are the only thing that matter to fans.

From the outside looking in, it seems crazy. But listen to a first hand account and it makes a bit more sense.

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

A quote from the Dark Knight always springs to mind with managers like Wenger, Tisdale etc. "You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villian". Whilst that isn't literal in this sense, I think the general point is very true. If Tisdale had moved elsewhere after the 10-11 season, when he got Exeter to just outside the League One play offs, the height of their rise, he would have been revered by almost all the fan base. But he stayed too long, oversaw the decline and now he is resented. I've seen it at the Alex with Dario Gradi. Arsenal with Wenger. Probably the same for a lot of managers who've been at one club for a long time.

Football fans also have a recency bias, we're very much in a "what have you done for me lately" world where the achievement of the last 12-24 months are the only thing that matter to fans.

From the outside looking in, it seems crazy. But listen to a first hand account and it makes a bit more sense.

I'd argue with Dario a lot of the animosity from our own fans to him came as a result of his second permanent spell in charge because it was so evident the game had passed him by. He was playing no hoofball, virtually no tackling (and definitely no slide tackling) and a high defensive line in League Two and it showed just how out of touch he was. Sure, during his very successful first spell in charge there were a few calls for his head after we failed to get back to the Championship the second time, but these were few and far between in comparison. However, his reinstatement after Gudjon did smack of arrogance and "Who can do better than me?" at the time. But, he did lay the foundations for us to go back up to League One by actually developing a talented crop of young players I suppose...

 

[Impish]

Think every side will want Notts County in the play offs. Few reasons.

1. Good away allocation.

2. Look to be the poorest side on the whole. Rode their luck throughout the season.

3. Nolan's inexperience will show over two legs.

4. They just lost to Grimsby. Confidence will be low.

 

[Luke Imp]

A quote from the Dark Knight always springs to mind with managers like Wenger, Tisdale etc. "You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villian". Whilst that isn't literal in this sense, I think the general point is very true. If Tisdale had moved elsewhere after the 10-11 season, when he got Exeter to just outside the League One play offs, the height of their rise, he would have been revered by almost all the fan base. But he stayed too long, oversaw the decline and now he is resented. I've seen it at the Alex with Dario Gradi. Arsenal with Wenger. Probably the same for a lot of managers who've been at one club for a long time.

Football fans also have a recency bias, we're very much in a "what have you done for me lately" world where the achievement of the last 12-24 months are the only thing that matter to fans.

From the outside looking in, it seems crazy. But listen to a first hand account and it makes a bit more sense.

Steve Tilson was in a similar situation at Southend. He had the chance to go to Norwich but stuck with Southend. Obviously did what he thought was correct at the time but hindsight suggests he should have moved on when his stock was as high as it was and moved onto a Club that'd be able to go higher than Southend.

 

[Tarzan]

Steve Tilson was in a similar situation at Southend. He had the chance to go to Norwich but stuck with Southend. Obviously did what he thought was correct at the time but hindsight suggests he should have moved on when his stock was as high as it was and moved onto a Club that'd be able to go higher than Southend.

Tisdale has had offers from clubs higher up, Swansea being the one which prompted his rather ridiculous 2 year rolling contract. I think he's always seen us as a project (although I'm not sure what the project is hoping to achieve) and you can't question his loyalty over the years. This though has come at a price, that being that the whole footballing side of the club has been built to his specifications.

This might not be unexpected but we've had 12 years of it and my main concern really is what the next manager inherits and how long it takes them to put their own mark on it. For that reason, if he should go at the end of the season I'd expect his replacement to be appointed from within, either one of the Matts, Oakley orTaylor, being in the frame. Taylor would be a popular appointment although has no managerial experience. Oakley is our assistant manager but that's his only experience and I think him taking over would be met with a chorus of "meh".

On the other hand, Tisdale could still be here for another 12 years.