The Long Man

Both going down...clutching at straws ?

Interesting that they have made a bold, or desperate, decision while we sit on our hands.

Fair enuff, IHE, but trying to disentangle who is to blame between Foran and the board is task beyond sisyphus, although that won't stop months of accusation and counter accusation here and elsewhere. That sentiment you identify is in a way the Achilles heel of the whole fiasco. Everybody wanted him to succeed because of who he is, and that probably extended his tenure beyond what it should have been. While the board have been too timid, they also supported him in January with a lot of new players on loan and gave him enough options that even then you thought might change his fortunes. But that has been the story all season, most supporters hoping beyond reason that he would eventually turn it round at the last minute and then somehow go on to glory in subsequent seasons. But football fans are romantics and sentimentalists. Who doesn't want to see one of their former players, and one of their own, take over and instil the club with that kind of loyalty and continuity? I would have loved Charlie to have succeeded, being probably the most outstanding home grown player we ever had, but at least he had the balls to recognise it was beyond him, stepping down to allow the club to carry on and eventually get it right. Sadly foran hasn't shown the same self awareness, and i think we are entitled to forget the former player and be very disillusioned with how he has performed as manager. The naivety, the lack of any coherent vision or strategy, the apparent unwillingness to listen to or seek advice. As far as i can see the board and Foran are, or were, a mutual support group, one which has encouraged each other to stay to the bitter end despite the self-harm, and that has been in many ways because of his former reputation. There is a moral in there somewhere, which I will leave others to figure out.

Personal conversation.

I think he has trashed any hope of being fondly remembered.

Don't know, but that is what he was saying at Xmas. However i will be delighted if he stays and proves his worth under a new manager.

He was looking for a way out at Xmas, having been ignored, apart from a few subs, up until then. So i don't think he will be staying around. Ridiculous waste of someone who could have played a major part this season. Foran's brilliant judgement once again.

There is a dearth of football knowledge at board level.

Do we have anybody on the board with some basic football knowledge? Why is Charlie Christie not there offering his insight?

We would need a competent manager able to organise his defence.

So Foran discovered Fisher is quite a decent striker, works hard and scores goals. Where he has been all season. Oh, that's right, in your squad, Richie, you useless dimwit. We had a comfortably mid-table side when you came in. Look at us now. No excuses. Please leave the building, and allow the players one last chance without your bizarre ramblings.

Well, in such a situation, usually the number two takes over in the interim. Now I have no idea about Rice's qualities or merits, and I wouldn't take the gossip and rumour here seriously, but ask yourself this: can he do any worse? Maybe, in fact, a change, whoever the stand-in, would boost our chances. It is not uncommon for teams to suddenly play better when a non-achieving manager leaves. Although totally agree, this should have been the discussion in Jan/Feb when we had a realistic chance of turning things around.

He sounded like that to me after the County game at New Year. He just sounded lost. That is when i thought we should be looking at replacing him, especially with the winter break approaching. We could have given him a deadline to show improvement, for example.

I do think Foran going is the one lift the team would get that would change morale enough to give us a chance, slim as it is. If he stays, it is more of the same, so what have we got to lose by showing him the door?

I really don't think Sutherland has anything to do with it. The board took a huge gamble on Foran, which was partly dictated by circumstances, and seemed like a possible solution at the time. Their failure is in not acting when the writing was on the wall, in January/February. All appointments are a gamble, including Butcher and Hughes, which they were at the time.

Who would want to take a team almost certainly doomed to relegation and take them down?

The time for post mortems and rethinking where we are going will be at the end of the season. I can only imagine they are horrified at where we are, but the question is what they are capable of doing about it. Going down would seem to be the ideal time to bring a young ambitious manager who has shown some form already.

We're screwed then. What exactly has he shown to deserve such loyalty? He should walk of his own accord after what he has done.

Go now Foran, for god's sake. Show some dignity and self-respect by handing over to somebody else. We can't possibly do worse with any stand-in the club can find. We might even scrape a result here and there, which will be infinitely better than you remaining with such utter shambolic cluelessness. What a disaster you have been.

Another spin of the random selection wheel. Fisher on the bench, would like to see him come and show the boss what he has been missing.

I believe since Xmas we have had the squad to survive and improve. Richie's constant hashing around and lack of any visible strategy or settled style of play is demoralising for fans. Goodness knows what it is like for the players. He just doesn't appear to learn from previous games, every one is like the lottery with the revolving doors of selection and tactics.

Another spin on the roulette wheel that is Foran's selection policy. Let's hope we get lucky with this one.

Every time I have seen Fisher he has worked far harder than the like of Doumbaya when he was here, and looked promising. It is a mystery why he is not given a chance of a prolonged run. Same with King. Richie's haphazard selections don't inspire confidence in me, and the players must feel similarly confused, especially when, having been given a chance, they do well.

At this stage of the season and in our position we are still tinkering with formations and positions, every week a new page from the Foran big book of coaching ideas. This is rank amateurism I am afraid. We seemed to get it right against Rangers, and here we are back in the russian roulette of Richie's ever changing revolving doors.

Damn, just as I thought we would go in at half time with a healthy 0-0.