by tommyg » 31 May 2011, 16:19
S1: "With the budget he had you think a mid-table finish would have been reasonable? No, he should have got us up that season, his lack of a plan B is what cost us, so no credit from me for that. The FA Trophy? Come on man, was it really that difficult for the biggest spenders in the league that year to get to the final?"
A big budget doesn't bring you success. Buckle still had to build a squad capable of mounting a promotion challenge. Oxford and Cambridge both had big budgets. It took one of them twice as long as ourselves to gain promotion. The other are still down there and have been struggling in the bottom half of the Conference since we beat them at Wembley. This season, Crawley aside, Luton and Grimsby boasted the biggest budgets, but neither won promotion. It's not like Buckle was given the sort of money Steve Evans has had at Crawley. The defeat to Exeter hurt like hell and Buckle made naive mistakes tactically, but I still think it was a fairly successful season when you consider what was at the club when Buckle arrived. I think the board's plan was consolodation in season one and a promotion push in season two so we probably did better than most thought. As for the FA Trophy, Darlington competed with Mansfield for the honour this year. Neither are the biggest spenders in the division so perhaps it's more difficult than you think to get to the final.
S2: "I disagree, we could have and should have won the league that season. His mistakes cost us automatic."
Now you're being just greedy. I can't believe you're not actually giving him any credit for promotion. In the end did it really matter whether it was automatic or through the play-offs?
S3: "I'll concede he kept us up, but we proved later in the season we should never have been that close to the bottom in the first place. Look at Tisdale and what he did for City a year earlier with little investment as well. Look at what Westley has done with Stevenage ffs."
I'll concede that it was a difficult season and Buckle's weakest of the four. But in the end he made amends for a terrible six months. Tisdale and Westley have both done outstanding jobs, proving that smaller teams can punch above their weight. But for every Exeter or Stevenage there is a Northampton or Bradford.
S4: "He was given those tools when he was allowed to bring in Stanley, Robinson and Tomlin, we SHOULD have gained automatic promotion."
When the transfer window slam shut, we were 13th. To say we should have gained automatic promotion from that position is stretching it a little to say the least. And besides, Buckle was given those tools only after selling his top scorer and captain.
And finally, yes I do agree - I was baffled by some of his tactics. Sometimes I did leave the ground scratching my head. He's a manager in his first job and made mistakes. But the positives far outweigh the negatives. I think it's impossible to say whether other managers could have achieved more or less with the same resources at their disposal. We can argue that until we're both blue in the face!
S1: "With the budget he had you think a mid-table finish would have been reasonable? No, he should have got us up that season, his lack of a plan B is what cost us, so no credit from me for that. The FA Trophy? Come on man, was it really that difficult for the biggest spenders in the league that year to get to the final?"
A big budget doesn't bring you success. Buckle still had to build a squad capable of mounting a promotion challenge. Oxford and Cambridge both had big budgets. It took one of them twice as long as ourselves to gain promotion. The other are still down there and have been struggling in the bottom half of the Conference since we beat them at Wembley. This season, Crawley aside, Luton and Grimsby boasted the biggest budgets, but neither won promotion. It's not like Buckle was given the sort of money Steve Evans has had at Crawley. The defeat to Exeter hurt like hell and Buckle made naive mistakes tactically, but I still think it was a fairly successful season when you consider what was at the club when Buckle arrived. I think the board's plan was consolodation in season one and a promotion push in season two so we probably did better than most thought. As for the FA Trophy, Darlington competed with Mansfield for the honour this year. Neither are the biggest spenders in the division so perhaps it's more difficult than you think to get to the final.
S2: "I disagree, we could have and should have won the league that season. His mistakes cost us automatic."
Now you're being just greedy. I can't believe you're not actually giving him any credit for promotion. In the end did it really matter whether it was automatic or through the play-offs?
S3: "I'll concede he kept us up, but we proved later in the season we should never have been that close to the bottom in the first place. Look at Tisdale and what he did for City a year earlier with little investment as well. Look at what Westley has done with Stevenage ffs."
I'll concede that it was a difficult season and Buckle's weakest of the four. But in the end he made amends for a terrible six months. Tisdale and Westley have both done outstanding jobs, proving that smaller teams can punch above their weight. But for every Exeter or Stevenage there is a Northampton or Bradford.
S4: "He was given those tools when he was allowed to bring in Stanley, Robinson and Tomlin, we SHOULD have gained automatic promotion."
When the transfer window slam shut, we were 13th. To say we should have gained automatic promotion from that position is stretching it a little to say the least. And besides, Buckle was given those tools only after selling his top scorer and captain.
And finally, yes I do agree - I was baffled by some of his tactics. Sometimes I did leave the ground scratching my head. He's a manager in his first job and made mistakes. But the positives far outweigh the negatives. I think it's impossible to say whether other managers could have achieved more or less with the same resources at their disposal. We can argue that until we're both blue in the face!
