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Post by rustynail on Apr 12, 2015 9:02:59 GMT
After Saturdays game against Aldershot, Alan Devonshire in reply to a question on BBC radio Essex said he was in negotiations about his future at Braintree Town FC.
Lets hope he continues his presence at the Iron.
You know it makes sense!
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Post by oranjeboom on Apr 12, 2015 10:58:17 GMT
He seemed a bit touchy when asked how the negs were going. It's not been a great season so maybe they're not quite as straight-forward as some might assume.
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Post by braintreeo on Apr 12, 2015 13:11:33 GMT
He has probably taken the club as far as it can go as a part time club. hard to see how the club goes forward whoever the manager is unless a way is found to boost the playing budget.
Should he get the chance to manage a full time club you could hardly blame him if he took that chance..
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Post by braintreeboy on Apr 12, 2015 19:25:15 GMT
Any less than the 8 years devs gave to Hampton n Maidenhead would be criminal. There's certainly nobody better around at managing a small club like ours
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Post by oranjeboom on Apr 12, 2015 22:23:00 GMT
Any less than the 8 years devs gave to Hampton n Maidenhead would be criminal. There's certainly nobody better around at managing a small club like ours Devonshire appears to get comfortable wherever he's at without necessarily furthering things - one promotion in all his time I think. I can't see him taking on the challenge in a professional sense he's too cautious. Look at his record in four seasons, how we've peaked and gone backwards. If we didn't get 20 points in Aug/Sep we'd now be in the middle of the relegation pack. Gates are on the slide, the football served up uninspiring and we struggle in cup games against lower league opposition then trounced by league teams. Clubs of our size need cup money, it would be nice to have cup run occasionally. I'll give Allan 6/10 because he's kept our heads above water when it comes to avoiding the drop. Last year we achieved sixth, this we'll be lucky to be 16th. I don't call that progress. I'm not advocating sacking the manager, but he mustn't be allowed to become complacent and run away with the idea tthat a 50 point season's a satisfactory one. |
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Post by castIRONgooner on Apr 13, 2015 6:05:32 GMT
But surely on one of the smallest budgets in the league the target has always got to be survival?
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Post by ozbrit on Apr 13, 2015 6:33:10 GMT
From what I've been reading here, the players are having too many off days and even on the night we played Telford in front of 2100, we looked poorer than in any game I can recall. Alison and me were watching it live and midway through the second half she said I can't watch this anymore it's the most boring game I think I've ever seen and that includes watching school games and the local village team. While it went against the grain I had to agree with her and couldn't wait for the final whistle.
It occurs to me that whatever the budget, the fans do expect to see a shift being put in and against Telford they were well beaten by what was a very poor side with the worst goals against record, yet we were unable to even get a shot on target. The small budget can't be blamed for that, But what is certain is the shrinking gates will mean less revenue and the budget squeezed further. The management team must take at least some responsibility for this. I hear that a certain George Borg was at the match on Saturday. I don't recall his teams taking it easy.
As someone suggested the cup performances have been abysmal.
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Post by 1672 on Apr 13, 2015 9:08:27 GMT
As I said in an earlier posting on the Telford result:
"Devs may be a good tactician and finder of players, but perhaps he lacks the strong personality to get the players adrenalin going. Perhaps we need a Haka, like the All Blacks do for their matches to get the players blood fired up."
There seems to be two problems we have had all season;
1) inaccurate shots on goal - we seem to manage more shots at goal than most of our opponents, but they manage to put more away.
2) Inconsistency. Some matches we are all fired up and all over our opponents, others we look half asleep.
Both these problems should be solvable by a good manager.
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Post by mjt on Apr 13, 2015 12:11:06 GMT
Cant deny he hasn't done well to keep club in the league.
but....
Style of play isn't that great.
Maybe this is one reason why the crowds are declining, also maybe the public just getting the message 50 points is the target doesn't inspire them and lacks intention and ambition.
For one or two seasons maybe its acceptable but now isn't it time to kick on ?
No news for months now on the ground situation, as the film saying goes if you build it they will come.
To me it equals well run club within it's means but not got that extra to move to the next level, maybe I'm wrong but how I see it and why i don't go anymore.
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e7cm7
On the bench
Posts: 179
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Post by e7cm7 on Apr 13, 2015 17:08:03 GMT
Be careful what you wish for. A small, part-time squad, plagued all season by injury - even if some performances were disappointing, Devonshire has worked wonders, I for one hope he stays, which I believe he will unless there is a big problem over funds.
With regard to the proposed new stadium, that alone would be no guarantee of bigger crowds, unless we get into a higher division - a big ask, as they say.
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Post by dbbn on Apr 13, 2015 17:44:37 GMT
Have to agree with mjt. I've been attending home matches since Oct 2012 and I think that the "football" played by Braintree is a major contributing factor to the poor gates. A lot of the first half performances this season have been abysmal. The way they played against Telford will surely have put many off having to pay to watch that standard of football.
We also need to look at the way the club is marketed. The home website is very poor, dare I say - take a look at Chelmsford's site.
A new ground with better facilities may draw more people in, but essentially what happens on the pitch is the best way to sell the club.
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Post by jonw on Apr 13, 2015 21:34:34 GMT
"Not got that extra to move to the next level.....  ?" We already ARE at the next level!! For Devonshire to keep the club up for 4 seasons has been miraculous with a small part time squad and very small budget. The 50 point target is never an end of season objective...it is to get to that total as quickly as possible and then push on, which for the past 3 seasons, with fewer injuries, we have been able to do. The real issue is to be able to increase income, which in turn would enable the board to increase the budget and give Devs the opportunity to build a bigger squad. We need all supporters to stick together now more than ever and get involved with fund raising and pushing the club forward. I'd like to see the website revamped for 2015-16, and the programme too, to ensure that there is a never ending stream of club information to promote our players, first team, reserves, two academy teams, two souvenir shops, social events, history etc. News needs to be far easier to obtain, and further promotions pursued with the same enthusiasm shown by Barry Shepherd and friends. To anyone who is disillusioned now, I would say be positive. We have a team in the Conference Premier and that is worth hanging on to. Continue your support, invest in a season ticket and find out how you can get involved to enable the club to maximise its potential. |
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Post by ironfoureva on Apr 13, 2015 21:51:01 GMT
Four seasons 12th, 9th, 6th and now 16th or so tells a story. Whoever is Manager come the new season we'll all be excited and backing the Manager and team and it will then be the performances which matter and dictates how attendances go.
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Post by braintreeo on Apr 14, 2015 12:25:39 GMT
"We all blindly accept staying above the relegation zone. The club need to kick on. We need as Braintree Town FC to have more ambition than 5th from bottom and 50 points and stop blaming the budget"
The two are inexorably linked, if you look at the league table it's the full time clubs who generate more money and have bigger playing budgets who generally fight out promotion. So it's not a case of blaming the budget although it is a limiting factor when it comes to player recruitment. A full time highly paid player is in most cases going to give better performances than a part time player on capped wages, so given the budget survival is as I posted further up the thread all the club can realistically hope for.
I think another factor that inhibits the club progressing is the air of secrecy that surrounds the place, no one outside the boardroom knows what's happening with the new ground it would be good to get updates and it may garner some enthusiasm for the football club going in the town. As said previously the website is very old fashioned and could do with updating(wait for the sarcastic remarks about helping out rather just making observations)and Braintree are the only club I know of who won't even allow brief pen pics of the players. There is very little information for the locals to get excited about.
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Post by mjt on Apr 14, 2015 13:16:19 GMT
I think another factor that inhibits the club progressing is the air of secrecy that surrounds the place, no one outside the boardroom knows what's happening with the new ground it would be good to get updates and it may garner some enthusiasm for the football club going in the town. As said previously the website is very old fashioned and could do with updating(wait for the sarcastic remarks about helping out rather just making observations)and Braintree are the only club I know of who won't even allow brief pen pics of the players. There is very little information for the locals to get excited about. spot on market the club more - more news needed - a picture of new stadium on the website but no updates on when / if / deadline for this ...is it still going to happen ? Don't the club now have a marketing / commercial person in Mark Sansom ? ( apologies if I am wrong here ) Seems no news is good news !!!! |
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?" We already ARE at the next level!! For Devonshire to keep the club up for 4 seasons has been miraculous with a small part time squad and very small budget. The 50 point target is never an end of season objective...it is to get to that total as quickly as possible and then push on, which for the past 3 seasons, with fewer injuries, we have been able to do.