THE CONCRETE ROUNDABOUT (TCR)

Lindsey's departure had a whiff of HR or bullying about it; fairly unusual to fire the manager but keep the rest of the staff.

Martin Allen mk2 ? (remember him...)

Ah, but some might say, Mad Dog was simply plain bonkers rather than someone (allegedly/possibly) unpleasant.

_________________
Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment

Looking back I don’t really think it was right from day 1, a poor team with some iffy recruitment stumbled across a six game winning streak, when playing some pretty shit football.

Throw in a supposed split in the team which Lindsay allegedly created, Lewie I’m led to believe ended up training with Wycombe and you have a recipe for disaster right there.

In hindsight appointing Lindsay was a decision based on what he achieved at Crawley, which to be fair he did well there, but his style of managing just didn’t fit here and we ended up far too close to the cliff edge

_________________
Johnstone Paint Trophy Winners, you’ll never sing that

The Lindsey appointment on paper was a proper appointment - one that showed serious ambition. Whatever has happened since doesn't change what it was at the time.

I imagine players aren't happy with comments like "absolutely rubbish" etc after wins, whether it was or not - honesty is lauded but I guess they want protection.
He's got a good history of building togetherness and I think he thought perhaps it'd be a given. Everyone would suddenly see what happened at Crawley and assume it'd be a quick fix because he turned that mentality around, he probably felt the same. But it doesn't work like that

_________________

That honesty bit is the part I don't get. I liked him coming out and saying things were 'a bit rubbish reallly', in the same way I hated Mike Williamson saying ' the boys are hurting in there'.

So, what I can't understand is if it was honesty on his terms only - freezing out Lewi, who I'm sure would speak his mind, and not allowing space and humility for admitting other ideas in.

I guess we'll never know, but onwards and upwards with the new manager.

Going back to the original post, I wouldnt go as far as saying the players are now doing really well. Let's be honest, it's still not great, BUT the last 3 games have been a big improvement on what we have seen for many months. It looks like they are playing with more freedom, togetherness and confidence. It looks like things are less complicated, less concentration on their individual stats and more let's try to win a game of football. I hope it continues

We're a completely different kettle of fish to Crawley. Lindsey was coming into a team with high expectations, with the financial backing of a club that should be getting auto's.

I said before, when he came to Crawley, they were a mess and expected to be relegated out of the EFL. Expectations were low. The players they had signed also came with pretty low expectations and at the point, probably pretty low ego's too. He was able to get their respect pretty quickly.

He's also actually pretty inexperienced as a manager and when it started to go wrong here, he didn't know how to get out of that situation and clearly ended up not dealing with it very well.

I must say, the fact he clearly had "lost" Kelly when LK had text him on arrival saying he wanted him to come etc speaks volumes

_________________

I was reading an article a few months ago , it was about Brighton. So I’m guessing it was David Weir, their Director of Football
Anyway, it was about how they do their recruitment. They’re not out here chasing players or indeed managers just because they've been successful somewhere else. It’s all about character and abilities digging into what the person’s like and if they would fit for the job in hand. They’re building a squad based on good eggs, not just good players. Culture first, medals second. Makes sense why they keep signing players and improving them
When you look at how we brought in Lindsey, it’s the opposite. We hired him because he looked good on paper, but there was nothing in his past that said he could actually change the culture. Like buying a racehorse because it’s shiny without checking if it’s Got legs
So it’s not about getting the most successful name you can get. It’s about knowing what you want to do in a granular way , and picking the right people to be able to do it
Warne looks like the man for that job , he seems all about changing mindsets, sorting attitudes, and dragging the club into a winning culture.
Just what the doctor ordered.