Genuine Question, Are we progresing as a club under Ferguson?

[godlike1]

I am V interested in people's thoughts on this as both DF and GS have been trotting out this message over the last couple of weeks.

I think we have in some ways as we now are harder to beat as a rule.

We have a good striker in Marquis who just needs the right partner to get him another 20plus goals next season.

We have greatly reduced the average age of the team.

I also think he has far less cash to spend than any of his recent predecessors

That's about it though for me. I'm not a DF fan and never wanted him as manager. I think alot of his signings are more miss than hit. I think his style of football is one dimensional and quite boring. I also think he's failed in developing the younger players from the youth team into potential 1st teamers.

Some positives, some negatives. What do I expect for next season?

I'd like to see a playoff push, more exciting football with energy and passion from the team. progression from the youth team. I don't think that is too much to ask

[DonnyOsmond]

I am V interested in people's thoughts on this as both DF and GS have been trotting out this message over the last couple of weeks.

I think we have in some ways as we now are harder to beat as a rule.

We have a good striker in Marquis who just needs the right partner to get him another 20plus goals next season.

We have greatly reduced the average age of the team.

I also think he has far less cash to spend than any of his recent predecessors

That's about it though for me. I'm not a DF fan and never wanted him as manager. I think alot of his signings are more miss than hit. I think his style of football is one dimensional and quite boring. I also think he's failed in developing the younger players from the youth team into potential 1st teamers.

Some positives, some negatives. What do I expect for next season?

I'd like to see a playoff push, more exciting football with energy and passion from the team. progression from the youth team. I don't think that is too much to ask

The bit in bold is ridiculous. What do you expect him to do with the youth team in 2 years? The U18 now have been there since before he started and potentially before Dickov or even Saunders started, it's a bit hard to instantly turn an average player youth player into a League One player. You probably will see progression over the next year or two from the youth team but that isn't all down to DF, it's down to the last 10 years of progression.

I think theres an problem with football fans in their obsession with short termism, wanting everything now, they want the nice football and the results. The manager slowly starts putting that together but if the results aren't working then the fans start calling for the sack, so the manager makes the team harder to beat and grinding out win, then the fans aren't happy with the football on display and want him sacked, it's catch 22. Like with Ferguson last season he got us an exciting attacking team and results, this season due to us getting promoted we have to change our style to get more points out of the team, next season, budget depending we sign the right players and we get back to attacking teams and picking up the results.

[sedwardsdrfc]

Structurally as a club we are without doubt better but a 1st team manager should have more immediate concerns! On the pitch not much progress to be seen i don't think we get nearly the best out of the squad which is what management is all about

There is a fair amount of deadwood to clear out this summer so i'd let fergie have his chance to build a squad next year and if we're still playing boring football and struggling i'd seriously consider looking for an alternative, not like he won't have had a good crack at it by then

[steve@dcfd]

The only way the youth team will progress if you really understand the system is to have a category B Academy it needs funding which may take money from the first team.

The expectation for next season is still on the back burner until decisions are made. We will see what players we retain, what players we sign.

The problem we have is can DF sign better players than the deadwood as you call them. Decisions made when meeting with the board will make it clearer.

[Chris Black come back]

Whoever is the manager will have to work within the budget available to them. If they waste it on dross then that is their fault - not that of the owners.

If you place all this in context. There will probably always be a couple of financially very big teams for this league eg Wigan, Blackburn now, or Sunderland next season. We are never going to compete with them financially.

Then there are big clubs for this league with big gates eg Bradford and Portsmouth, that have average home gates double ours.

We are probably competing in the next tier in terms of budget with decent sized clubs like Plymouth, MK Dons, Rotherham.

As you will surmise, all things being equal we need some of those clubs above to royally make a mess of their recruitment of players or managers, while we need to nail it and have a group of players who can work better as a team than as a group of individuals. SOD did this. I am not sure we can honestly say this is happening at present.

[RoversAlias]

I am V interested in people's thoughts on this as both DF and GS have been trotting out this message over the last couple of weeks.

I think we have in some ways as we now are harder to beat as a rule.

We have a good striker in Marquis who just needs the right partner to get him another 20plus goals next season.

We have greatly reduced the average age of the team.

I also think he has far less cash to spend than any of his recent predecessors

That's about it though for me. I'm not a DF fan and never wanted him as manager. I think alot of his signings are more miss than hit. I think his style of football is one dimensional and quite boring. I also think he's failed in developing the younger players from the youth team into potential 1st teamers.

Some positives, some negatives. What do I expect for next season?

I'd like to see a playoff push, more exciting football with energy and passion from the team. progression from the youth team. I don't think that is too much to ask

The bit in bold is ridiculous. What do you expect him to do with the youth team in 2 years? The U18 now have been there since before he started and potentially before Dickov or even Saunders started, it's a bit hard to instantly turn an average player youth player into a League One player. You probably will see progression over the next year or two from the youth team but that isn't all down to DF, it's down to the last 10 years of progression.

I think theres an problem with football fans in their obsession with short termism, wanting everything now, they want the nice football and the results. The manager slowly starts putting that together but if the results aren't working then the fans start calling for the sack, so the manager makes the team harder to beat and grinding out win, then the fans aren't happy with the football on display and want him sacked, it's catch 22. Like with Ferguson last season he got us an exciting attacking team and results, this season due to us getting promoted we have to change our style to get more points out of the team, next season, budget depending we sign the right players and we get back to attacking teams and picking up the results.

Great post DonnyOsmond, one of the best I've read on here in some time.

Yes I do believe we are progressing gradually under Fergie, I think we are much better set up for success now than we were at any stage during the Dickov era. I think people need to have patience, it has disappeared completely in the last couple of seasons which is understandable to some degree but we're about back to where we 'should' be in the football pyramid and are working to progress further.

[Donny Exile in York]

We lose our 1st game in 7 matches with half the first team missing and someone was saying before yesterday it was 3 defeats in 19 so why do we have to have this debate? It was the same at MK Dons at half time after a poor first half. A small minority chanting Fergie out at half time, they wouldn't have been shouting that at full time. We have no God given right after promotion to be in the play offs or promoted again. Our attendances are about 10th highest in league one. We have reduced the age of the squad significant and now compared to the team under Dickov got some value in the squad with alot of young players with potential. Clearly yesterday was disappointing but I can't see why we would question the management team given our recent run and form since Nov, squad potential, fact that mid table in league one is historically a real achievement for us etc.

[donnyvikings]

I too am not a DF fan. Poor when he first came and used the excuse 'their not my players!'.Always said 'judge me when I have my own players'. Marquis was outstanding last season playing at that level, but certainly doesn't seem to have found his feet in this league. I know we have had injury issues but strange formations and key players dropped doesn't inspire me with confidence. Not sure what the future holds?

[The Red Baron]

I too am not a DF fan. Poor when he first came and used the excuse 'their not my players!'.Always said 'judge me when I have my own players'. Marquis was outstanding last season playing at that level, but certainly doesn't seem to have found his feet in this league. I know we have had injury issues but strange formations and key players dropped doesn't inspire me with confidence. Not sure what the future holds?

I agree with much of what you say but I can't agree on Marquis. He had a difficult first half to the season but of late he's been outstanding. This despite never having a regular partner and getting some wretched service.

I find our football largely dull to watch. Ponderous, too much passing square and backwards and little width.

[GazLaz]

We play narrow for a reason though. It makes us hard to beat.

[phil old leake]

I’m in the no camp.  The players overall are good enough I think.   

[dickos1]

I too am not a DF fan. Poor when he first came and used the excuse 'their not my players!'.Always said 'judge me when I have my own players'. Marquis was outstanding last season playing at that level, but certainly doesn't seem to have found his feet in this league. I know we have had injury issues but strange formations and key players dropped doesn't inspire me with confidence. Not sure what the future holds?

How can you say marquis hasn’t found his feet at this level??

[Colemans Left Hook]

in my world apart from the Bank clubs nobody is progressing it's all a matter of who's turn it is to win ( or in Rovers case draw with Rovers) excluding the top 3 
Scunthorpe 2 wins from their last 16 games sums things up and in the play offs

Plymouth and their Lazarus act to reach for the skies having an Icarus moment now

Gillingham another Lazurus act now sinking like a stone

Bradford Bulls (now with no balls)

Bristol Rovers with alleged loads on money  nowhwere

Blackpool quietly overachieving with a good manager

Rodderham who we all thought would be rudderless managing to cobble together a team

Peterbru petering out
Portsmouth don't know wot a diamond looks like (diamond geezer went to Wigan)

As the Dingles showed the way forward is to sign a young un add value and sell on pdq trouble is The Dingles have sold all their family silver and now have just silver plate at the high table they'll be using plastic forks soo. Fortunately Rovers House thanks to the owners is not built on stony ground --

[Chris Black come back]

We are underperforming in this league compared to our resources and size, but not massively so.

All things being equal you would expect us to be in top half and pushing for play offs.

Clearly to kick us on from there given we are competing resource-wise against clubs as big if not bigger, we need a manager who can turn water into some mildly consumable wine.

These managers come along only rarely. It is hard to make a case that we have this manager currently.

[DonnyOsmond]

Just had a read of McCulloughs interview on the OS and he says how good the structure at thr club is now. So yeah I'd say we are progressing as a CLUB.

[selby]

  No doubt about it, Fergie has pulled the club up by its boot laces as an all round club on the playing staff and coaching organisation.
  The back up staff is better, the first team coach Strachen, and Russ Wilcox, being examples.
   Judging  on the first team results is not everything, you could argue that our on field worth (transfer Value) is far higher, with one or two players who I would expect to get a decent fee for.
   He is very lucky to be at a club with the patience, and owners who have a clear view of the future, the next two seasons are the ones he needs to get us into a playoff challenging position if he is to fulfill his potential as a first team manager at this level, which will not be easy.
  Allround it is a 7 out of ten for me, he could have done better the first season, he could have done better with certain young players he has got rid of.
  His man management is a weakness, and his recent interaction with supporters needs to be tempered, as it only gives ammunition to be fired at him when things are not quite right, but overall we seem to be going in the right direction.

[mushRTID]

I too am not a DF fan. Poor when he first came and used the excuse 'their not my players!'.Always said 'judge me when I have my own players'. Marquis was outstanding last season playing at that level, but certainly doesn't seem to have found his feet in this league. I know we have had injury issues but strange formations and key players dropped doesn't inspire me with confidence. Not sure what the future holds?

Marquis hasn’t found his feet? Jesus Christ, he’s been exceptional

[Colin C No.3]

Yes.

[Alan Southstand]

Overall, I think we are progressing, but at the rate that is limited by the resources we have to work with. We are, just about, surviving at this level so there is far more that needs to be done in the summer and, at this point, I'm not sure we have the resource level to push for that higher echelon.

I think the manager is doing well given what he has to work with. Further, just who does anyone think could come in and do a better job, given the same level of resource?

As has been said already, to improve on the youngsters we have, we have to be looking to go up a level in category and that in itself will cost. So, it's a balancing act. That said, the manager has realised he needs more experienced players for the first team, so it's going to be interesting to see if he gets his wishes this summer (assuming we stay up of course).

[GazLaz]

We are just running to par with a young developing team. If people aren’t looking forward to next season with a bit of optimism looking forward to seeing these young players train on then they must be very hard to please.

[chrisd_123]

There's been this argument all season and there's very little in the way of middle ground on the opinions of most of our fans.

It's either one extreme or the other. For me, I'm very much on the fence this season. Yes I'd have liked to have seen more but as soon as we won promotion then a season of consolidation was what I was expecting. Especially after what happened the season before at this level.

In terms of developing youngsters. We have Mason who he's had since he was 18/19 who is now, in the right position, one of our more consistent players and Beestin who is fast becoming one of our most important players. Not specifically 'from our youth team' but if we sell them on for bigger money then I couldn't care where they came from initially.

Overall, I'm waiting for next season. As a club we've taken a step back recently but the 'not my players' excuse alluded to above was valid in that first season to an extent. If you look at it objectively. Despite losing the title, last season was very much 'Job done'. Safe this season so for me, again, this is 'Job Done'.

Now we are back where we started. Yes DF has to take some blame for the relegation but I think we can all accept there was more to it than just him. Since then he's got the job done so far to get back to where we were. It was disappointing that we didn't win the league, granted, but we were up so I'm happy with that.

Next season is where I will fully judge DF. We should be kicking on next season and that's what DF and the club have already alluded to so for me, it's going to be an interesting summer.

Long winded answer to the question but for me, we are making progress, we just started making progress after taking an initial one step back. 

[RoversAlias]

100% agree with all of that Chris. One of the more balanced viewpoints I've read from a Rovers fan in some time on here.

[idler]

That is just how I see it Chris.
Relegation was very disappointing as DF had turned our form around and then we lost it.
Similarly last year the title was ours to lose and we did.
I think and hope that DF has learned a lot from these experiences. A few good signings and the extra experience that our youngsters have gained this season will stand us in good stead.

[Avsuptem]

There's been this argument all season and there's very little in the way of middle ground on the opinions of most of our fans.

It's either one extreme or the other. For me, I'm very much on the fence this season. Yes I'd have liked to have seen more but as soon as we won promotion then a season of consolidation was what I was expecting. Especially after what happened the season before at this level.

In terms of developing youngsters. We have Mason who he's had since he was 18/19 who is now, in the right position, one of our more consistent players and Beestin who is fast becoming one of our most important players. Not specifically 'from our youth team' but if we sell them on for bigger money then I couldn't care where they came from initially.

Overall, I'm waiting for next season. As a club we've taken a step back recently but the 'not my players' excuse alluded to above was valid in that first season to an extent. If you look at it objectively. Despite losing the title, last season was very much 'Job done'. Safe this season so for me, again, this is 'Job Done'.

Now we are back where we started. Yes DF has to take some blame for the relegation but I think we can all accept there was more to it than just him. Since then he's got the job done so far to get back to where we were. It was disappointing that we didn't win the league, granted, but we were up so I'm happy with that.

Next season is where I will fully judge DF. We should be kicking on next season and that's what DF and the club have already alluded to so for me, it's going to be an interesting summer.

Long winded answer to the question but for me, we are making progress, we just started making progress after taking an initial one step back.

I am not especially a DF fan either but agree entirely with Chris's post. I would add that next season depends upon the budget available for new players, or in other words the financial support forthcoming from the owners. Plus of course some support from the footballing Gods. Let's not forget the horrible loss of injured players we suffered at the start of this season, overall you have to say finishing mid table [assuming we will] is a very good result.

[Padge_DRFC]

Next season will be our year. A few wages cleared this summer that could be better used.

[selby]

  Radio Dee Dah are all over this with speculation after  today's interview.
  Fergie told them he had not even discussed the budget for next season, and had not even had a discussion about next season with the powers that be.
  Like all managers money seems to be the be all and end all of how good a team can be.
  That is everywhere else but Accrington, nobody has told them about it. Or the Swedish team that played Arsenal.
  Money helps, but not every time, in fact some managers have been poor at spending it wisely.