If.....

[longmover]

We lose against Orient (having lost to Yeovil) have the board got a decision to make on JG?

[Malabus]

The board are on the verge of giving GJ a monster contract and the deal will be celebrated at The Spice Lodge.

[Del Boy]

The weird thing is if we go down I would keep him - if we stay up not

[little mo]

The board are on the verge of giving GJ a monster contract and the deal will be celebrated at The Spice Lodge.

Hope so.I can taste it now.

[CTFC03]

Players have to take responsibility too.

[Johnsons Red Army]

Players have to take responsibility too.

Agreed, the manager can only do so much. A change of manager wouldn't make a bit of (positive) difference, in my opinion, so surely a big no at this stage.

[CTFCfan99]

We lose against Orient (having lost to Yeovil) have the board got a decision to make on JG?

Who's JG? Jordan Granston?

[vickeryc]

Players have to take responsibility too.

Agreed, the manager can only do so much. A change of manager wouldn't make a bit of (positive) difference, in my opinion, so surely a big no at this stage.

Quite so. At every level, managers are invariably the scapegoat for poor results. That said, they are only human and they can make tactical and other errors. However, I think the blame attributed to managers is often disproportionate when compared with players, who are usually more responsible for the outcome of matches.

As fans, we can also play our part in supporting the club. We are all rightly concerned about results and our current lowly position in the league, but needless criticism of the manager and/ or players simply fuels a general malaise that, before you know it, grips the entire club like a disease. A positive, supportive, outlook can be equally contagious and help to improve the players' confidence and, hopefully, improve results. We are not cut adrift at the bottom of the league and we are not being thrashed every week. There is everything to play for.

[everyman]

We lose against Orient (having lost to Yeovil) have the board got a decision to make on JG?

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you ?
Then it will be Rudyard to sack you !

[Robin]

The question should be is there really a better manager out there than GJ who can get more from the players as there is no window. It's been a really poor season but unless SC wants to come back, keep us up and get us back into league one then we need to stick with what we have.

[confused.com]

The question should be is there really a better manager out there than GJ who can get more from the players as there is no window. It's been a really poor season but unless SC wants to come back, keep us up and get us back into league one then we need to stick with what we have.

Back to history again, but we sacked MY without any idea as to who was out there, apart from that ejit buckle.

Not at all saying that GJ should be shown the door.
All successful teams stick to a plan, more or less stick to a formation and more or less stick to a starting 11. Why can we not do that ? Of course drop folk if they are not up to it. The thing about this season I dont understand, is that
we mostly knew going in to it who would struggle at L2, the manager certainly should have - no back ups in place
If you canvassed supporters I would guess you would have a broad consensus of a starting 11 - why all the changes ?
If you canvassed supporters I would guess you would have a broad consensus of formation to be played - we are always changing it
When you sit in the stands, people are usually in agreement as to who is not performing on the pitch, but wait for a long time before they are taken off - why? I am all for giving a clear message, if the effort is not there, be it in the first 15 or last 15, you are off

simplistic I know, but that reflects my experience in football management lol

[Another_FoD_Robin]

The question should be is there really a better manager out there than GJ who can get more from the players as there is no window. It's been a really poor season but unless SC wants to come back, keep us up and get us back into league one then we need to stick with what we have.

Opened a can of worms here Longmover.... Can't be seen to start doubting GJ otherwise there will be trouble.....

In answer to you Robin.... I am sure there are better managers than GJ out there but are they interested and more importantly affordable? However this should be the boards responsibility to source not ours...... They should always have a worst case senario in their minds.....Especially after the Buckle fiasco!

[Alf]

I don't think we should be looking to replace Gary but he needs to rekindle last seasons magic and self belief in the players. Last two games when we've been two down, we've pushed players into the box and scored when it was too late to make a difference. Maybe we should be considering this at the start rather than at the end. Attack can often be the best form of defence and instilling belief that the team is being selected and set up to win games not to hang on to a point.

[horlickfanclub]

Aaron Downes would get the team going.

[Robin]

The question should be is there really a better manager out there than GJ who can get more from the players as there is no window. It's been a really poor season but unless SC wants to come back, keep us up and get us back into league one then we need to stick with what we have.

Opened a can of worms here Longmover.... Can't be seen to start doubting GJ otherwise there will be trouble.....

In answer to you Robin.... I am sure there are better managers than GJ out there but are they interested and more importantly affordable? However this should be the boards responsibility to source not ours...... They should always have a worst case senario in their minds.....Especially after the Buckle fiasco!

That's the problem, it was clear the board were thinking of sacking Yates for quite sometime and had lined up Buckle before the offical announcement but they picked a bad one. If you really feel there are better managers than GJ out there please name one. I see Hartlepool got Dave Jones who has a good track record but he's not improved them. The only other name I could think of which would be realistic is Ronnie Moore and I'd prefer GJ thanks.

[Del Boy]

You think most of the players are good enough and we've got the best manager we could possibly hope to get - so why are we two goals away from the bottom two and why have we only won six league games all season? Who is to blame - what is the problem??

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

You think most of the players are good enough and we've got the best manager we could possibly hope to get - so why are we two goals away from the bottom two and why have we only won six league games all season? Who is to blame - what is the problem??

Note that Robin only said the players we have now, after January dealings are good enough.

We started the season with a squad which turned out not to be good enough - the (lack of) summer recruitment did not work out. That much we do know. What we don't know, is whether a different manager would have reached December with the squad 10 points adrift, or a different one 10 points clear; there is no benchmark to measure GJ against.

I also beleive January signings are good enough, but coming into a bad situation, with players out form, pressure to win points quickly, fans getting edgy, and a virus going round, without a pre-season to gel, meant it was always going to be tough for the new signings to bed in and turn it around instantly - yet they had good form in January, and as they settle in better form may come again.

The point Robin made was, if the squad as it is now had a pre-season together and started a season together, they would be higher up the league.

Whether anyone else would get more or less out of the squad than GJ nobody knows, not even your good self.

Also, you penultimate question lets you down - 'who is to blame?'. Blame culture is the scourge of poor and ineffective business. Much better to encourage people to try things, own up to mistakes, and identify how to rectify and learn from it. Blame should not be talked about - we need to look forward.

[Del Boy]

You make an assumption we would be higher up the league had we had this team all season. Yet the fact is this year we have got eight points from eight games despite most of the games being against teams in the bottom half. So this is pure guesswork.

And you think it's no one's fault we are in grave danger of being relegated. It's not blame culture it is realism. Someone - or more likely most of the playing staff - have performed poorly. If you're in business and you have people being well paid and they are performing poorly you think they would be given a hug and told not to worry or told if they didn't start performing it would be the door. Only the public sector would work your way.

[Another_FoD_Robin]

'That's the problem, it was clear the board were thinking of sacking Yates for quite sometime and had lined up Buckle before the offical announcement but they picked a bad one. If you really feel there are better managers than GJ out there please name one. I see Hartlepool got Dave Jones who has a good track record but he's not improved them. The only other name I could think of which would be realistic is Ronnie Moore and I'd prefer GJ thanks.'

So because the board aren't weighing up options to sack GJ (as far as we know) then all is fine and he is the best thing since sliced bread?

My comment was made tongue in cheek aiming towards the Jose's & Peps of this world.... however I know they aren't realistic before you shoot me. Or shall I be more flippant and say Pearson?

I get the feeling we cannot voice our opinions unless it's outright support we are one of the better teams in the league.... I thought as fans we are entitled to our point of views on things? Or do we need to run it passed you first to be audited?

Like it or not AT THE TIME OF WRITING before you pick it apart Cheltenham Town Football Club are in a relegation battle. So until it is mathematically not possible to go down I will continue to believe we are in one. I believe that is called being realistic. Not pessimistic like some of you want to believe. As if the last game of the season was Saturday we could get relegated. The table doesn't lie. I am not saying berate players but just be realistic of our situation rather than believing nothing is wrong.

[everyman]

'That's the problem, it was clear the board were thinking of sacking Yates for quite sometime and had lined up Buckle before the offical announcement but they picked a bad one. If you really feel there are better managers than GJ out there please name one. I see Hartlepool got Dave Jones who has a good track record but he's not improved them. The only other name I could think of which would be realistic is Ronnie Moore and I'd prefer GJ thanks.'

So because the board aren't weighing up options to sack GJ (as far as we know) then all is fine and he is the best thing since sliced bread?

My comment was made tongue in cheek aiming towards the Jose's & Peps of this world.... however I know they aren't realistic before you shoot me. Or shall I be more flippant and say Pearson?

I get the feeling we cannot voice our opinions unless it's outright support we are one of the better teams in the league.... I thought as fans we are entitled to our point of views on things? Or do we need to run it passed you first to be audited?

Like it or not AT THE TIME OF WRITING before you pick it apart Cheltenham Town Football Club are in a relegation battle. So until it is mathematically not possible to go down I will continue to believe we are in one. I believe that is called being realistic. Not pessimistic like some of you want to believe. As if the last game of the season was Saturday we could get relegated. The table doesn't lie. I am not saying berate players but just be realistic of our situation rather than believing nothing is wrong.

Talking of sliced bread Warburton is toast at the moment if you want a team that passes sideways and backwards all the time.

[confused.com]

FOD so true, some fail to realise that it is a passion for the club that leads prople to point out the dangers the failings etc. If everyone was totally optimistic, we would all be on the fiddle as Rome burnt

[vickeryc]

No one minds views being expressed. However, I think at times it is the overtly negative tone of some posters that grates with others more than what they're saying.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

FOD so true, some fail to realise that it is a passion for the club that leads prople to point out the dangers the failings etc. If everyone was totally optimistic, we would all be on the fiddle as Rome burnt

Thing is, screaming and shouting that Rome is burning encourages people to put out the fire, and you can help chuck water on, and the situation is fixed.

Screaming and shouting at players low on confidence makes them play worse, and as you say, you have no solution to fix the situation as it is the Boards job.

Failure to put out a fire in Rome stemmed from laziness and disunity. The very same things those fans with no stomach to support a team through a bad spell bring to a football club.

I'll be in the human chain of water buckets, shoulder to shoulder with fans and team, working together to get out of trouble.

[little mo]

No one minds views being expressed. However, I think at times it is the overtly negative tone of some posters that grates with others more than what they're saying.

Spot on.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

We lose against Orient (having lost to Yeovil) have the board got a decision to make on JG?

We did not lose to Yeovil so question null and void.

[Another_FoD_Robin]

We lose against Orient (having lost to Yeovil) have the board got a decision to make on JG?

We did not lose to Yeovil so question null and void.

Guess my point has just been proven by this petty comment......

[Robin]

If we lose at Orient we are right back in the mix, like it or not the pressure on GJ isn't going away unless we can put a bit of distance between ourselves and those relegation spots.

[everyman]

What an utterly ridiculous thread.

I suppose I could post anything under the title 'if'.

If a meteor hits prestbury would we play at swindon or Oxford? And who could I blame for that wholly fictitious set of circumstances?

This sites so bad now people are arguing about stuff that's completely made up rather than the real world. It's like Sweden yesterday

"If my auntie had balls ?"This was a favourite saying of the Cheltenham-Flyer,Bert Williams.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

What an utterly ridiculous thread.

I suppose I could post anything under the title 'if'.

If a meteor hits prestbury would we play at swindon or Oxford? And who could I blame for that wholly fictitious set of circumstances?

This sites so bad now people are arguing about stuff that's completely made up rather than the real world. It's like Sweden yesterday

"If my auntie had balls ?"This was a favourite saying of the Cheltenham-Flyer,Bert Williams.

Groundshare Apeasers would use meteor as an excuse to avoid criticising the impact of extra games on the pitch.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

We lose against Orient (having lost to Yeovil) have the board got a decision to make on JG?

We did not lose to Yeovil so question null and void.

Guess my point has just been proven by this petty comment......

Hardly. The hypothetical question used a hypothetical scenario, which can no longer happen in real life. Ergo, null and void.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

You make an assumption we would be higher up the league had we had this team all season. Yet the fact is this year we have got eight points from eight games despite most of the games being against teams in the bottom half. So this is pure guesswork.

And you think it's no one's fault we are in grave danger of being relegated. It's not blame culture it is realism. Someone - or more likely most of the playing staff - have performed poorly. If you're in business and you have people being well paid and they are performing poorly you think they would be given a hug and told not to worry or told if they didn't start performing it would be the door. Only the public sector would work your way.

Actually, public sector is the worst for blame culture, which is why it is so inefficient, non innovative and rigid, and anti-whistleblowing. Fear of blame kills freedom of thought and employees start making sure their back is covered rather than focusing on improving performance. And the same errors are repeated again and again as they are kept secret.

The best private companies are the reverse. Rather than blame culture they have learning culture. Individuals encouraged to flag up their own mistakes. The business looks at why it happened and then puts in place corporate improvements to make sure it doesn't happen again.

[little mo]

People on here love being negative so much that they revel in misery at things that could possibly go wrong.

Or comment after fifteen minutes of a game; 'so we've lost again!'

Noticeable that when we win there is marked absence of joy and the site is quieter than when we lose. It's the same folk who predict we will go down so if we do they will revel in their 'wisdom' and 'foresight'.

Hey ho, if the game v orient is postponed due to the impending hurricane (that nobody predicts) then we'll have an annoying midweek trip to London later in the season

OMG, I 100% Agree with a Ben2 post.