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The results of the Roddy Collins poll on this site show the division of opinion that exists. The most popular choice on the verdict to date is to let the man stick it out to the end of the season. The second most popular result is to kick him out NOW!
Moderation is nowhere. The middling options, wait till Christmas etc, don't get a look in. We are a group of supporters now used to extremes and when polled for opinions we often reflect this very quality.
I still stand by the comments I made in August on Collins' appointment as manager. I was relieved. This does not mean I'm a total supporter of the man, far from it. I was relieved because he clearly sees himself as a winner and has a track record that includes a few spectacular achievements in this regard. Bohemians brief but notable foray into Europe probably providing the best evidence of all that Collins can take his talents beyond the confines of his immediate surroundings. That, at least, was a comfort to me. Because, frankly, that alternatives are not worth contemplating. In the successive seasons from Hell we've endured since August 1998 the real nightmare scenario for me has been the time we realise that Aiden McCaffery is coming back to the dug-out. Not Aiden himself, hell even FGB and his cronies wouldn't be that stupid. But someone very like him. Willing, with some club credentials, un-tested in the hot-seat and totally unable to cope when things get really tough.
We all know that the real change we need is the one involving ownership but, in the meantime, the manager's skill is all that stands between our team and the slide into football oblivion we've been dreading for the last few years. Collins looked something of a contender in August and his record suggested that he'd be used to the ability level of the players he'd find in the bargain basement of Division Three. At the outset at least Collins' main fault was the fact he wasn't Ian Atkins. I'll count myself amongst those who forgave him at the outset for the talk of a top six finish.
Today, I'm not so sure. One thing we need from any decent manager is the ability to judge character and I know I'm not alone in worrying about some of the comments about finding Little FGB to be a supportive and straight colleague to work with. Maybe if Roddy is only snatching short conversations with the educationally challenged younger member of the Knighton clan he's yet to be interrupted by one of the incessant phone calls to Dad. Or maybe things really have changed. Maybe Mark Knighton really is the 'bright boy with ideas' his father claims him to be. Maybe. The few messages I've heard coming from those with contact on the fringes, journalists, the occasional player etc, suggests things haven't changed too much around BP.
Elsewhere the clean out and rush to recruitment has changed the team beyond recognition from last year. I'm still not too sure about the way things are shaping up. On my most recent encounters as a paying customer we seem to be shaping up as about two thirds grim determination and the rest split evenly between moments of inspiration and mind numbing misunderstandings. The discipline and unfussy grind of the Atkins era has gone but the best moments, like Hopper's spectacular strike against Southend, are worth a look. It's just that the defence is in disarray and Weaver hasn't really looked confidant. It's easy to blame Weaver although he has had some good outings this season, Orient for one where he was little short of brilliant two seasons ago in front of his old crowd. But the understanding and defensive clout that marked the Atkins season is a thing of the past. Whitehead, for one, seems out of sorts and out of ideas.
The one thing that worries me about the whole squad shake up is that we seem to be making a lot of noise about little change in some cases. Some of the names mentioned, Jason Perry for one, aren't really that different from the current transfer list at BP. Perry, unless I'm mistaken, is already in his thirties and boasts less than a season's worth of games over the past two campaigns. He's not exactly the defensive general some claimed on the message boards and certainly not the psychopath he's reputed to be. The man is no Don O'Riordan. In fact, he's not that different to Winstanley in ability.
Richie Foran aside the Irish connection, North and South, isn't as promising as it might seem. On the face of it the intelligence and contacts to bring these people over looks like a winner. We could be mining talent denied to the lower leagues and finding real prospects. But it isn't all it seems. For starters the really big clubs, notably Manchester United, are well served with scouts on the Emerald Isle and the top notch talent finds its way with little trouble to the best clubs. Some of the top clubs share scouting with local rivals so a smattering of Irish and Northern Irish players do find their way straight into the lower leagues with the less fashionable London and North Western clubs. The end result being that there are a few prospects left but in most cases they get left because they are about as good as prospects everywhere. Richie Foran with his disciplinary record made for an interesting problem when scouted. But there aren't that many more like him over there.
So far, he's a find. No Scott Dobie, but then who is? Still, sooner him than Stevens at the moment eh?
The net result of all this is, I think, that if we consider Roddy Collins on the first quarter of the season the most certain conclusion we can draw is that, despite the noise coming from the one man publicity machine, less has changed than we think. He is, in the same circumstances not noticeably any better than his predecessors in the seasons from Hell. None of them had the transfer budget enjoyed by Roddy. Hell, what could Atkins have done with a six figure sum? Stayed maybe. And Atkins netted useful early season points in a season that saw us survive narrowly.
In the present situation getting behind the team is the only believable option. Well, that and joining CCUIST. But in terms of Collins and how we regard him, we still have a choice.
The dream scenario is a repeat of his achievements at Bohemians. And we shouldn't forget that in that case he turned losers into winners. Big shake up, the odd rumbling row with elements of the support and the press and, in the end a team for them all to remember. Hell, I'm up for that because it's about bloody time we saw the like at Brunton Park.
The nightmare scenario would have some elements of the present situation. It would contain Saturdays like September 29th when we crashed to a defeat in a six point game as the managerless no hopers below us scrambled a point. It would contain the kind of chummy talk between boardroom and dug-out that suggests a move to put little FGB into the new set up and pave the way for Dad to come waltzing back once his time in the business sin bin is served. Given the machinations that have gone on regarding the sale of the club might I suggest that we vary the FGB digs by using the name FPB once in a while. That is FP as in 'Fantasy Prone.'
One larger than life person who haunts our lives is, I would suggest, fantasy prone. Whether the present manager shares the tendency only time will tell.
So, I did vote, and as per bloody usual in my life I didn't go for the popular options. Sack him now? No, he did produce the goods in Ireland and that does count for something. In any case, the number of top quality managers looking for the ultimate challenge at the sharp end of the bargain basement was never very great and it is almost non-existent in the late autumn/early winter. To the end of the season? Get serious. If he can't deliver in time the end of the season will near enough be the bitter end. Margate anyone? I like it for the odd day out, but I can't imagine getting the same buzz at the thought of my team slumming it on the Isle of Thanet as they try and fight their way out of the Conference.
I voted for giving the manager till Christmas. Which, to my way of thinking means I'll be at Rushden on December 22nd watching a team that look like contenders for a crawl up the table or I'll be chanting with the doubters. Until that time I'm sparing Roddy Collins. Given the disgruntled talk that keeps spreading I might be in even more of a minority by then.
But all I want for Christmas is a manager worth the job title. Please Roddy, shut up and sort it.
Email Neil @ nlnxn@aol.com