One of the most sobering afternoons in some time at the County Ground. Dismal. I’m not sure what is more depressing - the absence of individual quality, or what seemed to be a plan to play “patient” possession football, with zero licence to create.
Can you see the likes of Cain and Darcy playing a different way? The recruitment has been an utter shambles against any measure other than making a couple of quid quickly, or maybe very long term. If the objective of the club was Promotion, the recruitment team never got the message.
For all the people who can, rightly, point at each individual departure and say it was the right thing to do, or they can be replaced etc. The issue was we, by choice, dismantled a squad that had got into the play offs. Not add to it, not sprinkle some development talent and extra immediate experience in where needed, no. After several seasons of having to build a squad for every season on the fly due to finances/ownership issues, we finally had an off season where we could build. Instead, we chose to rip and replace - and we all know how hard that can be and how hit and miss it can be down here.
Can Conroy, Hunt, Reed, McKirdy, Gladwin etc be replaced, of course they can. Should you let them all go, probably not.
Austin aside, every signing has been a gamble. Even Tomlinson - a good signing for the future (given he was injured) but knowing that he wasn't available, why on earth do you sign him to replace a first team player?
