Thetownend.com

This is all getting a bit silly now

http://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10341~1494054,00.html >:(

fuck a duck

"Given the circumstances I feel that the Board of Directors needs a few days to review the process and to re-consider some of the available candidates - the truth is that there are new names still throwing their hat in the ring as managers become available.

More speculation Ince,Wilson I dont think i can take much more

This is a complete and utter joke.

What an absolute joke... oh my god. Here we go again... :( Just appoint Byrne who cares now... doing my head in. Give Byrne until the end of the season now and just forget about a new manager for now. What club takes over 5 weeks to find the right man then can't agree? :( Oh well depressing as it is. Byrne through til the New Year then! WE ARE BUDGIES RED AND WHITE ARMY.

just fucking pick one out of a hat.

and secure our place in League Two? No thanks Gazza.

No fucking way, that would be league 2 here we come!

I dread to think what the mong fest on the adver comments section are making of this pantomime

Fuck off Gazza, although I wouldn't be adverse to our board going cap in hand to Holloway, least he'd lighten the mood, cos at the moment I haven't been this low since, erm last December and the takeover on off saga!

This is a little embarrassing... he might be a successful businessman, but Fitton is looking a little amateur in the world of Football chairmanship

by the time we get someone anyway we will be midway through next season in L2 anwyay.

As If I wasnt already loosing the will to live

Cheer up you miserable cunts

hahahah no we wont.

We will have a manager by December 31st. FACT

Oh dear.

On the up side, yippee, a Friday statement that pisses everyone off.

for the lazy bastards who can not be bothered to click the link

FITTON: THE LATEST UPDATE
Posted on: Fri 19 Dec 2008

Swindon Town FC Chairman Andrew Fitton has announced that he will take some time over the weekend to reconsider the options for the appointment of a new manager at The County Ground and if necessary take steps to re-start the process, following a frustrating week of trying to finalise an appointment.

The Club has undertaken an exhaustive process having received approximately 50 applications from prospective managerial candidates and has interviewed, in some cases several times, around 12 of the applicants.

An announcement was expected in the current week, however in the final stages it proved more difficult than originally anticipated to negotiate acceptable terms for the candidate to leave his current club.

"We are determined to find the right man to lead STFC for the foreseeable future and we couldn't have gone through a more rigorous process in selecting a suitable candidate," Fitton said.

"Given the circumstances I feel that the Board of Directors needs a few days to review the process and to re-consider some of the available candidates - the truth is that there are new names still throwing their hat in the ring as managers become available.

He added: "We remain determined to find the right person for the post.

"Swindon Town is seen as an attractive club for a manager and whilst the process may have become protracted at the same time no one will thank the Board if we get this appointment wrong."

I blame Diamandis

I know it's probably not the case, but from my very tired and just-wanting-this-to-be-fucking-completed point of view, it doesn't seem that they've got a fucking clue about what they're doing.

think Fittons and the boards lack of experience in running a football club is really showing now. This ain't some normal business where you can place a job advert and have a starting date 2 months later. I wouldn't be surprised if this period of instability sees us relegated.

That's my biggest worry. I know they wan't to get the right man for the future etc, but at this rate they'll be starting their job in League Two.

The return of the good old Friday Statement, I knew we where missing something. Perhaps Budgie could start a daily Luggy type blog to keep us updated about his new boss :soapy tit wank:

I can see why they're doing what they're doing but at the end of the day if they keep failign to realise we're in a relegation battle we could lose more and more ground.

They're being too cautious IMO.

Fitton's yearly appraisal:

8/10 - off pitch/financial management
4/10 - on pitch football related management.

That is all.

It;s all very well looking after the long term, but the short and medium term need to be planned for.  At this rate our short term is looking a little shakey, to say the least.

David Byrne will not get us relegated FACT

I fear you maybe right the next 3 games are MUST win. Yeovil, Orient and Brighton win all 3 and we pull away lose all 3 and we will be in the bottom 4 at the turn of the year and you know what happened the last time that happened. Also the new guy is not going to have these games to assess the squad before Jan where before you know it all the decent loans and frees are gone.

i admire your optimism stfcdave. We are shite at the moment.

Meh we've been worse. In budgie we trust.

He can't keep blaming 'unlucky' last minute winners/equalisers forever.

4 draws and 2 losses
4 points out of 18

I would call that relegation form, I do not trust budgie at all!

Just bring Holloway in,. Safe bet. just done we move on and hopefully up the table. I really dont give a toss who we bring in now.

 I think it's ace...the new manager speculation has provided hours of fun on the TEF, is going down such a disaster....at least we might win a few games in L2.

Fucking hell, he saved our club, what does he need to do to get a bloody 10/10?!

He's done a lot right, but this is getting silly now. Maybe he's waiting for Calderwood to get sacked?

Perhaps Fitton is putting pressure on the perspective managers club to release the man by pretending to look elsewhere.

I don't think Fitton dicks around in that sort of silly game though.

Stop being so melodramatic. Of course you care.

Having had his fingers burned with Malpas, I would imagine AF is terrified of getting it wrong a second time.  Tomorrow marks the first anniversary of when he took charge.  The last appointment was a poor one and this appointment has taken far too long...not great.  But in all honesty, I still thank my stars that the old rabble was turfed out last Christmas and that Fitton, Watkins & co are running things now.

As others have said, off the field matters (and finances) have improved immeasurably.  The job for 2009 is to build some results on the field - which is why we're all here, of course.

Yes he gets  -2 for Oxogate.  That's my beef. But I hear rumurs Bovril is back.

Other than that you of course right.

:)

It's a good point. He pulled the same trick when buying the club by saying he wasn't interested anymore and was pulling out of the deal when the old board fucked him about.

Or perhaps he is genuinly telling the truth and others have applied making him reconsider his first choice... Crazy i know

Ok so if they've screwed up with this, where does this leave them with the available managers they ruled out which they may need to revert back to? (Holloway, Dowie, Boothroyd etc.)

Or are we going to end up with whatevers left on the scrap heap after the other managerless clubs have taken thier pick?

Absolutely bizarre

I think nobody knows Luci. Not even sure the BOD know at this moment.

Some of the absolute laughable comments against the story on the adver site. I must stress that I most certainly disagree with #2.

This is an absolutely critical appointment for STFC. It MUST, absolutely MUST be right, for the football club, the business, everything STFC. If Mr Fitton and the board of directors feel that they need another few days or whatever to sort it out, then fucking well wind your collective necks in, let them fucking well get on with it and shut the fuck up moaning.

Oh and get behind the team tomorrow. Please.

That is all.

I really do fear they'll just leave Byrne in charge now over the christmas period to provide 'stability' during what is a crucial period and I do seriously doubt his ability to get the results required.

Unheard of in fact

This is just stupid.... Blackburn managed to appoint a manager just 2 days after ince was sacked.... I think I'll just post up my picture again...

[url width=625 height=335]http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/archstanton1973/townenders.jpg[/url]

I disagree, reckon it will be next week now, Watkins quotes said he listened to the Crewe game and we sounded very dissapointing and needed a new manager asap.  Obviously we are all pissed off with yet another delay but lets just hope they push things forward now for next week.

We have 3 games in the next 8 days if a new manager did come in im fairly certain it would be mainly byrnes team still anyway.

I agree, Fitton seems to be taking a hard-nosed business attitude to this, it doesn't matter how long it takes, he won't pay over the odds for his preferred manager - it's become a blink-first competition.

Unlike the previous incumbents who just seemed to pay whatever regardless of the state of the balance sheet.

All I can say is I hope that Forest get thrashed away at Southampton tomorrow...

Yay some logic

hahaha this is all funny as fuck.i'm starting to think holloway or coterill should have got the job weeks ago in all seriousness

If it is a stare-off it can surely only be with Nottingham Forest as no one would be playing silly buggers over an academy director/injured player/assistant coach. If all this winds up with Calderwood walking back into the County Ground it will have been worth it.

Calm down people - Fitton is considering new applicants, I don't see the problem in that? There could be some big names, who we would all love to be at the club, who have recently applied.

It's frustrating, but anyone who thinks Fitton is dicking around is (IMHO) wrong.

He knows he made a mistake first time round and it's imperative that he gets it right this time.

I'm going to forget all this new manager shit for the time being and let the board do their job.

In the meantime there's 9 points on offer in the next eight days and Budgie's the man in charge.
Hopefully we'll pick up 5-9 of those.

Yea, but thats because Blackburn is a properly run football club #

# I have no fucking clue whether that is true or utter bollocks, but you can imagine some fucking retard on thisis (or even here) jumping to that immediate conclusion.

We all share your frustration, but please stop fucking moaning. Its boring, repetitive bollocks. Which reminds me, have I missed Bart's contribution?

Not picking on you specifically, but this shit (and all the negative reaction, some from those who should know better) is thoroughly pissing me off.

You are surprised there is a negative reaction?

  The reason Bburn moved so quickly is that if they go down from the Prem, they're very seriously fucked...whereas if we go down, if the last time is anything to go by, crowds increased, with abit of success.

Not really Batch. Its to be expected I suppose. Its just fucking frustrating, but hey, we have to trust the Fitton and the board are doing what they think is right for this football club. No amount of whinging, bitching and moaning on here is going to make a blind bit of difference. We have to trust them, and importantly support the team. They bloody well need it.....

You're all behaving like kids who've just been told their Christmas pressies won't be ready in time ...

fitton fucked up big time with malpas.if it takes time to get the right bloke, then i'll take that.if he fucks up again then his manager appointing skills could be questioned then

I really don't understand the need for a "long term" solution.  How many clubs currently have a manager in charge who;s been there for 3+ years?  Football as I'm always being told is a results game.  It's definitely a short to medium term game, focus should be on the next two years.

Get a manager in who

a, can help us avoid the drop

and

b, can make then turn us into a play off challenging team.

Put clauses in his contract that if a higher club comes in for us they can, as long as they meet a certain financial compensation package (that will leave us better off).

Waiting too long could be just as bad as getting it wrong anyway, it needs sorting before we're down anyway.

These next few games over Christmas are crucial and we really needed to have the supporters pulling in the same direction to try and get behind the team. From a personal point of view I just find it hard to get behind a manager (albeit in a caretaker capacity) who I have zero faith in and a team of players that at present alot just seem to be going through the motions. It's all very well to say we need to really get behind Byrne and the players tomorrow, but it's hard to do if in your heart you have no real belief in the people you are cheering on. I think the lack of belief in the manager and players has been a major cause of the lack of atmosphere at the CG this year and I don't think any amount of people trying to create an atmosphere will change this until we have a new fresh face to unite behind. Tomorrow will probably be 'morgue like' again at the CG.
I know it's a negative point of view but I'm just bored of the speculation now

Sound to me that maybe with the last few contenders, the Board of Directors can't agree between them, so maybe they will sit down and re-discuss it together over the weekend.  Hopefully Fitton is back, not always easy ironing out these things over the phone.

Exactly. This 'stability' and 'long-term appointment' stuff really is overated.

Just get a manager in who we can afford and who is likely to give us the best chance of football matches.

Not sure if your being sacrastic BBL, and I'm not sure if I've explained myself properlu but a colleague and I were discussing it, of course it's right to aim for long term stability from a financial point of view but I'm not 100% sure if a manager has to be appointed with the long term as a focus, yeah in business that can be an issu, but in football??  I'm not so sure. 

Managers, like players come and go, the best thing about Sturrock's appointment was it was a fanatastic short term appointment.  Okay so we'd have like him to stay for longer, but in the time he was here he did exactly the job we needed him to do.

Erm, still not sure I'm explaining myself here, but then again there is the chance I'm just talking bs.

Just got back from going down Toon Town and this is what greets me. I guess this is what happens when all of the people you want are in jobs.

Lack of patience aside, I'm not overly concerned about them wanting the right man, my concern is that we're approaching a busy couple of weeks. Three points are always important but now they're downright imperitive.

Just offer Ince the job go after him dont just wait for people to apply, he has League 2 experience and has contacts. Surely they are not going got through this whole interview process again.

totally totally agree with you steve! and as for some of the fucking stupid toss pots on thisis, childish wankers in my book! Some of them are so fickle and are quick to forget just what Mr Fitton has done for the club. Like steve said he made a mistake the first time, to make another one would most definitely see us playing in league two next season. So how about you fitton slaters shut the fuck up and let the man do his job!

This is getting beyond a joke now.

The board are clearly waiting for Byrne to win a game so they can appoint him STFCBARTFACT!

Finding a new manager shouldnt take this long at all. There are probably hundreds of football managers out there, alot unemployed whou would come here and we could have had them in a month ago.

Very rarely is there such thing as the perfect manager and even if there was and he somehow ended up here he wouldnt stop around if he was perfect.

Im starting to think Fitton & Co might be thinking a bit too long term. Will manager x still be here in 3 years time? of course he fucking wont be. In 3 years time the new manager will either be sacked for being shit or would have done so well with us that he's moved onto better things.

There is very rarely such a thing as a long term manager and the large majoirty are at top clubs where they cant possibly go any higher!

I've said all season we wont go down but now I think we are in trouble. Our next 3 games are VITAL probably the most important 3 games we've had in years because those 3 games could be the difference between staying up and going down.

I know the old saying no team is too good to go down but we really shouldnt be this bad. We finished mid table last season and which first teamer have we lost, Miguel fucking Comminges. Good player last season but hardly the fucking difference between 13th place and 23rd place. We've got the players to get us out of this shit we just need someone to lead them and at the moment we've got nothing.

Byrne hasnt done well as caretaker, the results speak for themselves sadly. We've deserved to win at least 4 of the games Byrne has been in charge and in some cases we have genuinly been unlucky but results talk. If we had won those 4 id have no problem what so ever with Byrne being in charge over the xmas period of even full time to be honest.

Plus, if the board were going to take this fucking long why not appoint someone short term. Like Newcastle did with Kinear. Offer someone unemployed like Holloyway a month to month contract. Holloway gets back into football and if he does well does he chances wonder. If hes poor he can go after a month.

...and...just to fit in with all the doom and gloomers. We're relegated there is no chance in hell we can survive, now its just a case of 24th or 23rd. We're the worst team League One has ever seen and there is really no point in playing the rest of the season. We might as well put our feet up and accept relegation now. Now lets just hope, no pray that Oxford United go on a great winning run and get promotion so we can have a proper local derby again after what 5/6/7 years and maybe inject a bit of life into this very lifeless football club. Now im ranting, I'll shut up

IAN HOLLOWAYS RED N WHITE ARMY!

I thought this was a joke when I first read it? It's been 5 bloody weeks and yet we are considering starting all over again? In short we should just appointed Holloway 4 weeks ago. I'm sure Fitton and the board are just as frustrated as we are but you do have to question if they actually know what they are doing here? And that's the first time i've said that and really didn't think I would. After calming down about it all and reflecting I guess there is no more we can do but continue to be patient. My worry now though is that if we do indeed start the process again then how long will that take? Will that mean an appointment in the middle of Jan when it's then too late for the new man to get some players in? Will we then be firmly in a relegation battle? It's highly likely.

WE WONT GO DOWN DV!

DV like the post fella.  I think the key to long term appointments is, they aren't appointed as long term appointments.  I'm sure when Fergie signed on the dotted line at OT he didn't thinkI'll still be here in 20 years, Wenger the same at the arse (altho shorter term applies), Dario Gradi at Crewe etc.  I think they happen once every blue moon and are achieved through a little luck.

Just give Holloway the job, let him inject his style and personality on the club and when a bigger club comes calling fleece them for as much compo as possible.  That's football.

So who's gonna take the time to go through the FL list and work out the percentage of long term managers still at their respective clubs.  I would but I can't be arsed.

I KNOW I JUST SAID THAT MYSELF!

oh right got bored after two lines :-)

Yet you knew I mentioned us going down, so you do you usually read posts from bottom to top?

yeah its a bit like the newspaper, always read them backwards

some sad bastard has already done it

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_Football_League_managers_by_date_of_appointment

So 16 managers have been in their present job for over 3 years.  That's more than I imagined to be honest.

Just out of interest, what is the record for the longest amount of time a team has gone without a manager?

I reckon it is England, who didn't have a manager between 1st August 2006 and 13th December 2007 - just some ginger haired twat with a big umbrella who thought he was.

For me, the delay is down to Fitton's lack of football experience and knowledge. He needs to get a grip quickly or things will start going from bad to worse. Don't get me wrong, he saved the club and I think he will do great things in the future but he needs to step up and do it quickly.

Someone with more experience would have got their man. Most would have leaked the name to the media which would create a lot of pressure on their club to let him go. If it was Calderwood then very quickly the players and fans at Forest would make it known they wanted him out as he wasn't committed, putting pressure on their board to cut a deal. Instead he has played by the rules, who actually does that in football????

He could have appointed Holloway within 24 hours of Malpas going, even if just to the end of the season. If he had, I reckon we would have at least a few more points than we do at the moment. Maybe not the ideal appointment but it would have been better than what has happened instead.

I wish people will stop tip-toeing around their own opinions using the "I'm glad he saved us" disclaimer. If these people are so grateful that Fitton helped save this club then they'd give him the time to make sure he gets it right.

As if Fitton wanted it to last this long.

Fitton needs to get a fucking move on. It's that simple Rich. And I'm sure he knows that.

Of course he does. But like I said, it's not as if Fitton wanted it to take this long. Lessons will be learned I'm sure.

Meh, Fitton cant play the "saved the club" card indeffinitly.He screwed up getting Malpas and he's screwed up getting his replacement.Fitton out!

I think everybody would prefer it if we had a manager in sooner rather than later, but I'm not convinced it's at a massive panic appoint anybody straight away disaster point yet. I might feel a bit differently if January comes around, we'll have to wait and see.

I like the fact that Fitton and co have apparently decided what they want in a candidate and considered people even if it meant a bit of extra work trying to negotiating with employers and risk of negotiations breaking down.

I think a few days away from the forums have done me some good. Some of you are getting a bit obsessive, and maybe even a touch melodramatic.

I agree.

If someone was appointed today they wouldnt be doing much tomorrow anyway,so it doesnt really matter that much.

Ill be glad when the forum gets back to normal though.

Me too  :nod:

Like the majority I've been sucked into the ridiculousness of the past month. I dream of a day when normality returns on TEF.

Give it a few years and I reckon we'll look back on this crazy appointment period with a bit of fondness, but I agree, TEF normality would be welcome.

I don't think anybody even bothered with a top 5 today.

Top 5 moments of the managerial search?

Todays announcement just about tops it for me !

I agree. I would also like to put on public record that Glos Robin is more annoying than Bart.

Negative, depressing, mind numbing downbeat. What's the fucking point?

God no. I'd rather watch paint dry.

1. Ward is bookie's favourite
2. Ling is bookie's favourite
3. 'We've got our man'..
4..followed the next day by..'It's down to two!!'
5. Fitton..'meh! I think we'll just start again'

 :doh:

What happened with the sheena easton listed on VC thing? Did it just go away and not come back? All the people I told thought it was hilarious.

That's my number one anyway.

VC took the betting down so she never progressed from 200-1.

Hmm, let's see now, getting on for 120 pages in the black ice thread - obsessive? You think?

Saw the 'lets start again news' on the train home tonight.....
Dont know what to say.........i hope we get the right man...i just hope it isnt mission impossible when he does!

I don't care that we haven't appointed a manager yet. Byrne won't take us down, Fitton knows business and, despite what many think, more about the football backroom than us. If he wants to take another 2 months making sure he has a man the board can work with so be it, i really have no problem at all.

In fact, i have no problem with being relegated either. Afterall, we have the right board in charge and we know they want progress in the long term. Plus, as reg pointed out, our last stint in league 2 wasn't a problem for the club and i actually really enjoyed it. Football for me is, in a dream world, about enjoyment, so should we go down, at least we'll have another enjoyable season. I can't see many negatives from any angle in this managerial problem we have, it's just being blown out of proportion and escalated by a few negative voices who only see doom and are merely adding to each others fires.

Chill brethren, armageddon is not upon us.

But in total only 6 of those are football related.

Barry - I take issue with the relegation point. Last time we had a "big name" manager come in and were also pretty much in the top 3 all season. And that's fine as it led to larger crowds.

This time (or any time) there would be no guarantee of either. Don't fall into the "we are too big for that league" trap. We clearly aren't.

It would also set us back at least 2 seasons on pushing the club towards challenging in the right half of the league 1 table.

Relagation may or may not financially hurt us. It would still be a disaster.

And to that point we (I) may have overreacted to the manager search stating again. But I still feel the sooner this squad gets a rocket up its arse and starts to win the better.

The process won't drag on for another month, it'll be settled next week. According to the WDP, the issue was compensation for Money, with Newcastle demanding more than Fitton would accept.

The problem with forums is that you read something and it's fact.

Money has a clause in his contract that would allow him to leave to manage a club. Source? Fact?

Money has left Newcastle. Source? Fact?

It's all bollocks. Let Fitton do his job.

Going down would be terrible, there is probably a much lesser chance of bouncing back straight away. Not to forget the standard is even 10 times worse than league one. Yep the end of the season was good, but i certainly don't wanna go back there.

 Agree with just about all of that, apart from the fact DB wont take us down. We've thrown away so many points already this season...when we've actually played semi decently, and had reasonable good fortune. That is the time to get your points, because  Crewe type perfromances can become the norm and bad luck may strike.

 This season reminds me of 81/82 a bit, when we went down with 52 points...we won 13 games, but it was a tight league, and we drew 13 games.

 On paper we had what looked a decent side...certainly had goals in in it, the 37 scored at the CG was bettered by only 6 teams in the league, but the 36 conceded was the highest, because we persistently gave away sloppy goals..sound familiar.

 We had some tidy wins 5-2 and 4-1 at Eastvile v Wovers....3-0 at Trashton 3-2 at CG v Scum in the notorious smoke bomb game.

 The core of the side had done well in the past, but lost its midfield engine of McHale and Kamara, their replacements Gladys Emanual and the young but lightweight Brian Huges, could on occasions perform, but were too often bullied.

 The upshot of all this was, you'd have said this side was too good to go down, and in most seasons probably wouldn't have done...incidentally it was the first season of 3 points for a win.

Bloody hell Barry, I'm Lord Chillington, First Ice Lord of Chillsbury in Chillsburyshire but can I have some of what you've been smoking please???

Much as I like Byrne I do think he may take us down if left in place. IF the process did go on another two months (don't think it will for a minute) that would take us beyond the transfer window and completely tie the hands of the new manager, which would quite possibly lead to the afore mentioned relegation which I would not enjoy at all. I would hate it. Every time I see goals highlights from that league I give thanks we are not in that God forsaken league any more.

I agree totally with the bit about chilling out. Some people are somewhat obsessive and frankly need to get out more. But relegation?? I don't even want to think about that.

I'm off out now 8)

you're my hero with your memories and stats reg

We were too good to go down that season, we played some great football but was let down with some dire defending, as Reg says it is very close to how we are playing this season.

That game away at Newport was my worst memory of a game involving Swindon and the 5-0 away defeat to the Scum was almost as bad that year.

We blew hot and cold and the way Rideout played was very similar to how Cox is playing this year.

A lot of comparisons.

I want us to go down. I like being a big fish.

That pond is getting larger.

And due to on/off field inabilities our fish is becoming anorexic.

The Newport co game was one of the main reasons I moved to New Zealand....well, the result from that caused us to be relegated.
Ive gotten a couple of spare rooms if required...!!!

 I've been down to Newport County a good few times in the last 3 or 4 years.

 They run a lot of decent fund raising quizzes over there....as the South Walians are very keen on quizzes, and often put up decent prize money.

 They paid a very high price for inflicting that night on us...it's quite impressive to see the efforts their fans have made to keep the club going....they are an example of what football is truly about.

 Last season I was there just before the PO to get into the Conference....excitement was high, but they fucked up. They deserve at least a shot at Conference football.

Must say I would never wish us to go down but if it meant we could end our season now I would accept it. I'm bored of losing now :(

 Our last two seasons in Div 4 have been fun, but it has to be said the period when we were stuck down among the dead men in the early 80's playing in front of sub 2000 crowds did test the patience...it was when I coined my old user name on MoS....STFC a sleeping minnow, only I used to graffiti it on bog walls and stuff.

 Back then though, I had an unwavering belief that we would rise to the top flight, after all we were STFC, I'd seen how good this club could be in the 60's and 70's. And lo it came to pass.

 Now I have no faith..still enjoy it..more for the loonies on here than the actual football, but fuck me we could do with few wins just to put a smile back on faces.

Well said. The banter is a lot better than the football. A few decent performances even if we lost would put a smile on my face.