Early Gas / Cobblers Match Day Thread

Sorry, but it sounds like more fanciful flights of the imagination to get Garner off the hook to me.

There seems (imo) to be some real concerted efforts by some to set the bar as low as is humanly possible just so people can still suppprt Garner whilst giving him every chance to just about meet those poor expectations. If we had the budget of Sunderland I expect you and others would still be wringing your hands and saying “but we don’t have any right to expect to earn more than 7 points in October!” 7 points in October. Sheesh, Buckle would be laughing his tits off right now after all the stick he got about lowering expectations and now after a much vaunted summer of recruitment we are grateful for 7 points in a month containing games against teams of no real pedigree!

I fail to see how complaining about distance is innocuous and yet Garner has every right to complain about the ref in a 4-1 defeat. Did you see the goals? They were pathetic and Doncaster could have had at least a couple more so to try and make out we had a chance of coming away with a point if the ref had pulled the play up for a nothing incident involving our defender is once again pushing hard against the boundaries of reality just to give Garner a leg up where his performance in the job doesn’t warrant it.

You make an interesting point about the word supporter. I don’t like it for the reasons you state. I would not sit by and just support a family member if they were making a decision that seemed dubious in the extreme. I would make my opinion known and that extends to my football club too. It’s worth emphasising the point to the extreme that this isn’t a manager with an average win ratio who might get better. 3 wins in what is getting close to a calendar year is mind blowingly awful. It suggests very little managerial talent and as such it paints a picture that Rovers are in something of a crisis because no other club would tolerate such poor performance. Some of us are quite concerned about that and if daring to speak up and ask questions of the mediocrity the club is happy to settle for then I am proud not to be termed a supporter and I reject the term wholeheartedly.

Of course Garner could kick on and go on to big things...but we said this every time Nichols scored a goal and it didn’t happen did it? Sometimes people just get lucky now and then and I think that’s how it was with Nichols and how it is with Garner. I’d want to see 4 wins from the opening 10 games to have any faith in him and I fully expect to need to be revived by smelling salts if he manages it because I don’t think he’s got a hope in hell, even with games against Burton and Shrewsbury coming up. We’re just papering over the cracks at the moment but some people just refuse to acknowledge it because they are desperate for Garner to come good despite over-whelming evidence he is just not a manager and probably never will be.
I do have some sympathy for that need to support the club despite the evidence but eventually you have to demand better and have some sort of standards. I’ll repeat it, 3 wins in 25. He would have been sacked even at Macclesfield or Yeovil. By contrast we don’t seem to have any pride in ourselves as a club at all (perhaps not surprising given the state of our ground) and it really wears on me that my local club is willing to put up with the sort of rubbish that no other club would tolerate.

A good win, the squad needed it to help bond, God knows the boss needed it, and we the fans needed it too.

The next game will be tough.

Jakkiola had little to do as mentioned. That is down to hard work from the rest in training after last week.

Hare was at his best and must always play here ahead of the terribly unreliable Little.

I liked the look of Baldwin, goal aside. Some experience from Sunderland.

Ehmer had a better game and I feel will come good eventually.

Harries is possibly player of the season so far with his clearances and cultured clever play.

Tutonda is a revelation. Good piece of recruitment. I love the way he brings the ball down even when an opposing player is close. This is the kind of player Garnerball is about, comfortable on the ball.

Grant looks ok, Ogogo will not play so we must get over that. Grant looks a better bet than Upson in that position.

I like Westbrooke. His delivery is good, it causes problems and he can become a great Rovers player.

Not convinced by McCormick yet, he doesn't effect the game enough so far.

Daly is brave, quick, direct and hungry. He deserves to start.

Hanlan is a handful which is what strikers should be. Brilliant signing.

I like the look of Nicholson, want to see more of him.

You get the same from Cam Hargreaves evey week.

Well done one and all. Northampton were poor but the team that has been painted as so poor on this forum could have lost this but ultimately we won through as by far the better side.

4 pts from 4 games, I think had we got a point v Ipswich, which was on the cards, and maybe lost closer to Donny everyone would be a bit happier, but this was always a must win.

UTG

You obviously have factual evidence of your accusation?

I read you loud and clear, common sense post.

Oh - I do like a spreadsheet. Would you agree with the bookies? Currently the one I 'rely' on have (in order of likelihood for relegation):
Dale, The Gas, N'ton, Burton, W'don, MK Dons, Wigan, Plymouth, Crewe, Shrews, Accie, Charlton, Gills, Swindle. 
Dale 8/11 going out to Swindle at 11/2. The Gas are 2nd favourites for the drop at 6/5. This is a very very tight race for these 14 before you leap to Blackpool at 10-1.
I agree - there will be a very close season long battle down at the bottom  
(I reckon you had Charlton as a top 10 side - swap that for Lincoln and I think your list will reflect the above).

UTG. I'd settle for SUTG this season. (S for Stay).  

No idea!, but if he watched others, other than Rovers he would have been a mightily busy fella. From the first interview as Manager BG tells the interviewer that he had watched all our matches, but then goes on to add the two matches during the week after GC had quit specifically, it's the same week he was anointed manager, these are not my word's they are BG's, it's online if you are interested.

I do not know the actual date he resigned, perhaps the Sunday as you say, if so the following Tuesday was Plymouth Away, which closes the gap on my quoted three days above to just two, crumb's perhaps, possibly crouton's!.

Burton without Clough will go

I guess wannabe managers and out of work managers watch other teams all the time to keep in touch. And when a manager has a meltdown on a Saturday after a good win those people become even more alert. It’s football and I bet at the moment those wannabes and out of work managers would have been watching us again if they had been able. They would have been watching Mansfield as well esp after their poor start. GC’s Mansfield record is better than BG’s with us but not much and their fans aren’t much happier.
Football and replacing managers seems to be a world of it’s own so difficult to compare to the real world.
UTG!

To answer BG: no idea if others watched GCs post-match conference but I bet word got out about it before the Sunday. It was all over here on that Saturday night so you maybe correct about not watching it live but I bet they found out quickly. And they would all be on show at Plymouth etc. And no, I’m not surprised either that GC hasn’t replicated his success there.
It’s all speculation of course but so is most of the stuff on here and other forums.😉
UTG!