Reflections on the 23/24 season

[culmstockgull]

Other than this saturday's carnival atmosphere game which for all I have no doubt will be more in relief than anything else, I wonder how this season went so horribly wrong, we were short odds to be champions or at the least honourable runners up, no one to touch us, full time squad,too many good players for this league.
What the heck happened, everyone will have a view,was it just Osborne being the owner, be honest the season was down the toilet before christmas and well before he pulled the plug.
Johnson for me should have left at the end of the previous season and rightly we would have remembered him fondly as one of our better managers.His reputaion would have remained largely intact but he so completely mismanaged this season to the extent his reputation no longer exists,all due to his out of date attitudes to football, a single way of playing and stupid ill conceived comments that caused the fan base to rise up as one, it became toxic.
His experience alone should have told him after the opening few games against part timers this league had yet again improved, and he needed a fresh game plan but we saw he was incapable of that even allowing for the fact that he wasnt starting from scratch, he had a good cohort of experienced players that had played for a season together, whether several of them should be in the pro game at all is still open to debate. We knew by end of september we needed additions in the forward and backline department, his logic was to stuff the team with midfielders and ask players to play out of position, our best two players by a country mile this season were both loans and at left back position.
Injuries , yet another season plagued by long term and repeat injuries but we seem to have suffered more than most, was this because we signed injury prone players, signed players that have struggled to play 10 games in a season , all this ultimately meant was that those that played week in week out were in the main bench warmers.
Next season, all I ask is that we bring in players who can manage 40 games, have the heart of lapslie, the non stop game of archer and please a back four that does not concede nearly two goals every game, will it happen, who knows , its Torquay.

[Fozziefan]

Well I watched 3 games this season as I’m working abroad. I watched Plymouth and a 4-1 humbling of Exeter in pre season and left after my Summer holiday thinking the season was shaping up very nicely…

Then, back for Xmas. Watched the ‘Boxing Day Massacre’ and couldn’t believe the difference 4 months had made.

[leetufc]

At almost the half way point (22 games) we sat 2nd in the league, with 13 wins, 1 draw and 8 losses. We were 7 points behind Yeovil, so at that point we were broadly where the preseason expectations had us, though maybe further behind Yeovil than initially thought. I do think that position did mask some issues in the team and we were probably lucky to be there. Points deduction aside we would currently 13th, which in itself is a terrible drop off from 2nd place. Incidentally, after 22 games we were 8 points ahead of Chelmsford (who were 12th), and now sit 2nd in the league.

Its been a combination of things - too many injuries to key players, too poor an overall squad behind the first choice players, terrible management and all the behind the scenes issues playing out.

Lets just hope the news in the next few weeks is positive and we can look forward, and leave this season as a distant memory.

[TommyGunn]

The departure of Shaun Donnellan seemed to result in a drop off in form in the New Year. I liked Callum Dollan who gave good energy and would shoot on sight.

[GULL 67]

In all honesty my heart sank after that first away day at Dover. Nobody seemed to want to say it but we were terrible. For the few months,Like the Emperor new clothes, I watched and saw things that weren't there. I really believed it would all come right. Worthing played us off the park at home and I suddenly realised just how poor a team we were. Think 13th would have flattered this lot.Must admit I was dancing and singing like a loon at Taunton last night. On reflection I was cheering with 800 away fans not being relegated to the Southern league. Shameful.

[Willowgull]

Abysmal.

[culmstockgull]

The departure of Shaun Donnellan seemed to result in a drop off in form in the New Year. I liked Callum Dollan who gave good energy and would shoot on sight.

Completely forgot about Dolan, never went out on loan again after us, he was similar to lapslie but on steroids and a good shot on him, got another two years on his contract with fleetwood and we would be very lucky to get him back on loan.

[happytorq]

Oddly, the first 20 minutes of the season I really thought we were going to piss it. 2-0 up at Dover. Then we collapse (a nice preview of the season overall)

Lots of factors combined to make this season a misery, though.

Johnson - the manager should undoubtedly have left after relegation last season. Yes, the team made a decent fist of it late in the season, but let's not forget how terrible we'd been in both 2021/2022 and 2022/2023. It was apparent even in the 21/22 season that whatever the "it" had been that GJ had, "it" had gone. At any functioning club a manager would be sacked after overseeing a decline from 2nd in the division to a relegation, but he was kept on.

Contracts/Budget - we offered contracts to pretty much all of the players who were part of the too-late revival. I dont know the details of those contracts, but basically everybody stuck around for another season, the only exception Frank Nouble whom we know has a very mercenary streak (this is fine by me, btw; players have to make whatever money they can). I don't know what the budget was for this season - I doubt we'll ever be told - but once those players were retained it seemed as though there was no money left to plug the holes we knew we had, particularly in defence. Defensively we've been abject all season and we never got round to signing a centre-half of any note. That we've had both Moxey and Hall back there of late tells a story.

Injuries - yes, this old chestnut. But it's true, we were incredibly unfortunate with injuries once again. Some of that is of our own making - signing players whom we know wont be able to play a majority of the season, or at least those who have known injury concerns. Hall, Dawson, & Martin are the most apparent of these, but we also have a bunch of in-game injuries to players that we'd consider important; Lapslie, Stobbs, Collins, Jarvis among them. We never really had the continuity, which makes it all the more incredible that we were 2nd in december.

Off-Field - I think everybody knew the Osborne regime was going to end this way. When the hammer finally came down, it was a sort of relief. I don't know how much this affected behind the scenes but I've worked at companies where it's obvious the people in charge are useless or disengaged. It's tough to deal with. But we go again

[Dave_Pougher]

I’m a pint half full man (provided I’m not buying)

Hopefully seen the end of Gaming International, Osbourne, Edwards, Hayman Johnson et all ! Stayed up despite points deductions.

If the above is correct.

Result!

[Chill]

The majority of the blame must lie at the feet of Johnson! The last couple of seasons he was just taking the piss, how the hell can his brother be considered a bloody scout for talented players? It was a fabulous last couple of seasons for Johnson, on a brilliant golden handshake and no one involved at Plainmoor gave a damn about the results!

[Taelee73]

The two pre season friendlies filled us with hope.

Decembers second place, we all knew this was a false position. We’d been poor all season, winning games we shouldn’t have. I always felt we’d pick up when the injuries cleared and loans arrived.

Although we re-signed a lot of those players from the last 10 games, we didn’t get Nouble, Nicho didn’t come back and Dawson never started. One from each of the key parts of the pitch.
Where the management and players complacent being in this league, I’d say yes, playing at 99% and not 100% makes such a difference. As others said, the Gary magic didn’t quite seem there, the early 20 minute blitz where teams used to be blown away just never happened. This league has moved on, although there are still only 4 or 5 really decent sides, they really shocked us with their passing game.

Certainly the knowledge Johnson’s salary remaining unchanged, while the players dropped must have caused friction, even if subconsciously. Did Gary maybe get a bit of Fergie about himself, we were relegated and he seemed to face no repercussions for it and maybe he also no longer worked at 100%, even maybe without realising.

Injuries, for the 5th season running we had key injuries throughout the entire season, Johnson eventually found loan players that plugged the gap, he found a few this season, but they were soon recalled back and their benefit was brief. I think that 4-1 defeat of Exeter also stopped any of their players heading our way. Hopefully we can continue to build bridges with them.

Our long serving players have experience, but none have pace and we have looked pedestrian and slow of thought and idea all season and their injuries keep them out longer. Fair play to Moxey for playing so many games.

Where are the set piece moves to make the opposition think rather than lofted balls into the area?

Our players are so slow, any breaks were quickly ended as few players had a burst of pace. Against the poorer sides, we are just too slow to capitalise and open them up.

No wingers, Stubbs blows hot and cold, Desilva again it just didn’t work.

Johnson himself, arrogant, knows best, inflexible, siege mentality. He rubs supporters and many potential players up the wrong way. Playing players out of their favoured positions, it worked for Reid, but who else? This just led to no connections or gelling of play, no one seemed to know what to do half the time.

Ash and Jarvis, 25 odd goals between them I think, but it never felt like the combination worked. Hoof ball didn’t help.

The pitch, pristine until December or there abouts, but that area in front of Bristows isn’t great for passing or wing play football.

Injuries, gambled on injury prone players not getting injured, didn’t pay off.

The for and against support, a split support base is never good for a team.

The lack of information about injuries or signings just alienates at least some of us. It’s National League South, why the secrecy. Dawson was a prime example, I was looking forward to seeing him and Lapslie controlling the midfield, and nothing, not a single word about him.

All in all a season to forget, however we didn’t sink further, we hopefully will soon hear some great news about owners/investment. I’m looking forward to a new season, new manager and players. We need to temper our expectations as the next season or two are building a new team, new club.