The Night-Owl

Doc Chansiri and Marty Carvalhal
A nice read that. They've both been a breath of fresh air and brought the club into the 21st century. The future is most certainly bright in the Chansiri era. Hopefully the finishing pieces of the jigsaw can be completed in this window or the summer. No complaints at all from me, enjoying this era of the club and I'm delighted Carlos proved me wrong, he's been a shrewd appointment.

We missed a chance whilst we were on a decent run at the start of the season.
Then was the time to bring in the extra quality we still crave and desperately need.
Instead of another survival battle, we could've been in with a shout, the feel good factor and the momentum was all lost because MM won't back Gray.
Gray deserved to be backed for his efforts last season and for the start to this one. But yet again we go forwards only to go two steps backwards it seems.
Last season Gray came in and revived the team spirit, got the players believing in him it seemed and until we guaranteed safety we were attacking teams, albeit reliant on loanees. This season Gray as improved the defensive side of the team, the keeper and the defence give us a solid platform but the goal threat we had, the feel good factor and the no fear attitude of the early part of Gray's reign of last season and at the start of this season as evaporated into the same dire way that Megson and DJ's reigns turned into after the good work they did initially. It's a continuous pattern it seems, of good runs and bad runs coinciding with loanees or a lack of depth. Whoever is in charge their good work will be undone because of the budget and squad they have to work with. I feel sorry for Gray because at the end of the day he's going to be the fall guy, despite not have the CV record of Megson and DJ it seemed as though Gray had earned the belief of the chairman, fans and players.
 
If Gray was axed, the new guy would face the same problems Gray is faced with. A small squad, low on quality, reliant on loanees and held back with a poor budget.
There's no guarantees in football, a better budget or a new owner with more money wouldn't guarantee success but it would give us a better chance and a more realistic chance of competeting at this level. It's sad but without taking risks and without money, we are going to continue to be a struggler at this level, reliant on loanees, going on good runs and bad runs, just to stay up and the manager ends up being the fall guy and the same sequence happens because whoever comes in as the same measly budget and equally lightweight unbalanced squad to work with.