Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Friday 27 April 2012

27 April 2012

Mardy Diary writes: So three out and one sort of in already, eh? We'll try to keep track of things here, as usual, but forgive us if we have the odd day off. We sometimes like to sleep.

The departure of Coulson is no big surprise of course - it was fairly inevitable once contract talks stalled. I'll be sad to see him go - he's been a good, skillful player for us and always gave his best. He also strikes me as a throughly likeable chap off the pitch too, which in these days of John Terry and his ilk is quite a heartening thing.

Garner going seems strange too, given than he won his place back in the side and seemed to be playing pretty well. Scott explains in the Telegraph today that the decision was mainly made due to the improvement in form of Pearson and the fact Garner was out of contract. I expect it's also to do with the wage differential between Garner (signed by Woods) and Pearson. Similarly, Rob Duffy has contributed this season but a combination of his contract coming to an end and the fact he was probably on a higher wage than most means he won't be retained.

I find it hard to argue with the decisions on that level. I've harped on long enough about us living within our means and not relying on the benign loans of Fenty, and this at least appears a step in that direction. We will be lucky to replace Coulson for someone of equal calibre on a lower wage, but perhaps we just can't afford a player like him? It seems to me that Soares was brought in last season as a back-up in case Coulson wasn't retained, and he may well turn out to be a good substitute for him. He certainly has ability and has a proven record at this level. It's a gamble, but one that will cost less than previous risks if it doesn't work out.

And that seems the route we're now taking: take a chance on those who have shown ability at this level and below, rather than pay more for players that have played at a higher level. It's worked with Hearn, and shows signs of working with Pearson. Church less so, but some players adapt quicker than others.

What will be interesting to see is if there is any reduction in squad size, or rather a reduction in players used throughout the season. Shorty and Shouty came in with a remit of having a reduced squad compared to the previous season. However, the number of players they actually used last season (excluding those who made fewer than five appearances) was the same as the previous season: 28.

I've long been a believer that having a settled squad is the key to a successful team: sticking with players rather than chopping and changing every match. The good run we had this season was largely down to a settled team and if you look back over the last ten seasons, results certainly support this theory.

If we say our two moments of 'success' in the last ten years were the play-off final and the Paint Pot cup final (yes, I know) then it's also interesting to note that we used only 24 players under Buckley and 23 under Slade (Slade used only 21 the season before that). Contrast this with the worse total of 32 that happened in 2003-04 and 2009-10 - and what happened in those seasons?

Of course there's a bit of a chicken and egg thing here: if a team is doing well, why change it? But Slade and Buckley both knew what they were doing. Slade built steadily in his first season and added small numbers the next. Buckley took the players he was given, reduced the numbers and then tried to do something with the ones who remained (get to a cup final and finish lower mid-table - doesn't look so bad now, does it?).

With this in mind it's hoped that Scott and Hurst have the same thing in mind. Certainly there is the requirement to reduce our dependency on Fenty and start to live within our means. But alongside this we need to start sticking with players and letting the team develop together. For a moment this season it looked like the managers had twigged and we had a fantastic run - but as soon as it began to falter, the swapping of players and systems came back in and the results tailed off.

Shouty says that tomorrow the team will largely be the same but they'll be looking to tinker with the tactics. I just want them to decide on a tactic that suits the players they have and stick to it.