Darlo Uncovered

Looking at the National League table the 4 teams coming down are all south of London which means the FA are going to have to move two teams across from National League South. Looking at the league I can see us getting Oxford City and Gloucester (unless they get relegated) . Not what you'd class as particularly northern !

It looks like Kettering are coming up, plus possibly Farsley and shields, then I guess it depends on who else comes up from the evo stik South - Stourbridge are the most northerly of the current play off contenders.

Only 3 come up I believe. 1 from Evo North and Evo South or whatever it’s called as winners.

Then a play off between North and South play off winners. I would imagine Kettering, Farsley and Shields will be promoted but one of the Northern teams may miss out and as we know playoffs don’t always get the 2nd place team promoted.

Yackley_Quaker wrote:Looking at the National League table the 4 teams coming down are all south of London which means the FA are going to have to move two teams across from National League South. Looking at the league I can see us getting Oxford City and Gloucester (unless they get relegated) . Not what you'd class as particularly northern !

There's a train of thought that it could be Oxford City being moved across with Braintree placed in the National League North.

Gloucester City seems more likely but you can never tell with the FA. Either way, Oxford City seem certain to be shifted.

Not sure if true but one rumour/rule when Gloucester were moved to South that they were given 3 years before they could be moved again, they have done 2 up to now.

super_les_mcjannet wrote:Only 3 come up I believe. 1 from Evo North and Evo South or whatever it’s called as winners.

Then a play off between North and South play off winners. I would imagine Kettering, Farsley and Shields will be promoted but one of the Northern teams may miss out and as we know playoffs don’t always get the 2nd place team promoted.

This just shows how vital it is to avoid relegation. Coming back up from Step 3 will be incredibly difficult, given only league winners are guaranteed to go up.

My guess is at some point, they'll increase the relegation places in the NLN/NLS to four (with maybe the quid pro quo being the league expands to 24 sides).

super_les_mcjannet wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 07, 2019 8:55 am

Only 3 come up I believe. 1 from Evo North and Evo South or whatever it’s called as winners.

Then a play off between North and South play off winners. I would imagine Kettering, Farsley and Shields will be promoted but one of the Northern teams may miss out and as we know playoffs don’t always get the 2nd place team promoted.

That makes sense, since only three go down (thankfully). So if, say, Kings Lynn won the play off it would be even more skewed. I think the entire bottom 8 in the conference are southern teams so it's definitely going to be an issue one way or another.

Maybe a day out at last for London exiles though...

super_les_mcjannet wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 07, 2019 8:55 am

Only 3 come up I believe. 1 from Evo North and Evo South or whatever it’s called as winners.

Then a play off between North and South play off winners. I would imagine Kettering, Farsley and Shields will be promoted but one of the Northern teams may miss out and as we know playoffs don’t always get the 2nd place team promoted.

Six come up from step 3, in theory 3 into North and 3 Into South.

The four step 3 champions go up,then winners of the 4 play offs have a further I get league play off , probably NPL v Southern League Central and Southern League South v Isthmian League ( FA not confirmed the super play off fixture draw yet)

The winners of the 2 Super play offs also go up


Complicated? Try understanding the promotion from step 4 to step 3 where some sides go into play offs knowing even if they win it they can't be promoted!


This link is the best indication of what next season's format will be. Its based on runners up winning play offs

http://goo.gl/5UvkvE

Darlogramps wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 07, 2019 9:04 am

super_les_mcjannet wrote:Only 3 come up I believe. 1 from Evo North and Evo South or whatever it’s called as winners.

Then a play off between North and South play off winners. I would imagine Kettering, Farsley and Shields will be promoted but one of the Northern teams may miss out and as we know playoffs don’t always get the 2nd place team promoted.

This just shows how vital it is to avoid relegation. Coming back up from Step 3 will be incredibly difficult, given only league winners are guaranteed to go up.

My guess is at some point, they'll increase the relegation places in the NLN/NLS to four (with maybe the quid pro quo being the league expands to 24 sides).

I think that’s the plan, the National North/South teams rejected 4 down with only 22 in the league.

Agree in regards to coming back up, it’s much more difficult than just staying up, you have to basically be the best - where as we know staying up just means having 3 teams worse than you.

The key to winning the nlp is to play all your games in the space of about 5 weeks, and win every single one of them because you're the footballing equivalent of a massive, unstoppable steamroller.

That's just based on my team's experience, anyway.

God that was a great run.

spen666 wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 07, 2019 9:35 am

super_les_mcjannet wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 07, 2019 8:55 am

Only 3 come up I believe. 1 from Evo North and Evo South or whatever it’s called as winners.

Then a play off between North and South play off winners. I would imagine Kettering, Farsley and Shields will be promoted but one of the Northern teams may miss out and as we know playoffs don’t always get the 2nd place team promoted.

Six come up from step 3, in theory 3 into North and 3 Into South.

The four step 3 champions go up,then winners of the 4 play offs have a further I get league play off , probably NPL v Southern League Central and Southern League South v Isthmian League ( FA not confirmed the super play off fixture draw yet)

The winners of the 2 Super play offs also go up


Complicated? Try understanding the promotion from step 4 to step 3 where some sides go into play offs knowing even if they win it they can't be promoted!


This link is the best indication of what next season's format will be. Its based on runners up winning play offs

http://goo.gl/5UvkvE

Yep 6 come up but in reality it’s set to promote 3 from North/Midlands into North and then 3 from South & Isthmian leagues (which most of these teams are expected to go into National South).

Step 4 promotion is as crazy as Step 6 (Northern League 2) which I still haven’t got my head around.

All of which really highlight why we must stay in this league. It's not an easy league to get out of below here. Given South Shields resources, i had expected them to steamroller all comers. You'd favour them in the playoffs, and in reality i'd probably like them to come up for the extra local game and also crowd boost they will provide, but they're another bankrolled local entity who will compete with us for the same players.

We have to get the next appointment right. We might not be bankrolled, but our budget, and our crowds, are more than good enough to sustain us at this level, at least. I hope we can get some excitement about the place next year with the right managerial appointment.

Im no body language expert but Tommy looks really uncomfortable in his pmi these last few matches. Yesterday is telling because we won the game and he still looks down. In the past after a win he's all smiles but yesterday he had his defeat face on. Looks a broken man to me.

Contrast with Jim Gannon's interviews at Stockport. Now there's a coach who really knows what he's doing with a clear game plan and organisational skills. Still he does hold a full UEFA pro coaching licence. Good luck to them!

That's the thing. Is he like that because in his own words he's embarrassed by the season and it's weighing on him, or does he know something? We'll find out soon enough.

What should our aims be for next season? Personally I'd take a mid table finish, with really committed, fast play, with an aim of - but not budgeting on the basis of - a cup run.

I think Tommy’s got a sneaking suspicion of getting a phone call from D.J.

It’s such a shame really, out of all the managers we’ve had over the last 25 years, to me he’s been the most likeable and most personable. We’ve had an awful season - a lot of things are down to Tommy, but not all, some mistakes have been made by others and then there’s been bad luck too.

If TW and AW do depart who would everyone like as the new manager ?

There’s plenty of potential candidates , Neil Aspin, Ian Bogie, Mark Bower along with some names linked prior to TW such as Alun Armstrong and David McGurk

I’d personally go for someone like Chris Swailes from Dunston, great coach, good communicator , organises his team well and knows the local market

There are plenty of viable candidates.

I just want someone with a clear and deliverable vision.

The players at Tommy's disposal are good individually apart from a couple it's getting them to play to a set regime as a team that is the problem, either the style of play is alien to them or the coaching isn't getting through to them, it's time to get back to doing the simple things correctly.
Maybe we can then start to move forward as a team committed to each other.

Lallacab wrote:If TW and AW do depart who would everyone like as the new manager ?

There’s plenty of potential candidates , Neil Aspin, Ian Bogie, Mark Bower along with some names linked prior to TW such as Alun Armstrong and David McGurk

I’d personally go for someone like Chris Swailes from Dunston, great coach, good communicator , organises his team well and knows the local market

If the reports about Bradford PA's budget being slashed are correct, we could do worse than at least asking the question about Bower.

Swailes is also not a bad shout, although given he's taken Dunston up, he may prefer sticking with them. And it's a jump from Northern League to National League North.

Wouldn't be keen on Aspin though - an even less charismatic version of MG, and even more socially awkward. And in my opinion he underachieved at Gateshead.

Just someone who knows what they want to do with the team and has a coherent plan. And has basic tactical awareness and game management skills.

But I do agree about TW. It looks to me he's either been told or knows it's coming. It's a shame because I really like the bloke, as most of us do. But I'm just not at all convinced by his abilities.

The manager is operating within budget and as such keeps us in this league, not a disaster as I see it ,could others have kept us up ,I don't know but as we are all in this position together let's give the board the right to do whatever they think is best for our football club for the future season. After all they have all the facts at hand that we as supporters know nothing about.
I am sure they will do whatever is required to give darlington FC the best start to next season.

onewayup wrote:The manager is operating within budget and as such keeps us in this league, not a disaster as I see it ,could others have kept us up ,I don't know but as we are all in this position together let's give the board the right to do whatever they think is best for our football club for the future season. After all they have all the facts at hand that we as supporters know nothing about.
I am sure they will do whatever is required to give darlington FC the best start to next season.

If our playing budget is 330k, as was suggested in the netcafe, we shouldn't have been anywhere near relegation.

Being in the bottom third, on the edge of a relegation scrap, is not good enough when you have a budget which is competitive for the top 10 at least.

For TW and the fans like yourself to be talking about avoiding relegation misses the point entirely. We shouldn't have been anywhere near there in the first place.

So actually, most managers would have kept us in the division on that. Most competent managers would have had us in the top half and the better ones would have had us challenging for the play-offs.

And you know that for a fact do you,I think that it is your interpretation of what you believe to be right,unfortunately life is not as simple as that.so you don't know as we don't what would/could have happened with someone else in charge.you do not know what the budget was it's only heresay second hand wrong information.

Darlogramps wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 07, 2019 1:53 pm

onewayup wrote:The manager is operating within budget and as such keeps us in this league, not a disaster as I see it ,could others have kept us up ,I don't know but as we are all in this position together let's give the board the right to do whatever they think is best for our football club for the future season. After all they have all the facts at hand that we as supporters know nothing about.
I am sure they will do whatever is required to give darlington FC the best start to next season.

If our playing budget is 330k, as was suggested in the netcafe, we shouldn't have been anywhere near relegation.

Being in the bottom third, on the edge of a relegation scrap, is not good enough when you have a budget which is competitive for the top 10 at least.

For TW and the fans like yourself to be talking about avoiding relegation misses the point entirely. We shouldn't have been anywhere near there in the first place.

So actually, most managers would have kept us in the division on that. Most competent managers would have had us in the top half and the better ones would have had us challenging for the play-offs.

Agreed. Tommy Wright is an approachable young manager and has managed through budget constraints etc...however, most of this situation has been brought on by his managerial shortcomings!

onewayup wrote:And you know that for a fact do you,I think that it is your interpretation of what you believe to be right,unfortunately life is not as simple as that.so you don't know as we don't what would/could have happened with someone else in charge.

I'm saying anyone who got us involved in a relegation battle on that budget isn't a very good manager.

For context, on a similar budget, Martin Gray had us competing towards the top 10 (Gray's was a bit more than 330k without management costs). And bear in mind, the division this season should have been more of a level playing field, without the absurd Salford in this time.

Whether you want to accept it or not, even the bottom end of 270k (plus 60k for management costs as suggested by Super Les) is a mid-table budget. If it's 330k without management costs, then we should've been challenging for top 7.

I admire your devotion to TW, but you're deluding yourself if you think avoiding relegation is a noteworthy achievement this season.

I think it's quite simple really. As the dust settles and you think about the performances - some of them good like Bradforrd, York, Kidder and Chorley - but some awful, with the same players more or less, you have to conclude Tommy's out of his depth. The half-time switcheroo's have been noted before and the training shortfalls - add the strange substitutions and he's shown week by week real gaps in his ability. He's obviously a nice bloke and must be feeling rotten but I'd say he needs a post as someone's number two to sort a few things out. Regarding out next manager I don't see White as the answer because of meagre experience and most of it shipping water with Tommy. I've made unkind comments about him but it's mostly frustration - to be a good football manager you have to get the team playing well enough to win enough matches. Simple eh?

Surely the management funds don't come out of the playing budget? Perhaps someone will know for sure, but i would've thought it was two different pots of money entirely. As you won't just have TW & AW, but physios et al to also pay. I'd imagine that's the non playing budget.

I think it's been pretty apparent what has happened. He gambled massively, spending big wages on Hughes and Ainge, and both have been flops, out of the side, and ultimately, ended up playing at the back because they're probably not fit enough to play anywhere else. We signed both of them from bankrolled clubs, who probably had them on big, fat salaries, and we maintained them.

Suddenly after Hughes leaves, we have the budget for two players (Holness & Bascombe). This is how we had such a small squad all year. He chucked all his eggs in one basket, it backfired, crowds dropped off a bit because we were rubbish and we had to sell Styche (who was probably on a similar wage to those two, but arguably would've been the only one justifying it).

Anyway. Agree with the overwhelming sentiment. I like him. I think he's badly underachieved, and shouldn't be in charge next year. I've no issue with keeping AW for a degree of continuity.

Quaker85 wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 07, 2019 12:20 pm

Im no body language expert but Tommy looks really uncomfortable in his pmi these last few matches. Yesterday is telling because we won the game and he still looks down. In the past after a win he's all smiles but yesterday he had his defeat face on. Looks a broken man to me.

Contrast with Jim Gannon's interviews at Stockport. Now there's a coach who really knows what he's doing with a clear game plan and organisational skills. Still he does hold a full UEFA pro coaching licence. Good luck to them!

Quaker85 wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 07, 2019 12:20 pm

Im no body language expert but Tommy looks really uncomfortable in his pmi these last few matches. Yesterday is telling because we won the game and he still looks down. In the past after a win he's all smiles but yesterday he had his defeat face on. Looks a broken man to me.

Contrast with Jim Gannon's interviews at Stockport. Now there's a coach who really knows what he's doing with a clear game plan and organisational skills. Still he does hold a full UEFA pro coaching licence. Good luck to them!

Likely there’s lots we don’t know, at the end of the day DJ will take the view of the board of DFCSG on board and will act on their decision.

David Wagner is looking for a new job now, suitably refreshed.

Lallacab wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 07, 2019 12:47 pm

If TW and AW do depart who would everyone like as the new manager ?

There’s plenty of potential candidates , Neil Aspin, Ian Bogie, Mark Bower along with some names linked prior to TW such as Alun Armstrong and David McGurk

I’d personally go for someone like Chris Swailes from Dunston, great coach, good communicator , organises his team well and knows the local market

I believe Mark Bower recently became the manager of Bradford City.