Tommy Taylor

[Darlo_CR]

It’s sounding like we may have seen the last of Tommy unfortunately. He was a welcome addition after a run of poor keepers, be a shame to see him leave.

[bga]

Do tell more!

[Darlo_CR]

Received two bids from fellow national league north clubs, will depend on whether we extend Robsons loan deal but as you can imagine he wasn’t pleased to be dropped.

[bga]

Received two bids from fellow national league north clubs, will depend on whether we extend Robsons loan deal but as you can imagine he wasn’t pleased to be dropped.

I guess the jury is still out on whether the new keeper is an upgrade or not. If he's not prepared to fight for his place and we can get some money for him seems to make a lot of sense

[Spyman]

Received two bids from fellow national league north clubs, will depend on whether we extend Robsons loan deal but as you can imagine he wasn’t pleased to be dropped.

I'm sure nobody would be pleased to be dropped - but it begs the question, did he think he was untouchable? Not sure that's the kind of personality we want around the place to be honest, especially for a fairly unremarkable keeper.

I presume Spennymoor are one of the clubs in for him. If so, let's take their vibes.

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[Quakers2009]

I think TT feels more aggrieved over the way he has been treated, rather than feeling 'untouchable' or 'safe'.

A good servant to the club and equally a good NLN goalkeeper - our loss is another club's gain.

[Spyman]

I think TT feels more aggrieved over the way he has been treated, rather than feeling 'untouchable' or 'safe'.

A good servant to the club and equally a good NLN goalkeeper - our loss is another club's gain.

How has he been treated, other than the manager feeling that another player might improve the side? It seems a totally normal thing that happens in football all the time.

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[My opinion]

I think TT feels more aggrieved over the way he has been treated, rather than feeling 'untouchable' or 'safe'.

A good servant to the club and equally a good NLN goalkeeper - our loss is another club's gain.

Is it?.. that's a matter of opinion.

[Quakers2009]

I think TT feels more aggrieved over the way he has been treated, rather than feeling 'untouchable' or 'safe'.

A good servant to the club and equally a good NLN goalkeeper - our loss is another club's gain.

Is it?.. that's a matter of opinion.

OK, and?

[AndyPark]

1st time he's had a bit of competition since joining us.

Good luck to him if/when he leaves, he won't be the last either from what I've heard.

[PierremontQuaker03]

A new manager coming in wants to do it his way, a think a lot of the current squad are heading for the exit door - 3 wins in 28 tells me that ain't a bad thing.

[QUAKERMAN2]

1st time he's had a bit of competition since joining us.

Good luck to him if/when he leaves, he won't be the last either from what I've heard.

Would imagine one of our LB's could go but hope its not Sukar who I think is unlucky to lose his place.Moke,Curry and Mustoe possibly could go imo.

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[AndyPark]

1st time he's had a bit of competition since joining us.

Good luck to him if/when he leaves, he won't be the last either from what I've heard.

Would imagine one of our LB's could go but hope its not Sukar who I think is unlucky to lose his place.Moke,Curry and Mustoe possibly could go imo.

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Heard someone at the ground say both Lees and Sukar have been offered to clubs.

Not to mention Moke is apparently on his way out too.

[al_quaker]

A new manager coming in wants to do it his way, a think a lot of the current squad are heading for the exit door - 3 wins in 28 tells me that ain't a bad thing.

Exactly. Given how terrible we've been this calendar year, I won't lose any sleep over many of the players moving on. I'm increasingly of the opinion that last season we had some exceptional players for the level, who carried the team far above the level of the majorty of the squad. A major shake-up is required - and Gowling will rightly be judged on how that goes.

[MB86DFC]

A new manager coming in wants to do it his way, a think a lot of the current squad are heading for the exit door - 3 wins in 28 tells me that ain't a bad thing.

Exactly. Given how terrible we've been this calendar year, I won't lose any sleep over many of the players moving on. I'm increasingly of the opinion that last season we had some exceptional players for the level, who carried the team far above the level of the majorty of the squad. A major shake-up is required - and Gowling will rightly be judged on how that goes.

I feel the opposite, the downturn was due to poor attitude from Armstrong, constantly bemoaning losing players and belittling those he had. Couple this with no game plan and it’s easy to see why it went sour.

I don’t think we have a core of relegation players, they just needed organising in a simple formation, and encouraging.

[al_quaker]

A new manager coming in wants to do it his way, a think a lot of the current squad are heading for the exit door - 3 wins in 28 tells me that ain't a bad thing.

Exactly. Given how terrible we've been this calendar year, I won't lose any sleep over many of the players moving on. I'm increasingly of the opinion that last season we had some exceptional players for the level, who carried the team far above the level of the majorty of the squad. A major shake-up is required - and Gowling will rightly be judged on how that goes.

I feel the opposite, the downturn was due to poor attitude from Armstrong, constantly bemoaning losing players and belittling those he had. Couple this with no game plan and it’s easy to see why it went sour.

I don’t think we have a core of relegation players, they just needed organising in a simple formation, and encouraging.

I hope you are correct

[CrazyDarlo]

1st time he's had a bit of competition since joining us.

Good luck to him if/when he leaves, he won't be the last either from what I've heard.

Would imagine one of our LB's could go but hope its not Sukar who I think is unlucky to lose his place.Moke,Curry and Mustoe possibly could go imo.

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Heard someone at the ground say both Lees and Sukar have been offered to clubs.

Not to mention Moke is apparently on his way out too.

There’s probably a number of players Gowling would like to get rid of, the worry for me is that we may not be able to offload them. Nobody in the NLN will be signing players not good enough for us so they’ll have to drop down. Either they go out on loan and we have to pay a portion of their wages for them to play for another club or the player agrees to a transfer elsewhere, probably on a lower wage.

[Spyman]

There’s probably a number of players Gowling would like to get rid of, the worry for me is that we may not be able to offload them. Nobody in the NLN will be signing players not good enough for us so they’ll have to drop down. Either they go out on loan and we have to pay a portion of their wages for them to play for another club or the player agrees to a transfer elsewhere, probably on a lower wage.

You say that, but we've allegedly received two offers for Taylor, both from NLN clubs.

[e4sby]

There’s probably a number of players Gowling would like to get rid of, the worry for me is that we may not be able to offload them. Nobody in the NLN will be signing players not good enough for us so they’ll have to drop down. Either they go out on loan and we have to pay a portion of their wages for them to play for another club or the player agrees to a transfer elsewhere, probably on a lower wage.

You say that, but we've allegedly received two offers for Taylor, both from NLN clubs.

And if we receive a small fee and replace him with someone of the same standard cheaper so we can use the funds to strengthen elsewhere surely that is good management? Especially when the budget has been poorly spent!

[theoriginalfatcat]

A new manager coming in wants to do it his way, a think a lot of the current squad are heading for the exit door - 3 wins in 28 tells me that ain't a bad thing.

Exactly. Given how terrible we've been this calendar year, I won't lose any sleep over many of the players moving on. I'm increasingly of the opinion that last season we had some exceptional players for the level, who carried the team far above the level of the majorty of the squad. A major shake-up is required - and Gowling will rightly be judged on how that goes.

I feel the opposite, the downturn was due to poor attitude from Armstrong, constantly bemoaning losing players and belittling those he had. Couple this with no game plan and it’s easy to see why it went sour.

I don’t think we have a core of relegation players, they just needed organising in a simple formation, and encouraging.

I reckon you're both right! Yes we did have a small number of excellent players that "carried" the others - but also yes, A.A. handled the loss of these players badly, or perhaps the board thought we had enough in the tank or points on the board to not allow A.A. to bring in extras? In any case it's been a perfect recipe for a king size malaise, yet the impatience from some on here is staggering.

For the reasons stated above, we have been crap nearly all year, so it's a tall order to expect anyone to simply come in, move a few chairs around in the changing room, give out a couple of cuddles/a couple of rollockings, and everything will be fine. People need to be more patient as putting this situation right is going to take time.

[Quakers2009]

There’s probably a number of players Gowling would like to get rid of, the worry for me is that we may not be able to offload them. Nobody in the NLN will be signing players not good enough for us so they’ll have to drop down. Either they go out on loan and we have to pay a portion of their wages for them to play for another club or the player agrees to a transfer elsewhere, probably on a lower wage.

You say that, but we've allegedly received two offers for Taylor, both from NLN clubs.

And if we receive a small fee and replace him with someone of the same standard cheaper so we can use the funds to strengthen elsewhere surely that is good management? Especially when the budget has been poorly spent!

If we were playing Football Manager.

[Darlofan97]

Received two bids from fellow national league north clubs, will depend on whether we extend Robsons loan deal but as you can imagine he wasn’t pleased to be dropped.

I'm sure nobody would be pleased to be dropped - but it begs the question, did he think he was untouchable? Not sure that's the kind of personality we want around the place to be honest, especially for a fairly unremarkable keeper.

I presume Spennymoor are one of the clubs in for him. If so, let's take their vibes.

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You’ve just entirely made that idea up in your own head then ran with it.

Taylor has been a solid performer for us, playing over 100 games for the club. Despite rarely being challenged by an understudy, he has consistently played & trained well.

Did he express his discontent at being dropped? Yes, he probably did. However, that reaction is totally normal, especially considering his replacement is not actually any better, plus Taylor’s performances this season haven’t warranted him being dropped.

Footballers aren’t robots.

Annoyingly, we have a good goalkeeper at this level on our books, after years of signing poor GK’s on permanent deals (Wilczynski, Maddison, Elliott, Saltmer) who is entering his peak years as a GK; traded in for a young GK on a 28-day loan from Hull who has arguably fared worse thus far.

I’m not against Taylor being replaced, but any replacement has to be better with the added bonus of some longevity.

[Spyman]

Received two bids from fellow national league north clubs, will depend on whether we extend Robsons loan deal but as you can imagine he wasn’t pleased to be dropped.

I'm sure nobody would be pleased to be dropped - but it begs the question, did he think he was untouchable? Not sure that's the kind of personality we want around the place to be honest, especially for a fairly unremarkable keeper.

I presume Spennymoor are one of the clubs in for him. If so, let's take their vibes.

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You’ve just entirely made that idea up in your own head then ran with it.

Taylor has been a solid performer for us, playing over 100 games for the club. Despite rarely being challenged by an understudy, he has consistently played & trained well.

Did he express his discontent at being dropped? Yes, he probably did. However, that reaction is totally normal, especially considering his replacement is not actually any better, plus Taylor’s performances this season haven’t warranted him being dropped.

Footballers aren’t robots.

Annoyingly, we have a good goalkeeper at this level on our books, after years of signing poor GK’s on permanent deals (Wilczynski, Maddison, Elliott, Saltmer) who is entering his peak years as a GK; traded in for a young GK on a 28-day loan from Hull who has arguably fared worse thus far.

I’m not against Taylor being replaced, but any replacement has to be better with the added bonus of some longevity.

I asked the question. I didn't make anything up and run with it.

Somebody suggested he was unhappy that he'd been treated badly. I'm questioning whether either is true, because there's no evidence of either, but that being unhappy for losing your place should be a completely normal reaction - it doesn't necessarily mean someone has spat their dummy about it, but if they have then either:

a) there's more to this than he's just been dropped

or

b) he's over-reacted to being dropped.

I'm not claiming either is true. I'm questioning why Taylor being left out has become such a big deal, whether that's him making it a big deal or just a few fans jumping to conclusions.

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[e4sby]

There’s probably a number of players Gowling would like to get rid of, the worry for me is that we may not be able to offload them. Nobody in the NLN will be signing players not good enough for us so they’ll have to drop down. Either they go out on loan and we have to pay a portion of their wages for them to play for another club or the player agrees to a transfer elsewhere, probably on a lower wage.

You say that, but we've allegedly received two offers for Taylor, both from NLN clubs.

And if we receive a small fee and replace him with someone of the same standard cheaper so we can use the funds to strengthen elsewhere surely that is good management? Especially when the budget has been poorly spent!

If we were playing Football Manager.

Or if the new manager has very little left in the budget and has to move a few out...

[MikeinBlack2]

Maybe part of the loan deal is that the young keeper plays every game if fit?

[Darlopartisan]

Not sure of all the talk about surrounding TT, but the loan deal ends after the Spennymoore match on Saturday .
So if the loan deal is not extended I expect to see TT in goal , if he isn’t and the loan deal is not extended we will be in a merry go round of loan keepers , as we can’t afford to buy one, the tragedy is TT is one of the better keepers in this division.

[Quakerlad]

Catch 22 for the manager I reckon with no right or wrong answer.

Yes TT could dominate his box a lot better but overall probably as good as we are going to get realistically.

Seemed wrong at the time to bring a young kid in as we have other priorities to improve rather than a solid goalkeeper.

However, faced with having to move players on JG could have felt that TT would attract other clubs compared to many of our other players and probably is the case. So unsettle him, maybe get a bid and save on his wages.

Is it the right thing to do, no idea really, but a merry go round of young loanees will not improve us.

[theoriginalfatcat]

Blimey quakerlad, you’re going in to conspiracy theory territory now.

Could it just be that Josh thinks (like others) that T.T. just isn’t that good? Got the chance of a loan keeper at minimal cost - and took it.

[spen666]

Catch 22 for the manager I reckon with no right or wrong answer.

Yes TT could dominate his box a lot better but overall probably as good as we are going to get realistically.

Seemed wrong at the time to bring a young kid in as we have other priorities to improve rather than a solid goalkeeper.

However, faced with having to move players on JG could have felt that TT would attract other clubs compared to many of our other players and probably is the case. So unsettle him, maybe get a bid and save on his wages.

Is it the right thing to do, no idea really, but a merry go round of young loanees will not improve us.

Surely, if a club knows TT is unsettled and wants away from Darlington, they will make lower offers than if he was happy. Clubs will know Darlington do not want to keep paying wages for an unsettled player, so will offer less than they would if he was settled and happy at club.


Whatever the reasons behind dropping TT and bringing in the loan keeper, it seems to have been handled IMO poorly. If we are to believe what is said, TT was dropped without being spoken to, then a couple of weeks later JG is praising him as a good goalkeeper and saying TT has done nothing wrong. If the latter is the case, then surely good man management would have been to speak to TT to tell him he was dropped and explain why he was dropped.

One thing is for sure, the only person that knows why JG has acted as he has is JG. Everything else, including my post is speculation.

[LoidLucan]

The irony is that the one thing the new keeper doesn't do is dominate his six-yard area and teams including King's Lynn have specifically targeted that. And I'm certain you'll find Spenny will do exactly the same. I find the whole situation bewildering to be honest. My overall impression is that we've prioritised a position that wasn't obviously broken.