Dreadful

[PhilD]

So when does the magic of the new Manager kick in?

Brace yourselves for the crappiest of seasons. It has now ventured beyond embarrassment to simply pathetic.

Any team playing us now probably assumes they will get an easy three points.

[Ghost_Of_1883]

Made your bed. Lie in the fucker.

[Piggy_]

I’ve always tried to not to knee jerk and have always backed DJ. But this is appalling. When AA did leave (and he had to go- we can debate when he should have another time) fan morale was rock bottom. Well if anything it’s even lower now. I know this is Football and fortunes can change quite quickly, but like others have said I don’t see where the next 3 points are coming from.
DJ said someone highly recommended Gowling to him, who was that?!
I know for a fact that a member of our Trophy winning side with coaching credentials (not Tommy Wright before anyone asks!) expressed his interest in the role and didn’t even get a response from the club. Poor that IMO.

[PierremontQuaker03]

I’ve always tried to not to knee jerk and have always backed DJ. But this is appalling. When AA did leave (and he had to go- we can debate when he should have another time) fan morale was rock bottom. Well if anything it’s even lower now. I know this is Football and fortunes can change quite quickly, but like others have said I don’t see where the next 3 points are coming from.
DJ said someone highly recommended Gowling to him, who was that?!
I know for a fact that a member of our Trophy winning side with coaching credentials (not Tommy Wright before anyone asks!) expressed his interest in the role and didn’t even get a response from the club. Poor that IMO.

I know we will never find out, but it would be interesting to see what other candidates Josh beat to the job. What is very clear is that Josh talks a good game, but the performances have been terrible. Coming in mid season aint easy I can imagine, but I just think this is a massive boo boo by the board, the lack of experience will kill us.

[AndyPark]

Going off of Twitter rumours this weekend.

Apparently Adam Lakeland, then of Curzon, applied for the role & wasn't even given an acknowledgement.

&& Steve Watson was apparently 1st choice.

[MB86DFC]

Going off of Twitter rumours this weekend.

Apparently Adam Lakeland, then of Curzon, applied for the role & wasn't even given an acknowledgement.

&& Steve Watson was apparently 1st choice.

At the recent fans forum DJ stated that one of the search conditions was that anyone under consideration must be based within 2 hours of Darlington to avoid a Tommy Wright midlands situation. If Lakeland lived outside of this zone that may explain the rejection. As a result of this we have someone from Grimsby bringing in kids from the midlands. Brilliant.

No idea why Watson wasn’t appointed if he wanted it. Hopefully he’s still interested in a few weeks when we’re pulling the CVs back out of the bin.

The problem was that no one with any real football knowledge was involved in the sift / recruitment process.

[LoidLucan]

There's quite a contrast between us and another of the early-season strugglers, Southport. They lost five out of their first six matches with the fans saying the squad was simply not good enough to survive with no pace, no creativity, no width, a fragile defence and hardly any goals. Liam Watson stepped aside, and in came Jim Bentley who reorganised things and brought in two or three loanees over time. They won five of their next six league games with largely the same players transformed, although results have dropped off more recently.

[PierremontQuaker03]

Or have we gone with the only appointment we can afford?? Given that we are still paying AA wages - maybe DJ went with the most cost effective option.

[Ghost_Of_1883]

Going off of Twitter rumours this weekend.

Apparently Adam Lakeland, then of Curzon, applied for the role & wasn't even given an acknowledgement.

&& Steve Watson was apparently 1st choice.

If Steve Watson was first choice and we didn't appoint him then that would imply that he turned us down.

Maybe we didn't appoint him because he wasn't our first choice. If so then then the mind boggles.

[Quakers2009]

So that's apparently now Adam Lakeland & Carl Jarrett who weren't contacted back after they applied - rubbish.

I've also heard from another manager this week that he wasn't contacted back after he applied either.

The club have really backed themselves into a corner with this appointment - the similarities to the TW appointment are as clear as day, and for all this criteria that we set, did the club ever think that having a half-decent win percentage at NLN level was important?

Still, if Gowling leaves, are we really convinced that Ray Simpson will make the correct appointment next time...

[JasonDeVos]

Going off of Twitter rumours this weekend.

Apparently Adam Lakeland, then of Curzon, applied for the role & wasn't even given an acknowledgement.

&& Steve Watson was apparently 1st choice.

At the recent fans forum DJ stated that one of the search conditions was that anyone under consideration must be based within 2 hours of Darlington to avoid a Tommy Wright midlands situation. If Lakeland lived outside of this zone that may explain the rejection. As a result of this we have someone from Grimsby bringing in kids from the midlands. Brilliant.

No idea why Watson wasn’t appointed if he wanted it. Hopefully he’s still interested in a few weeks when we’re pulling the CVs back out of the bin.

The problem was that no one with any real football knowledge was involved in the sift / recruitment process.

Grimsby is just over two hours on google maps…

[MB86DFC]

Going off of Twitter rumours this weekend.

Apparently Adam Lakeland, then of Curzon, applied for the role & wasn't even given an acknowledgement.

&& Steve Watson was apparently 1st choice.

At the recent fans forum DJ stated that one of the search conditions was that anyone under consideration must be based within 2 hours of Darlington to avoid a Tommy Wright midlands situation. If Lakeland lived outside of this zone that may explain the rejection. As a result of this we have someone from Grimsby bringing in kids from the midlands. Brilliant.

No idea why Watson wasn’t appointed if he wanted it. Hopefully he’s still interested in a few weeks when we’re pulling the CVs back out of the bin.

The problem was that no one with any real football knowledge was involved in the sift / recruitment process.

Grimsby is just over two hours on google maps…

Thank you for confirming my point

[grimsbyquaker]

no
Going off of Twitter rumours this weekend.

Apparently Adam Lakeland, then of Curzon, applied for the role & wasn't even given an acknowledgement.

&& Steve Watson was apparently 1st choice.

I had heard that Lakeland had got to the final three candidates along with JG plus one other

[JasonDeVos]

Going off of Twitter rumours this weekend.

Apparently Adam Lakeland, then of Curzon, applied for the role & wasn't even given an acknowledgement.

&& Steve Watson was apparently 1st choice.

At the recent fans forum DJ stated that one of the search conditions was that anyone under consideration must be based within 2 hours of Darlington to avoid a Tommy Wright midlands situation. If Lakeland lived outside of this zone that may explain the rejection. As a result of this we have someone from Grimsby bringing in kids from the midlands. Brilliant.

No idea why Watson wasn’t appointed if he wanted it. Hopefully he’s still interested in a few weeks when we’re pulling the CVs back out of the bin.

The problem was that no one with any real football knowledge was involved in the sift / recruitment process.

Grimsby is just over two hours on google maps…

Thank you for confirming my point

The more you look into what’s going on, the more it just becomes more of a mess

[CrazyDarlo]

So that's apparently now Adam Lakeland & Carl Jarrett who weren't contacted back after they applied - rubbish.

I've also heard from another manager this week that he wasn't contacted back after he applied either.

The club have really backed themselves into a corner with this appointment - the similarities to the TW appointment are as clear as day, and for all this criteria that we set, did the club ever think that having a half-decent win percentage at NLN level was important?

Still, if Gowling leaves, are we really convinced that Ray Simpson will make the correct appointment next time...

So we’re just taking it as a fact that these guys wanted the job then? We’re bottom of the league with no budget to spend, that’s not an attractive proposition, it seems unlikely that Lakeland would’ve been happy to leave Curzon Ashton to come here. He’s been here 5 weeks, he’s inherited a squad that no manager would’ve had an immediate bounce with. Of course, it’s been a poor start, even worse than I was expecting but he HAS to be given much more time, surely.

[loan_star]

Lakeland got a phone call, he was telling people after the Kings Lynn match when asked. No face to face interview. He would have taken it too if offered. I'd have snapped his hands off if I had been on the panel.

I know its very easy to be critical of the selection process, especially with hindsight, however Gowlings record at Hereford despite the Trophy final appearance, was bang average. But to the blokes credit he probably blew them away with all the right words as he is very articulate.

[LoidLucan]

I think JG had been supremely confident that it would be a lot easier to show some steady improvement even by this stage. But I thought in his last post-match interview he sounded a little shaken, and the light-hearted tone has gone completely.

When he first came he adopted an approach that suggested there wasn't really a serious risk of relegation and things would soon improve and it would be turned around without question. I think he knows now the real gravity of the situation and that there has to be some signs of progress... and fairly quickly before we are completely cut adrift.

[Quakers2009]

So that's apparently now Adam Lakeland & Carl Jarrett who weren't contacted back after they applied - rubbish.

I've also heard from another manager this week that he wasn't contacted back after he applied either.

The club have really backed themselves into a corner with this appointment - the similarities to the TW appointment are as clear as day, and for all this criteria that we set, did the club ever think that having a half-decent win percentage at NLN level was important?

Still, if Gowling leaves, are we really convinced that Ray Simpson will make the correct appointment next time...

So we’re just taking it as a fact that these guys wanted the job then? We’re bottom of the league with no budget to spend, that’s not an attractive proposition, it seems unlikely that Lakeland would’ve been happy to leave Curzon Ashton to come here. He’s been here 5 weeks, he’s inherited a squad that no manager would’ve had an immediate bounce with. Of course, it’s been a poor start, even worse than I was expecting but he HAS to be given much more time, surely.

CrazyDarlo, your denial is crazy.

Steve Watson, Adam Lakeland, Martin Gray, Carl Jarrett (and others) were in for the role. Our very own club has highlighted the strength in our shortlist and claimed that we are/were an attractive proposition at the time of advertising.

Instead we appointed Gowling and matched him with the previously rejected Danny Rose as they were both from Grimsby.

Forgetting the results on the pitch, seven new players, the departure of Felix & Barnes, three backroom staff, Hannah returned and another five players offered out to other clubs, the changing room has been lost.

[roy of the rovers]

Its time for the board to accept they made the wrong choice and give JG the sack.
The best joke though is the 10 minute shoot in before kick off - why do they do this - every time a darlo player gets near to the goal they pass it square or back

[EDJOHNS]

Going off of Twitter rumours this weekend.

Apparently Adam Lakeland, then of Curzon, applied for the role & wasn't even given an acknowledgement.

&& Steve Watson was apparently 1st choice.

At the recent fans forum DJ stated that one of the search conditions was that anyone under consideration must be based within 2 hours of Darlington to avoid a Tommy Wright midlands situation. If Lakeland lived outside of this zone that may explain the rejection. As a result of this we have someone from Grimsby bringing in kids from the midlands. Brilliant.

No idea why Watson wasn’t appointed if he wanted it. Hopefully he’s still interested in a few weeks when we’re pulling the CVs back out of the bin.

The problem was that no one with any real football knowledge was involved in the sift / recruitment process.

Grimsby is just over two hours on google maps…

I am sure Andy Park does the trip more than I do as I go to North of the Humber more often, but Ferrybridge/Darlo is a good hour, and when I cross the Humber Bridge and go into Grimsby it is a long drag along the 180 once I reach there simply because of all the traffic.
I would say it is totally impossible to do Darlo to Grimsby in anything like 2 hours driving legally all the way

[The_Natural]

Maybe Watson was put off at the lack of a budget after the previous clown has spunked a top half budget on a bottom of the table squad

It’s a poisoned chalice this season and it’s Armstrong and his enablers who kept him on to blame !

[CrazyDarlo]

So that's apparently now Adam Lakeland & Carl Jarrett who weren't contacted back after they applied - rubbish.

I've also heard from another manager this week that he wasn't contacted back after he applied either.

The club have really backed themselves into a corner with this appointment - the similarities to the TW appointment are as clear as day, and for all this criteria that we set, did the club ever think that having a half-decent win percentage at NLN level was important?

Still, if Gowling leaves, are we really convinced that Ray Simpson will make the correct appointment next time...

So we’re just taking it as a fact that these guys wanted the job then? We’re bottom of the league with no budget to spend, that’s not an attractive proposition, it seems unlikely that Lakeland would’ve been happy to leave Curzon Ashton to come here. He’s been here 5 weeks, he’s inherited a squad that no manager would’ve had an immediate bounce with. Of course, it’s been a poor start, even worse than I was expecting but he HAS to be given much more time, surely.

CrazyDarlo, your denial is crazy.
Steve Watson, Adam Lakeland, Martin Gray, Carl Jarrett (and others) were in for the role. Our very own club has highlighted the strength in our shortlist and claimed that we are/were an attractive proposition at the time of advertising.

You can say that those names were in for the role, doesn’t mean it’s true and I personally don’t think we should be making observations of the board based on a baseless rumour.

Even if they were in for it, they could’ve had a change of heart after they were informed of our constraints, their salary expectations could’ve been out of our reach, there are so many reasons why they might’ve been deemed not the right fit.

[Quakers2009]

So that's apparently now Adam Lakeland & Carl Jarrett who weren't contacted back after they applied - rubbish.

I've also heard from another manager this week that he wasn't contacted back after he applied either.

The club have really backed themselves into a corner with this appointment - the similarities to the TW appointment are as clear as day, and for all this criteria that we set, did the club ever think that having a half-decent win percentage at NLN level was important?

Still, if Gowling leaves, are we really convinced that Ray Simpson will make the correct appointment next time...

So we’re just taking it as a fact that these guys wanted the job then? We’re bottom of the league with no budget to spend, that’s not an attractive proposition, it seems unlikely that Lakeland would’ve been happy to leave Curzon Ashton to come here. He’s been here 5 weeks, he’s inherited a squad that no manager would’ve had an immediate bounce with. Of course, it’s been a poor start, even worse than I was expecting but he HAS to be given much more time, surely.

CrazyDarlo, your denial is crazy.
Steve Watson, Adam Lakeland, Martin Gray, Carl Jarrett (and others) were in for the role. Our very own club has highlighted the strength in our shortlist and claimed that we are/were an attractive proposition at the time of advertising.

You can say that those names were in for the role, doesn’t mean it’s true and I personally don’t think we should be making observations of the board based on a baseless rumour.

Even if they were in for it, they could’ve had a change of heart after they were informed of our constraints, their salary expectations could’ve been out of our reach, there are so many reasons why they might’ve been deemed not the right fit.

It is true.

What we can judge the board on, is them claiming that the applications and subsequent shortlists were very strong, and we ended up with Gowling.

[wizardofos]

So that's apparently now Adam Lakeland & Carl Jarrett who weren't contacted back after they applied - rubbish.

I've also heard from another manager this week that he wasn't contacted back after he applied either.

The club have really backed themselves into a corner with this appointment - the similarities to the TW appointment are as clear as day, and for all this criteria that we set, did the club ever think that having a half-decent win percentage at NLN level was important?

Still, if Gowling leaves, are we really convinced that Ray Simpson will make the correct appointment next time...

So we’re just taking it as a fact that these guys wanted the job then? We’re bottom of the league with no budget to spend, that’s not an attractive proposition, it seems unlikely that Lakeland would’ve been happy to leave Curzon Ashton to come here. He’s been here 5 weeks, he’s inherited a squad that no manager would’ve had an immediate bounce with. Of course, it’s been a poor start, even worse than I was expecting but he HAS to be given much more time, surely.

CrazyDarlo, your denial is crazy.
Steve Watson, Adam Lakeland, Martin Gray, Carl Jarrett (and others) were in for the role. Our very own club has highlighted the strength in our shortlist and claimed that we are/were an attractive proposition at the time of advertising.

You can say that those names were in for the role, doesn’t mean it’s true and I personally don’t think we should be making observations of the board based on a baseless rumour.

Even if they were in for it, they could’ve had a change of heart after they were informed of our constraints, their salary expectations could’ve been out of our reach, there are so many reasons why they might’ve been deemed not the right fit.

It is true.

What we can judge the board on, is them claiming that the applications and subsequent shortlists were very strong, and we ended up with Gowling.

Perhaps Gowling was the stand out candidate in the salary range we could afford.
The rest is spin.