Caldwell out?

[larrywilkie]

Enjoyed GC's flash of humour in his reply to the striker question on his post match interview.

However much I've criticised his management this season, I've always liked the guy as an individual. Delighted to see him smiling again.

Also when he was asked about Vinnys 'injury' and about Nicho when he was in charge away at Barnsley last season.

 

[Devon Red]

We probably need to win 3 out of 4 of Fleetwood, Burton, Shrewsbury and Port Vale whilst picking up a few draws along the way to stay up.

If we scrape safety and play boring Caldwellball or hit a purple patch now and win the next 4 and then lose the next 7 then I’ll remain out.

If we finish comfortably mid table then I’ll put our form down to an unlucky period with injuries and give Gary the benefit of the doubt.

However, I do really struggle to convince myself that as the master tactician he’s touted to be he couldn’t set us up in a way to at least be somewhat competitive and play to the strengths of the players we had available. It’s scary to think we’re always a couple of injuries away from another horror run.

Basically, I don’t know.

You don't need to know. The clappers are talking like the season is over and we've been proved wrong. It's an ever evolving situation.

 

[MJP_Exeter]

Not overly representative of him as a manager. I’m still more out than in, but it’s a mix of factors. I really like him and want him to do well, but we’re only a game in hand or two from dropping down 3 places.

This, I think we all want him to be successful, because ultimately this is our football club and if we can maintain this current form them I am happy to change my vote to in, but we need to maintain performance levels and maintain results. We are in the middle of a really tricky period of fixtures and are already 2 points ahead of my prediction for this period of game. Hopefully we can get a result against Bristol again on Saturday, as this will be my daughters first ever City match.

 

[CREDYGRECIAN]

45 points i reckon will keep us safe.

I reckon we will end up getting that comfortably now.

Well done Gary.

From doubters to believers

 

[WellsTavGrecian]

Caldwell deserves credit for the way we have been playing last few weeks, well done to the board of holding firm. The squad is very thin but when most are fit we have played some good football

 

[Boyo]

Obviously it’s been great getting the last few results, but I do wonder why it's taken so long. Did GC struggle finding a way to play since Nombe left? Have we just played poor sides or sides who underestimated us?

The injury situation easing has obviously helped enormously but there’s a few personnel changes that have made a huge difference.

Firstly Aimson getting injured gave Diabate the opportunity to play at CB, and frankly he’s been superb.

There’s also Sonny Cox. He’s come back from Yeovil with confidence and looks a different player. He’s still obviously very raw but he’s now a real headache for defenders.

The other big factor is having the correct players in the wingback positions. Jules looks like a decent player as part of a back three, but watching him play as a left wing-back made me cringe. He hasn’t got the energy to get up and back and he never wanted to receive the ball (in turn making it very difficult for Hartridge to play out). Harper is brilliant there and Purrington looks very comfortable and has a bit of class. Niskanen has the energy to cause problems down the right, as does Rankine. I think through most of the bad patch we never had two players who were effective in the wing back positions meaning that the style of play simply wasn’t effective.

 

[CREDYGRECIAN]

Not that he was going to be sacked regardless but those 2 wins against Rovers & Barnsley have secured his position until next season i reckon.

We won’t go down. and if we don’t he rightly keeps his job.

 

[Bridgy 81]

Last summer with the anticipated departures of Key, Collins and essentially our entire strike force, plus needing to find a new first team keeper (again) and restock the midfield, this season was never going to be an easy one.
What I didn’t expect though was such a rollercoaster of a ride.
And although things have looked encouraging since Christmas we still need some more results so can’t relax yet.
But if we stay up and maybe even nudge towards a mid table position by the end of the season I reckon it would have been a decent one.
Once January is done and dusted Gary can focus purely on playing matters whilst Marcus gets busy with some contract renewals so we don’t have another summer dominated by mass upheavals in the squad.

 

[cityfan47]

Not 100% relevant to this thread but is anyone else actually excited by this team or is it just me. Through all the 'disasters' this season we are still above Charlton who have got to have around three times our budget. And we all know what this team can do just look at the start of the season. This season has not been as much of a disaster as you all make it out to be. Just a transition season imo

 

[edwin_price]

Not 100% relevant to this thread but is anyone else actually excited by this team or is it just me. Through all the 'disasters' this season we are still above Charlton who have got to have around three times our budget. And we all know what this team can do just look at the start of the season. This season has not been as much of a disaster as you all make it out to be. Just a transition season imo

We'll get a clearer picture looking back. Definitely a big upturn, so done well to recover from quite a dark place. We've still scored the least goals of anyone in the division though, haven't we? It's not all honey and wine quite yet