Poll: Should Noel Hunt be sacked?

[South Coast Royal]

Give the bloke a chance. If we draw with Cardiff and beat Northampton and Donny at home we will be mid table.

Not necessarily, as teams above us might wing games as well-18 points would put us probably no better than around 15th.

He has had a chance IMHO and has come up short-yesterday's performance (one shot on target and that from an Exeter pass) really was not very good at all with so many things that are wrong.

[Clyde1998]

Ffs you as well Clyde?

No. I think he should remain as manager, at least until he's had an opportunity to play his strongest squad (thinking about players like O'Connor; Williams; Ritchie; Yiadom being missing for large chunks of the season so far).

I think we've got a mid-table squad and will probably be mid-table by the start of December.

I would like for the football to become a bit more entertaining though.

Just starting a new thread on it is bad enough.

I can't add polls to existing threads.

[Clyde1998]

Give the bloke a chance. If we draw with Cardiff and beat Northampton and Donny at home we will be mid table.

Not necessarily, as teams above us might wing games as well-18 points would put us probably no better than around 15th.

He has had a chance IMHO and has come up short-yesterday's performance (one shot on target and that from an Exeter pass) really was not very good at all with so many things that are wrong.

You could argue had Paddy Lane not missed from three yards against Mansfield and at least one of the Jacob or Marriott chances had been taken yesterday, we'd be four points better off from the last two games and we'd be sitting twelfth at the moment.

The performances have been turgid all season, but we've had serious chances in recent games to get wins.

[MartinRdg]

So convince us that we’re improving and not getting worse?

Not sure not losing at home to Mansfield and getting a brave 1 point at Exeter are the decision points to mount the case for the defence.

There's no case needing to be made imo. And you wouldn’t listen no matter what.

And when will there need a case to be made? November?

I would say end of November (as long as a replacement is lined up to start straight away) so that would give them enough time to assess the squad and recruit in January. Also gives Noel some time to turn it around.

[South Coast Royal]

Give the bloke a chance. If we draw with Cardiff and beat Northampton and Donny at home we will be mid table.

Not necessarily, as teams above us might wing games as well-18 points would put us probably no better than around 15th.

He has had a chance IMHO and has come up short-yesterday's performance (one shot on target and that from an Exeter pass) really was not very good at all with so many things that are wrong.

You could argue had Paddy Lane not missed from three yards against Mansfield and at least one of the Jacob or Marriott chances had been taken yesterday, we'd be four points better off from the last two games and we'd be sitting twelfth at the moment.

The performances have been turgid all season, but we've had serious chances in recent games to get wins.

So have the opposition therefore you could argue that our drawn games could well have been losses.
It takes quite a leap of faith and a belief in hope springs eternal but as fans it is the hope that kills us.

[Mid Sussex Royal]

Final result of the Tilehurst End poll was nearly 86% in favour of change out of 950 votes.

RFC Latest have done a similar poll with 1407 votes 84% so similar to TTE.

Pretty conclusive.

[RG30]

Did anyone hear Tim Dellor's comments pre-game about how it was a social media minority who wanted Hunt sacked before going on a rant in which he said it was absolutely disgraceful?

[stealthpapes]

It's a no from me. I'd give him more time

Whole new team and yes, he still doesn't know what his best first team (and seems to have no idea how to sort out our piss weak midefield) BUT, for me there are signs of improvement. Not least of which is the fact that (unlike last season) he seems to be able to make changes and subs that positively impact the game.

A new manager will go back to square one in trying to figure out what the best first team is. Can't see how that will help us at all

This is where I am, emphasis on bold.

And in 12 months time, when we're bored with the new one, we change again. Right?

[tidus_mi2]

I'm really not sure where I sit on this debate, don't think we should be changing managers willy nilly but the lack of results and poor performances are getting tiring. It seems to be a carry on from last season where the Hunt way of playing is to not lose which we're seeing again with a large amount of draws.

But more wins and more defeats instead of draws will generally result in more points so he needs to find a way to convert draws to wins even if some of those draws also turn to defeats.

Still think even if I have kneejerk moments where I go Hunt Out, he shouldn't be sacked unless we are in trouble of relegation.

[South Coast Royal]

It's a no from me. I'd give him more time

Whole new team and yes, he still doesn't know what his best first team (and seems to have no idea how to sort out our piss weak midefield) BUT, for me there are signs of improvement. Not least of which is the fact that (unlike last season) he seems to be able to make changes and subs that positively impact the game.

A new manager will go back to square one in trying to figure out what the best first team is. Can't see how that will help us at all

This is where I am, emphasis on bold.

And in 12 months time, when we're bored with the new one, we change again. Right?

On the other hand a new manager might be more motivational, have ideas that the players buy into and not have a thing about leaving Ben Elliott out.
If it works, it's fine and if it doesn't then the club just gets another manager in-that's how professional football, rightly or wrongly, works.

Is that any worse than how things are now?

[Hound]

I’m not desperate for Hunt to go, but I don’t know what people who want him to stay are expecting to see/expectations

He’s been here for nearly a year now with (from a very rough count) about a 1/3 win rate in a poor division with some good players

I wouldn’t rule out a relegation fight currently tbh. We’re where we are on merit.

I think personally stick with him and we’ll end about 15th and then lose Savage, Elliott, Garcia, whilst Wing, Williams, Marriott, Ritchie, Yiadom will be another year older. Rather than building towards a promotion, I think we’ll just be solidifying being a bang average div1 side

[stealthpapes]

It's a no from me. I'd give him more time

Whole new team and yes, he still doesn't know what his best first team (and seems to have no idea how to sort out our piss weak midefield) BUT, for me there are signs of improvement. Not least of which is the fact that (unlike last season) he seems to be able to make changes and subs that positively impact the game.

A new manager will go back to square one in trying to figure out what the best first team is. Can't see how that will help us at all

This is where I am, emphasis on bold.

And in 12 months time, when we're bored with the new one, we change again. Right?

On the other hand a new manager might be more motivational, have ideas that the players buy into and not have a thing about leaving Ben Elliott out.
If it works, it's fine and if it doesn't then the club just gets another manager in-that's how professional football, rightly or wrongly, works.

Is that any worse than how things are now?

Yes. As you yourself admit, it's not necessarily the best (or only) way forward.

I think it would be massively self-destructive to get back into a cycle of short term managers and short term vision.

[stealthpapes]

He’s been here for nearly a year now with (from a very rough count) about a 1/3 win rate in a poor division with some good players

League games only ...
First spell - 0 % (5 games, 2 pts, 0 wins)
Last season - 42.8 % (28 games, 45 points, 12 wins)
This season - 16.7 % (12 games, 11 points, 2 wins)

So what I hope to see is some improvement in the short term, a new team to build and gel together, more academy/un-heralded/scouted players and a return to some sort of "not being stupidly short term for the sake of it" normalcy.

[Linden Jones' Tash]

This is where I am, emphasis on bold.

And in 12 months time, when we're bored with the new one, we change again. Right?

On the other hand a new manager might be more motivational, have ideas that the players buy into and not have a thing about leaving Ben Elliott out.
If it works, it's fine and if it doesn't then the club just gets another manager in-that's how professional football, rightly or wrongly, works.

Is that any worse than how things are now?

Yes. As you yourself admit, it's not necessarily the best (or only) way forward.

I think it would be massively self-destructive to get back into a cycle of short term managers and short term vision.

the real question is whether a season of treading water league position wise or even relegation is more or less self destructive than this.

if we continue to struggle to get results and/or get into a relegation scrap, will revenues hold up and will the investors keep the faith...

the club is no longer a Billionaire's plaything, but an investment to a Group looking to make money in the fairly short term...

ultimately they will have to make a decision on how best to safeguard their investment and future payout.

[Hound]

He’s been here for nearly a year now with (from a very rough count) about a 1/3 win rate in a poor division with some good players

League games only ...
First spell - 0 % (5 games, 2 pts, 0 wins)
Last season - 42.8 % (28 games, 45 points, 12 wins)
This season - 16.7 % (12 games, 11 points, 2 wins)

So what I hope to see is some improvement in the short term, a new team to build and gel together, more academy/un-heralded/scouted players and a return to some sort of "not being stupidly short term for the sake of it" normalcy.

As I’ve said a few times I’d be backing him an awful lot more if he had been playing academy players more. I’d accept 15th place if we had bought in a few younger players (like Savage, Bindon etc a few years ago) and been playing the likes of Abrefa, Garcia, Spencer, Sackey, Osho (if he isn’t injured) , kept Wareham, with the view to the long term

Instead we bought in 4 loans, some journeymen who are unlikely to improve a lot and some 30+s who all get priority it seems. And only an 18 year old who isn’t quite ready gets regular starts from the academy

[tidus_mi2]

The big thing for me is that it shouldn't take miracles to have this club at the top end of League One, we definitely shouldn't be in a relegation scrap.

[stealthpapes]

On the other hand a new manager might be more motivational, have ideas that the players buy into and not have a thing about leaving Ben Elliott out.
If it works, it's fine and if it doesn't then the club just gets another manager in-that's how professional football, rightly or wrongly, works.

Is that any worse than how things are now?

Yes. As you yourself admit, it's not necessarily the best (or only) way forward.

I think it would be massively self-destructive to get back into a cycle of short term managers and short term vision.

the real question is whether a season of treading water league position wise or even relegation is more or less self destructive than this.

if we continue to struggle to get results and/or get into a relegation scrap, will revenues hold up and will the investors keep the faith...

the club is no longer a Billionaire's plaything, but an investment to a Group looking to make money in the fairly short term...

ultimately they will have to make a decision on how best to safeguard their investment and future payout.

yes, if we're in a real threat of relegation come January/February, I fully expect Hunt to go.

treading water would be shuffled off in the Summer or given one more year, depending on end of season form (and any luck in cups).

[stealthpapes]

This might be a factor of me watching more midweek and, therefore, cup games.

As I’ve said a few times I’d be backing him an awful lot more if he had been playing academy players more. I’d accept 15th place if we had bought in a few younger players (like Savage, Bindon etc a few years ago) and been playing the likes of Abrefa, Garcia, Spencer, Sackey, Osho (if he isn’t injured) , kept Wareham, with the view to the long term

Instead we bought in 4 loans, some journeymen who are unlikely to improve a lot and some 30+s who all get priority it seems. And only an 18 year old who isn’t quite ready gets regular starts from the academy

I think we've done alright - given we were down to seven pros and necessarily lost our best players over the last season - brought in players with a few young loans/frees, realised we were short experience and in come Williams, Marriott and Ritchie, pretty promptly. There's two that look to be not worthwhile so far - O'Mahony and Lane.

Bit disappointed we've not signed a bastard of a centre forward, bit disappointed we've not managed to unearth another couple of gems. Bit disappointed we've been experiencing a lot of injuries (Garcia, for one).

Feels a bit 'too soon to tell'.

EDIT: I think we're really missing Craig, but the mood music from him leaving was that he wanted a different challenge.

[Esteban]

I doubt we'll pay compensation for a manager, so I'd stick with Hunt until a manager becomes available that we feel might improve us and evaluate then. If ultimately we think Hunt is the right man for the job, then we carry on. In the meantime, results might start to improve, in which case, he's likely to keep his job.

What I don't want is to sack Hunt now, have no plan for his replacement and bring in someone who makes no difference, or it gets even worse.

[Hound]

I’d assume Bloomfield or Ainsworth would have been discussed already. Esp Bloomfield assuming him and JJ etc got on during their careers