Impressed with Nugent

[WhetstoneBee]

I don't think I've ever seen a manager have such a big impact on a football team in such a short space of time. You've got to hand that to him at least.

It's just a shame that the change has been to turn a confident, play-off chasing team that played good, excting, attacking football into one that has no shape, discipline, obvious gameplan or, based on today's showing, any idea what it is supposed to be doing. This afternoon was the most disjoined I have seen us in a long time. We weren't let down by poor individual performances (Johnson aside perhaps) but by a real lack of team organisation, effective tactics and proper shape.

Maybe it's a transition phase but it's not clear what he is trying to turn us in to and the organisation of the team is the worst I've seen it in many months. At least under Allen we were organised and disciplined. The two goals we conceded today were comical and there were consistently huge gaps between our players.

KN seems like a nice guy so I hope things change in the next couple of games but the signs so far have not been good. To come out and say the performance was good is really worrying for me because it suggests his expectations of what this group of players should achieve is much lower than it should be. This is a squad that was sitting 7th in the league BEFORE it had the best part of £300,000 invested in it. Only Barnet could manage to go so far backwards in such a short space of time after that kind of investment.

Either way, between Kleanthous' incompetence, Eames and Newman's transfer market madness and Nugent's coaching, we've wasted our best chance in decades of getting out of League 2. Time to get the foundations in place for next season and build a team that justifies some of the highest ticket prices in the league.

[pgbee]

In fairness an earlier appointment by TK (of anyone barring RE and HN) would have got us out of L2 (downwards). It was not an investment of £300k, you have to subtract the fees we got back.

[Sam_BFC]

It's just a shame that the change has been to turn a confident, play-off chasing team that played good, excting, attacking football into one that has no shape, discipline, obvious gameplan or, based on today's showing, any idea what it is supposed to be doing.

Is that fair?

Without meaning to excuse Nugent as such, is there not an argument to be made that, by the time he arrived, our form was already on a downward trajectory?

[Sam_BFC]

It's just a shame that the change has been to turn a confident, play-off chasing team that played good, excting, attacking football into one that has no shape, discipline, obvious gameplan or, based on today's showing, any idea what it is supposed to be doing.

Is that fair?

Without meaning to excuse Nugent as such, is there not an argument to be made that, by the time he arrived, our form was already on a downward trajectory?

[barnet34]

Don't understand why they brought K N in when Rossi has more managerial experience than himself.

[GenkiDev]

We have been a stumbling team in terms of consistency for the last 20 months. We had spells under MA where we couldnt buy a win, same under REHN, same thus far under KN. It's possible those previous managers wouldn't have aquired any more/less points.

The latest interview with KN actually warmed me to him a little. It's really easy to scapegoat him. It's become the norm to expect new managers to explode with great success right off the bat. Take MA at Eastleigh, allowed to remould the structure of the squad only to be shown the door, arguably too soon.

I'm not sticking up for KN, more sticking up for managers in general. In fact, I'm strictly waiting on TK to do whatever it takes to move the Cowley brothers back home to Essex and welcome them to the Hive. Of course, that'd be unlikely if Lincoln do the unthinkable and qualify for Europe by doing a Leicester...

[GenkiDev]

Don't understand why they brought K N in when Rossi has more managerial experience than himself.

The 'Boos' were starting, form had dropped, TK is a big fan of doughnuts!

[Frods]

Best chance for decades is overstating it. If you take out the games it was virtually impossible not to win because our opposition were beyond incompetent at the time (Cheltenham & Orient) then our form since Allen left hasn't ever been that of playoff contenders.

It's also naive to think that your promotion chances are going to improve when you have to bed in so many new players who are in the main not use to the rigours of league football. Add to this new management, a huge change in ethos from Allen hoofball and then losing comfortably your best midfielder to injury and next season was always looking the more realistic target. That said things clearly need to pick up before then. I've read comparisons with Sarll at Stevenage on here, it's taken him and Glenn Roeder around a year to get it right and even then up until fairly recently their fans were looking behind them and not towards promotion.

[LoudmouthBFC]

1st game v Portsmouth we looked very good, was looking forward to playing this way under KN but it's gone down hill since then. Still willing to give him a chance as it's not he's team but he needs to start picking the right team and playing players in their right positions. Still think we should go 5 in the middle. even tho Akinola scored that shouldn't mean he starts try him on the wing.

[Itai-bee]

Best chance for decades is overstating it. If you take out the games it was virtually impossible not to win because our opposition were beyond incompetent at the time (Cheltenham & Orient) then our form since Allen left hasn't ever been that of playoff contenders.

It's also naive to think that your promotion chances are going to improve when you have to bed in so many new players who are in the main not use to the rigours of league football. Add to this new management, a huge change in ethos from Allen hoofball and then losing comfortably your best midfielder to injury and next season was always looking the more realistic target. That said things clearly need to pick up before then. I've read comparisons with Sarll at Stevenage on here, it's taken him and Glenn Roeder around a year to get it right and even then up until fairly recently their fans were looking behind them and not towards promotion.

Excellent post

[rudebwoyben]

Best chance for decades is overstating it. If you take out the games it was virtually impossible not to win because our opposition were beyond incompetent at the time (Cheltenham & Orient) then our form since Allen left hasn't ever been that of playoff contenders.

It's also naive to think that your promotion chances are going to improve when you have to bed in so many new players who are in the main not use to the rigours of league football. Add to this new management, a huge change in ethos from Allen hoofball and then losing comfortably your best midfielder to injury and next season was always looking the more realistic target. That said things clearly need to pick up before then. I've read comparisons with Sarll at Stevenage on here, it's taken him and Glenn Roeder around a year to get it right and even then up until fairly recently their fans were looking behind them and not towards promotion.

Good to have a post like this which has a bit of a longer-term perspective!

[#Beebot]

I think it's unlikely we will see him here beyond the end of the season and he may even go earlier. He doesn't seem to have brought anything new or fresh to the setup. The only real positives I can see so far is that Watson seems to have got some confidence back and he seems willing to give Cojocarel a chance who I have rated for a while. Buchel is also a solid loan signing albeit an emergency one.

[John Hunt]

Give the man a chance. We aren't ready to go up. Let him find his feet. He seems a good man from a Barnet family. The amount of criticism managers and players get astounds me.

[becbee]

Give the man a chance. We aren't ready to go up. Let him find his feet. He seems a good man from a Barnet family. The amount of criticism managers and players get astounds me.

When the criticism started after 3 matches I felt that he needed a chance. But things are getting worse, not better.
I have no reason to doubt that he's not a "good man". But so what? Also so what that his sister-in-law's mum and family are Barnet supporters? What I care about is what happens on the pitch on match days and the fact that under him, we have hit relegation form.

[rudebwoyben]

We have been a stumbling team in terms of consistency for the last 20 months. We had spells under MA where we couldnt buy a win, same under REHN, same thus far under KN. It's possible those previous managers wouldn't have aquired any more/less points.

The latest interview with KN actually warmed me to him a little. It's really easy to scapegoat him. It's become the norm to expect new managers to explode with great success right off the bat. Take MA at Eastleigh, allowed to remould the structure of the squad only to be shown the door, arguably too soon.

I'm not sticking up for KN, more sticking up for managers in general. In fact, I'm strictly waiting on TK to do whatever it takes to move the Cowley brothers back home to Essex and welcome them to the Hive. Of course, that'd be unlikely if Lincoln do the unthinkable and qualify for Europe by doing a Leicester...

Unfortunately there is no way that this is going to happen.