Hunt out.

[blythspartan]

I think it’s a bit too early to be calling for Hunt’s head, but if we lose the next two games I think his position will become more difficult.

Unlike some, I don’t think our transfer business has been awful, and I have seen much worse over the years. Hunt needs to get the best out of this squad, but I don’t believe he will and we don’t have the time for Hunt to learn on the job.

[traff]

When we have made good signings in the past, Brian Carey has been given the credit. Why is Noel now to blame for the not so impressive signings and not Brian? I assume he is still at the club.

Fickle f***s who will be calling Hunt a genius if we win at Bolton

[traff]

Definitely cooled down since yesterday but I'm sure this isn't the start anyone expected, even if they factored in that we might not hit the ground running.

Tis is exactly the start I expected and previously suggested we wont pick up our first 3 points until Mansfield in October (assuming Northampton is called off due to internationals)
However, after a slow start after taking over from Ruben (when Hunt first took charge) I expect that things will pick up from the autumn , may need a couple of Jan signing to cement the progression.
Still don't expect more than a mid table finish but Rome wasn't built in a day.
Would love a last day pushing for playoffs but need to be realistic.

[ILoveMoonPig]

I'm fully on board with Hunt, I think he's doing and will continue to do well here. We have had to replace most of the team, this window. And with players out of contact and the returning loan players, we'll probably have to do the same next year too.

Over achieving last season has massively increased fan expectations this year, but that feels unfair to Noel. We're going to be scraping the lower-to-mid section of the division for a few years yet.

"We need a 20 goals a season striker" - well yes, we do. But so does everyone else. We're not a big fish in this division any more, we can't just attract talent from our reputation.

[Hound]

I don’t think we’re the only side to have made a lot of changes tbh

We had Stickland, JP, Savage, Wing, Kelvin, Garcia, Ahmed who started yesterday from last years side with Abrefa, Camara, Elliott on the bench. Dorsett, Ryan and Rushesha fit but not selected

[Snowflake Royal]

Hunt is getting shown up where he's inexperienced. He had the luxury of knowing the players when he took over as manager but many of those players have gone and he's never built a first team squad from scratch before. He's never been one who I have thought highly of his substitutions whereas Selles was effective here. Hunt needs to improve here quickly, he has the depth of players now to bring someone on to change a game whereas last season he didn't. He also needs to quickly find his best 11, I don't think he knows what that is.

It does look a bit like we're not too far away from being a good side though, bring in a replacement striker and a few more games together (we should be getting 3 points off teams like Wimbledon but Port Vale and Northampton are equally winnable). I feel like once we get a win under our belts the team will settle down. If we lose the next 4 league games then Hunt should definitely be under a lot of pressure though. We have a side that's on paper good enough to be challenging for the top 6. We definitely need to avoid anymore injuries though.

I agree with you about the quality of the squad, but interesting a lot of people are disagreeing with this. I remember the same 2 years ago under Selles' start, and my belief that it was good enough then was ultimately vindicated.

We've been unlucky with O'Connor's injury, and I think Lane will make us more dangerous. But we're ultimately only 1 CF away from having a really strong L1 squad, so if Hunt contract to struggle that's not an excuse.

I think there’s a lot of very capable players in the squad... I'm not sure the mix is quite right and there's some key holes.

Midfield is very strong still.

[WestYorksRoyal]

I'm fully on board with Hunt, I think he's doing and will continue to do well here. We have had to replace most of the team, this window. And with players out of contact and the returning loan players, we'll probably have to do the same next year too.

Over achieving last season has massively increased fan expectations this year, but that feels unfair to Noel. We're going to be scraping the lower-to-mid section of the division for a few years yet.

"We need a 20 goals a season striker" - well yes, we do. But so does everyone else. We're not a big fish in this division any more, we can't just attract talent from our reputation.

We don't need a 20 goal striker. We need a striker who can make the ball stick enough for the team to get upfield more, scrap for possession and be a presence to occupy defenders. If we have this, the whole team will score more. We don't currently have one.

[Royal Ginger]

Yes we need a striker, but there’s enough to stay in the division without one.

There’s no connection yet, no team, that’ll take a few weeks and then we’ll go on a bit of a run. We could very well lose the next two then win the following five. No panic, Hunt nowhere near the door yet.

[ILoveMoonPig]

I'm fully on board with Hunt, I think he's doing and will continue to do well here. We have had to replace most of the team, this window. And with players out of contact and the returning loan players, we'll probably have to do the same next year too.

Over achieving last season has massively increased fan expectations this year, but that feels unfair to Noel. We're going to be scraping the lower-to-mid section of the division for a few years yet.

"We need a 20 goals a season striker" - well yes, we do. But so does everyone else. We're not a big fish in this division any more, we can't just attract talent from our reputation.

We don't need a 20 goal striker. We need a striker who can make the ball stick enough for the team to get upfield more, scrap for possession and be a presence to occupy defenders. If we have this, the whole team will score more. We don't currently have one.

That's a fair response. Someone to do what Sam Smith was doing. My main fear is that we won't attract that player any more. Wages, bigger clubs, promotion prospects, I worry that we'll struggle to persuade that player to join.

[AthleticoSpizz]

That’s why we (and dozens of other clubs) scour the lower leagues…plenty of gems waiting to step-up.given the chance.
Our (and their) scouting teams get paid to sniff them out, that’s their job…..plenty out there.

Doesn’t apply of course, to those ‘big boys’ that buy from abroad……blocking the progression of said gems.

Not that it needed saying by me

[Royal Monkey]

Yes we need a striker, but there’s enough to stay in the division without one.

There’s no connection yet, no team, that’ll take a few weeks and then we’ll go on a bit of a run. We could very well lose the next two then win the following five. No panic, Hunt nowhere near the door yet.

You think we can definitely stay in this division without adding another striker! Well you’re a lot more confident than me.
When I read the rumour about the Bromley striker I thought what a terrible signing that would be but now I think I’d take him.
He’s experienced and knows where the goal is so can’t be any worse than OMahoney.
We absolutely need another striker to get through the season.

[Stranded]

Definitely cooled down since yesterday but I'm sure this isn't the start anyone expected, even if they factored in that we might not hit the ground running.

We always seem to lose at Lincoln, so no shock there, could argue we may have grabbed a point on another day. Huddersfield have spent a fortune, so defeat there, whilst not great not the end of the world. It is the Wimbledon result that has got people going 1 win and 2 defeats from the opening 3 given the upheaval is probably par for us, so we are only now "off the pace".

3 defeats in a row happens to most sides in a division (pretty much all bar Champions) - it always looks worse if it happens in the first 3 games.

Bolton will be tough, as it always is for us and then Wycombe have started nearly as slowly as we have - if we can get 4 pts from these two then the ship may begin to steady and we will hopefully get the last pieces of the jigsaw in place. If we end up with 5 straight defeats then the noise for change will be deafening.

[Gus the teenage cow]

It's simple, we have lost some very good players and the replacements have not been up to it.

It's early days but with one or two exceptions our recruitment looks haphazard, scatter-gunned and inadequate. There seems to be no over-arching plan as we desperately take whatever punt an agent puts in front of us.

We are not cohesive, we are simply trying to get deals done and hoping the player will fit in our team. There is no strategy. We just for what players are available rather than what players suit our existing squad or style of play.

In a word, we are a rabble. We probably don't have one defender who is better than average on the ball.

[Sutekh]

What do you expect when to the club does nothing but bring in loans & frees instead of spending money ffs

[andrew1957]

I cannot believe how many of our fans are bedwetters. Three defeats and it is the end of the world! Frankly if the new owners sack Hunt early in the season, without giving him a chance to mould a team out of the hotchpotch he has been given to get a tune out of, then we truly will deserve to get relegated. Let's hope Rob and Joe have more backbone than many posting on here.

I am not expecting much from the next two games either, but given another 2-3 weeks, I am sure Noel will get the team playing ok. This season is about stabilising the club mid table and then pushing on next season.

[West F]

I think it’s a bit too early to be calling for Hunt’s head, but if we lose the next two games I think his position will become more difficult.

Unlike some, I don’t think our transfer business has been awful, and I have seen much worse over the years. Hunt needs to get the best out of this squad, but I don’t believe he will and we don’t have the time for Hunt to learn on the job.

Saying that our transfer business is ok because it hasn’t met the criteria for being awful remains to be seen. What it definitely is not, is the promised ‘Spectacular’ and ‘Exciting’ window that sold a lot of season tickets. Whichever way you look at it, we have lost in the last six months.

Bindon
Smith
Wareham
Mbengue
Knibbs
Holzman
Akande
Craig
Boyce-Clark
Senga
Wellens
Dean
Button.

[Millsy]

Yeah.

3 games in, before we even have a full squad is exactly the time we should be having this ‘debate’

[andrew1957]

And another thing. At the start of 2023/24 we had pretty much the same players that ended up doing so well for us last season. We had recruited Knibbs, Smith, Wing, Savage, Elliott and Pereira during the summer of 2023 and yet Selles lost 11 of the first 16 games that season!! I hope that the players recruited this last summer end up doing as well as the class of 2023, but it takes time for new players to settle and for a new squad to gel.

[Hound]

I reckon we had as many in our 18 from last season as most teams in this division tbh. He chose not to include Dorsett and Rushesha who played last year as well

Not discounting that Mbengue, Bindon and Knibbs were huge losses though

The worrying thing is just how disjointed we look coming forward. Individual mistakes is one thing but we need to work extremely hard now to get some creativity into our forward play. Hunt seems a little confused as to how he wants the team set up

[jd82]

I reckon we had as many in our 18 from last season as most teams in this division tbh. He chose not to include Dorsett and Rushesha who played last year as well

Not discounting that Mbengue, Bindon and Knibbs were huge losses though

The worrying thing is just how disjointed we look coming forward. Individual mistakes is one thing but we need to work extremely hard now to get some creativity into our forward play. Hunt seems a little confused as to how he wants the team set up

The really worrying thing is after 4 games, there is zero idea what our team identity is. That and Hunt's seeming inability to adjust to the actual game, as opposed to what he expects to happen. Criminal that no subs were made before 60 odd minutes, and his justifiaction for not using Elliot is laughable.

We could easily sleepwalk into a real shitpit this season..