So just for a game to start a positive note from the club.
I pray that we stay in this League this year.
It is the wrong way of achieving this; all come on the shoulders of some young players and a few adults.
Lets hope I am wrong but I have seen this before.
I don't see last season as a failure-thought the football we played at times was outstanding and we came so close to beating Dorking in the play-offs. If Lewes and Whyteleafe have built their sides up over a couple of seasons the logical thing for Hastings to have done this season would have been to have kept the core of last seasons side and bring in a couple of new players ( goalkeeper, centre half, Jack and Sam). Reckon we would be about 10 points clear by now if we had that continuity- and enjoying some great football.
Don't understand our team selections or style of play this season.
what we need is to stop this one up front and get two there, unlike last year goals are not coming easy also thought last years side made for a future with a couple more players think we would have been front runners this year but nothing that easy at hastings.
A good statement. It is measured and makes compIete sense. Now Iet Aggy and his team get on with it. This forum needs to quieten down as we know where the cIub stands and that caIIing for a manageriaI change is pointIess....Aggy is going to remain in post so Iets get behind him and the team.
You don't like it UFAN don't come on here and don't read the posts. Its completely independent from the club so supporters can say what they wish. If supporters go to home and away games or have supported the club for years they have every right to air their feelings on this forum about what is going on at the club whether you like it or not. You are clearly a friend of Aggy, possibly through Sussex Coast College, and we have to respect your views as well but don't tell fans who pay a lot of money to support the club home and away to quieten down.
-- Edited by johnw on Tuesday 31st of October 2017 10:16:13 PM
Ufan that statement was almost a vote of confidence and we all know what they mean in football. Chris will only win fans over, if the product and the end product are both watchable and successful. Until then my reservations remain and if we get performance after performance of dire proportions then he will have to go.
The club statement good? yes and no, if we had`nt heard it all before, then it sounds good, but we have, and frankly I am a little fed up with every few months (when there is a change of manager) being told, we are building for the future, when in a few months Chris leaves, and he will, this will all start again. As so many have said, last year was so good, only just missing out on promotion, and some of the most creative football we have seen for many years, so why are we starting again and again, we had it all last year, but here go again, the merry go round, that is Hastings United, it`s been like it for years.
I`ll keep going up to watch, like everyone else, I`ll get fed up, like everyone else, we will have a few good games, we will all think, this is it, the plan has worked, then Chris will leave, and the rest is history........
While the statement is honest ( to be applauded ) it brings its own dangers as although the majority of the hardcore fans will still go to most games, the floating fans ( the majority of the crowd ) want to see decent football football and good results, if we are saying that there’s a fair chance you may not see those for a while while the team grows then I can’t see us still getting gates over 300 on a regular basis ( last nights gate of 93 was well over a third lower than the same fixture last season for example and the league games are following the same pattern.
Our gates were well up last season compared to the one before due to the brand of football player and the fact that we always looked like we were capable of winning gamers or at least going down in a crazily high scoring game! I can see us being at least 100 down on average on that this year if we don’t up the entertainment factor a bit! That’s a massive amount of lost revenue which makes you think that severe budget cutting is a somewhat short sighted plan this early in the season.
I can only presume the board are fully aware of these risks and are happy to take the chance on the crowds being low for a while.
This forum is fine. People state what they think, there is nothing unpleasant and even if you don't agree with what you read, you know it's a well thought out argument. Compared to some clubs forums, this one is pretty mild mannered which, given all the upheaval this season, is quite something.
Well, it was high time the club stated the views from the boardroom. Have to say I simply do not understand why Billy Medlock came back, why we signed Sam Beale when such a drastic change was in the offing at a relatively early stage of the season. Yes yes there was talk of bringing on Academy players and I believe there has actually been a lot of success in that respect. But we are where we are in the table, 7 points from three opening games, another 8 from the next eleven games. Too much chopping and changing, too many Academy players in at the same time, Billy Medlock seemed in effect to walk out after the farce at Phoenix Sports when Hinshelwood subbed him and Crutts, Jack Harris went, we are about to lose Simon Johnson, Lee Carey has gone (I thought he was ok actually), Dean Bown who looked really good in his limited appearance at Molesey is now scoring for Horsham and last time I looked, all quite re Sam Beale. Losing Johnno is absolutely unreal. He was one of the senior men who could've played a big part bringing on the Academy lads - and he has gone.
So, having gone down this road - Chris Agutter needs to stay where he is and use this season as a pre season for next year. It will be good to see players in the same position for consecutive games, it will be good to build on the obvious talent there is - Davide Rodari for starters - and I hope we don't see any more of the remaining senior men leaving.
So frustrating after a promising opening 3 games. And seeing Medlock score for fun at Lewes just rubs salt in the wound!
Simon's point about this forum is totally correct. There are a variety of views expressed here but I have never felt that those are anything other than legitimately held opinions, fairly put. Indeed, as Simon says, anyone who might think that some of us go over the top should glance at the forums of other clubs!
I am backing Chris to get it right if he is given time. We have some really talented younger players and if Chris gets the blend right I am sure we can mpve on.
I can’t see what there is on this forum that needs quieting down.
“The players that have left are all players that are part of a regime that’s failed to get out of this league,” said Agutter. “It’s not as if we’re losing players that have got us promotion. These are players that have been at the club for three years maximum and the club’s still sitting at what’s ultimately a poor level of football.”
Another very strange statement from the Observer......Medlock, Aziaya, Bown ? Are the two boys from Bromley still with us? Have these five been with us for 3 years?
And have we not brought in players that have as Chris puts it, failed to get us out of this league in the past.....Carey, Pogue, Adams, Whyebourne, Dixon.
If I was Ollie Rowe or Crutts I would be very concerned indeed about this statement from the manager.
The last two seasons we have lost in two play off semi finals, both games we could have quiet easily won if a little bit of luck was on our side. Early days, but this season we appear to be in a fight to stay in the league which is a quite incredible turn around. After the next four league games, which are all winnable, there can be no more excuses from anyone at the club or no more blame aimed at players from old regimes as its been put. Some people have clearly not seen the immense effort put in by players such as Johnno, Crutts and Ollie Rowe over the past two seasons.
-- Edited by johnw on Friday 3rd of November 2017 09:50:44 AM
From departures to arrivals and Agutter was this week hoping to bring in Dajon Golding from fellow Bostik League Division One South club Phoenix Sports, plus an un-named winger.Of Golding, Agutter said: “He’s a left winger or attacking midfielder. A big, powerful, mobile lad and he’s a player on the way up. He fits the right profile of player we want.”
On the positive side, Chris is bringing in 'his' players at last and really pleased he is addressing the pace, strength and mobility of the squad although another 18 year old in Dajon. A top goal scorer has to be top of the wish list next.
Mr Agutter obviously thinks highly of his ability to get us out of this "poor level of football" league, and into the dizzy heights of Bostik Premier League, shame he says about players not helping us out of this league tho`, because I`m sure there`s not a club at this level who would not want Simon in their team, hope Mr Agutter isn`t shouting too loud. So I take it, that will be playing in the Premier League in 2019, I am already looking forward to it!
Training is an issue I'm not clear about with Hastings. In an ideal world you would like all your players to be at training at least once a week. However, I think Hastings is in a difficult situation geographically and if players do live in north Kent, as was the case last season, I wouldn't expect them to travel midweek just for squad training. I would expect them to be fit and to train on their own or with other clubs. This is something that clubs like Truro and Barrow experience and survive with at higher levels. I hope this isn't an issue with Hastings and isn't one of the factors behind so many players leaving Hastings.
A 13 minute hat trick from Medlock tonight. That's 3 hat tricks and 13 goals in 9 games since leaving Hastings. The biggest mistake in the history of Hastings Utd FC perhaps???? Just imagine what Johnno could do if he went there 🤔🤔
"A regime that's failed"? It's all about getting all the ingredients to fall into place and not all of that is down to the players. Managerial consistency plays a big part at most clubs - it takes time generally to get it all right. Chris is our 5th manager in what, three years? Four years? A new boss comes in and wants to get the team playing his way - and the team has to adjust accordingly.
This is the point I have made several times - that it was a real shame Darren Hare didn't stay and build on last season's good work. The top two sides went up which was the right thing to happen - but United were really short of luck in all three games with Dorking Wanderers, especially the play off semi final where we were 4 minutes from beating them. That continuity on the managerial side should have carried on into this season and even with virtually half the side going, there were still solid foundations to build on and with the likes of Medlock and Whybourne coming in to replace Collin and Sobers, we could be doing so much better than we are.
Losing Simon Johnson - however it was done - sucks big time. We will do well to get anybody half as good and dedicated to the cause as Johnno - though Crutts if he gets back to what we know he can do will get as close as anyone. We haven't, though, seen him at anything like his best this season - yet last season at left back where he was said not to be a happy bunny, he absolutely excelled.
A win at Shoreham tomorrow will obviously help things along. I can't see United being involved in a relegation scrap and still hold vague hopes of the "That'll have to do" option of the play offs. For us to be in this position is not something that should be blamed entirely on players, past and present.
Presumably Simon was asked why he wasn't enjoying his football at Hastings. It would be interesting to know his reply. Big loss for Hastings-character and playing ability.
