Foster the scapegoat?

Foster is being vilified atm for poor performances and the seeming abandonment of Argyle's attacking style, but is he the one to blame?

Under the previous head coach we had a lot more attacking threat almost entirely due to having three goal creators/scorers in the team-Whittaker Hardy and Azaz.

Once Azaz moved on it was clear that he needed replacing with a similar "forward thinking" player, however despite rumoured links to possible replacements (mainly Azeez from Reading) no such player arrived-either on loan or a full transfer-indeed no transfer fees were paid out in January, despite the cash windfall recieved for the previous management team and Foster was reduced to taking whatever was available in the loan/freebie market.

What the fans don't know is whether serious attempts were made to secure the much needed extra firepower. Did Foster identify targets that the Club refused to pay for and did PAFC's much publicised recruitment team fail to find anyone to bolster Argyle's attack or were those candidates stymied by Boardroom reluctance to spend?

It was obvious at the time that Bundu was clearly not the first choice signing as a back up striker and the decision (whoever made it) to go with just Whittaker and Hardy as Argyle's almost sole goalscoring threat could leave the Club suffering for that decision for years to come.

With the benefit of hindsight Foster was the ideal appointment for a Board determined to keep a tight rain on spending-eager for his first crack at management but too inexperienced to kick off about having to work with a skeleton coaching staff and being blocked in the transfer market-in short the perfect patsy should Argyle get relegated.

You make some valid points, I'm sure he would be cut more slack if the football, particularly at home, showed more attacking intent regardless of personel available, we've been spoilt with a swashbuckling style under scouser 1 and 2 and that has been great to watch and successful, even if, as has regularly happened over the past 3 or 4 seasons we've conceded 1st you'd bet your wife on us getting back into the game or at least scoring at some stage.Yes it's a results business but we've been used to playing with a swagger, even against the 'bigger boys', I suspect most of us could stomach losing on a fairly regular basis in this division if we had a right go at it. Also his demeanour on the touchline and some car crash interviews have failed to endear him to the fans. Can't see it ending well but would love him to prove me wrong and turn it around.

I wouldn't be surprised if his "three and a half year" contract has a Relegation clause in it so he can be sacked if he takes us down.

Grovehill wrote:

I wouldn't be surprised if his "three and a half year" contract has a Relegation clause in it so he can be sacked if he takes us down.

i would be shocked if someone on the argyle board was smart enough to put that in. The only way the club will get out of paying foster the remainder of his contract up in full is if they agree a compensation package with ian to save a few quid which ian doesnt have to accept so simon is going to have to pay him the full amount.

in answer to your question  he is and he isnt.

He is in the sense that he is completely out of his depth and comfort zone hasnt got a clue what to do and seems to have lost the dressing room and certainly lost the fans support, resulrs have been poor and the football awful and his demeanour and comments to the media dont help him one bit and with that said the board have failed very badly with this appointment that they made.

The board clearly had no actual plan in place on who to appoint to replace schumacher as they clearly didnt think he would leave so quickly like he did which further strengthens my claim schumacher walked after falling out with the board/dewsnip over january's transfer budget and took the first job he could rather than suffer us sliding down the league cause we didnt bring in the players we needed to keep us in the mid table hunt or kept hold of the loan players which im sure villa made it know to argyle they would sell azaz and offer them first dibs or match the accepted offer.
if the board wanted to go down a new route of hiring a head coach over a manager in order to control budgets and transfer dealings more as a way of saving money they should have looked for an experienced coach an assistant manager perhaps who had the knowledge of this league the coaching badges and the contacts to call apon aswell as one or two people hes worked with to bring in to assisted him seeing as schumacher took the kitchen sink with him when he left bar nance who seems to have a job for life here while they looked to appoint people in the roles not filled in order to help him out from the start while identifying targets with the recruitment team to bring in after he's assessed the squad.

They did none of that.

they hired foster out of the blue simply because he was coaching in a pony league that no one takes seriously as its a joke and also coached in the england youth setup and pretty much went with that. Ignored the fact he never coached or managed in this league before not even as an assistant and the closet hes been to any of that was a brief spell as a coach with Portsmouth and 2 failed manager roles in ireland. they had NO ONE in mind to bring in to help foster out from the start when it should have been obvious from the get go foster was stepping into an unknown world and level so they should have had a guy like downding who was brought in to work with schumacher for his first season so he got up to speed with being the boss and had someone to learn from till he was ready to go it on his own  whether the club offered that and foster said no or they never thought to ask foster if he would like that i dont know but the fact dewsnip another guy whos never managed at this level or indeed any level bar youth football before moving into admin roles assisting him was not a good idea at all.

the recruitment seemed very rushed to me like the budget was set and there was no room to move it so foster had to name random ex players he worked with briefly that he knew he could talk into coming here on loan even though they weren't ready for this level of football and havent improved the squad that just saw all the loan players including 3 key players recalled and 2 experienced and popular squad players sold seems to me as if foster didn't assess the squad before deciding what he needed which its clear to everyone was a striker, a defender and someone to replace azaz that was obvious. Foster just went with like for like position wise to keep the squad number the same and by the end of january we didn't strengthen the squad with the 3 positions just mentioned. Whether that was the club taking control and deciding thats all we needed and let foster just suggest names on their list then its backfired if it was fosters call this is where his inexperience and lack of contacts in the game have shown its self.

The board claimed they didn't need the money when they bragged they turned down £10m+ offers from Lazio for Whittaker yet going by the January singings and the board claiming they couldn't afford to match middlesborough's offer to villa for azaz something isnt right in the head of whoever made up that bullshit about lazio and what they offered when in truth they would have flown morgan to rome by force if needed to get him signed up so they could cash in on that £10m+ they still having funding issuses for that youth and womens training centre (which wont make a jot of difference to the club income wise or on the pitch) so that would have paid for that.

overall foster hasnt helped himself with his poor choice of words to the press after bad performances, picking certain players over others that bombed changing our style and formation that seems confusing to the players as all they do now is pass backwards and incapable of hitting the target let alone score he deserves the stick hes getting but the board/dewsnip should be getting the same amount of stick if not more for causing this and i dont think its going to be too long before the fans make that clear to simon if they havent already on his twitter.

I certainly blame Hallett for going cheap on the manager appointment. And foster must take the blame for taking a job that he is clearly not equipped to do. If it's true that the experienced Paul Cook was also interviewed then very serious questions need to asked of hallett.

I said in January that my choice for the hot seat would have been Nigel Pearson- a time served, been there got the T shirt manager to move the Club to the next level.

But it's not hard to imagine how someone like that (or Warnock) would have reacted to the "You don't need an assistant or a fitness guy, don't spend any money, get some young lads in on loan, Azaz doesn't need replacing, just run Hardy and Whittaker into the ground, and don't worry the fans will never moan"
mantra the Board seems to think they should swallow.

Whenever Hallett speaks in public (getting less frequent, I notice) he goes on about the "matchday experience" which clearly shows he doesn't understand that the result is 75% of the experience and the performance is the other 25%

I've said on here before that every Owner over the past fifty years has gone through the same cycle:

1. New owner splashes the cash and promises big things

2. Realises that it's not that easy and starts advising caution

3. Quietly tightens the purse strings

4. Blames the Manager when things go tits up.

5. Flogs the Club saying it's cost him a fortune and fans are ungrateful sh*ts


I think Hallett is currently between 3 and 4 (and we are ungrateful sh*ts because we don't realise that Brickfields will be AMAZING)

Grovehill wrote:

I said in January that my choice for the hot seat would have been Nigel Pearson- a time served, been there got the T shirt manager to move the Club to the next level.

But it's not hard to imagine how someone like that (or Warnock) would have reacted to the "You don't need an assistant or a fitness guy,  don't spend any money, get some young lads in on loan, Azaz doesn't need replacing, just run Hardy and Whittaker into the ground, and don't worry the fans will never moan"
mantra the Board seems to think they should swallow.

Whenever Hallett speaks in public (getting less frequent, I notice) he goes on about the "matchday experience" which clearly shows he doesn't understand that the result is 75% of the experience and the performance is the other 25%    

pearson would have been ok as would have cook but i feel the board clearly wanted an inexperienced coach they would control that baines fella at everton was strongly linked for strange reasons never someone like pearson or cook or even nathan jones to name a few linked.

its hard to understand why they thought the head coach route was the best one in our position trying to establish ourselves in this league we are in no way secure enough to be giving untried youth coaches their first crack st management while being a farm for clubs to send their young players too on loan to build them up before their clubs sell them on. Simon needs to come out and talk and more importantly if he cant fund this club in this league and that fanzone wont bring in funds worth having it (barely see anyone in it when i get to the ground) he needs to learn from staplewallet and sell up or bring in investors again that he doesn't run off again to get funds in. We need to make money off the pitch we clearly need to do more, if some can explain how the brickfields and the fanzone will help with that please let me know

They all need to take responsibility for this the board and dewsnip (especially) as he has halletts ear and being his director of football he clearly recommended the appointment so if fosters gotta go so does dewsnip with him ..and if hallett was happy enough cos it was cheap needs shoulder blame as well cos everythink seems to being still done on the cheap they have tried to make it look more professional but it ain’t really specially appointing a manager with No experience whatsoever in the championship with No backroom staff at time of the appointment long with No budget whatsoever professional my arse !! More like piss poor who advised it and should be sacked on the spot
Plus investment is needed if hallett can’t take us any further sell us The Americans seem to be investing in British football at this time with his American links sell us to someone who can

I see Birmingham City are lining up ex Millwall boss Gary Rowett to take over until the end of the season while Mowbray is ill.

Nice to see some Clubs are proactive about ensuring their Championship survival.

It'll be Argo, Huddersfield and Rotherham for the drop. Birmingham, Stoke, Sheff Wed, QPR, Blackburn are all capable of picking up more points.

whats big sam up to these days can he be talked into a short payday to keep us up.

RegGreen wrote:

They all need to take responsibility for this the board and dewsnip (especially)  as he has halletts ear and being his director of football  he clearly recommended the appointment so if fosters gotta go so does dewsnip with him ..and if hallett was happy enough cos it was cheap needs shoulder blame as well cos everythink seems to being still done on the cheap they have tried to make it look more professional but it ain’t really specially appointing a manager with No experience whatsoever in the championship with No backroom staff at time of the appointment long with No budget whatsoever professional my arse !! More like piss poor who advised it and should be sacked on the spot
Plus investment is needed if hallett can’t  take us any further sell us The Americans seem to be investing in British football at this time with his American links sell us to someone who can

the yanks that bought into the club quickly left thats never been explained why was it a case of hallett not wanting to loose control of the club or share any authority or where they blaggers like that japanese duo that bought a stake in the club many years ago.

Angry wrote:

RegGreen wrote:

They all need to take responsibility for this the board and dewsnip (especially)  as he has halletts ear and being his director of football  he clearly recommended the appointment so if fosters gotta go so does dewsnip with him ..and if hallett was happy enough cos it was cheap needs shoulder blame as well cos everythink seems to being still done on the cheap they have tried to make it look more professional but it ain’t really specially appointing a manager with No experience whatsoever in the championship with No backroom staff at time of the appointment long with No budget whatsoever professional my arse !! More like piss poor who advised it and should be sacked on the spot
Plus investment is needed if hallett can’t  take us any further sell us The Americans seem to be investing in British football at this time with his American links sell us to someone who can

the yanks that bought into the club quickly left thats never been explained why was it a case of hallett not wanting to loose control of the club or share any authority or where they blaggers like that japanese duo that bought a stake in the club many years ago.

seems to me the yanks that we’re brought in on some kind of short term deal possibly a bridging loan of some kind because I remember a club statement thanking em and they were payed off with interest before they went on there merry way and all parties were happy I believe with what ever deal was done between party’s ..I think they both went on took directorships or some kind investment at Leeds united I believe after they left here

I think the Club have created a rod for their own back in getting in and then quickly dumping an inexperienced coach/manager. Even the job title is a fudge and gives any serious candidates reason to think twice.

If I was after the job, I'd certainly try to find the reasons why IF was "not a good fit" and the reasons that the Club has allowed to circulate are that IF isolated players like Wright Scarr and Edwards which caused disharmony. Well, to me it looks like IF was concentrating on the better players and the three named were deemed to be not up to standard or past their best, but player power reared it's ugly head and the old guard had their way with IF being dumped and the coaches the players were comfortable with reinstalled.

Luckily it had a happy ending but I do think the next coachager will face some big challenges in moving on the players who are not really up to Championship standard-and in all honesty that could be half the current squad!

Grovehill wrote:

I think the Club have created a rod for their own back in getting in and then quickly dumping an inexperienced coach/manager. Even the job title is a fudge and gives any serious candidates reason to think twice.

If I was after the job, I'd certainly try to find the reasons why IF was  "not a good fit" and the reasons that the Club has allowed to circulate are that IF isolated players like Wright Scarr and Edwards which caused disharmony. Well, to me it looks like IF was concentrating on the better players and the three named were deemed to be not up to standard or past their best, but player power reared it's ugly head and the old guard had their way with IF being dumped and the coaches the players were comfortable with reinstalled.

Luckily it had a happy ending but I do think the next coachager will face some big challenges in moving on the players who are not really up to Championship standard-and in all honesty that could be half the current squad!

But that's not his/her concern, the head coach coaches and prepares the players for matchdays and that's about it. Recruiting and releasing players is down to the data nerds, dewy, parky and presumably hallet. I don't like it but they seem to.

Les Miserable wrote:

Grovehill wrote:

I think the Club have created a rod for their own back in getting in and then quickly dumping an inexperienced coach/manager. Even the job title is a fudge and gives any serious candidates reason to think twice.

If I was after the job, I'd certainly try to find the reasons why IF was  "not a good fit" and the reasons that the Club has allowed to circulate are that IF isolated players like Wright Scarr and Edwards which caused disharmony. Well, to me it looks like IF was concentrating on the better players and the three named were deemed to be not up to standard or past their best, but player power reared it's ugly head and the old guard had their way with IF being dumped and the coaches the players were comfortable with reinstalled.

Luckily it had a happy ending but I do think the next coachager will face some big challenges in moving on the players who are not really up to Championship standard-and in all honesty that could be half the current squad!

But that's not his/her concern, the head coach coaches and prepares the players for matchdays and that's about it. Recruiting and releasing players is down to the data nerds, dewy, parky and presumably hallet. I don't like it but they seem to.

IF just made it clear to a few players that they weren't in his plans-the next coachager might not want those players either. Will that get him the sack?

Anyway 90% of the names in the betting for the job would only take it on condition they have the final say on recruitment. Why would the likes of Anthony Barry or Liam Rosenior want a job where they can't pick the team (if you can't pick the squad you can't pick the team)