I can vouch for Stephen as well. He is a Director of the Members club. Not sure why he needs to use a different email address. He's a decent guy, and does a lot for TMUFC. Approve him please.

It's great that the Members Club responded so quickly, and that they agree with the points raised by Steve.

Let's hope things start to change for the better in the very near future.

Hi Joseph,

Lovely to hear from you again.

Perhaps before we get into a discussion on ways to improve the clubs current perilous situation, would you be so kind as to let us know who you really are?

After all, if we are going to be completely honest it seems only right that you should reveal your true identity.

Kind Regards

The team tried, but lacked cohesion and guile. Only one man that can take the blame for that, and I am sick and tired of banging on about it.

I arrived too late to see the first goal, but apparently it was very good....but of Tooting's own making.

The second has to go down as the fault of our experienced keeper in my opinion, who came, then went back, and ended up in no mans land, not being able to stop a well placed goal.

The third was offside from where I was standing, but mattered little to the context of the game.

Too many times the wrong option was taken, not passing the ball when best placed to do so, and wasting possesion and good opportunities. Short corners, that ended up going backwards. Poor ball control, gifting the ball to the opposition. Oh yes, it was all on show tonight!

Surely we have come to a point where Ashley needs to be replaced, or will I be saying the same again this time next month?

Thanks for posting the link Poddington. Seemed to be a fairly even contest, and an encouraging performance by Tooting.

Joseph,

I am sorry you feel that our conversation has been draining.

Frank Wilson got us promoted (with the help of Paul Dale), and then when Paul left our form declined, and we were relegated back down to the level where we currently find ourselves. He was, in my opinion quite rightly dismissed when he was.

At that time, at a members meeting , we were told by Steve Adkins that Ashley and Cornelius would be the new joint Managers. I queried at the time why Paul Dale was not offered the job, and was told that the current squad would not welcome Paul's disciplined style!

After several seasons as joint managers, we still find ourselves at the same level as when Ashley and Cornelius took over, but rather than challenging for promotion, we found ourselves last season fighting off relegation, with no improvement in performances and form when Cornelius left. I fear we will once again be at the wrong end of the table this season, and hence the reason for wanting a change.

There might be an issue with budget, but that hasnt stopped Corinthian Casuals playing beyond our level. They had a great manager, and have now replaced him with another great manager, who can set a team up to play to their potential, and bring in new players that strengthen the team.

As you say, we will probably have to agree to disagree on how we feel the substitutions affected yesterday's result. Personally I feel our best football was played before we conceeded the first goal. I also dont recall their keeper being in too much trouble in the final quarter of the game.

Surely you cant expect every supporter to be happy at where we find ourselves? On a match day I will get behind the team as much as anyone else, but what is wrong with voicing dissaproval after the event? Should we all just sit on our hands and put up with it?

Hi Joseph,

Thanks for your reply.

My belief that the Manager should be sacked is not based entirely on the first four games, but also takes into account the dreadful results and performances of last season. 

My assumption that we did not prepare fully for yesterday's opponents is not based on a comment made by Ashley at the fans forum, but indeed what he said in an interview given after the midweek result against Merstham. Perhaps you should watch it, and then tell me I am wrong. Had Ashley said that we had sent someone to watch VCD's performance that night, or indeed had them watched on various occassions, then I would of course not mentioned the lack of preparation in my earlier posting. But he didnt! He said we dont know a lot about them, but would play our own brand of football and hoped it would be enough. That to me is not good enough, but then again perhaps I have higher expectations than you.

Maybe we were watching a different game. Eddie came on, and provided something different up front, without troubling the keeper. but that pushed Shamal back into defence, where I feel he was less effective, and the lack of goal scoring opportunites after the change backs up my assumption. I didnt notice any contribution from Anuar, and Leevi continually gave the ball away. 

When you go behind in a cup competition in the 88th minute, then you throw more bodies up front to try and salvage a draw, injuries or no injuries, no excuses.

Perhaps it's you that has the agenda!

I am now of the firm belief that things have to change with the management of the 1st team at Tooting. I will explain my reasoning, and give a suggestion of who I feel would be best suited to take us forward.

4 games into a new season we have a record of Won 1, drawn won, lost 2, with our sole win coming at lowley Cobham, a team one level below us. Not a great start for a team that should be looking at promotion, or have we now changed our aims to be only competitive in our division?

Today we went out of the greatest cup competition in the world to a team at the the same level as ourselves, who our Manager stated we didnt know a lot about! For me, that's a sackable statement alone!!

Our brand of football didnt get the job done Ashley. Why should it when we havent got a clue who we are playing? Surely we should have someone going to our rivals previous game, and reporting back on their strengths and weaknesses, style of play, and formation, or am I being too optimistic?

I actually thought for the majority of the first half today, we bossed the game, but conceeded the first goal to a ball over the top, where we were beaten for pace (maybe that was a strength we didnt pick up on), as our full backs found themselves high up the pitch. A good save by James parried the ball out to an unmarked oppo player (as our full back hadnt tracked back).

Our equaliser came from a great free kick struck low to the ground, where the big VCD keeper couldnt get down quick enough to keep it out. One all at half time, and quitely confident we could find a winner in the 2nd half.

Shamal Edwards seemed to be causing problems up top with his pace and agility, so why did we switch him to left back in the second half? Why did we bring on Ceesay and Bassett? How did they improve our team? If anything all the substitutions made us worse. Another failing of the Manager.

The third and final example I will offer is not getting more players in forward positions as soon as we went behind for

Agreed. Stefan is a massive talent. Hoping he starts today. Will certainly help us with his creativity.

True reflection of the game Mike.

And it has to be said, we were not very good.

We were missing some key players in Daryl Coleman (injured) Nathan Daly (?), Peter Wedgeworth (?), Gary Ross (Bench), Jamari Brissett (?), and Billy Brown (?)

Do we have a injury crisis before the season has even started, or have some of these players moved on?

Krokhin looks like a great addition, and I'm not ready to press the panic button just yet. But we need a much improved team sheet and performance for our opening league fixture on Saturday.

Abject performance. Blunt, lacking passion, and a bit concerning.

It's great to have football back though.

Hoping for a reaction against Westfield.

Alan, I agree with you.

Tim pointed out that our centre midfield pairing from Saturday, Daryl and Saidou were cup tied.

Perhaps that was the same for our new keeper.

But where were DMG, Sol, Dan, Peter, Isaiah, Dan?

Fair enough, if the decision is to rest first team players then at least have the decency to communicate that. We can then make an informed choice on whether we attend or not.

Again, the lack of communication lets this club down.

Yes, I feel cheated as well.

daniel collins wrote:

you are positive,well good for you,im very pleased for you.

I don't believe that this sentence is anyway helpful or constructive. In fact, in my opinion it comes across as very condescending.

Perhaps you would kindly bare this in mind when posting in the future.

After all, we all support the same team, and as such it shouldn't be too hard to get along, even if we do have differences of opinion.