Alan Buckley's Future

By: Rob Sedgwick
Date: 04/08/2000

The future of Alan Buckley at GTFC

Before you vote please read the pro's and con's which David Peasgood has written as follows:

The pro's and con's

The subject of whether or not Alan Buckley should stay at the helm of GTFC is on many mouths at present, doubtless as a result of a dismal run of 7 consecutive away defeats and a drop towards the foot of the table. I thought therefore I might put a few pro's and cons together with regard to our Manager, which without necessarily siding one way or the other may at least help clarify the situation for the undecided.

On the pro side:

• AB resurrected GTFC from near oblivion when he arrived 10 years ago and inherited less than a full team of professionals.
• AB resurrected GTFC following relegation after a disastrous sojourn with Brian Laws in charge.
• AB took GTFC to 2 wonderful Wembley victories.
• AB has never presided over a relegated GTFC team.
• AB is renowned for picking up bargain players and turning them into saleable assets.
• AB is a strong disciplinarian.
• AB has kept GTFC in div 1 despite low crowds and low cash input from the board.
• AB dislikes dealing with rip-off agents.
• AB can motivate a team to perform greater than it's individual parts.
• AB has had more success with GTFC than any previous GTFC Manager.
• AB has given GTFC a reputation for 'pretty' and tidy passing football.
• AB has made a lot of money for GTFC with sales of Oster, Croft and Mendonca.
• AB has been unlucky in the last 2 years with injuries.
• AB has built a nucleus for the future of youngsters.
• 3 wins out the next 4 puts GTFC mid table and stops the panic.

On the con side:

• You can't live forever on past glories.
• We may not have been relegated before under AB but may well go down this year.
• Whilst AB can spot a bargain, he has also made the occasional expensive 'bad buy'.
• With his strong discipline, AB also leaves himself open to charges of inflexibility.
• Despite staying in Div 1, we have never really aspired to anything higher.
• Agents are a sad but undeniable aspect of the modern game and won't go away.
• AB's team motivation does not always appear to be consistent.
• AB left GTFC and took many players and staff with him when he went to WBA.
• AB has poor P.R. skills.
• AB appears to 'favour' certain players
• AB's 'pretty' style of football is not always successful or appropriate.
• AB seems loathe to change his tactics.
• AB teams do not score many goals.
• AB's man management skills are open to question.
• AB has arguably lost a lot of money for GTFC with crowds who want to see victories and goals.
• AB's training methods seem to precipitate a lot of injuries.
• AB's nucleus of youngsters are not getting a chance at div 1 level.
• 3 losses from the next 4 puts us nearly bottom of the league.

Well it is all conjecture of course. Add your own pro's and con's and decide for yourself if he is the best thing since sliced bread or the worst thing since black pudding.

Now for the vote...

Should Alan Buckley be sacked as GTFC manager, and if so when?

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