2018/2019 - Thoughts & Reflections
Feb 20, 2019 19:44:42 GMT
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Rovergrant, arfcdm, and 3 more like this
Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2019 19:44:42 GMT
Over the past few days, I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time reflecting and (over)analysing developments - or lack thereof - at the club since May 2018 (when Brogan was appointed Manager). It is difficult, as fans, to accept where we are; yet it is less complicated to deduce why.
Before his appointment at Cliftonhill, Brogan had managed seven junior football clubs with limited success. He was used to working on shoe-string budgets and there is no doubt in my mind that he unearthed a handful of gems over the 22 years he spent at the helm of these respective outfits. It would appear that, for whatever reason, this ‘record’ appealed to the now infamous committee charged with finding a replacement for Brian Kerr. It would also be naïve (at best) to think that a certain member of said committee was without his rose-tinted spectacles when making the final decision to sanction his ill-fated reign.
Over the next few months, it became painfully clear that Project Brogan was doomed. A disastrous League Cup campaign, a woeful start to our ‘assault’ on the League, and a general realisation that Brogan’s players just weren’t up to scratch. We were promised the play-offs (at least) and some ‘quality signings’ to ensure that we’d be fighting for a top three place. We collectively realised, with alarming certainty, that a finish above the bottom three was fanciful at best. Defeat to Formartine in the Scottish Cup was the last straw for Brogan. He walked. But just a few nights before, the BOD backed him to the hilt in one of the most bizarre evenings in living memory for those in attendance.
Desperate to undo the damage caused by Brogan and save our season, the powers that be, in a totally extraordinary turn of events, decide to appoint exactly what the Club needed at such a vital point in our season - a rookie Manager with absolutely no experience of running the show at a senior football club. It would be funny if it wasn’t so tragic. There was, rather predictably, some puzzled faces and audible gasps when news of Harper’s appointment filtered through to the legions of fans who were waiting in anticipation for the white smoke to be seen billowing over the ‘Brigs skyline from the Old Lady o’ the Hill. Our saviour had arrived.
Except, he hadn’t.
Over the next few months, we remain winless. There are slivers of hope. The odd well-worked goal. More shape. But slivers they remain. 7 points adrift; Berwick with 3 games in hand. Harper set to eclipse Brogan’s abysmal record. We look to be doomed. The play-offs seem certain and this could spell the end for Albion Rovers Football Club (Coatbridge Since 1882) Ltd.
Yet, there are still those who choose to bury their hands in the sand. Oblivious they remain. Lucky them, I say! I even overheard someone say “Well at least there will be some good bus trips if we do go down!” Some claim that we are all aware of the gravity of our current plight - that says otherwise.
Terrible decisions leave us where we are. Awful appointments. Uninspired signings as a result. Strange choices in the face of oblivion. Folks, let’s be frank - we have been let down by the most ill-equipped BOD in 127 years of the club’s history. Let down, ignored, and made to feel as if criticism was not allowed or welcome. Concern has been shrugged off as causing unrest. “They can’t possibly care - they never do anything to help!” is the cry from the same souls.
We’ve little more than 10 games to save our season, but I’m afraid my (and our) patience is beyond redemption.
Jordie.
Before his appointment at Cliftonhill, Brogan had managed seven junior football clubs with limited success. He was used to working on shoe-string budgets and there is no doubt in my mind that he unearthed a handful of gems over the 22 years he spent at the helm of these respective outfits. It would appear that, for whatever reason, this ‘record’ appealed to the now infamous committee charged with finding a replacement for Brian Kerr. It would also be naïve (at best) to think that a certain member of said committee was without his rose-tinted spectacles when making the final decision to sanction his ill-fated reign.
Over the next few months, it became painfully clear that Project Brogan was doomed. A disastrous League Cup campaign, a woeful start to our ‘assault’ on the League, and a general realisation that Brogan’s players just weren’t up to scratch. We were promised the play-offs (at least) and some ‘quality signings’ to ensure that we’d be fighting for a top three place. We collectively realised, with alarming certainty, that a finish above the bottom three was fanciful at best. Defeat to Formartine in the Scottish Cup was the last straw for Brogan. He walked. But just a few nights before, the BOD backed him to the hilt in one of the most bizarre evenings in living memory for those in attendance.
Desperate to undo the damage caused by Brogan and save our season, the powers that be, in a totally extraordinary turn of events, decide to appoint exactly what the Club needed at such a vital point in our season - a rookie Manager with absolutely no experience of running the show at a senior football club. It would be funny if it wasn’t so tragic. There was, rather predictably, some puzzled faces and audible gasps when news of Harper’s appointment filtered through to the legions of fans who were waiting in anticipation for the white smoke to be seen billowing over the ‘Brigs skyline from the Old Lady o’ the Hill. Our saviour had arrived.
Except, he hadn’t.
Over the next few months, we remain winless. There are slivers of hope. The odd well-worked goal. More shape. But slivers they remain. 7 points adrift; Berwick with 3 games in hand. Harper set to eclipse Brogan’s abysmal record. We look to be doomed. The play-offs seem certain and this could spell the end for Albion Rovers Football Club (Coatbridge Since 1882) Ltd.
Yet, there are still those who choose to bury their hands in the sand. Oblivious they remain. Lucky them, I say! I even overheard someone say “Well at least there will be some good bus trips if we do go down!” Some claim that we are all aware of the gravity of our current plight - that says otherwise.
Terrible decisions leave us where we are. Awful appointments. Uninspired signings as a result. Strange choices in the face of oblivion. Folks, let’s be frank - we have been let down by the most ill-equipped BOD in 127 years of the club’s history. Let down, ignored, and made to feel as if criticism was not allowed or welcome. Concern has been shrugged off as causing unrest. “They can’t possibly care - they never do anything to help!” is the cry from the same souls.
We’ve little more than 10 games to save our season, but I’m afraid my (and our) patience is beyond redemption.
Jordie.
