It’s all Redders fault!

As so last night we suffered our fourth straight defeat. In the two weeks since Steve Thompson was suspended we have not picked up a single point and conceded eleven goals. We were favourites last night, the same can’t be said for the Charlton match this Saturday. Having a bet on the match? Why not grab a no deposit free bet to boost your bankroll! But we probably won’t get anything, it’s not just our defensive performances which have suffered we look toothless up front too. In those last four games we have had eight shots on target to our oppositions twenty-one. Neil Redfearn has been found wanting, it’s all his fault, it is clear now the real force behind our revival was Thompson.

Am I being serious? Of course not! But that’s the way some people are talking now. Some people see the absence of Thompson and the following results to mean that everything was down to him, that Redfearn cannot take any credit for our upturn in form from January to March. To me that is naïve, the real reason for our recent results has been the destruction of everything that was good. The meddling in team affairs by those above and individuals who really should have no place in the running of a successful football team.

It took long enough to get Thompson to the club in the first place. But it was clear it was the right choice. He had a good rapport with Redders, a relationship which saw the two of them sound ideas outr and work together constructively for the benefit of the team. The players, some of them at least, clearly responded to him as well. Luke Murphy was brought back from training with the youth team and has been one of the stars of the team in the second half of the season. The defence was clearly improved too, we were chalking up clean sheets and conceding less goals.

The reason for him being suspended is still not clear. Was it a rift in the squad? Reports have it that whilst a couple of Cellinos imports have integrated well with the rest of the squad many have not. When they were not being picked in the starting line-up they conspired to oust Thompson. The other theory is a bust up with Nicola Salerno but with him now stating that his future at the club is uncertain perhaps he is merely being used as a scapegoat by those above him.

What is clear though that there is meddling and there is no clear direction. Clubs such as Swansea, Southampton who have been successful in recent years have had an ethos, a single vision throughout the club from top to bottom. With Redders at the helm and Thompson by his side and Cellino out of the way I could see that emerging. A first team coaching staff clear of their vison and style, playing in a way that players right through the age groups of the academy were playing. Redders has even stated he had a good working relationship with Salerno so perhaps future signings were more likely to fit into that style and vision.

And perhaps that was the problem. It was Redders vision, Redders style and Cellino wasn’t happy with that. His spy, the 23-year-old, French ex furniture salesman Andrea standing on the side-lines at training reporting everything back to his master, Cellino had had enough and needed to show who was really in control. The partnership must be broken up, it is his club, his vison, and his players must play. Unless they are due to hit a contract extension clause obviously!

But that is no way to run a club. We need a vision right through the club an ethos and that can only be done by securing the position of Redfearn, giving him the coaching staff that he wants and needs and ensuring our best young players do not leave the club. Currently we are at the mercy of Cellino and Umbers, skulking in the shadows tearing down everything good that has been built, breaking my heart. Short-termist despotism is no way to build for the future.