Email Response From NTFC....

I had a reply from NTFC regarding my email, I have shown it below and it is word for word, clears a few things up but also brings to light some interesting things that need more discussion when I have time.

I'd like to add how much appreciated it is that the club replied and also how quickly they replied, could easily have just ignored it. That is the beauty of supporting a club at this level, you feel like you have a voice.

As always, forever support NTFC no matter what is going on.

Hi Neil

Thanks for your email, and please don't apologise for the rambling. It is always good to hear from supporters and I will make sure your email is passed on to the coaching staff.

A lot of the points you raise are difficult for me to answer, they are obviously footballing decisions made by the manager and his staff although I can hopefully explain a few of them for you.

On the issue of Bayo and Savage up front, when Jake Robinson dropped out before kick off on Saturday there was no real other option, none of the other strikers are fully match fit or have the match sharpness and so that was probably the only option at the 11^th hour. And on the issue of left backs, Nana and Ashley Corker have both been struggling with injuries, but such is the hectic nature of the start to the season it has often been the case of playing who is 'least' injured.

Football is of course a game of opinions, and trust me, no one is more disappointed with the results of the last week than Gary. He would not be making any decisions out of anything other than a desire to turn things around and to get us moving up the table. He would not be choosing or not choosing players for any other reason than a genuine belief than the side we are selecting gives us the best possible chance of winning the game and of playing in the style he wants us to play in.

After the post match team talk, that in itself took a while on Saturday, the players themselves held a long meeting in the dressing room after the game on Saturday. That too shows their determination to turn things around and to improve results/performances. There is a willingness and determination to make that happen.

Even looking back on Saturday we lost because of two silly individual errors. Annoying, frustrating and disappointing, but you would hope they would be the easiest things to eradicate, it is not as if we are getting outplayed every week.

On the subject of Shaun Harrad, Gary obviously saw Shaun for the last dozen or so games of last season and came to the conclusion that he was not a key figure in his plans moving forward. Things can change in football but that was/is Gary's view. Over the summer, the club invested in the squad, and the intention since the end of last season was to find Sean another club, which may now have happened. The thought behind this is, as you will appreciate, Shaun is a high earning player at the club,  and there was no point in having such a high earning player on the books using up such a fair percentage of the budget who was not going to be a key figure in the manager's plans. With that in mind it was felt to be in the best interests of all parties that Shaun was given the chance to move on if the opportunity arose.

Thanks again for your email and your support.

Kind regards

Gareth Willsher
Head of Media
Northampton Town Football Club

Letter to NTFC..

Below is an e-mail I have sent to NTFC, of course it probably won't get read by the club but it made me feel a bit better :)

Gareth,

Firstly I appreciate you don't have a say in team matters etc, but perhaps you could pass this on to somebody that does?

Basically it obviously isn't going to plan at the moment on the pitch which is a massive shame as the club finally seems to be doing things right off the pitch, bar the kit debacle ;) I wanted to share my shock at some of the recent decisions, namely the decision to sell Shaun Harrad. This guy is probably the closest thing we have to a fox in the box, yet Gary Johnson seems incapable of giving him a chance, even when fit in pre season he only got bit part game time. From the outside looking in it seems Gary Johnson is just getting rid of the players that were here before him, he's even benched Michael Jacobs now as well. This is not the way to connect with the supporters, yes things were bad last season but there is no need to get rid of every single person around before Johnson. 

Gary Johnson probably feels like the fans hate him, not true at all, we all want him to succeed, however, he is going about things totally the wrong way and to be brutally honest it seems to us fans that he has 'lost it' . I don't care that he used to manage the fen dwellers, i couldn't care if he was an alien if he was doing a good job. However, he isn't. He is doing a very bad job. The biggest most frustrating thing with Gary Johnson is it seems to be his way or the highway, no common ground. Why hasn't he tried two up front when it is clear Bayo up front on his own isn't working? Although he tried Bayo and Savage up front on Saturday which was never going to work in a million years. What has happened to the total football he promised, the ball has spent more time in the air than on the floor. Why didn't he sign an experienced defender rather than gorge himself on pretty footballers, we did not need Davies AND Robinson, one or the other would have been fine. Why does he insist on persisting with Tozer in midfield? Why does he keep playing different left backs? How on earth can he justify signing Bas Savage and then selling Shaun Harrad, how is that a decision of a sane man? He clearly wants Purcell out of the club as well, another who would be a great option up front but oh no don't worry we've got Bas Savage. That isn't a personal attack on Savage by the way, Savage had a decent game on Saturday, just Purcell and Harrad are both better than him.

It isn't my club of course, David Cardoza owns the club and us as fans have a lot to thank him for. My suggestion would be to do one of two things, either get rid of Gary Johnson now or back him till xmas. I'm not a huge fan of sacking managers as I feel players should shoulder some responsibility as well, however in this instance there is one main man to blame, Gary Johnson. Also I prefer continuity as sacking managers is obviously expensive and disruptive, however Peterborough were bold enough to sack Gary Johnson pretty quickly when they realised it wasn't working, why shouldn't we do the same? In conclusion I'd be happy to see Gary Johnson leave the football club as he has got us in a right old mess, I accept the season is only 5 games old but we have gone backwards in those 5 games. 

Whatever David Cardoza chooses we will support the club, you'll get the odd numpty who will scream abuse no matter what of course but most of us are sensible enough to support the team no matter what is happening, doesn't mean we are happy or agree with the management though.

Apologies for the rambling, hope it gets passed on to someone to have a read of, probably a decent idea of how the fans currently feel.

Cheers

Neil