Close Quarters gives a very one-sided account of the closing of our youth set up, and is also uncomplimentary, verging on the outright rude about Don Woodward. One wonders who he spoke to to form such views and whether he gave Woodward any form of right to reply or sought opposing views for balance
I'm struggling with the universal praise it's received to be honest (I found the constant whinging at referees absolutely tiresome for example), but as I've also said it's required reading purely for the inside accounts of the season from players and staff
Went downhill from that early factual error about Marty O'neill for you didn't it @eric_plant . A lot of the criticism of the decision in the book came from Dobbo, didn't it...?
I'm about a 3rd of the way through. Its not really told me anything I didnt know (mainly due to Phil C's excellent podcast), I am not a massive fan of the writing style and it seems to jump about a lot (for example, arriving at Rochdale, then talking about something else, then the journey to actually get to Rochdale), rather than flowing smoothly. Its interesting as its about Wycombe, but apart from that I imagine it would have limited appeal.
Who said I liked it? Sorry I don't meet your high standards of commenting on the forum @eric_plant It's quite wearing being on your 'whatever you say is beneath contempt' list. I assume the commentary was somewhat one sided as he only interviewed Dobbo about it...
The central point about the youth setup, sniffing at the trust aside, has been done to death (it probably would have paid for itself several times over as it was stocked with talent but if cash isn't there it isn't there) but the extra bit in the book, seemingly from Dobbo who you'd think would have been asked although I'm not 100% it's directly credited to him, is that they were held at arms length from the plans to close it despite having funding in place , largely from parents to keep it going, that the decision to close was only formally announced to staff, players and public after all the players contracts had all been allowed to expire.
Could be very costly overall if true, but difficult to say how true and how secure the plans were.
Indeed @floyd, if the parents (or anyone other than the club) were to be funding the youth set up I don't see how any of the fiancial benefits would have accrued to the club.
Yes, maybe some of the players might have stayed at WWFC and possibly played and been sold on later. However, it they were indeed really talented surely another club would have snapped them up from a parent funding youth scheme anyway.
At the time we didn't have the money to buy a pot to p**s in, never mind keep funding the youth team.
I enjoyed the passages in the book which gave me real insight into the players and their backgrounds (though even then, I get what others have said about style and odd tenses). I also felt that on the whole, Dobbo came across as you thought he would: thoughtful, innovative, dedicated and not inclined to take the limelight. Just thoroughly admirable.
However, I agree with @eric_plant . That passage on the demise of the youth set-up was crying out for some objectivity. I could absolutely understand where Dobbo was coming from; he had created a highly successful youth system which was bearing fruit, and had to watch it being dismantled, with consequences for players and staff he was committed to. But the point was, we were left by Hayes with a much higher cost-base than we could afford, had no cash and had to reduce our outgoings. A parent-funded model was not a realistic option, as others have said, and the Trust was left to take tough, but necessary decisions. These weren't false economies, if the cost of waiting for Matty Cash (or whoever) to come through the system was the whole club going into administration.
And then the passage on Don Woodward. This is a man who stepped forward as Chair of the Trust at the most difficult moment, with a relevant background in corporate restructuring, as a volunteer and who was committed to the point that he loaned the club his own money to avoid administration, as well as ploughing in time to the club to the detriment of his own business, I'm sure. This wasn't scandalous penny pinching, or however Harman puts it. All his decisions were aimed (successfully, as it turned out) at ensuring that Wycombe Wanderers continued to exist. Nothing more, nothing less.
It was also striking that Harman, in this coverage of our recent history, appeared not to have caught on to the fact that had caused Hayes to storm out in the first place: the Booker proposal, which would have clearly left the football club vulnerable in a Coventry-style way.
Lastly, and coming right up to date, I was just disappointed that there wasn't more of the post-lockdown play-off campaign. From the start of the Fleetwood fist leg to the end of the book is 10 pages. It seemed a strangely perfunctory way to deal with the climax to the whole story. Deadlines, I guess.
I finished it last night, yes there were some big errors and a rushed ending but overall i enjoyed it especially finding out more about our players and what they've been through like Scotty and Darius.
Comments
Did it indicate whether they were agonising over signing him or Randell Williams?
News of all-change for Alex Revell’s Stevenage:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-8679103/ON-ROAD-Stevenage-undergoing-Revell-ution-spared-relegation.html
Top Sido footage
On Champ Man they'd call this a 'come and get me plea,'
That was fun while it lasted.
Matty Cash goes to Villa for 16 million
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/54009058
Close Quarters has some interesting things to say about the closing of our youth set up.
Close Quarters gives a very one-sided account of the closing of our youth set up, and is also uncomplimentary, verging on the outright rude about Don Woodward. One wonders who he spoke to to form such views and whether he gave Woodward any form of right to reply or sought opposing views for balance
I'm struggling with the universal praise it's received to be honest (I found the constant whinging at referees absolutely tiresome for example), but as I've also said it's required reading purely for the inside accounts of the season from players and staff
It is indeed pretty scathing of DW
Going as far as to mock his appearance at one point.
If that's what people want from a book about Wycombe fair enough but it's not for me
Went downhill from that early factual error about Marty O'neill for you didn't it @eric_plant . A lot of the criticism of the decision in the book came from Dobbo, didn't it...?
I doubt very much that the description of Woodward as "caked in sweat and masquerading in an ill-fitting club shirt" came from Dobson, no.
Nor the description of the trust board as "a lot of snouts in a rapidly emptying trough"
I didn't like either. Fair enough if you do, we all think differently
I'm about a 3rd of the way through. Its not really told me anything I didnt know (mainly due to Phil C's excellent podcast), I am not a massive fan of the writing style and it seems to jump about a lot (for example, arriving at Rochdale, then talking about something else, then the journey to actually get to Rochdale), rather than flowing smoothly. Its interesting as its about Wycombe, but apart from that I imagine it would have limited appeal.
Who said I liked it? Sorry I don't meet your high standards of commenting on the forum @eric_plant It's quite wearing being on your 'whatever you say is beneath contempt' list. I assume the commentary was somewhat one sided as he only interviewed Dobbo about it...
What a bizarre post
The central point about the youth setup, sniffing at the trust aside, has been done to death (it probably would have paid for itself several times over as it was stocked with talent but if cash isn't there it isn't there) but the extra bit in the book, seemingly from Dobbo who you'd think would have been asked although I'm not 100% it's directly credited to him, is that they were held at arms length from the plans to close it despite having funding in place , largely from parents to keep it going, that the decision to close was only formally announced to staff, players and public after all the players contracts had all been allowed to expire.
Could be very costly overall if true, but difficult to say how true and how secure the plans were.
Having parents directly fund a youth set up is an obvious non-starter.
Indeed @floyd, if the parents (or anyone other than the club) were to be funding the youth set up I don't see how any of the fiancial benefits would have accrued to the club.
Yes, maybe some of the players might have stayed at WWFC and possibly played and been sold on later. However, it they were indeed really talented surely another club would have snapped them up from a parent funding youth scheme anyway.
At the time we didn't have the money to buy a pot to p**s in, never mind keep funding the youth team.
Indeed not having been there and having to make the decision at a time we were struggling, I can certainly see why it happened.
I enjoyed the passages in the book which gave me real insight into the players and their backgrounds (though even then, I get what others have said about style and odd tenses). I also felt that on the whole, Dobbo came across as you thought he would: thoughtful, innovative, dedicated and not inclined to take the limelight. Just thoroughly admirable.
However, I agree with @eric_plant . That passage on the demise of the youth set-up was crying out for some objectivity. I could absolutely understand where Dobbo was coming from; he had created a highly successful youth system which was bearing fruit, and had to watch it being dismantled, with consequences for players and staff he was committed to. But the point was, we were left by Hayes with a much higher cost-base than we could afford, had no cash and had to reduce our outgoings. A parent-funded model was not a realistic option, as others have said, and the Trust was left to take tough, but necessary decisions. These weren't false economies, if the cost of waiting for Matty Cash (or whoever) to come through the system was the whole club going into administration.
And then the passage on Don Woodward. This is a man who stepped forward as Chair of the Trust at the most difficult moment, with a relevant background in corporate restructuring, as a volunteer and who was committed to the point that he loaned the club his own money to avoid administration, as well as ploughing in time to the club to the detriment of his own business, I'm sure. This wasn't scandalous penny pinching, or however Harman puts it. All his decisions were aimed (successfully, as it turned out) at ensuring that Wycombe Wanderers continued to exist. Nothing more, nothing less.
It was also striking that Harman, in this coverage of our recent history, appeared not to have caught on to the fact that had caused Hayes to storm out in the first place: the Booker proposal, which would have clearly left the football club vulnerable in a Coventry-style way.
Lastly, and coming right up to date, I was just disappointed that there wasn't more of the post-lockdown play-off campaign. From the start of the Fleetwood fist leg to the end of the book is 10 pages. It seemed a strangely perfunctory way to deal with the climax to the whole story. Deadlines, I guess.
Very well put, and an excellent point about Hayes.
One wonders who his source was for much of what he wrote about that chapter in the club's history. Perhaps his "long-time friend" Alan Parry?
I finished it last night, yes there were some big errors and a rushed ending but overall i enjoyed it especially finding out more about our players and what they've been through like Scotty and Darius.
Hull's Matt Ingram saves a spot kick in the shootout to knock Sunderland out of the Carabao Cup.
Looks like Alfie Mawson is on his way to Bristol City via a season long loan, apparently they’ll be paying his £25,000 per week wages in full!
Adam El-Abd still playing
Josh Scowen scored for giants Sunderland in their paint pot trophy win over Aston Villa’s kids.
So they now have two ex Wycombe players? But do they still want to watch it every week in their thousands ?
Josh Umerah has joined Torquay United.
Randell Williams signs for the Posh. £400k fee. Shame he's gone there.
That’s extraordinary money! Well done Exeter.