Question for the Buckle out brigade

Steve It was always my view that things would turn around and we would start getting good results. I like everyone questioned his team selections In our opening games and I also criticized some Of the substitutions he made In those games.

I was also concerned with how I felt he was handling the players, we all have our own views On events surrounding Raynor and even Phillips and maybe Roscoe. On the player side I believe there were some problems and I do know he stamped his authority On the dressing room and that has also played Its part In getting the results Of late.

The problem we now live In a world where everything has to be now and I seems that has now crept Into football. Fans want instant success, instant results and If they don't come, they look for the person to blame. Followed by demands that the person should be sacked and a new man brought In.

Someone accused me Of wanting Buckle out, while nothing was further from the truth, yes I felt we needed to see where we were after 12 games, If only to form an opinion, Of what we might achieve this season.

There will always be some who seem they only want Buckle to trip up, no disrespect to Dave Shaw, but as soon as we had lost a match, he was starting anti-Buckle threads, Yet he has not posted once since our winning streak.

One thing we do know Is that many fans are very fickle, things are going well and 99% are now behind Buckle and the club, but we also know that a run Of five defeats and It will all be back to Buckle out posts.This Is all down to fans just wanting success, If It does not happen then we get unhappy fans and due to the Internet they make their views known, unlike before when you just went home, kicked the cat and waited for the next match.

They say a manager Is only as good as his last result, Buckle has got the results the fans wanted, long may It continue, but even he knows that fans will only give him their support as long as the results keep coming In.

I always think back to the Leroy days, remember Our promotion season? after every game fans lined up along the popside and with their arms out stretched, bowed to the man who they felt was their hero.

Who would have thought them that a day would come when fans just wanted him out Of the club, I know I didn't think that day would come. So yes Buckle Is now doing a good job, the players are playing for him and life for Buckle Is a lot better than It was eight games ago. Lets hope he can keep It going, If not you know our Dave will be back, telling us we were all fools to believe things really had turned around.

No, our recent form has not really changed my opinion of Buckle. I largely agree with you in that he seems a decent motivator who has lacked tactical awareness at times. The difficult thing for Buckle is that anything less than a Play Off place this year will be viewed as a failure. Given the level of resources that Buckle has enjoyed, I think this is about fair.

I never wanted Buckle to go, but unlike others I could understand many of the criticisms aimed his way.......many of them were pretty spot on in my opinion. The terrific performances of late highlight how well Buckle has done in assembling a squad that, on its day will be a match for anyone in this league. The spirit in the squad appears to be excellent and the team looks well organised. Buckle will have learned a lot about both his squad and himself during that month - Hopefully the squad is stronger for going though it together and we are seeing the benefits of it now.

The recent performances also demonstrate how hopelessly wrong Buckle got it at the start of the season and how inadequate our pre-season regime was. Some of the problems were undoubtedly down to new players finding their feet, but others were the responsibility of Buckle and his training team. Without the fans criticism, would we still be experiencing the Hargreaves at centre back experiment? - Possibly. The defence has looked far more solid recently with a centre back pairing of Robertson and Woods - these two players could not even make the squad during our poor run, one was transfer listed and the other one was nearly farmed out as Buckle chose to make a dash to sign a centre back only three days before the start of the season.......which failed. He had all summer to sort this out and more through luck than his judgment Robertson and Woods have come through for him.

The first 4 or five games of the season carry the same amount of points as the last 4 or 5. It is shameful that we started off so badly, given we now know what the squad is capable of when the manager gets the selection and tactics right. In football terms, much of the criticism was fully justified - something went terribly wrong to allow a team like Ebbsfleet to outclass us at Plainmoor in August. However, nobody in life is immune to making mistakes, and you cannot help but be impressed with the way Buckle and the squad have reacted to that first month or so of the season. Lets wait a little longer before we figure out which is the real TUFC season 2008/09.

I have already eaten my humble pie. Yes, I was one of those who was shouting for Buckle to go. I made the unfortunate error of stating on this site that I wouldn't go to Plainmoor again as long as he was in charge. I did however say to my regular mates on the pop-side that if we beat Cambridge (which wasn't really on the cards at that time) I might go again. Well, the rest is history, as they say. Apart from my rash statement about not going to Plainmoor while he was in charge, I still believe myself and the other doubters were correct at the time to criticise Buckle's ability to manage. It would be pointless for me to go through his failings again as they have all been well documented here and elsewhere. Just to say, however, he did err again against Oxford with his inexplicable sustitution putting on Yeoman and his tactic of getting ever and ever deeper in defence when we were desperatly hanging on to a one goal lead. Of course, I'm delighted that results are going our way again and we seem to be playing with the verve and desire of the early part of last season. Early on I was very critical of both Wroe and Carlisle, as neither seemed to have the desire we want to see in our players. I accept now that they of late seem to have pulled out all the stops and are now playing with skill and endeavour. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Carlisle race across the pitch to make a vital defensive tackle against Stevenage. Let us not get too carried away with our praise, as we were playing like this before Xmas last season, but due to an inability to change our tactics we all know what happened then. I fully expect a torrent of abuse from Merse, but this "old soldier" can take it from the likes of him. Let's not forget I was called a Racist by that person because I prefer to live in Devon rather than that horrible so-called capital of England. No Merse, I haven't forgotten or forgiven on that one.

At the risk of being called pedantic, but come on pal - QUOTE ME ON THAT ONE! (the mechanism's in place on this forum to do just that)

I think you will find that he was made available for loan, because he was not showing any professionalism In his attitude, that Is a fact and It was Buckle putting him On the list for loan,that made Desane have to change , what was at that time a poor attitude.