Cray Wanderers v Hamlet (Isthmian League) New Year's Day 2025, 3pm ko.
- Thread starter Pink Panther
- Start date
pompeydunc
Well-Known Member
Have to agree, I really didn't understand Ruddy being dropped. He looked great at the start of last season (particularly Hashtag away), so it was a very odd decision.
AveryDave
Well-Known Member
Not sure any player would be happy with being moved out of a club, but can see a growing trend - Braham-Barrett seemed unhappy when he was let go, Gyebi was clearly upset with the way he was treated, and that’s just the players I’ve seen speak out on social media.
Realise the manager is necessarily the final arbiter, but there’s surely a knock on to recruitment if the club gets a reputation for treating players badly?
Realise the manager is necessarily the final arbiter, but there’s surely a knock on to recruitment if the club gets a reputation for treating players badly?
Just a quick response tothis
in my opinion, the club treats players very fairly and never reneges on any deal
Ruddy - one good performance at Hashtag. He chose to accept an offer to move on and accepted.
Braham-Barrett - lots happened but reality is contract ended and not renewed.
Gyebi- terrible performances in every game and always seemed like running in treacle.
Maybe players should assess what they offered for the money they received. However, it’s easier to blame others than the value they provided.
Any of them gone to a higher level or even playing regularly at the same level?
wphillips7
Member
No interviews, posts etc after yesterday’s game
Ben Caldecourt
Well-Known Member
My first and probably only game of the season. Wasn't surprised with what I saw, which seems to be a common theme of what people mention now. Heavily reliant on Wanadio (and Jeffrey who didn't play yesterday). No real pattern or structure, a lot of hopeless balls hit into the channel for an incredibly slow Danny Mills to try and chase down. We look to really miss a ball carrier in the middle of the park, Hand seemed to do it in spells but not overly effectively and from my very brief viewing I don't think that's his game.
Thought Bareck looked alright in midfield, busy enough. There just isn't any fire at all.
1, possibly 2-0 would have been a fair result in my opinion. Would liked to have seen Wanadio do better with one of his first half chances. Cray were ruthless in the 2nd half and got the goal they deserved. Appreciate injuries have hit us, but we were dying out for some changes way before the goal was conceded. Bench possibly not the strongest, but we were running out of legs.
Thought Bareck looked alright in midfield, busy enough. There just isn't any fire at all.
1, possibly 2-0 would have been a fair result in my opinion. Would liked to have seen Wanadio do better with one of his first half chances. Cray were ruthless in the 2nd half and got the goal they deserved. Appreciate injuries have hit us, but we were dying out for some changes way before the goal was conceded. Bench possibly not the strongest, but we were running out of legs.
Nivag
Well-Known Member
AveryDave
Well-Known Member
Quite likely that it was the right call to not keep any of them.
But the manager brought them to the club, and they seemingly left feeling they weren’t treated well.
Even if the performances weren’t as expected, doesn’t mean it has to end badly.
Al Cunningham
Brockley Hamlet
We need players and a system which creates a threat through the middle. I cant remember a goal where somone is slipped through between the central defenders to finish or someone runs through the middle. Every teams know our only threat is on the wings and they can even find out on social media who isnt playing before the game. If Wanadio had not been in fire we would be in the relegation zone.
AveryDave
Well-Known Member
It’s a fair point that Hayrettin hasn’t been able to put his best team on the pitch so far this season.
You’d imagine it would be along the lines of Barnes or Horlick, Ramsay, R. Marshall, German, Binnom-Williams, Wynter, Hand, Scott, Jeffrey, Wanadio, Mills - and without checking back, fairly sure those players haven’t been on the pitch at the same time at any point.
Which begs the question, why hasn’t he tried to strengthen in the face of such injury problems - particularly when rushing players back or having to play through niggles has ended up with further absences.
Could the financial sustainability that Ben Clasper talks about in his recent programme notes be part of it? That the club are being particularly careful with the playing budget? That would certainly tally with trying to find players from one or two steps below, as with Robe and Bareck.
Is Hayrettin happy with what he’s got, he just thinks he needs to get them fit and everything will slot into place?
At the very least you’d think he’d want to bring some defensive quality in, given we’ve been poor all season - but that’s the one area that hasn’t been added to since the summer.
Pink Panther
Well-Known Member
Jack's performance at Hashtag will go down as one of the legendary performances by a Hamlet goalkeeper, along with Colin Lewington at Kingstonian in 1990 and Gary McCann at Cheltenham in 1997. He was equally impressive the previous week when we won the final pre-season game at Cray Valley, who were subsequently promoted with only one league defeat all season, but how many of his other 7 league and cup appearances did you see?
I was never totally convinced he was the right fit for us. He was a naturally talented goalkeeper with safe hands under the high ball and great reflexes to pull off "impossible" saves, but he didn't seem vocal enough, or to command his area beyond the six yard box. There were games when he appeared so reluctant to venture from his goal area the whole defence seemed to be dropping deeper until we were under siege. Will Lakin, who replaced him, was fairly similar. Ravan Constable may not have technically been a better keeper than either of them, but he was a total contrast and much better suited to the way we play in my view. We could have done without Ravan's silly showboating on the ball, but he was much more decisive and assertive in coming off his line to clear the ball from the edge of the box or beyond, meaning we could instigate counter attacks much more swiftly. It was after Ravan became the regular choice in late autumn that we began winning games consistently and rising up the table. He only really came unstuck in the defeat at Kingstonian, when Harrison Hatful was just as culpable for giving a poor backpass which the centre forward anticipated. Ravan was dropped for Lakin after that, which is when the wheels fell off at the end of the season, returning for one final game at Carshalton when the entire team had a stinker.
It isn't nice, and it isn't really fair, but unfortunately this is the reality of having contracted players at our level. It isn't unique to our club, and it certainly isn't unique to the current manager at our club. Gavin Rose used to offload one or two of his most high profile summer signings by October in almost every season, having decided he didn't fancy them after just a few weeks. Remember that strangely unsatisfying year when we finished 5th and lost the play off final at East Thurrock? A big chunk of our wage bill (in the shape of Ryan Moss, Damian Scannell, Danny Waldren and Osei Sankofa) spent the final weeks on the bench without even coming on unless there was an injury after we'd presumably been unable to find any takers for them before the transfer deadline.
It's a reasonable argument that a player who signed a contract for the season and is willing and able to train properly and play should expect to be shown some faith for the full season. However, football tends to differ from other aspects of life in all manner of ways. I've seen comments from our own supporters on social media during the recent poor run of results demanding that we cull some of the players in order to make changes, seemingly oblivious to any notion of contractual obligation. James Collins has already gone, and I believe around three quarters of the squad are under contract. The half dozen or so who are not are likely to be the cheaper fringe players, so releasing any of those is unlikely to free up enough funds for a replacement of real pedigree.
I'm not in a position to know what happened between Jack Ruddy and anyone else at the club, or to apportion any blame for anything being done incorrectly, but when performances don't meet expectations it also tends to end badly for managers who can't turn it around. I believe Jack was identified as our number one target for the goalkeeping position by Andy Smith, our former goalkeeping coach, who then jumped ship for a similar role at Tonbridge before the season began. Jack was previously with Cowdenbeath and required international clearance, hence playing as a triallist until that came through, so there was a considerable commitment from both sides to get the deal done. I don't know whether he had to relocate to London especially, or had moved here anyway, but he returned to Scotland in the new year to join Bo'ness United. My greater criticism would be why we put so much faith in a rather unknown quantity in the first place, compared to this year's recruitment of Dillon Barnes for example, who played four times against us last season for another club in our own division.
AveryDave
Well-Known Member
It’s not that it happens, it’s the way it happens. Of course players are moved on, every club does it at our level - but I don’t remember too many players complaining about how Gavin Rose went about it.
If Gyebi is to be believed, he was treated pretty poorly. Ruddy seemingly feels the same. It’s sad that players are leaving our club feeling that way.
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Al Cunningham
Brockley Hamlet
Pink Panther
Well-Known Member
Two players on Twitter is a pretty small sample size, and I got the impression quite a few players fell out with Gavin one way or another. I distinctly recall Hak speaking highly of Jack Ruddy's professionalism and good attitude in a club statement when he departed, so I'll keep an open mind on that one for now.
AveryDave
Well-Known Member
Falling out is one thing, players speaking out saying their time at the club caused them mental health issues is another.
And what’s said publicly can be very different to what’s done privately. Why would Ruddy lie about it?
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editor
hiraethified
Max pics!
www.brixtonbuzz.com
It was a bit busier than when I saw Peckham play at the same ground!
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Pink Panther
Well-Known Member
I'm not suggesting Jack would "lie", but I'm also not going to take sides against our manager on the basis of a rather abstract response to a routine match update on the club's twitter feed.
AveryDave
Well-Known Member
Do you think Gyebi was being equally abstract?
Pink Panther
Well-Known Member
From memory, Jerry Gyebi's comments were a direct response to a question in an interview on his present club's social media channel about his time at our club, so no, he simply answered a question he was asked by his own club. Jack Ruddy basically used a routine matchday update on one of our social media channels to air a personal grievance dating back more than a year, which had no real relevance to the match result. Saying he doesn't like to see anyone lose their job, before suggesting "change is well overdue" in the next breath, also seems rather disingenuous to me. Has he made similar comments on our social media in the past? I've no idea, as I don't generally plough through responses to announcements. Does he still watch our games? If not I don't really see that it makes much difference to him whether or not there's a change of manager, because he's not suffering all these infuriating and disappointing afternoons or evenings, either as a player or a supporter, so it looks like he's just taking advantage of the general discontent of many regular supporters. Jack might be a great bloke, but Hak might be too. I'm not personally acquainted with either of them. Equally I might find either or both of them is not someone I would trust or want to know, but my first loyalty is always to the club, so I'm not going to take the side of a disenchanted former player against the current manager without a more substantial reason than one brief Twitter message.
I've worked with managers I didn't get along with, and on more than one occasion I was effectively forced out, either being pushed to move elsewhere or selected for redundancy when others were found alternative positions. It wasn't nice, and I was angry at the time, but ultimately I was better off out of it, and I'd rather forget about them and move on.
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