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survey 7: may 2000 - end of season survey results
It's been an up-and-down season, and initially there seem to be more 'down' moments than 'up'. But the team survived big changes throughout the club to finish in a respectable conference position, even if it wasn't as high as many of us predicted before the opening day drubbing at Scarborough.
So we conducted this survey in may 2000 to judge what you all thought of the season.
Here are the results. 64 valid votes were received by the deadline.
Many thanks to everyone who took part.
| 1) |
Taking everything into account, what's your general view of the 1999/2000 season?
You were asked to mark your vote in points out of ten: 0 for 'total disaster' through to 10 for 'completely brilliant'.
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On the balance, a "slightly positive" result, but there was quite a spread of opinion, perhaps as you might expect for such a topsy-turvy campaign. |
| 2) |
What do you think of the appointment of David Webb?
You were asked to mark your vote in points out of ten: 0 for 'total disaster' through to 10 for 'completely brilliant'.
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Another generally positive result, with a very wide spread of opinions. Four people were extremely pleased with the decision, though some already consider it a bit of a disaster. |
| 3) |
How strong is your confidence in the board's ability to support Webb?
You were asked to mark your vote in points out of ten: 0 for 'no confidence' through to 10 for 'totally confident'.
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A majority of you don't think that the board will give Dave Webb the support he will need.
We weren't specific in the question about whether we were talking about financial support or anything else. It's not just a case of money, many people considered that they undermined Steve Thompson with public comments. |
| 4) |
How do your feelings about the club compare to this time last year, i.e. after the last match but before new signings were announced?
You were asked to mark your vote in points out of ten: 0 for 'It has gone drastically downhill' through to 10 for 'It is in a much better state'.
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A majority aren't as happy as at this time last season. This seems, perhaps, to be slightly at odds with the generally positive attitude to David Webb, but if you take into account the lack of confidence in the board's ability to back him up, maybe it makes sense then.
Maybe it says "Webb is good, but Lippiatt is better". |
| 5) |
What were the greatest highlights of the season?
Of my suggestions, the following percentages of people agreed with each of them (note these don't add up to 100% as you were invited to vote for more than one):
| Beating Rushden 5-1: |
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| FA Cup visit to the Madejski: |
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| James Bent's solo goal at Donny: |
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| Departure of Colin Lippiatt: |
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| Appointment of Thommo as Head Coach: |
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| Appointment of Webb as manager: |
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| The move towards full-time football: |
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| Beating old rivals Weymouth: |
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Not much doubt what the two top events were!
Other highlights you nominated were:
Sacking of Thompson and Stott [this is the voter's own words - Ed]
Tony Pennock's performance at Kettering (nominated by a few voters).
Bringing reserve team players into the first team and playing them consistently.
Being top of the league, albeit only for a short time.
Coming back from 0-2 down at home to Northwich.
Terry Skiverton.
Patmore's 100th goal [that was last season - Ed!]
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| 6) |
What were the lowpoints of the season?
| Another trophy exit to Kingstonian: |
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| Capitulation to Northwich at the Drill Field: |
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| Limp final home display against Woking: |
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| Departure of Colin Lippiatt: |
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| Appointment of Thommo as Head Coach: |
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| Appointment of Webb as Manager: |
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| The move towards full-time football: |
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| Loss of Kev Brown, Matt Hayfield, etc. |
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A number of these hit home. The high scoring for the loss of Kev Brown etc. is interesting given the generally positive view of the manager who kicked them out!
If I may add my own opinion here on one other item: The defeat at Northwich only scored low because there weren't many of us there to see it!
Other lowpoints you nominated were:
Thrashings by Kidderminster and Scarborough.
Finishing low in the league.
Capitulation at Forest Green.
Home defeats against Sutton and Hayes when we were top of the league.
Bloody punctures! [stop buying cheapo remoulds, Paul - Ed]
Yeovil supporters being involved in violent incidents.
Lack of consistency, just when we started to get some confidence.
Sterile football played over last six games.
Lee Archer's retirement
Taunton away.
Wazza's poor form.
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| 7) |
What do you think of the decision to go full-time?
Take into account the benefits (more training, attracting other players, etc.), and the costs (more expensive, losing players with good day-jobs, etc.).
Again, the scale of 0/10 (total disaster) to 10/10 (totally brilliant), was used.
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So nearly everyone things it's a good idea! You must have more confidence in the club being able to finance it than I do ;-) |
| 8) |
The Roof. The club seem incapable of giving straight answers about when (if?) the roof is going up over the terrace.
Do you still consider the roof important, given that more money will be needed for a full-time squad?
The scale of 0->10 out of 10 meant from 'the roof is a total waste of money' to 'the roof is essential'.
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Only 1 in 5 scored this one less than 50/50. Bearing in mind that much of our readership doesn't even use the terrace, this is indeed a strong signal of support. |
| 9) |
Who was the best of the four signings made just after the end of last season?
| Adrian Foster: |
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| David Norton: |
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| Jason Eaton: |
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| Terry Skiverton: |
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| No preference: |
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That's pretty clear cut! Given how well Terry Skiverton has played, Adie Foster can be pleased to have scored a large number of points. |
| 10) |
Who's the best of the young reserve players to have gained regular first team places under David Webb?
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| Anthony Tonkin: |
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| Paul Steele: |
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| James Bent: |
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| No preference: |
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The figures here are slightly skewed by my cockup. During the first few days of the survey, when about half the votes were cast, I had missed James Bent off the list by accident. A cut & paste error from the previous question had Jason Eaton listed instead! He scored no votes.
One should assume that James Bent's score would have been higher had the voting form been done correctly from the start.
Apologies for the error. |
| 11) |
What were the best and worst home/away games?
Best home game: No surprises here, 80% of you nominated the 5-1 win over Rushden and Diamonds. No other home match got more than one vote.
Worst home game: Runaway winner with 40% of the votes was the final home league game, the defeat against Woking. Also scoring more than one vote each were the conference games against Sutton, Hayes, Nuneaton, Doncaster, and Forest Green. Also the FA Trophy defeat against Kingstonian.
Best away game: The FA Cup game at Reading came out on top, with 22% of the votes (this is 42% of those who expressed a preference). Note that we didn't specify 'best performance', and a number of you took the opportunity to vote for this game based on atmosphere rather than result (and of course it's the only home game that some people managed to get to). Also scoring more than one vote were the games at Rushden, Welling, Kettering, and Weymouth.
Worst away game: Votes are probably skewed a bit by the small attendances at a couple of the matches. A good crowd turned up for the season opener at Scarborough, and you didn't forget the 5-0 drubbing; this came out on top being nominated by 19% of you (41% of those that voted in this category). Also scoring more than once were the games at Forest Green, Woking, Kidderminster, and Northwich. |
| 12) |
What's your confidence level for next season?
Scored on the basis of 0/10 for definite relegation to 10/10 for definite promotion:
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A fair mix of opinions, but the average comes out at about 60%, which probably translates into an expected finish of about 7th or thereabouts. |
Any other
comments? |
Your other comments were:
Letting Kev Brown go, an absolute disaster-still the best defender in the Conference. Think what the likes of Steele could learn playing alongside him. Essential to keep Patmore. Need for Webb to sign experience players, a lot to ask young players to win title.
I have watched the side for three years, while living down here, but I now have to move away again. What a shame the memories I have to take finish with such dross - get rid of the leech David Webb!
We need to bring in experienced players with pace and tactical awareness then i think this league is for the taking.
An optimistic feeling for next season based on the positive vibes coming.
We probably need at least 7 players for next season. I would be extremely concerned about next season if new faces are not bought in.
The club seems to be in a complete state of limbo at the moment - next season could be an absolute disaster or it could be the best in the club's history? Never have I felt so unsure about what is around the corner. Perhaps this is due to the complete lack of PR awareness that the board have - the fans need to know what is going on, whether it be the roof, or how large the budget is to buy players...
I hope the place starts to feel like a football stadium, it's a superb stadium but even having Arsenal down here, it does not compare to old Huish for atmosphere and tradition.
I think this has been the most disappointing season since the 1994-95 relegation. With our late run last year, and a few decent summer signings, I thought we could be up there challenging for, if not winning, the title. But there were too many disappointing home performances to maintain a season-long challenge. I personally went to far fewer games than in recent seasons. It wasn't just me either - attendances were disappointing all season, even when we were near the top, which speaks for itself. Off the field, I think the club has to go full-time, and I hope the board gives Webb enough support to build a team. After the changes this year, we could do with some stability.
After the huge disapointment this season, i find it difficult to be very optimistic about next season, although by August I will be just as hopeful. Not sure about David Webb but i guess we must support him and hope for the best.
I think that the presentations at the last home game were very disappointing, the players never entered the pitch properly, and Webb was very arrogant as he couldn't even be bothered to applaud the crowd who did stay behind (by the way what does Webb look like? I've never actually seen him)
I just hope the Board has the financial backing to follow through their big ideas! Please Mr Fry give the Supporters what they deserve on the field. Would any so called supporters who can only shout out negative comments please not bother going to matches!
Keep up the good work! [Not sure who this was aimed at - if the web site, then 'thanks' - Ed]
This time last season i was dying for the start of the next season and with real optimism so much so i had £25 to win the league. At the moment i am gutted the season was ruined one way or another by the board, I still distrust Mr Webb and even more so the board and the speculation that players like Pennock Pitman Piper could leave scares me. But whilst all seems bad all football fans live in hope and maybe i will be proved wrong!
Continued frustration with the team - just when you start to believe in them, crucial games come up and they seem to have no spirit, and throw it away. Lack of consistency all ends up being terribly predictable (and annoyingly similar to my other team: Liverpool....). btw, the web site's still great!
Based on what we have seen this season I cannot see us challenging for honours. I hope that Webb has been experimenting as the team is too inexprienced with all the youngsters as was painfully obvious in the Woking match - people like Kevan Brown had our "kids" in his pocket. I feel we need to reinstate Cousins and buy some experienced players to blend with the young ones if we are to make an impact next season. Without that we will struggle. I also believe that some board members do not want us to be promoted - better a "big fish in a little pond". The area will sustain a bigger club and Cheltenham have proved that it is possible. It is very frustrating for the fans.
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Many thanks for taking part in the survey, I hope it's been useful and interesting!
We'll do a pre-season one to see how things shape up then. |
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