I dont think that GH is going anywhere, Im sure he would say that he has done enough for the club and that he has the right to leave when he is ready to go. The fact that he chose to parade around the bar saying he felt like a leper rather than in the changing rooms barracking his team shows that he has complete lack of respect for the fans. At the end of the day he runs the club and nobody will be prepared to say enough is enough. Personally I think he should go asap because a win against a poor Droylesden side will just merely paper over the cracks. He has been legend at this club and done a great job over the last 5 years but the events against Exeter, Woking and last night mean that the longer he stays the more likely he will be remembered by some fans for the wrong reasons like messers Taylor and King before him which would be a shame.
Disagree with you on most of your reasons why he should leave the club. I agree that GH is jaded at the momentf rom the situation and he could quite well have lost temporary motivation. Like ateacher faced with a really tough class/situation.
I for one would be gutted if GH left. Results this season have been poor and many of the performances even worst. I'm not going to make a sentimental argument that "if it wasn't for GH we'd be in the lower reaches of the ......, tec, etc." What I would say though, is that without GH we'd be in the lower reaches of the.... blah blah blah.
To rate a manager against their own state of being at such a time is harsh. In all honesty we cannot expect to play competitively in this league year after year. We've made some decent signings, whilst some of the more respectable players of a few seasons ago seem to have become more overawed by the struggle we face.
GH has struggled to bring class into the side, as with the usual part-time vs full-time / sensibly run club situation, this will always be tough.
My worry about replacing GH is that the principles he, the board and Geoff Goodwin have set to run the club by could easily be upset by another manager.
In all seriousness who would want to take over GH's position. A manger is in a similar way to school pupil's progress through a school. (Sorry for another teaching metaphor!) What were the child's levels when they entered the class, what were they when they left? Same with a manager. Where was the club when the new manager starts, where will the club be when the new manager leaves way down the line? In both cases the expectation is that the child/club would be in a better position than when they started the new class/or with the new manager.
Whoever replaces GH would have the unenviable task of showing that a part-time club that's just recovered from historic debts and sits in the shadows of United is realistically able to compete at this level, with the current fan base year after year after year. A new manager would have to look to either increasing the playing budget, going full-time, or getting a nice big loan even just to to continue competing at this level. This would be devestating for the club. It would be unsustainable and damaging.
The only way for this club to improve is to organically build a strong fan base, and yes, losing again and again hinders that, but school initiatives and a higher profile helps in the long-term. GH has worked tirelessly to no public applause to make Moss Lane a place that school children want to come to on visits.
We are playing at a higher level than we should currently expect to be playing in. As a result we are facing financial struggles. As Burnley would on promotion to the premiership (if they didn't get increased TV money, or maybe even if they did.) I want the team to compete at this level, I do. But changing the manager is a bit too knee-jerk for my liking. 4 years ago if someone asked you if you'd take Alty struggling in the league below full-league status football would you have taken it? YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!
GH may need a break, maybe he needs some time to recuperate, maybe let Dalton handle first team affairs for a few weeks, that's a different story, but to suggest out of hand that it's time for GH to leave is to look at the very short-term future of this club, it's to replace GH with a manager who quite reasonably would look at budgetry measures to further strengthen the club, in hopes of proving themselves might sound groovy in the short-term but when were stuck with Leo Fortune West on a 4 year contract in 2011 playing in the Ryman's or whatever, then we'll be able to remember the days when we were part-time!
Bit of a long post, but I'm afraid to say, replacing the manager at this stage in our club's history could well be detrimental to the long-term future of the club. Nuff said.