Back in January I was advocating for a Phoenix club rather than see the club I have loved over the last 50 years suffer 'death by a 1000 cuts'.
How many thought we would be still standing at the end of the season, never mind being safe to fight again next season.

As regards to on the field matters, all credit must go to Matthew Bates & his helpers for the turn around.
From the home defeat against Maidenhead I refused to use my season ticket whilst Harrison was manager.
He has got to be one of the most inept managers I have had the misfortune to endure & if he hadn't been given the bullet I am positive we would have been relegated before now.

Harrison had the biggest squad of players that the club has ever had on the books (most of us know the reason why) yet the number of home matches I witnessed his teams come out from the start & give the opposition respect was unbelievable.
He was like a manager playing 'Football Manager' but in real life.

Make no mistake the quality of this league is poor, very poor, a classic example was in last night's first half, our defense slipped up & there player went through 'one on one' with the keeper with the whole goal to aim for & he somehow managed shoot wide.
It's a myth that this league is a hard league to get out of.

There are a lot of people not favorable to the idea of Bates being made permanent manager but I can't say I am of the same opinion.
He's had a bare bones of a squad yet he has managed to get some good performances out of the players he has.
Last night's match could not be compared to our last League game against Doncaster in terms of the level of skill.
But what was similar was that the players were prepared to put the graft in & fight for the ball.
If Dave Jones had been sacked earlier I am sure we would still have stayed up.

If Bates is given the job with help from Craig Hignett in identifying players we need to bring in then I am sure we can make a decent go of it next season.
I also don't think we need to gut this squad, they've shown over the last 2 months our form has been top half of the table, with the right additions we could be up there.

Very good article and i am now coming around to the notion of sticking with "some" of these players.
These guys have had to perform in the most difficult of circumstances.
Laing for example has mostly performed reasonably well with bugger all protection from midfield and yes yes yes he will have to cut out the blunders.
Anyway i have had a chuffing enough of guessing about the future and hope we build in the summer and perform with credibility next season !!

Squad defo needs gutting major style.
As for the season an absolute disaster.
Just relieved we avoided Administration and stayed up in the end.
They say it's the hope that kills you but after seeing how bad this division is the hope will never die.
Surely the only way is up from now on.

Is this a wind up...? Don't start getting all warm and comfy because we scrambled away from relegation.

Alright Matty ! get 4 points from the last 2 games and we'll see about giving you the job.

I hope that the manager (Bates or whoever) is not blinded by recent results ( note I said results, because even when we have won, the performances have been awful) - last night was a typical example.
Anyone who thinks that a major overall is not required is deluded.
We need at least 6 new players in the first team and then some of the current team will provide back up and a few should be scattered.

Would like to know where we would get new/better players from if we scatter all this lot........yes it has been shite and honestly next year i cant see it getting significantly better.

Fair play to Batesy for lifting confidence and they certainly put effort in. But overall the recent uplift just felt like the period when Harrison was getting results - work hard, take 1-2 of the few chances that come our way and the opposition being wasteful in front of goal.

Now that could well be just that our players are not good enough, but either way I imagine the kind of players that we will have to be in the market for next season due to budget constraints will mean a different kettle of fish for the manager. That’s why for me we need someone who knows this division.

I would hate to lose Loach, he has been magnificent for the most part behind an embarrassing back four.

Reading all of the replies, no one has implied that this squad is good enough.
Personally I said that the squad does not need gutting.
For instance if you got rid of the entire squad & replaced them, then where is the money going to come from.
I shouldn't need to remind anyone that the club very nearly ceased to exist.
Some people need to take a reality check, there are players in this squad that are good enough for this level.
What I am advocating is some quality (rather than quantity) additions.