It has been an abysmal start to the 2023-24 season for Cheltenham Town and their head-coach Wade Elliott. 23rd in the EFL League One Table, no goals scored in seven league games, one draw and six defeats and nine goals conceded. Also good to point out that the Robins are the only club left out of the 92 teams in the league pyramid to have not scored a league goal.
Wade Elliott during his time in charge has been able to bounce back from being under such pressure, but it feels like the beginning of the end of his reign. In this piece, I take a look at where it has gone wrong for the 44-year-old and look at idealistic replacements as Cheltenham hope to avoid the drop back to League Two.
A Turbulent Summer
It is best to go back to the start of the summer transfer window. Alfie May, the Robins’ saviour last season, left the club to join fellow League One side Charlton Athletic for a lowly-reported sum of £200k. That sort of money for one of League One’s top goalscorers over the past two years feels a little shambolic, and many have argued they should have got far more money for arguably Cheltenham’s greatest ever player.
Losing a player of May’s quality was going to have an impact. What most fans were not expecting to happen was the departures of director of football Micky Moore, first-team coach Marcus Bignot and video analyst Tom Ware to another fellow League One side in Shrewsbury Town. Before any incoming transfer business, the staff that left needed replacing. Once that was done, summer recruitment was seen as very optimistic.
The return of Luke Southwood, one of the best keepers in the league last season was seen as a real coup for Cheltenham, as was the capture of former Derby County defender Curtis Davies. Despite being 38-years-old, signing an experienced defender who has played across all four divisions of English football again showed a statement of intent.
Further additions of Curtis Thompson, regarded as one of Wycombe’s best players when they played in the Championship, and the exciting addition of Rob Street from Crystal Palace meant that there was a bit of positivity heading into the season, especially given the fact how good pre-season had been.
Since then, that positivity has quickly dissolved and the atmosphere has become one of anger and frustration, with many fans now questioning whether the recruitment of players over the summer was as good as was first believed.
Style Of Play
When it was first-announced that Elliott would become head-coach following Michael Duff’s departure to Barnsley last season, fans were happy as they wanted continuity from the style of play and formation that Duff had consistently used – a 5-3-2 system which could often be used or looked at as a 3-4-1-2. It was a system that at times wasn’t pleasing on the eye, but the Robins were creating chances, scoring goals and able to defend. Unfortunately this season, all three have been absolutely non-existent.
In certain games, there have been decent spells from the Robins where chances are being created and they are testing the opposition defence. But as previously mentioned – it’s only for a brief spell. As soon as a goal is conceded, most fans struggle to find the belief that they will be able to get back into the game.
Defensive mistakes have cost them goals in games as well – Lewis Freestone made a costly mistake just a couple of minutes after being awarded Man of The Match in the 1-0 defeat to Northampton Town. Victor Adeboyejo and Dion Charles ran rings around the defence when Bolton were the visitors. Ben Williams headed a Shrewsbury cross towards his own goal which Southwood parried straight to Ryan Bowman in the first game of the season.
Yes, you cannot blame Wade Elliott for the fact his players are gifting the opposition chances with mistakes which are costing them goals. What you cannot excuse is the style of play where they look bereft of quality. The strikers are not getting any service and they are shipping goals quicker than the Titanic ship sinking. That you can put the blame on the manager.
Who Can Replace Wade?
With a game against Peterborough United upcoming tomorrow evening, it very difficult to see the Cheltenham board making the change beforehand. As much as most sections of the fanbase want to see the change happening, they will not make the decision to sack the manager with such a short turnaround between fixtures.
Inevitably though, a change will most likely need to be made and you would think that the Cheltenham board would be looking at/sounding out potential candidates to replace Wade Elliott when the time comes. Obviously, names like the Cowley brothers for example are unrealistic. Yes, they managed Lincoln, but they went on to manage Huddersfield Town and Portsmouth. Cheltenham would perhaps not be an attractive option for them and would they want to risk their reputation on them if we did go down this season?
In my opinion, there are three names that stand out to me as potential replacements:
Darrell Clarke – perhaps the most sensible option. The 45-year-old was extremely popular amongst supporters at both Bristol Rovers and Port Vale, and guided the Gas from the National League all the way to League One.
Although his spell at Walsall was short-lived, once again he guided the Valiants to League One before departing the club at the end of last season, with many Port Vale supporters against his sacking at the time. He is known for being tactically flexible and for getting teams out of trouble. He could see the Cheltenham job as a challenge to take on.
David Artell – another manager who could fit Cheltenham like a glove. He kept Crewe Alexandra up in the 2016/17 season and also picked a starting XI of academy graduates coincidently against the Robins on the 5th May 2018, a game which the Alex won 2-1.
During the COVID-19 campaign, Crewe won promotion, but missed out on the title to Swindon Town, yet Artell was voted League Two Manager of the Year. In their first season back in League One, Artell guided Crewe to 12th place – their highest finish since their relegation from the Championship in the 2005/06 season.
He was sacked two days later and replaced with Alex Morris and has been without a club since. Known for being passionate on the touchline, his philosophy at Crewe tended to involve the younger and academy players that came through the ranks and he played a 4-3-3 system.
Steve Cotterill – The popular choice and the man who first guided Cheltenham Town into the Football League. Over the years many fans have wanted him to come back for a second spell in charge having left the club for Stoke City in 2002.
He had successful spells in charge of Burnley and Bristol City, whilst his time at Birmingham City often saw him gain criticism. Most recently, he spent three years at Shrewsbury Town and helped the Salop to a 12th placed finish. He would be given a hero’s welcome back to the club. However, would he want to risk his reputation at the club where he had the most success and at the club where he is regarded by many as the greatest manager Cheltenham have ever had?
Writers’ View
I have very much supported Wade during his time as Cheltenham manager. He kept us up last season and seems a very likeable guy and it was always going to be difficult to try and emulate the success his predecessor had. However, as in football, the buck ultimately stops with him. We can’t seem to create, we seem to ship goals and we cannot score goals. The only way we can stay up is if we make the change sooner rather than later but I do understand the turbulent summer we had did not help him whatsoever. Performances have not helped, and it seems as if the players have given up on him. Change is needed.
