Great Expectations?

[The Walrus]

I'm not a person to panic or jump to silly conclusions so I hope that this post is taken in the spirit it intended, which is simply one of healthy debate.

From about February of last season we experienced what I consider to be relegation form. I really don't see what has changed to suggest that we will be even in the top ten next season. Am I the only person thinking this? Worse still, does anyone think we might even flirt with a relegation battle? Form would suggest that isn't too unrealistic...

 

[H T B]

I think your views are slightly blinkered.
The form shown in the tail end of the season got us into the play offs when we looked like we had completely lost our way

 

[Blue Maniac]

Read the book once. Wasn't as good as I thought it'd be.

Not funny.

Sorry.

Are we down yet?

 

[Fox From The Hudd]

i dont' disagree...

The fact that as it stands currently we have two players less than we ended last season (Keane and Kane) and that was a wafer thin squad...
Maybe Danns and SSL will be reintegrated...
Maybe there will be at least a couple of loanees coming in...

 

[pork pie fox]

Genuine question here - how deep are other squads in our division?

I know we could expect the three relegated teams to have more strength in depth than ours, but I keep hearing that our squad is paper thin and presumably people are saying this in comparison to other teams. I'd be interested to know how deep people think other squads are.

I will happily acknowledge that we could do with more options, but I would imagine that most fans would say that about their team. How would other fans perceive our strength in depth compared to theirs?

 

[spionfox]

Genuine question here - how deep are other squads in our division?

At least Watford can't call up from the whole of the Italian nation again...

 

[Motown Fox]

Read the book once. Wasn't as good as I thought it'd be.

Not funny.

Sorry.

Are we down yet?

I was expecting some connection between Miss Havisham etc and our Club but no. Unless there is a mystery benefactor wanted by the Authorities who will come in and prop up the Club and we have a Jilted Lady on the site who permanently wears a Wedding Dress.

 

[The Old Fox]

I do not see us flirting with relegation, but I do not see us as top six either. 68 points is most unlikely to get a play-off position next season and I do not see why we should expect a significant improvement upon that from the current squad.

It appears, if we are to believe the local media (foolish, I know), that we will be making more use of players from our Academy squad. This raises a couple of potential problems: firstly, youngsters need an experienced head and, certainly in central midfield, we do not have one. The second concern about this approach, is our management team. I am far from convinced that the whole management/trainer package is very good at bringing youth through: Moore played regularly for ten games or so, and then virtually disappeared, Schlupp was not recognised as a striker until Manchester United took an interest....

I really hope that I am wrong because building a team around players that we have developed would be an exciting way to go.

 

[The Walrus]

Read the book once. Wasn't as good as I thought it'd be.

Not funny.

Sorry.

Are we down yet?

:icon_lol: No not quite.

I certainly hope that we aren't in the position where we need to worry about going down. It seems odd that having made the playoffs last season that we would have to worry about such things, but we were very poor from Feb last year.

Granted, we did make the playoffs, but barely. Not counting the playoff games, we had 17 fixtures from February of last season. We won only 3 of those games, drew 6, and lost 8. I don't think that I am being blinkered in my concerns. That is relegation form.

Not much has changed (with the exception of outbound players) and whilst I hope relegation isn't something we will need to worry about, I am quite concerned that we will struggle.

someone tell me I'm wrong because I really am not a natural pecimmist.

 

[pork pie fox]

The second concern about this approach, is our management team. I am far from convinced that the whole management/trainer package is very good at bringing youth through.

In fairness, I think this accusation could be made about many of our management teams, not just this one.

 

[The Walrus]

I was expecting some connection between Miss Havisham etc and our Club but no. Unless there is a mystery benefactor wanted by the Authorities who will come in and prop up the Club and we have a Jilted Lady on the site who permanently wears a Wedding Dress.

Ahh but the mystery benefactor would only be allowed to invest a tiny percentage of their wealth.

 

[Matt_B]

:icon_lol: No not quite.

I certainly hope that we aren't in the position where we need to worry about going down. It seems odd that having made the playoffs last season that we would have to worry about such things, but we were very poor from Feb last year.

Granted, we did make the playoffs, but barely. Not counting the playoff games, we had 17 fixtures from February of last season. We won only 3 of those games, drew 6, and lost 8. I don't think that I am being blinkered in my concerns. That is relegation form.

Not much has changed (with the exception of outbound players) and whilst I hope relegation isn't something we will need to worry about, I am quite concerned that we will struggle.

someone tell me I'm wrong because I really am not a natural pecimmist.

Seeing as it's an improved squad to the one that started last season and had such a great run in to Christmas, I'd say you're focusing on the negatives.

 

[SJN-Fox]

We've already had a benefactor that was wanted by the authorities and look where that got us.

 

[The Walrus]

Seeing as it's an improved squad to the one that started last season and had such a great run in to Christmas, I'd say you're focusing on the negatives.

I hope you are correct. As I said, I am not a natural pecimisst. I prefer to look for positives. The thread was meant purely to encourage some debate.

i am a bit confused as to why you think the squad is now better though?

 

[Brown Nose]

i dont' disagree...

The fact that as it stands currently we have two players less than we ended last season (Keane and Kane) and that was a wafer thin squad...
Maybe Danns and SSL will be reintegrated...
Maybe there will be at least a couple of loanees coming in...

I don't think we have a paper thin squad at all. We've got plenty of players and, on paper, some quality. The issue last season was that we didn't use enough of the options we had. That includes senior players and youngsters. We're maybe short of full back cover but nothing else.

I didn't think much of either Keane or Kane either, neither were better than home grown options. Keane looks like he'll be a decent player but his positioning and mistakes cost us several times. Kane just looked out of sorts and never really added anything. I expect NP to recruit two or three loanees over the next couple of weeks. I hope that this isn't at the expense of our own younger players though. I'd like to see us use players like Moore and Schlupp more frequently. Ineffective alternatives were preferred to them too often last season. We need to push one or two others through from the Academy too.

Our main problem is that too many of our players are inconsistent and unreliable. In addition, the coaching they receive appears to do nothing for them either. The fact that the same group of players displayed wildly fluctuating form last season means any expectations this time round have to be muted. It happened too often to too many players for it to be ignored and it would take some very blue tinted spectacles to expect anything different this season.

I also have serious concerns about us tactically. We're too predictable and naive. On the other hand, the standard in this league is largely shite and you don't need to do a great deal to win a game. I hope all the players are together and the management treat all players equitably. I hope many of our opponents are mis-managed as usual. Then maybe we can be in that play off pack again.

 

[FryattFox]

I doubt Aston Villa fans ever worried about relegation the season after their usual mid-season collapse, and likewise Everton never used to panic when the started slowly.

I'd understand the pessimism and fear if something significant had changed in February (sold best player, new manager, etc) but unfortunately it was just a poor run of form.

Over the season we were the 6th best team in the division. 3 of the teams that finished above us have left the division and 3 new teams have come down from the PL. Not enough has changed in the rest of the league to suggest that we won't still be competitive next season, although we do need some more depth.

 

[Matt_B]

I hope you are correct. As I said, I am not a natural pecimisst. I prefer to look for positives. The thread was meant purely to encourage some debate.

i am a bit confused as to why you think the squad is now better though?

We've added Wood since the start or last season and lost nobody of note. It's not a lot better granted, but it's certainly no worse.

 

[Jeff]

We've added Wood since the start or last season and lost nobody of note.

Wood has scored 2 goals in his last 15 games. Beckford has scored 5 goals in his last 4 games.

 

[FryattFox]

Wood has scored 2 goals in his last 15 games. Beckford has scored 5 goals in his last 4 games.

One is also paid less.

 

[Lako42]

One is also paid less.

Doesn't help our promotion chances though