I agree with this Graz.I'm trying to pay little attention to what's going on in pre-season and give my self good emotional distance from it all.
I think I'll be doing the same for at least the first couple of weeks of the season too.
I just can't be bothered emotionally investing in a group of players that still want to leave, or the mental energy stressing about what will happen when the picture won't be clear for another month at a minimum.
To be honest though, I just feel I can't be bothered with this season at all still.
The new manager and new players will need patience from our fans, and they won't get it. Maresca will need to hit the ground running, which is a big ask, or our fans will want him out by October. And then we really are back in the Championship and that shit cycle we had for so long of summer 'rebuild', new direction, only to can it all by Halloween and find some new bloke who can't do much different because "it's not his team yet, they're not fit, wait until he has a transfer window/pre-season", only for us to go through exactly the same thing and get rid of him the following October.
I feel worn out by it and it's not even started yet - although that discontent among the fans already has. I just really can't be ****ed with it all.
Has Soumare played a preseason game yet? Why would any team want to sign someone that is not playing.
Why do they need to lock their windows?I agree with this Graz.
My only “crumb” of comfort is that Top & Co seem to have a lot of patience (negatively in BR’s case) and I hope they stick with the current regime through at least this season bar a bomb to the bottom 3 and a somewhat prolonged residence there.
I think our fans are incredibly patient, it took ****ing ages for them to turn on BR, bar the window lockers who go from game to game when the manager is either brilliant when we win or shit when we lose, with no middle ground.
Bollocks, meant “window lickers”Why do they need to lock their windows?
I think Brian club said the same thing and he wasn't too shabby.Completely agree with this.
The reason why Ranieri was so good is he looked at the team and said 'right, this team of capable of X, so this is the way we will play'.
Still baffles me that in the season we had the most success by playing players in their actual positions, we then reverted back to doing what everyone is is doing and buying utility players that sort of play anywhere and therefore don't have a position.
EG;
Mark Albrighton - winger. No one would question he was a winger. He might have covered RWB but we all watched and said 'you can really tell he's a winger'
Castagne - is he a Right back? Left back? Wing back? Winger? He's covered a lot of these roles. Managers don't seem to know where he's best.
I wish we could go back to having 11 players with specific jobs they are good at. That seems to me to be the way forward but the modern manager doesn't subscribe to it.
Who said what now?I think Brian club said the same thing and he wasn't too shabby.
On the flip side the squad is woefully imbalanced with far to many defensive midfielders and not one single attacking midfielder, A right back playing at left back, the bench will be stuffed with Vestergard, Soumare, Daka, Ward, Thomas and some youth players.The squad quality looks good for this level, we have depth in positions and our bench will be stuffed with experience and raw quality from the go, unlike many of our opponents.
I think the additions to the squad are great for this level, and we have got good fees for underperforming players of last year. The wage bill is starting to come down, and we have a good opportunity to push on our academy graduates once again.
It's fewer.One goalkeeper less:
Didn’t realise Callum Doyle was a GK5 GK.....
5 GK.....
P | Pld | Pts | |
1 | Liverpool | 16 | 39 |
2 | Chelsea | 17 | 35 |
3 | Arsenal | 17 | 33 |
4 | Nottm F | 17 | 31 |
5 | Bournemouth | 17 | 28 |
6 | Aston Villa | 17 | 28 |
7 | Manchester C | 17 | 27 |
8 | Newcastle | 17 | 26 |
9 | Fulham | 17 | 25 |
10 | Brighton | 17 | 25 |
11 | Tottenham | 17 | 23 |
12 | Brentford | 17 | 23 |
13 | Manchester U | 17 | 22 |
14 | West Ham | 17 | 20 |
15 | Everton | 16 | 16 |
16 | Palace | 17 | 16 |
17 | Leicester | 17 | 14 |
18 | Wolves | 17 | 12 |
19 | Ipswich | 17 | 12 |
20 | Southampton | 17 | 6 |