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  • “We need to keep key players and bring in some that will upgrade us. One season - to see what is our position. And then another upgrade. It is a long process - it’s not invest a little bit now and you will be in the Premier League.”

    So does he mean next season we'll see and then another upgrade season after that or was last season the one to see our position?
  • I don't think its clear, but promising improvement without promotion 2015/16 and further improvement 2016/17.
  • Kap10 said:

    I don't think its clear, but promising improvement without promotion 2015/16 and further improvement 2016/17.

    That's what I thought.
  • I like the fact he has stated on the record that he would like to retain JBG and Joe Gomez - I think they are the two players that most of us don't want to see exit stage left.

    A bit of a politician answer in that he is not promising the Premiership as a hard target for the next season, but that it will take some time. And this also fits in with the way Roland seems to see things - we are unlikely to see huge investment to buy ourselves to the top given the network model, and he does seem to place a lot of emphasis on getting the Academy up and running as part of the long term strategy.

    On the one hand I would love us to push as hard as we can, but on the other what I really want to see is CAFC getting into the Premiership and staying there - if that means us speculating to accumulate I'll go with that plan.
  • You have to remember we're in the same position as most other clubs in the Championship in wanting to get promoted, it could take years or years and years and years. Sometimes a team only spends a couple of years in it (Bournemouth) but sometimes it takes a lot longer to get into the promised land. (Watford, Nottingham Forest, Leeds almost everyone)
  • I don't think you can have a plan like that though. If we manage to keep JBG and Gomez- realistically it will only be for one more season. If Cousins, Watt or Vetokele impress – we would lose them too. You have to take the opportunities when they are there and the reason you do is that the Premiership is a game changer in terms of the rewards you get as a club. If we lost those players it would require a rebuilding job. A club like ours will always need rebuilding jobs at regular intervals in this league,so you need to build on the peaks, when the squad has the right level of player already to build on. As per the Gomez plan B thread I created a week or so ago, we do have the opportunity to do something financed by one player which means the owner can take a risk this season without dipping too deeply into his pockets.
  • Yes, of course, he's understating things in order to manage expectation.


    Luzon, however, is the man who says he wants to win every game.
    He's also said, that the club is looking to add extra quality to the team.

    Reading between the lines, it doesn't sound to me that he'll be content to simply maintain Championship status.
    That's just treading water.

    He's saying we'll look at how the team shapes up with the summer signings - and see how we start the new season.
    You know Roland's strategy ...... if the team is looking capable of promotion, then he'll strengthen in January.


    Personally? IMO we're targeting at least the playoffs.
    And that's what Luzon will be using as a carrot on a stick to tempt potential quality new signings.

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  • That's the way I see it too.
  • This is a standard mantra for new managers isn't it?

    Van Gaal said the same at Man Utd.....even though they had recently won the league and had consistently spent 10's of millions in the transfer windows.

    It's expectation management and/or job preservation.

  • Basically, trying to pick up out of contract players, players available on a very reasonable transfer fee and bringing through the youth.

    It could take years. It could take forever. We might strike lucky.

    exciting.

    mean time though, we get closer to a solvent balance sheet, which is a nicer place to be.

    we should flirt with playoffs next season. if we replace well should make them.
  • I think he is saying, it will take 3 years, so RD give me a 3-year contract and time to do it
  • I like Luzon but what he's saying is exactly what every other manager at every team says at this time of the year. I'm not reading anything either positive or negative into it.
  • edited May 2015
    All normal comments really, I think back to the 90s when we spent 8 years at this level before getting promoted, or Ipswich who have been at this level for 13 years now!
  • Even if he was secretly confident of achieving great success, he would be a mug to come out and say we are only heading in the direction to get promoted next season.



  • The message is very clear and the exact opposite of what Pardew sold the board all those years ago!
    He is saying you can't buy a place in the FAPL overnight. It's not a case of "two more players and get promotion"
    Let's not forget that Luzon's first game was a hammering by Watford and his most recent was a masterclass from Eddie Howe and his squad!

    But what he is saying is that continuous improvement and making shrewd signings will bring upwards movement in the table.

    "12th was a great finish from where we (I) started... But next season that's not enough"

    For me all that suggests a target range of 5th - 8th next season... Better than this season and our actually our best finish for many years.

    We simply don't now who might sign as a free agent or on a big money deal but we do know that Gudmundsson has stated that he wants to see ambition before he signs an extension.

    For our top players who think they can get to the FAPL that's worth £4m. They want to do that with (or without) our club. So if we can strengthen our squad to the extent we become a play-off contender it will cost more on the wage bill but it will surely make our club more attractive to players who want to raise their game.

    We've all seen what happens if you don't aim to improve every summer for it was just two years ago that we went from a 9th place club to a relegation squad.

    Perhaps this is wishful thinking on my part but this latest release is consistent with the recent messaging to manage expectations and at the same time we are aiming higher than 12th.

    Let's see what the squad looks like in August!
  • Dave2l said:

    Even if he was secretly confident of achieving great success, he would be a mug to come out and say we are only heading in the direction to get promoted next season.



    Yeah, whatever his personal hopes and expectations of what he really WANTS to happen he's not so foolish as to make any set in stone prediction of glory having just jettisoned over a dozen players and before a single replacement signs up. No manager would. Except maybe Tim Sherwood...
  • “We will be smart in July and August, when we have our squad for the league,” said Luzon. “Then we know what the expectation is for the team.”

    Can't help thinking that you should acquire players to achieve your objectives and expectations rather than the other way round. What if we buy crap and on review in August the expectation is that we'll be challenging to be next year's Blackpool? Hmm...
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  • I suspect it's very much a case of what targets we have that actually sign. Every single club is doing exactly the same as us. Looking at quality but affordable quality. There's only a finite number of players that fit the bill. If we miss out on the players we want I doubt we will buy for the sake of it. We've seen that policy with our number nine shirt last year. We certainly won't be held to ransom.

    My guess is a couple of signings that we pay decent money / contract for like Gudmondson and a few journeymen to fill the gaps in the squad. Fast track the young players through. a punt or two and then we assess.

    Breaking even is the goal but that doesn't mean that we have to sell every season. A fee for Gomez now would I think be doubled in a years time. Duchatelet has the money to do it.

  • Indeed M.Duchatelet has the wealth to sit tight but he also has a Staprix business model which includes selling players for top dollar to fund losses. For me the likeliest candidates for sale are Gudmundsson, Buyens and Bulot because they are all in their prime and all have one year left.
    I'd love to see them all extended and playing with us next time but that's unlikely.
    The fastest way to break even over three years is to get to a Wembley play-off final where receipts and TV money is worth £2m and our top players will be worth a lot more than they are today.

    10-15 clubs will be competing for talent this summer but the thing is that the club were successful attracting players last summer and surely we have a better offering today?
  • In my opinion it is very likely that Gudmundsson, Bulot andBuyens will not be with us next season.

    A lot depends on if we sell Gomez and get a decent fee for him, in return hopefully we can bring in a few decent players.

    If Gomez was sold I think there could be a fair chance we could have him back for a season, that would be a bonus.
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Roland Out Forever!