I am optimistic voted promotion. Also don't see this negativity about the squad being short of cover. Personally think we have a very strong squad for a League 1 team. Lets hope it is good enough to get out of this awful division.
A word of caution. The next time, if ever, that we play at Wembley we are due to lose, but win the time after that. All this complication regarding cups and play offs and the like would need to be managed very carefully.
Modest improvement in the squad should see us to 9th or 10th. We have to hang on to what we have and avoid the urge to sell in January if well placed. I still think we are light up front and won't cope well to injury to Magennis - who is prone. However, any blow-ups with the management team or more interference from Duchebag could see form dip alarmingly.
We're in a better position now than I was expecting. No duff signings. The unloading of high earners. RD and KM keeping low profile. Remember our poor quality midfield last season!
I know everyone loves Josh, but he only had a few really good games last season. He needs to be fully fit to build up a head of steam.
We have an owner who has a history of consistently underestimating the strength of competition in every season since he arrived. I've seen no evidence that this has changed.
Even if our squad is improved from last year come the start of the season (and there is still time to tinker/sell), the crucial thing will be how much other teams have improved, and how we compare.
It feels to me a lot like deja vu. A few soundbites about lessons learned, a small handful of signings, and we've held on to our manager over the summer (for once), and it feels like we're all duped again. I think we will have a relatively bright start as other teams may believe some of the hype and this will play in our favour. But I think we will soon get found out and fade. I reckon mid-table or even bottom half at Christmas will prompt a couple of panicky loan signings in January, who will lead us once again to mid-table mediocrity.
Rinse and repeat. Nothing will change until the regime does.
Voted 7th - 12th before viewing the results and reading the posts. Looks like many people predicted the same. I simply don't want to raise my expectations and be let down in the end.
Not overly optimistic. That isn't just down to the ownership of the club, but simply because we don't have the quality in depth to compete when winter rolls around and the team start to pick up injuries and suspensions.
Taking midpoints and changing 13th to 21st to mean 13th to 20th as 21st is down, I calculate the mean position as voted by Charlton Life to be 6.873199. Just outside the play offs.
on paper we now have a large and impressive squad of players .. BUT, footie aint played on paper .. it's up to Robbo to motivate and organise them to best effect to get results .. Also, I am sure that Bowyer is not gonna hide his light under a bushel .. I would expect that anyone who fails to deliver will get told about it tout de suite in no small measure .. otherwise they could well get MackieD'd
A word of caution. The next time, if ever, that we play at Wembley we are due to lose, but win the time after that. All this complication regarding cups and play offs and the like would need to be managed very carefully.
A word of caution. The next time, if ever, that we play at Wembley we are due to lose, but win the time after that. All this complication regarding cups and play offs and the like would need to be managed very carefully.
What you are saying is that we need to take the Joke Cup seriously so that we can lose to Barnet's Under 21s at Wembley in case we reach the Play Off Final.
A word of caution. The next time, if ever, that we play at Wembley we are due to lose, but win the time after that. All this complication regarding cups and play offs and the like would need to be managed very carefully.
What you are saying is that we need to take the Joke Cup seriously so that we can lose to Barnet's Under 21s at Wembley in case we reach the Play Off Final.
I am afraid this is true. The silly buggers cup is vital.
More optimistic than last year but still don't think it's quite enough, Magennis was better than I expected but I can't see us being quite good enough or consistent enough with him as our main striker.
Also people are expecting a bit too much from the likes of Kashi this year with his injury situation I think and our squad isn't quite big enough.
Think we will have more flashes/form of looking good than last year but it not being enough for playoffs.
I said after Holmes signed his new contract it felt like we were turning a corner as a club, it now feels we are further along that corner with our transfer business since then and if we can get off to a good start, get a winning mentality in the team and stay lucky with injuries I really can see us having a great season. We are far more prepared for Bristol Rovers than we were at Bury last season when academy players comprised 6 of our 7 subs.
Maybe it's also the fact that less than six months ago watching us lose away up at Shrewsbury and Oldham in particular were really trying times being a fan and in a way I feel as a club that was when we hit absolute rock bottom in our 10 years since The Premier League. Anyone else who was stupid enough to do both those away games and the performances the team gave and had to endure the long coach journeys back home would know how low it felt being in so much turmoil on the pitch as well as off of it, and compared to the hope and optimism I feel on the brink of the new season the turnaround has been fantastic.
Whatever people might say about KR I really do feel he's changed the culture of the club to as good as it's been since CP, he's restored some pride, dignity and respect back to the shirt which are among the basic fabrics of our club, however aided by his management team, he's still appointed them and it feels like he has far more authority over the team than Slade ever had. It also goes to show just how out of his depth Slade was albeit he had possibly a bigger mess to deal with than KR. This season under KR we will be playing a high tempo aggressive 4-2-3-1. At Gillingham under Slade we went in playing a defensive 4-5-1 with no pace in midfield whatsoever, the contrast is almost a polar opposite with Slade's approach not to lose rather than the aggressive approach of KR.
When matchday comes looking at KR and his management team and the players even if it's not finished yet the squad will still be the envy of most other teams in the league and it still will be when the transfer window shuts. Of course with expectation comes pressure and if we want to be back in The Championship next year we simply have to start off with a win, no excuses. Now's the time for KR and the players to walk the walk after a lot of talking COYR.
Comments
Win those and we might have a chance.
Still not convinced we won't see someone we'd like to keep go before the end of August.
The next time, if ever, that we play at Wembley we are due to lose, but win the time after that. All this complication regarding cups and play offs and the like would need to be managed very carefully.
I know everyone loves Josh, but he only had a few really good games last season. He needs to be fully fit to build up a head of steam.
I'd guess playoffs or better.
Unless we start selling in Jan.
Will no doubt be laughed at come November!
We have an owner who has a history of consistently underestimating the strength of competition in every season since he arrived. I've seen no evidence that this has changed.
Even if our squad is improved from last year come the start of the season (and there is still time to tinker/sell), the crucial thing will be how much other teams have improved, and how we compare.
It feels to me a lot like deja vu. A few soundbites about lessons learned, a small handful of signings, and we've held on to our manager over the summer (for once), and it feels like we're all duped again. I think we will have a relatively bright start as other teams may believe some of the hype and this will play in our favour. But I think we will soon get found out and fade. I reckon mid-table or even bottom half at Christmas will prompt a couple of panicky loan signings in January, who will lead us once again to mid-table mediocrity.
Rinse and repeat. Nothing will change until the regime does.
Mmmm, yeahhhhh, I don't think that.
That isn't just down to the ownership of the club, but simply because we don't have the quality in depth to compete when winter rolls around and the team start to pick up injuries and suspensions.
on paper we now have a large and impressive squad of players .. BUT, footie aint played on paper .. it's up to Robbo to motivate and organise them to best effect to get results ..
Also, I am sure that Bowyer is not gonna hide his light under a bushel .. I would expect that anyone who fails to deliver will get told about it tout de suite in no small measure .. otherwise they could well get MackieD'd
As always, I want us to win every game and storm the league.
More optimistic than last year but still don't think it's quite enough, Magennis was better than I expected but I can't see us being quite good enough or consistent enough with him as our main striker.
Also people are expecting a bit too much from the likes of Kashi this year with his injury situation I think and our squad isn't quite big enough.
Think we will have more flashes/form of looking good than last year but it not being enough for playoffs.
I said after Holmes signed his new contract it felt like we were turning a corner as a club, it now feels we are further along that corner with our transfer business since then and if we can get off to a good start, get a winning mentality in the team and stay lucky with injuries I really can see us having a great season. We are far more prepared for Bristol Rovers than we were at Bury last season when academy players comprised 6 of our 7 subs.
Maybe it's also the fact that less than six months ago watching us lose away up at Shrewsbury and Oldham in particular were really trying times being a fan and in a way I feel as a club that was when we hit absolute rock bottom in our 10 years since The Premier League. Anyone else who was stupid enough to do both those away games and the performances the team gave and had to endure the long coach journeys back home would know how low it felt being in so much turmoil on the pitch as well as off of it, and compared to the hope and optimism I feel on the brink of the new season the turnaround has been fantastic.
Whatever people might say about KR I really do feel he's changed the culture of the club to as good as it's been since CP, he's restored some pride, dignity and respect back to the shirt which are among the basic fabrics of our club, however aided by his management team, he's still appointed them and it feels like he has far more authority over the team than Slade ever had. It also goes to show just how out of his depth Slade was albeit he had possibly a bigger mess to deal with than KR. This season under KR we will be playing a high tempo aggressive 4-2-3-1. At Gillingham under Slade we went in playing a defensive 4-5-1 with no pace in midfield whatsoever, the contrast is almost a polar opposite with Slade's approach not to lose rather than the aggressive approach of KR.
When matchday comes looking at KR and his management team and the players even if it's not finished yet the squad will still be the envy of most other teams in the league and it still will be when the transfer window shuts. Of course with expectation comes pressure and if we want to be back in The Championship next year we simply have to start off with a win, no excuses. Now's the time for KR and the players to walk the walk after a lot of talking COYR.