If I put on my positive head my thinking is we have got rid of Sandgaard and hopefully now have better owners who will improve the squad. We have had a fairly decent window so far and hopefully a few more to come. So top six.
If I put on my negative head my thinking is that last seasons squad was absolutely crap and a complete overhaul is needed. Yesterday's game against Aberdeen had 8 of last seasons player's in the starting 11 and we are only 6 days away from the opening game of the season So 10th.
I'm hoping we bring in at least two more players this week who can go straight into the side v Orient. If so it's hopefully my positive head that is the winner.
It’s very hard to judge right now. Overall feeling far more optimistic than I thought I’d be but I think there are some issues that people are overlooking.
We conceded 66 goals last season but have only signed Jones, who looks good but is a bit unknown at the top end of League One, and Edun, who has only really had one very good season at Lincoln, then hasn’t played for a while.
I think as well as signing another striker, and a good quality one too, we need another wing back and another centre back.
Having the majority of players in defence who were here last season, and half of them coming from the academy, isn’t going to result in us conceding 20-30 goals less this season than we did last. And that’s what you need to get promoted.
So for me, we’re currently contenders for top 6. If we sign a striker, a wing back, and another centre back, we’ll be looking very good and potentially contenders for promotion, with a minimum of top 6.
Lots of transfer business still to be done and as we have found over the years in League One, sometimes it’s who you can sign on loan in August from the Premier League sides that make a huge difference to your season. Rak-Sakyi, Cullen, Bielik, and others who done well like Dasilva, Miller, and Maatsen. We need another one of those quality loans this window on top of what we’ve got and going to bring in.
Do that and get rid of the players who aren’t going to be involved or offer very little, and we can start to really be excited.
Currently: 6th/7th With what I have explained: 2nd/3rd
On twitter most of the comments people are having us down as promoted, play off winners or dark horses.
I reckon we will fall anywhere between 5-10th as things stand.
Heart says Bolton Blackpool Derby Pompey Us Bristol Rovers
Play off final us Vs Derby, we win.
Head says we haven't strengthened enough yet and I see us just falling short in 7th. I've had a look at the other contenders squads and think they just have that bit more quality as it stands
Our biggest problem last year was the number of points we dropped to teams that we really shouldn’t be dropping points to. That’s not being presumptive in anyway it’s just we dropped loads of points against teams below us just because the seemed to want it more. I can’t see DH allowing that this season for that reason top 6 should be comfortable
I think 5th is about right, the league is weaker this season. New striker and left footed centre back would make me confident of higher if they are to the same standard as our other signings. Think we will start slow though until we fill those gaps and those players get up to speed
Excluding Bolton I don’t really rate the other teams in this division. Expect the Bolton/Derby promotion will be popular. Outside of that don’t really rate Portsmouth, Barnsley, Blackpool.
We finished last season with 37 points from 23 games. Compare to Plymouth who got 51 points from final 23 games. A bit of a gap, but we looked to be on the right course.
Top half. I think there are players still to move on, some gaps to fill. I'm concerned that several posters say that we are trying to play a system without the players with the skill set to do it.Several people on this site also say we need a big striker to play alongside Alfie M. May take more than one more window, although there's still time in this window do we have the money? Haven't seen them yet except bit of Aberdeen game ( the first 30mins) on TV. Saturday vs Orient will be the first.
Given the preseason games and the obvious defensive weakness, also having only two true strikers and one injured. I think at best 12th to 15th if no serious additions to the squad are made before the window is closed.
Given the preseason games and the obvious defensive weakness, also having only two true strikers and one injured. I think at best 12th to 15th if no serious additions to the squad are made before the window is closed.
If the squad as it stands is about 6th to 10th that's fine. We can still have a good start with that and we know more signings are planned so we just need to relax a bit.
10th-12th. May has replaced Rak Sakyi in terms of goals , probably. Otherwise I don’t see us as being hugely stronger . Yet .
Surely we are better off with Camara over Morgan and Jones over Inniss?
We’ve seen both for a bit of pre season so I’m not sure yet . Hope you are right .
I think if Camara stays fit he is a big upgrade on Morgan. Not based on pre-season which only helps to show he looks fit, but based on seeing him play for Plymouth.
10th-12th. May has replaced Rak Sakyi in terms of goals , probably. Otherwise I don’t see us as being hugely stronger . Yet .
Surely we are better off with Camara over Morgan and Jones over Inniss?
And the rest of the league being weaker. Since Holden came in we were the 8th best team so I’d expect us to be at least that good
JRS covered a lot of cracks with some great solo goals.
He did, but Alfie May had around the same number of goal contributions and has the ability to score goals out of nothing a bit like JRS did. They aren’t the same player, but with the formation change, May is the JRS replacement
10th-12th. May has replaced Rak Sakyi in terms of goals , probably. Otherwise I don’t see us as being hugely stronger . Yet .
Surely we are better off with Camara over Morgan and Jones over Inniss?
That is up for debate as it stands, if we get the Camara from Plymouth then yes but that's only if. As much as Morgan lacked skill at times, we can't forget he was our top assister other than JRS and was ready to play most games.
As for Jones I'm really not sold. From what I have seen so far I rate Innis higher. Innis is a complete hazard, but he is such a physical presence and won so many aerial duals, Jones doesn't seem as physical and I also don't think he seems as confident in passing the ball. I also have it in the back of my mind that Jones was part of one of the worst defences in the league and barely stayed up. I take what Cambridge fans say with a pinch of salt as Sam Lavelle was made out to be a championship calibre centre back by some Morecambe fans and he really was bang average. We have an entirely different standard of player to those clubs, without being smug.
On paper yes it seems stronger based on Camara alone, but I'm not gonna get excited yet. We will all know after 10-15 games
I rated Innis when he came into the team a couple of years ago but he was too rigid last season. Yes he stayed fit to play but he was less of an attacking threat and always had a mistake in him compared to what he was. I think Jones is an upgrade and we do need to give these players a bit of time.
Comments
We have had a fairly decent window so far and hopefully a few more to come.
So top six.
If I put on my negative head my thinking is that last seasons squad was absolutely crap and a complete overhaul is needed.
Yesterday's game against Aberdeen had 8 of last seasons player's in the starting 11 and we are only 6 days away from the opening game of the season
So 10th.
I'm hoping we bring in at least two more players this week who can go straight into the side v Orient.
If so it's hopefully my positive head that is the winner.
We conceded 66 goals last season but have only signed Jones, who looks good but is a bit unknown at the top end of League One, and Edun, who has only really had one very good season at Lincoln, then hasn’t played for a while.
I think as well as signing another striker, and a good quality one too, we need another wing back and another centre back.
Having the majority of players in defence who were here last season, and half of them coming from the academy, isn’t going to result in us conceding 20-30 goals less this season than we did last. And that’s what you need to get promoted.
So for me, we’re currently contenders for top 6. If we sign a striker, a wing back, and another centre back, we’ll be looking very good and potentially contenders for promotion, with a minimum of top 6.
Lots of transfer business still to be done and as we have found over the years in League One, sometimes it’s who you can sign on loan in August from the Premier League sides that make a huge difference to your season. Rak-Sakyi, Cullen, Bielik, and others who done well like Dasilva, Miller, and Maatsen. We need another one of those quality loans this window on top of what we’ve got and going to bring in.
Do that and get rid of the players who aren’t going to be involved or offer very little, and we can start to really be excited.
Currently: 6th/7th
With what I have explained: 2nd/3rd
On twitter most of the comments people are having us down as promoted, play off winners or dark horses.
I reckon we will fall anywhere between 5-10th as things stand.
Heart says Bolton Blackpool Derby Pompey Us Bristol Rovers
Play off final us Vs Derby, we win.
Head says we haven't strengthened enough yet and I see us just falling short in 7th. I've had a look at the other contenders squads and think they just have that bit more quality as it stands
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1aj1qjp7GgxOZicJAsxaG0?si=yuxTWmXvTemSWyYfBV_6mg
Nailed on.
Win play offs.
E/W maybe next year.
Haven't seen them yet except bit of Aberdeen game ( the first 30mins) on TV. Saturday vs Orient will be the first.
NTT20 said we'd end up 12th/13th last season, so hopefully we prove them wrong in the right sense again this year.
As for Jones I'm really not sold. From what I have seen so far I rate Innis higher. Innis is a complete hazard, but he is such a physical presence and won so many aerial duals, Jones doesn't seem as physical and I also don't think he seems as confident in passing the ball. I also have it in the back of my mind that Jones was part of one of the worst defences in the league and barely stayed up. I take what Cambridge fans say with a pinch of salt as Sam Lavelle was made out to be a championship calibre centre back by some Morecambe fans and he really was bang average. We have an entirely different standard of player to those clubs, without being smug.
On paper yes it seems stronger based on Camara alone, but I'm not gonna get excited yet. We will all know after 10-15 games