http://talksport.com/football/exclu...-team-europe-claims-former-boss-150704154681? Well worth a listen Talks Charlie,FFP,expectations,money,Adel. Gives a good insight into next season and beyond.
Trying to downplay expectations. Looking to consolidate he says. That annoys me. Not sure about the message this sends out to the players.
I think that was aimed at us fans. For too long Tony has been wasting money on rubbish players (thanks mainly to Redknapp) and i guess we as fans have become a little spoilt and sometimes expect too much? I would hope he talks differently to the players. I also think he is being coached in what to say by Les.
At about 1.30 he nearly slips up and was about to say ' to make sure we get back up ' but quickly realises his faux pas and switches to 'we at least consolidate and then work at getting to where we need to be. ' Make no mistake, he will be looking to get back at the first attempt if possible.
Well, we're playing Shaktar Donetsk and Monaco who both feature regularly in the latter stages of the Champion's League in a week or so, with half a squad plus some 'green' youth team players, God help us...
With the players we're letting go & the replacements we're bringing I don't see that happening unless they add some real quality later in the transfer window, the current squad is looking mid-championship quality at best.
Yes of course I agree BF. Us wanting to go back up straight away and it actually happening are two different matters. The thing is, is that you just never know. Some of the most recent teams that have been promoted were tipped to get relegated to League one. Bournemouth, Burnley, Norwich, Southampton and even ourselves (2010/11) being some of the examples. I think the rhetoric coming out of the club and from CR is consolidation, but with the quiet and underlying aspiration to bounce back. A kinda safety net to hopefully not do a Wigan or a Wolves. Every club in the Championship should hope to get promoted. The only possible exceptions being the newly promoted sides who would be happy to consolidate. My personal feeling is that we'll end up in the 8th - 14th range and see some improvement with the squad and performances as the season progresses. I do expect us to make an unexpected signing that will add to the spine of the side before the season starts that will give us an edge though.
What else can CR and LF say? The team will be completely different come the first day of the season and nobody, not CR, the press or us Not606ers know if this group will perform well together. As a manager you have ideas on the way you want to play and hope that you have got the mix of players right in order to do that. You then cross your fingers and hope that the players heads/hearts are in the right place. CR is under more scrutiny than most managers as he is (almost) starting with a clean slate. Many of the players will be his purchases or re-signings and there can be no excuses made about a team full of players that he inherited when he took over. Quite a few of those that many people see as "problem players" have gone and there are currently no loan players. (I expect there will be two or three loan signings - but hey, you can't have everything.) IF they do take a gamble on Morrison - and it is a big gamble - then he must be made aware that if he doesn't hold his act together (on or off the pitch) then he will be jettisoned. His contract must reflect that. At the moment I believe that we could win the league or get relegated! It will be interesting to see how good CR and LF actually are in everything that they try to do.
Of course the club will be aiming to get promoted, but it is unreasonable for anyone to expect it. CR and LF are operating under financial restrictions that were not applied under Redknapp, but he kept banging on about how we'd do well to avoid getting relegated to League 1.
