Match Day Thread Norwich v Reading

But has there been a promotion season where we didn’t bring in seven or more players? Under Lambert we signed eight players in the summer after promotion (plus two in Jan - Howson and Ryan Bennett), with only James Vaughn being someone you might say didn’t make a huge first team impression. Yes, two of them were loan signings but we will need luck with loans whichever season we get promoted.

Also I think Gibson is still 29 or so, it’s more imperative that we sign a centre back generally - but eg we have Omobamidele getting more experienced by the game. So we have youth players coming through as well.

I think the idea that the squad needs wholesale improvement is misguided. It will always need improving. We will always have holes in the squad, ageing key players etc etc - we are not backed by a Middle Eastern oil dynasty so we cannot hoover up quality at whim.

What a club like ours needs to stay up is:
- A style and ethos that gets the best out of the players and fans that we have right now.
- A large slice of luck in investment over the summer we get promoted, with those players gelling and conforming to the team ethos.
- A full pre-season to bed in new signings and ensure the style is consistent.
- Throughout the season, we then need good luck at key intervals - we don’t need lots of wins, but we do need the points ticking over, so that we are regularly moving and getting results - the very occasional big scalp to massively boost morale and confidence would be key.
- For that, we will need a slice of luck with refereeing decisions AND
- To be playing other teams at good moments (eg when they are on a poor run or have a more important match after ours).
- We need minimal injuries to the “spine” of the squad - which means the goalkeeper, the two main centre-backs (or three if we have a back three) and the defensive/central midfielder.
- We need a striker on decent form who finds the net 10+ times in the season.
- We need other players who contribute to goal scoring consistently - preferably two more with 5+ goals, but could be eg four or five with 3+ goals.

Those are the cold hard ingredients for a successful post-promotion season. Find me a team which has stayed up (or even come close to it) in the last two decades and I will find you a liar (alright, that’s harsh, I will find you the exception which proves the rule).

That heady cocktail of needs won’t change, whether we get promoted this season or next. The advantage of doing it this season is we get more money, sooner, with the chance to use some to invest in the club etc.

So giving up on this season would be a huge mistake. We may not have the team to stay up in the Premier League right now, but we sure have the team to get promoted. Next season, we still won’t have a team which can stay up in the Premier League and we can’t guarantee we will have one which can get promoted.

 

Of course I'd be happy if we get promoted. But I think some supporters aren't expecting much this season. So what I mean is, it seems like a good opportunity to give a rookie like Russell a try.

 

Fulham looking good , we are pretty equivalent without the financial backing in recent seasons .


Perhaps the fear from relegation hardened fans like ourselves, is a half arsed patched up team looking for "the way "?
Would most likely bring a horrific bruising series of utter embarrassment week in week out .

21 games to lick our wounds & regroup.

Baby steps for promotion this time around

 

Plus we have the dishiest special teams coach in European Soccer

 

Adam yesterday

 

That's fair, 1950's, we just disagree. One thing I think we can agree on is: if we don't find a way to score more we not going up. Honestly, I'm not worried about relegation. I don't see that happening at all. So, if Russell can earn a shot at being the manager for the rest of the season, I'm all for it. I can't make any better argument for this than Duncan did.

 

Personally, I'm open-minded about having an interim manager for the rest of the season, but I'd prefer it to be Wagner than Russell. I enjoyed the game on Friday and I think it was a good idea to let the attacking players free to try to get some of the joy and confidence back into their game, but it was all a bit kick and rush and at some point we'll need a more disciplined approach. In some ways, I felt Friday was quite Smith-like in the sense that it relied heavily on the skill of talented individual players rather than putting these players together into a functioning unit. I also felt Russell did it a lot better, which is a very damning indictment of Smith. At least there was some energy and desire out there.

I think we have to be patient because this will be a slow turnaround. Smith has been sucking the joy and confidence out of these players for thirteen months plus trying out a bewildering number of formations, leading to a group of players who haven't a clue what they should be doing and not much motivation to do it anymore.

Our best hope this season is sneaking into the play-offs with a late run, carrying that momentum going into them, and fluking promotion. Then the real hard work would start, to make us anything but whipping boys next season. But I still think that makes more sense than just writing this one off.

 

4-0 Pukki

 

??????

 

Dunc been on the sauce again?

 

He's just realised he is going to have write 'Content to Follow' twenty-two times over the next few months.