Most liked posts in thread: Promotion prospects

This season won't be any different to last if the crap isn't forced out. If a few of the bad attitudes remain in the squad forget a successful season. I think at least two of them have attitudes which smell like arse cracks.

 

Think the poll needs editing slightly.

Should be top 3 and then top 7. 3 go up autos and down to 7th in play offs

 

Nah. I’d happily take a last minute Wembley winner deflected in off Anthony O’Connor’s ballsack if it meant we got out of this league at the first time of asking

 

Other teams don't have to "fear" us,especially after last
season but "big", "massive" are terms new signings use about
us,that's bravado and wanting to say complimentary things
about the club they've just signed for.

But perception of our stature is about the size of our ground.
The size of our fan base,the fact we were a premiership team,
albeit nearly 20 years ago but some teams in div 2 are not likely
to ever attain that level so their big day will be to beat us and
All the perceived status that we had.That's why we will be there
to be shot at.It's not our conceit it's how things are.

 

Take it you are too young to have watched us at Odsal after the fire.

Depressing cold and wet venue that I for one would give a miss, if your ridiculous suggestion materialised.

Are you going for the world record of Wind ups in a day today by the way?

 

It does make me laugh that posters believe that "demanding" and having high expectations has any effect on the results whatsoever.

No matter how much demand we put on the club it can't and won't change the fact that relegated league one teams rarely bounce back at the first attempt and I cant see any reasons why we would be in a better position than those that have gone before us.

Demanding things don't always work out well. Remember that some people demanding that we got rid of Parky so that we could not just progress but progress in style. Worked well.

 

Getting out of div 2 won't be that easy because teams
Will want to beat us (being perceived as the "big" team)
so will raise their game to bring about a highlight for them.

We have to be consistent and match them and try get a
psychological advantage as every match will be a test.

 

Thought we were going up as champions with 130 points plus other week? Scoring 4 a game?

 

Speedway is an irrelevance, Odsal will always be famous for its rugby roots. I watched Rugby there since the late eighties, the glory years of the bulls was the greatest sporting era this city has had, it was a pleasure to watch games with a great atmosphere as the stadium's unique shape leant itself to a fantastic game day experience for the family. Football in the eighties up there was a completely different story. It wasn't a family friendly sport then and football fans act differently to rugby fans, in this case the stadium wasn't fit for purpose.
Valley Parade is fine for what we need but there will come a time when a new stadium will be needed, could be twenty years down the line who knows. But financially moving forward the city needs a modern sporting facility fit for the purpose of hosting multi sporting disciplines under one roof and i'm not sure there are any alternatives to Odsal.

 

yes but just demanding things doesn't actually make them happen. I can demand Doyle bangs 30 goals in next season but hes not gonna fecking do it is he lol

 

fecked up how to reply massively on this haha @Fordy117

Bowyer has offered a contracts to Devine, Anderson and some others that couldn't even get into this worst squad you've ever seen. - most likely to be quad players and in fairness all 3 have the potential to kick on and be 1st teamers. if he was bigging these up as marquee signings then I'd be worried.

Point is as a squad yes it was bad but too many factors played into why it was so bad.

Pre season - Amateurish due to management due to edins poor appointments at management level
Edin - the root cause of every issue at the club
Collins - poor appointment by edin
Lack of fitness - as the 1st reason
Poor loans - I'd argue our loans were the standout players in Ball, O'Brien and Payne before Jan.
Shocking Jan window - Kept Payne, other decisions were questionable but seemed to be panic buys where any bodies in the door would do.
Lack of funds - Ridiculous given we had the 5th highest budget in the division. We had the money but Edin wasted it
About 5 different captains - Stems from poor leadership right at the top and lack of stability at the club
Hopkins - right man wrong time, either at the start or end of the season and he'd most likely still be here. testament to the players attitudes and ability that he looked traumatised at the very end.
Bowyer - almost no chance to keep up a squad this poor so gets a free pass until he stamps his mark on the team more. Enough credit in the bank from his previous work to warrant a bit of patience.
Rupp- Dropped the ball massively with edin, but bombed him out within about 30 seconds once he saw the real picture so he's not stupid. Wait and see approach I think.
Rhodes - In what way? He came in well after we all realised we were fecked
Tactics - can't polish a turd mate
Drury - needs bombing out to the kids to finish learning his trade or out the club asap. Im using this as a yardstick for rupps commitment to financial backing, if he pays drury off it's a good sign.

Some players underperformed but are not as bad as they showed last season. We are not going to get rid of 16 contracted players and some will improve on last season but we have to give them a second chance. - They may not be but they dont deserve that chance in my book. onus is on them to prove themselves as last season wasn't acceptable in any way.

The squad was unbalanced mainly down to Collins/Edin and Hopkins. - collins/edin. hopkin had Jan but January isnt exactly prime time for a squad rebuild. Brought in caddis and Jim O'Brien which shows to me the type of player he'd have got if he wasn't lumbered with Edins crap.

I believe that Bowyer will create a good team and get the right balance but Rupp needs to back him. If Rupp isn't a man of his word then we're in trouble and I agree with you but I would like to think the Rupp, Rhodes and Bowyer will prove themselves. - I completely agree, the balls in their court now but I think for the benefit of everyone calling for heads and putting pressure after 10 games isn't the right way.

 

It’s massively dependant on which players currently under contract can be moved on. If we can move 4-5 big earners on, there’s plenty of room for manoeuvre in the budget and I think at least some of those we’d be left with could be much more effective in a properly balanced side.

Right now, if we have an intent to set a similar budget in the 20/21 season, should we still be in league two, a top 10 finish in which we recreate a solid foundation, shape the basis of a squad with the right characteristics and a couple of good young players, and with another summer to complete the rebuild, I think that would be acceptable.

With a fair wind and good recruitment, a top 7 finish is very do-able though.

 

A good yardstick is to look at the quality in our last squad that just sneaked into seventh place after Exeter imploded. Are we likely to have anywhere that quality?
I very much doubt it.

Survival next season depends solely upon how many of the 16 inglorious basterds we can shift. Two or three we're battling for league survival, five or more we have a decent chance of midtable, maybe a little flirt with play-offs until we fall away. We've two or three seasons until we can realistically go back up.

 

There is no limit to the extent with which last season's squad would have struggled.

So far, we've replaced NKP with a 6'5 centre back who is supposedly decent at L2 level.

It's a start, but there is SO much work to do.

With the current contracted players, I'd be surprised if we finished higher than 15th.

I have confidence we'll improve enough to be top 10, but it really remains to be seen.

 

Agree
But we can not live in the past
As you say its over 20 years ago since we were a premiership club and probably will be even longer if we ever get there again
I think that clubs will look at current form on the pitch and realise we are in the same league as them therefore of equal stature
Its ok looking good with a big (for L2 Ground) and impressive again for L2 season ticket sales
If we dont start off on a winning streak both those factors will be against us
No team will fear or be motivated by perception we are where we are sadly

 

I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see some, if not all of the players who remain from last season, do well.

I know the debate has been done to its death, but so many fans were overjoyed by our player recruitment last season, other managers and owners have commented on their disbelief that we’ve been relegated; how do so many players under achieve? Don’t underestimate the power of fan and ownership unrest.

Clean slate for everyone next season - whoever remains.

 

As you said in the above, way too soon to make my judgment. If I was basing it on the current squad, I’d choose the 4th option (top15), as I think we’ll finish around 11th/12th.

But if we can get rid of 4-5 players and bring in 8-10 quality additions, I’d go as far as saying the first option (top3). As we don’t know if that’s the case or which 8-10 players they will be, I’m afraid I can’t give you a definitive answer yet. Come back and ask again in August

 

Bang on.

We need to start well to build momentum. Recreate the atmosphere we had during the Parky era and teams will be intimidated. We know the jury will be out for the first few home games, so it’s imperative that we as fans, don’t drag last seasons negativity into the new season. We can’t afford to start slowly or we may never recover, just like we did last season.

 

I keep reading this bullshit about L2 being on par to the Dog n Duck, but it’s just crap. Let’s look at it from just recent seasons;

2016/17
Portsmouth, Plymouth, Doncaster and Blackpool all gained promotion. The following season those teams finished 8th, 7th, 15th and 12th in League1. We finished 11th.

2017/18
Accrington, Luton, Wycombe and Coventry all gained promotion. The following season those teams finished 14th, 1st, 6th and 10th in League1. We finished 24th (rock bottom).

Even in the cup competitions, we have played the following in recent seasons;

2016/17
League Cup - drew 0-0 with Accrington and lost on pens. We finished that season at Wembley after coming 5th in L1 whilst they finished 13th in L2

FA Cup - this time we lost 2-1 at home to Accrington in rd1

2017/18
League Cup - lost 3-2 at home to Doncaster. Both sides were in L1 at the time after their promotion the previous season.

FA Cup - lost 2-0 away to L2 Yeovil in rd3. They went on to finish 19th in League2.

2018/19
League Cup - lost on penalties to Macclesfield. They finished the season just escaping relegation to the Conference by 1 place and 3pts.

FA Cup - we beat Aldershot on pens after a replay. They’re a Non-league side.

Now I know none of this proves anything and that stats can be portrayed however the writer wants, but I think they show that there’s not a massive difference between L1 and L2. Finishing bottom (by some margin) in L1 will mean some turnaround just to get mid table in L2, let alone fighting for top3