Most liked posts in thread: Rivals next season

Am confidant we will only spend one season in Div 2, Just not sure how we will leave it,

 

Truth is no one has a clue where we will end up. We're back to the pre Parky era now, with a squad going backwards quickly and no real idea what the owners intentions are despite what some might think. That said i like Bowyer, he seems an honest and amiable guy who looks like he cares about the club.
We're just another average league 2 side again now.

 

Agree to a certain extent. We are neither average, poor, or good, we are a nothingness until such time as we have restructured the team. Once recruitment starts we can then see where we are going. There is no given, we have no given right to be promoted or any definitive evidence we will slide into non league. We are all hoping we get the correct backing, and that GB can get the correct players in.

We are all feeling miserable and angry at our demise, but let’s not carry that crap with us into speculating the next season is going the same way. It is now time to pause, be patient for a few weeks to see how it is all going. We are certainly getting the right noises from the manager.

 

For me, Bowyer gets a completely free pass on last season - thank god we can finally use that term. He had such a mess to work with, I don’t think you can really criticise for anything.

The two biggest pluses as I see it:

1. He’s been very vocal about how much of a rebuild we need. He hasn’t sugar coated anything. He wants more power, pace, threat and leadership in the side. I think he’s been as appalled at what he’s seen on the pitch as us and I believe him when he says he’s ready to work his bits off this summer. I think he probably can’t wait for Tuesday so he can tell most of this lot to do one!

2. You can see elements of what he’s trying to do. He’s trying to build a side that can play out from the back. He wants a side that can play, with some tempo and without just lumping it. I just don’t think he’s had anything like the quality needed to do it well.

I’m reserving judgement on any and every signing we make in the summer too. Whilst our recruitment in the summer was a mess, I was very excited about watching Akpan, Doyle and Scannell. And I thought the signing of O’Brien was a piss take. So there you go.

 

To be fair to the Manager I think he took off OBrien at the end to let the crowd show their appreciation for his efforts this season.

 

A plan for the future eh? What we wouldn’t give for one of them right now...

 

If that's the case Fordy, I have a handy hint for you.

Stop clicking on a thread entitled 'Rivals next season'.

 

What options did he have to give us a different approach?

 

Let's be realistic, we aren't playing Crawley's stadium capacity. We're not playing their history. We're not playing their fan base. And we're certainly not playing our perception of how big they are.

We are playing the team they field, with the team we field.

If we start the season relying on Anthony O'Connor, Connor Wood, Omari Patrick and the shite we have contracted currently, I suspect most League Two clubs will have a better centre back, better left back, and better striker than we will be fielding.

On that basis, IF we can't shift some of the dross, how in the blue hell are we going to challenge for anything?

I guarantee AFC Fylde have better strikers than Patrick, and better defenders than we've fielded this season.

The perception we should be challenging is laughable until we have some good players in the building.

 

They’ve got a good guy in Gary Bowyer. Give him the tools to do the job and i guarantee he will bring success to this club. Whether Rupp and Captain Admin will put these tools at his disposal remains to be seen. My spider senses tell me the answer is no.

 

What an awful league.

Just watched that match and wow if Bradford City are really scared of any club in that league then we're in trouble.

 

A team having good supporters means sweet fa for performance in the league,so I don't know where you pulled that from re Plymouth

We're going to struggle, especially if we end up lumbered with the shite we have contracted. If rupp will fund a full rebuild then we might get playoffs, if he doesn't we're fecked and I could see back to back relegations

 

We’re going to need a seriously impressive summer to establish ourselves as promotion candidates.

Assuming it’ll happen because we have the biggest crowds in the division is ridiculous. We need to find a way of shifting some high earners to league 1 clubs - good luck with that on the back of this season. We then need to sign 10-15 new players of the right quality and character, do it early enough that we can drill and shape them properly in pre-season, do something we’ve never done following previous relegations - perform well and consistently from the start.

Right now, I think there’s much more chance of not going straight back up, than there is of us being able to do it.

 

Teams going up from non league have been successful again the season after over the past few years, seems to be a pattern emerging. A bit of financial backing and a sound business plan and you’ll piss league 2.

 

Since the season finished we've seen
contract offers to 3 cheap, average CM's, Todd departing despite Bowyer clearly wanting to keep him, links to Northampton and Rochdale rejects and a damning T and A article with Bowyer basically confirming that we don't have a pot to piss in.

yeah, can't wait for next season....

 

I personally think at this moment in time we are looking at mid table so unless there is significant movement in and out of our squad I can't see play offs never mind autos.

 

It's a repeat of my thoughts prior to every single season, otherwise, what's the point?. Having a bit of optimism and belief about what could be is what gets the juices flowing - the fact that I am more often left disappointed than fulfilled once the season is underway is a different matter, but the day that pre-season excitement and anticipation goes will be the day I stop supporting City.

 

Salford go up they will spend and be up there under Alexander.

Fylde hopefully do it.

 

Our odds reflect our ‘name’ rather than reality. Similar to why we were much longer odds to go down last summer than we should’ve been - and why many cashed in on it!!

 

I guarantee you that this summer, there’ll be at least one player linked to both us and Salford that will go there, and the T&A will feature an article and quotes from Bowyer or Rhodes referencing our inability to compete with the wages on offer. It’ll include the words ‘cut our cloth accordingly’.