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Post by Trouserdog on Jul 28, 2021 11:39:50 GMT
Judging by the level of impatience shown by some during the latter half of 20/21, I can see O'Neil sadly being under immediate pressure should we fail to come flying out of the blocks this season.
I imagine there'll be a significant number demanding a play-off push at minimum. For me, that's just not going to happen regardless of who the manager is. We were 14th last year (60 points), 15th the year before (56 points) and I'm failing to see where the improvement's coming from.
For starters, we've lost Collins and replaced him with Wilmot, who's unlikely to be an upgrade, but seems to be getting positive reviews so far. If we keep Souttar and Wilmot fit all year, happy days, but that's unlikely to happen. A 35 year-old James Chester and the usual clumsiness of Danny Batth are players we can't afford to be seeing too often. At full-back, on either side, we have two average players in Smith and Fox with no adequate cover.
Midfield looks stronger with addition of Vrancic- he, Powell, Clucas and Allen are a reasonably strong 4, and Thompson's fine filling in for the odd game. Out wide though, we've got Doughty (whose fitness might be in question) and erm...Jacob Brown. That's it.
Up-front we have an injury-prone Fletcher and Campbell who's not even got a return date from injury yet.
There is some time yet, but if we don't bring in at least 4 or 5 players who are able to make a positive impact on the first XI, repeating last year's position would be an achievement. I know it's not what people want to hear, but another year of mediocrity might be the best we can hope for, as chances are we're still operating under enough financial limitations to make the acquisition of decent players a challenge.
Bearing in mind the circumstances, if MON can keep us out of trouble, that'll do for me this year.
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Post by The Toxic Avenger on Jul 28, 2021 11:48:22 GMT
We need to be looking to improve on last season, if that's not an understatement.
I think so far MON has had a good window - he's done brilliantly to shift as much of the dead wood as he has and the additions to date are encouraging.
If we finish top half - ideally top 10 - with a more balanced side and a more positive outlook, with signs that we have something to build on, that would constitute a decent season for me. I don't expect a play off push, just signs that we may have one in us at some point in the relatively near future with the appropriate tweaks.
I think it's slightly unfair to attribute frustrations with last season to 'impatience' - we were flat out awful for much of the second half of the season and there was some mitigation for that, but also some baffling selections, underperforming players considered undroppable and appalling game management as well. It's not like criticism was wholly unjustified.
He'll be forgiven all that by the vast, vast majority if he can get us back to how we were playing in the spring of 2020.
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Post by bayernoatcake on Jul 28, 2021 11:55:37 GMT
Depends on who we sign doesn't it.
I like the look of the first XI minus Smith and Allen. But even then it's a team that if it played 46 games should finish top 6.
But that's not at all the reality of it.
So depending on what comes in I expect anything from 6th to 15th.
A decent season for me would be us actually trying to play a bit of football and playing on the front foot more.
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Post by Trouserdog on Jul 28, 2021 12:02:32 GMT
Depends on who we sign doesn't it. I like the look of the first XI minus Smith and Allen. But even then it's a team that if it played 46 games should finish top 6. But that's not at all the reality of it. So depending on what comes in I expect anything from 6th to 15th. A decent season for me would be us actually trying to play a bit of football and playing on the front foot more. Agree- the first XI with everyone fit would get or go close to top 6. The lack of quality in their replacements though is alarming. I don't think we'll suffer the number of injuries we did last year, but the likes of Tymon, Batth, Chester, Thompson, Brown etc starting more than a handful of games really worries me. |
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Post by s7oke on Jul 28, 2021 12:08:42 GMT
Top 6
Then it gives us hope
Well hopefully
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Post by scfcno1fan on Jul 28, 2021 12:09:41 GMT
Not enough goals in the side at the moment.
No game changers to really impact a close game, which is what we were missing last season.
Defensively we’ll be strong again but they’ll be too many 0-0s.
We were distinctly average last season and unless Campbell comes back fit and firing I can’t see us reaching the lofty heights of the play offs.
Would the fan base accept another season of mid table mediocrity? I guess time will tell.
I do agree that if we don’t start well, MON will be under intense pressure quickly.
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Post by flea79 on Jul 28, 2021 12:11:38 GMT
Judging by the level of impatience shown by some during the latter half of 20/21, I can see O'Neil sadly being under immediate pressure should we fail to come flying out of the blocks this season. I imagine there'll be a significant number demanding a play-off push at minimum. For me, that's just not going to happen regardless of who the manager is. We were 14th last year (60 points), 15th the year before (56 points) and I'm failing to see where the improvement's coming from. For starters, we've lost Collins and replaced him with Wilmot, who's unlikely to be an upgrade, but seems to be getting positive reviews so far. If we keep Souttar and Wilmot fit all year, happy days, but that's unlikely to happen. A 35 year-old James Chester and the usual clumsiness of Danny Batth are players we can't afford to be seeing too often. At full-back, on either side, we have two average players in Smith and Fox with no adequate cover. Midfield looks stronger with addition of Vrancic- he, Powell, Clucas and Allen are a reasonably strong 4, and Thompson's fine filling in for the odd game. Out wide though, we've got Doughty (whose fitness might be in question) and erm...Jacob Brown. That's it. Up-front we have an injury-prone Fletcher and Campbell who's not even got a return date from injury yet. There is some time yet, but if we don't bring in at least 4 or 5 players who are able to make a positive impact on the first XI, repeating last year's position would be an achievement. I know it's not what people want to hear, but another year of mediocrity might be the best we can hope for, as chances are we're still operating under enough financial limitations to make the acquisition of decent players a challenge. Bearing in mind the circumstances, if MON can keep us out of trouble, that'll do for me this year. part of the impatience for me was the general fall we had from Nov/Dec onwards, if that Watford game had gone right we would have been top after that game and i imagine it would have been a huge boost... looking at it with a calmer head on now we had injuries that showed up our weak imbalanced squad, who could have predicted both first choice keepers getting knackered in the same week, not too mention stuff behind the scenes that we are not privy too |
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Post by mowlee on Jul 28, 2021 12:13:30 GMT
Top 6... mons a good bloke but just cause your a good bloke doesn’t mean u keep your job if your not successful.. I accually think we will finish top 6 if we stay clear of injuries.. but at the end of this season that’s 2 an a half years in charge.. he can’t say he’s had no time.. if it’s mid table again.. next turkey
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Post by apb1 on Jul 28, 2021 12:21:14 GMT
You have to assume that the financial impediment will ease significantly once the class of 22 are shunted off the books. Until then we are still paying some of their wages I'm sure. As others have said, a lot depends on a quality striker, a kiddie or two stepping up, and better luck with injuries (and rotation to avoid them). I'd be happy with top 10 as long as we are in with some chance of play offs with a week or so to go.
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Post by tommycarlsberg on Jul 28, 2021 12:26:46 GMT
MON is the man to get us out of the league but it’s sure going to be a marathon not a sprint. You have to remember the likes of Clucas et al who had blinding seasons that brought play-off form in his first half season are all two years older now and into their 30s. It’s a shame because Powell is in his pomp at this moment and it would be glorious to see his best form in a promotion season.
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Post by stokebloke on Jul 28, 2021 12:33:07 GMT
Top 8
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Post by crouchpotato1 on Jul 28, 2021 12:42:26 GMT
Top ten finish and hopefully challenging for a play off place but in this league who knows
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Post by thevoid on Jul 28, 2021 12:44:14 GMT
An upturn in entertainment.
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Post by benjaminbiscuit on Jul 28, 2021 13:56:28 GMT
50 points plus
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Post by dirtclod on Jul 28, 2021 13:59:05 GMT
Was going to say 55 myself but then I tend to be a bit greedy.
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Post by scfc75 on Jul 28, 2021 14:05:21 GMT
An upturn in entertainment. Just this really. How shit would it be to get back to watching live games, and for them to be as poor as the second half of last season. |
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Macko
Youth Player
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Post by Macko on Jul 28, 2021 14:12:59 GMT
Top ten and challenging for the play-offs. The squad is so paper thin that losing just 1 or 2 players will rapidly see us having another season like last year. Even if that happens, I don't see how anyone can do a better job than MON at the moment with the financial limitations in place.
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Post by PotterLog on Jul 28, 2021 14:23:18 GMT
Bar a small handful of teams, everyone in this division should be aiming for the playoffs (at least).
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Post by mickstupp on Jul 28, 2021 14:33:31 GMT
Mid table. There’s currently no where near enough goal threat or depth in the squad to realistically expect anything more.
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toad
Academy Starlet
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Post by toad on Jul 28, 2021 14:38:43 GMT
Depends entirely on transfer business between now and close of the window. With the current squad and lack of investment, a top half finish would be excellent.
We need 4 or 5 strong signings in before the end of the window to be looking any higher than mid table.
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Post by hardcastle on Jul 28, 2021 14:42:39 GMT
I imagine that 15 or 16 clubs will reckon they've a chance of the play-offs.
As said elsewhere, more entertainment please.
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Post by stokecitytalke on Jul 28, 2021 14:44:35 GMT
Between 6th and 10th.
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Post by Gods on Jul 28, 2021 14:53:15 GMT
It's impossible to overstate how poor we were from the Spurs League Cup exit on 23 December to the end of the season.
The manager reckoned we were 'running on empty' for some reason, although to be truthful he didn't exactly look pumped himself!
It looked to me like both the players and the manager needed a kick up the jacksy!
It culminated in that bizarre 'meet the leadership' zoom call with MON, JC and Scholesy where if you'd walked in from another planet you would not have known anything was wrong!!!!
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Post by boskampsflaps on Jul 28, 2021 15:06:34 GMT
As it stands, midtable.
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Post by JurgenVandeurzen on Jul 28, 2021 15:13:13 GMT
Top 10, and there has to be an element of entertainment.
I can't be bored to death again, I don't mind us not going up if we're at least worth watching now and again.
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Post by stokemark on Jul 28, 2021 15:26:35 GMT
Probably Top Half but I dont think there has been such an apathetic feeling about the club for many years. When we went down we had the optimism of a new manager and money spend, then we beleived in Nathan's dream (nightmare) then last pre-season we were excited about MON getting his first full season under his belt having finished so strongly the season before.
The only excitement is based around the actual oppprtunity to go back and watch football again and thats having the dampners put on it for various reasons and I get the sense that the 'feel' around the city is back to the pre-Premier League days when it was only the hard core who were at least looking forward to the season again.
Lets hope that its all a smokescreen and this season is going to be memorable for the right reasons !
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Post by salfordstokie on Jul 28, 2021 15:27:51 GMT
My expectations are not especially high. We are still operating on a shoestring budget and the squad is probably at the same level it was last year. Hopefully Campbell can get back to scoring like he was first half of last season and I think Vrancic could be a decent signing. Think we will be anywhere from 12th to 16th. Top half would be overachievement.
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Post by Scrotnig on Jul 28, 2021 15:34:17 GMT
Avoiding relegation, sadly.
I wish I could be more optimistic and maybe I’ll be wrong but last season the form in the later half was deeply worrying. It was foot of the table stuff. Has much changed since then? I don’t really think so.
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Post by lordherefordsknob on Jul 28, 2021 15:41:44 GMT
We’ll piss it.
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Post by y_oh_y_delilah on Jul 28, 2021 15:47:11 GMT
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