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Post by Davef on Mar 10, 2020 17:46:07 GMT
Wasnt 78 enough for automatic promotion one year? Or was it 79? That division was miles better than this crock of cack! Leicester went down on 52 points with a -3 goal difference!
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Post by sheikhmomo on Mar 10, 2020 17:59:41 GMT
That division was miles better than this crock of cack! Leicester went down on 52 points with a -3 goal difference! Forest, Preston, Blackburn, Millwall and Cardiff, Blackburn and Swansea are all completely shite and still harbour play off ambitions. We will be extremely fortunate to come across the horse shit that is this division, next year.
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Post by tachyon on Mar 11, 2020 8:59:42 GMT
Obviously it's none of MON's doing, but the age profile of the squad is already a huge concern. Here's the age profile by usage since he took charge. Attachment DeletedPeak performance age is generally between 24 and 29. Prior to that you've got (hopefully) improving young talent and post peak age you've got gradual and not so gradual decline. The bulk of Stoke's minutes played under MON have been dominated by players who have already started on an age related decline or will do so during the 2020/21 season. Numerically, the next largest cohort is the young talents....we've got very few in favour players who are comfortably still in their peak years. Just NP really. Ideally, a club will have a clear forward planning strategy, whereby young talent gradually gains experience, improves and eventually replaces ageing players who begin to enter the declining phase of their careers. We're horribly lopsided and don't have a solid base of peak age players to underpin a smooth transition.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2020 9:05:56 GMT
Leicester went down on 52 points with a -3 goal difference! Forest, Preston, Blackburn, Millwall and Cardiff, Blackburn and Swansea are all completely shite and still harbour play off ambitions. We will be extremely fortunate to come across the horse shit that is this division, next year. Why....are the teams on the brink of the play offs suddenly going to be so much better?
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Post by sheikhmomo on Mar 11, 2020 9:31:20 GMT
Forest, Preston, Blackburn, Millwall and Cardiff, Blackburn and Swansea are all completely shite and still harbour play off ambitions. We will be extremely fortunate to come across the horse shit that is this division, next year. Why....are the teams on the brink of the play offs suddenly going to be so much better? Yep, I think the three from these six, Brighton, West Ham United, Watford, Bournemouth, Vila or Norwich will be much stronger than Huddersfield, Cardiff and even Fulham turned out to be. Brentford will continue to recruit excellently if they stay down, if one of Leeds or West Brom miss out, they’ll be strong. The teams looking to come don’t look particularly strong which is in our favour but I’ve seen more than enough Championship football over the years to conclude that this is an extremely poor iteration of the division, which we’ve done well to be quite so shit in. We’ll undoubtedly improve next season as long as we get the job done but I’m also convinced that the division as a whole will as well.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2020 9:44:07 GMT
Why....are the teams on the brink of the play offs suddenly going to be so much better? Yep, I think the three from these six, Brighton, West Ham United, Watford, Bournemouth, Vila or Norwich will be much stronger than Huddersfield, Cardiff and even Fulham turned out to be. Brentford will continue to recruit excellently if they stay down, if one of Leeds or West Brom miss out, they’ll be strong. The teams looking to come don’t look particularly strong which is in our favour but I’ve seen more than enough Championship football over the years to conclude that this is an extremely poor iteration of the division, which we’ve done well to be quite so shit in. We’ll undoubtedly improve next season as long as we get the job done but I’m also convinced that the division as a whole will as well. If you've seen so much of it the you'll see that the quality hasn't been good for many years and teams coming down down exactly take it by storm. You mentioned teams on the brink of the play offs , like I said there's nothing to suggest they'll be better next season in any sense. Of course will be a couple of fancied teams come down but the best will also be promoted. In fact I can see the likes of Forest, Blackburn etc losing their best player(s). We start on a level pegging with a team that in no way resembles the one that started this season results wise so is nothing to be but quite optimistic.
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Post by FbrgVaStkFan on Mar 11, 2020 17:53:47 GMT
I had to double-check the thread's origin date...
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Post by Vadiation_Ribe on Mar 11, 2020 18:05:40 GMT
Thought we were trying to off load Afobe for a DM i wouldn't mind Vaulks Pearson from Preston has been the best midfielder I’ve seen at Stoke this season. I doubt we would have the resources or the attraction to get him at the moment. Stoke as an attractive Championship prospect is returning under O'Neill. If we stay up and stay top 5 based on post-Christmas form, that sets us up excellently for next season.
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Post by boskampsflaps on Mar 11, 2020 18:32:09 GMT
Allen’s return to fitness will be key , the one silver lining be of course he will still be here I wouldn't get your hopes up, whatever your opinion of him, good or bad, the money he is meant to be on would surely see him high on the for sale list.
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Post by mickstupp on Mar 11, 2020 18:40:30 GMT
Pearson from Preston has been the best midfielder I’ve seen at Stoke this season. I doubt we would have the resources or the attraction to get him at the moment. Stoke as an attractive Championship prospect is returning under O'Neill. If we stay up and stay top 5 based on post-Christmas form, that sets us up excellently for next season. Yes but it doesn’t mean we can swerve FFP and fork out eight figure sums of money on players, even if the owners could afford it.
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Post by markby on Mar 11, 2020 18:57:24 GMT
Thought we were trying to off load Afobe for a DM i wouldn't mind Vaulks Pearson from Preston has been the best midfielder I’ve seen at Stoke this season. As a creative, attacking midfielder, I was actually very impressed by Barry Bannan for Sheff Wed at Brentford last w/e.
I know he has a reputation for ill-discipline away from the pitch etc, but an opposition player still managing to catch the eye in a dreadful team getting hammered 5-0 is some going.
No idea whether he'd command much of a fee, or whether Michael would be interested, but at 26 he's a good age and he may be out-of-contract this summer?
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Post by mickstupp on Mar 11, 2020 21:07:25 GMT
Pearson from Preston has been the best midfielder I’ve seen at Stoke this season. As a creative, attacking midfielder, I was actually very impressed by Barry Bannan for Sheff Wed at Brentford last w/e. I know he has a reputation for ill-discipline away from the pitch etc, but an opposition player still managing to catch the eye in a dreadful team getting hammered 5-0 is some going. No idea whether he'd command much of a fee, or whether Michael would be interested, but at 26 he's a good age and he may be out-of-contract this summer? Yes Bannan is a decent player (and I didn’t realise he was only 26, he looks more like 36!).
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Post by georgieboy52 on Mar 12, 2020 2:50:18 GMT
Mid table.
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Post by rawli on Mar 12, 2020 7:21:15 GMT
Why....are the teams on the brink of the play offs suddenly going to be so much better? Yep, I think the three from these six, Brighton, West Ham United, Watford, Bournemouth, Vila or Norwich will be much stronger than Huddersfield, Cardiff and even Fulham turned out to be. Brentford will continue to recruit excellently if they stay down, if one of Leeds or West Brom miss out, they’ll be strong. The teams looking to come don’t look particularly strong which is in our favour but I’ve seen more than enough Championship football over the years to conclude that this is an extremely poor iteration of the division, which we’ve done well to be quite so shit in. We’ll undoubtedly improve next season as long as we get the job done but I’m also convinced that the division as a whole will as well. Keeping hold of Smith at RB will be key to our success next year.
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Post by sheikhmomo on Mar 12, 2020 7:34:51 GMT
Yep, I think the three from these six, Brighton, West Ham United, Watford, Bournemouth, Vila or Norwich will be much stronger than Huddersfield, Cardiff and even Fulham turned out to be. Brentford will continue to recruit excellently if they stay down, if one of Leeds or West Brom miss out, they’ll be strong. The teams looking to come don’t look particularly strong which is in our favour but I’ve seen more than enough Championship football over the years to conclude that this is an extremely poor iteration of the division, which we’ve done well to be quite so shit in. We’ll undoubtedly improve next season as long as we get the job done but I’m also convinced that the division as a whole will as well. Keeping hold of Smith at RB will be key to our success next year. Yeah but if Liverpool come calling, what can we do? I suppose we could ask for Trent as part exchange.
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