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Post by coldtuesdaynight on Sept 6, 2020 13:47:09 GMT
I’ve made the mistake of being optimistic before the start of the last 2 seasons, but...
A manager who turned us from bottom of the league into a team that could have stayed up on his points alone.
Afobe returning and Fletcher arriving giving us more options off the bench than ‘Campbell for an uninterested 75% of the time Ince’
A very experinced midfielder arriving to hopefully fill the ‘sit in front of the back four’ role
A realisation hitting the club that Butland’s has been replaced with his twin brother and anyone else would be a better choice
A left back!
The permanent signing of a centre back, who while much criticised by the fans has seen quite an impressive points tally while he’s been in the team.
I’m sure there is a lot of reasons someone will list to be pessimistic, but good god it’s got to be better than the last 3 or 4 seasons. Just the players performing at better than 20% of their potential since MON arrived is enough to make me feel like things are slowly but surely headed in the right direction. Promotion feels like a stretch but hopefully we won’t be a million miles off the top 6 this time around.
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Post by elystokie on Sept 6, 2020 14:12:31 GMT
That's when we lose to the Dog and Duck.
When we win we all see it as a key indicator of how the seasons going to pan out This belief in some pub league super side, namely the Dog and Duck, has always intrigued me, as much as any other "urban myth" might do. Who are the Dog and why are they apparently so good? Why do their exploits not get more recognition? And why is it consistently them achieving dramatic results, and not the equally enigmatic, Pig and Whistle, or the Slug and Lettuce. Perhaps locally the Sentinel might rediscover its former role in investigative journalism and run an informed article, or a short series, on the Dog and Duck background and record. We could even have one of the Daily Mail's favourite classic projects, as they follow the fortunes of the Dog from the FA Cup first preliminary round and continue along the road to Wembley. Lets hear it for the Dog and Duck! I suspect it's them because of the alliteration in their name, we're all partial to a bit of that it seems
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Post by stokecitytalke on Sept 6, 2020 15:40:26 GMT
Yeah, that's why we support Stoke Sity. 😊
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Post by thedeadlyshart on Sept 6, 2020 16:37:14 GMT
Heart hopes for 1st place, brain says more like 12th. Finishing in the top half would be a massive improvement from last season. If we can do that, and develop more of our younger players as solid contributors, I will be very happy heading into 2021-22.
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Post by apb1 on Sept 6, 2020 17:54:53 GMT
I am hopeful we can grind out a half decent start and somehow get to about 8th by Christmas. If we can do that then perhaps a small unsheathing of the transfer dong in January will allow a proper push for the playoffs.
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Post by M on Sept 6, 2020 18:22:13 GMT
I'm fed up with every pre-season having to say things like "ah don't worry about the result, pre-season friendlies are all about fitness". Don't get me wrong, they are; but they can really bread confidence for players and supporters, especially when you're fielding a near on full strength team out of who's available. Weve had a fairly solid pre-season off the back of a solid end of season too.
We literally couldn't buy a win before MoN came in and were bottom (or 2nd bottom I forget) and from wheb he came in until season end he had us playoff form. Thats remarkable. If he can do that with a team running on no confidence, the possibilities with a confident team are sky high. Look at Leicester, they won the league on confidence. So can we if the confidence gets and stays high! Bring it!
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Post by silsdenstokie on Sept 6, 2020 18:49:27 GMT
Remember feeling quite optimistic at the start of last season after a good pre-season. All hope crushed after that QPR game
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Post by BristolMick on Sept 6, 2020 19:29:56 GMT
A strong finish to the last campaign, back to back wins and clean sheets in the final 2 friendly games against Prem opposition, a manger who appears to be clinically sane... There will be bumps in the road, of course there will, but surely at worst the show is back on the road, tell me that much at least?! Colin Murray predicted on his Quest show last night that we will be the most improved club in the Championship. BM
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Post by AlliG on Sept 6, 2020 20:03:53 GMT
Oh **** Just look at the season's predictions at the bottom of Oliver Holt's column today. Season predictions
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Post by mrcoke on Sept 6, 2020 22:12:05 GMT
Heart hopes for 1st place, brain says more like 12th. Finishing in the top half would be a massive improvement from last season. If we can do that, and develop more of our younger players as solid contributors, I will be very happy heading into 2021-22. Let your brain work on this: Since MON arrived our points scored made us the 8th best team in the Championship. Our goal scoring record since MON arrived was the =3rd best in the Championship. Where we were let down was our goals conceded which continued to be poor after MON arrived. The introduction of Fletcher, Mikel, and Davies as first choice GK should strengthen us. If we can improve our defending we should get into the top 6 places.
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Post by thedeadlyshart on Sept 6, 2020 22:36:45 GMT
Heart hopes for 1st place, brain says more like 12th. Finishing in the top half would be a massive improvement from last season. If we can do that, and develop more of our younger players as solid contributors, I will be very happy heading into 2021-22. Let your brain work on this: Since MON arrived our points scored made us the 8th best team in the Championship. Our goal scoring record since MON arrived was the =3rd best in the Championship. Where we were let down was our goals conceded which continued to be poor after MON arrived. The introduction of Fletcher, Mikel, and Davies as first choice GK should strengthen us. If we can improve our defending we should get into the top 6 places. I think MON is a fantastic manager, but this is a team that was dangerously close to being relegated. I obviously want us to make the playoffs and get promoted, but I don’t think it is likely. Our final two games were great results, but we were honestly lucky to have won both.
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Post by GrahamHyde on Sept 6, 2020 23:10:43 GMT
Mid-table, flirting with play-offs
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