Predictions!

[BetterRedthanBlue]

36 minutes ago, Silvio Dante said:

Again, I’m back to my first twelve games point. 
 

What was worrying yesterday was the trying four - four - options in the number 10 role. I think that says Liam has a clear idea of how he wants to play but doesn’t have the personnel to play it. And no, Scott Twine is not the answer, however determined we are to make him. 
 

One of the things I both admire and frustrates me about Liam is that he’s very resolute in how he wants to play. The period from Leicester onwards was kind of anti Manningball v1. But his issue last season was coming into a club and imposing a way of playing that we didn’t have the personnel to do so. The sign is from yesterday that he may not have learnt from that.

I worry that whoever comes in - whether it’s Twine or someone else - will need adaptation time and we’ll eat a lot of a favourable start up trying to square peg in round holes. We should have enough defensively to see us through, but make no mistake, another period of Manningball V1 - which I worry we’re setting up to do - and the same level of entertainment and results sees him gone at the end of that 12 game block.

Liam coming in and trying to impose his own playing style is one of the reasons I don't trust Jon, Tins or the board to make a reasonable decision.

Nigel had us playing a style of football that suited us and had the right personnel for it. The board gets rid of him and then brings in someone to try and play the opposite style to us with personnel who have been playing the game differently, it should've been someone to come in make a few tweaks here and there but stick with the same style.

If Liam goes after 10-12 games we won't go for someone who plays Manningball and then we're back at Square one which we were when Liam came in.

[Davefevs]

14 minutes ago, ExiledAjax said:

Yeh. I think 7th is the highest media/official prediction I've seen, and I think @NTT20Pod's 13th is the lowest.

What is clear is that from the outside looking in we're seen, once again, as being comfortably safe from relegation, but unlikely to seriously threaten the top 6.

Ps. Can we start predicting the result v Hull? I reckon a 0-0 or 1-1 is on the cards and there will be a load of misery on here in the aftermath.

15th for me

[Leabrook]

Are NTT20 a bit try hard in their wild takes?  
 

A bottom 3 of Watford, Millwall and Derby seems massively unlikely to me.  They seem to forget that the first two will just keep changing their manager if they need too. I’d be shocked if either went down let alone both. 

[Silvio Dante]

27 minutes ago, BetterRedthanBlue said:

Liam coming in and trying to impose his own playing style is one of the reasons I don't trust Jon, Tins or the board to make a reasonable decision.

Nigel had us playing a style of football that suited us and had the right personnel for it. The board gets rid of him and then brings in someone to try and play the opposite style to us with personnel who have been playing the game differently, it should've been someone to come in make a few tweaks here and there but stick with the same style.

If Liam goes after 10-12 games we won't go for someone who plays Manningball and then we're back at Square one which we were when Liam came in.

The big caveat here is that it still may work, but I’d generally concur here. I think JL/BT saw “young progressive coach” and wanted that profile without paying attention to how said coach set up. As I’ve often said, due diligence works both ways and it’s on Liam coming into a club and not “reading the room” but undoubtedly, in the context of the clubs progression, the appointment was a “standstill” as opposed to a progression one.

Put it this way - every outlet and most fans have us as mid table next season with (probably) more potential for downside than upside. That wasn’t what was on the tin in October 23.

Edited August 4 by Silvio Dante

[Silvio Dante]

13 minutes ago, Leabrook said:

Are NTT20 a bit try hard in their wild takes?  
 

A bottom 3 of Watford, Millwall and Derby seems massively unlikely to me.  They seem to forget that the first two will just keep changing their manager if they need too. I’d be shocked if either went down let alone both. 

I think Derby are fair game. Warnes not shown he can do it at this level, they’ve been booed off in pre season and the squad looks below par. I think you can make a very decent case for Watford too - see the link to the Watford fans comments in this thread. Millwall could go - I’m not convinced Langstaff will score (or get the chances to) at this level and Harris is a bit meh. I think the bottom three may be “controversial” for not including Oxford/Plymouth but it’s certainly three teams I see down there.

Its one of the reasons I’m not markedly worried about relegation - I think there are a good half dozen sides worse than us this year.

[mozo]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

15th for me

If City finish in the bottom half I'll buy you pint. Not gonna happen

[Mr Popodopolous]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

15th for me

Would Manning be kept on in those circs do you think?

Should he be.

[Numero Uno]

3 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Would Manning be kept on in those circs do you think?

Should he be.

Depends how it happens. If we lack goals and aren’t creating that’s on Manning. If we create plenty and our forwards ain’t hitting a barn door with a banjo that’s recruitment.

[mozo]

8 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Would Manning be kept on in those circs do you think?

Should he be.

Or, will he get a contract extension if we finish 8th?

[Mr Popodopolous]

14 minutes ago, mozo said:

Or, will he get a contract extension if we finish 8th?

Ha dejavu...truth is a solid legacy was bequeathed so I am hoping for and expecting improvement but strikers are a red flag, then the issue of Twine and Yu..because right now to me, we look about the same in most respects and a bit less goal threat.

Stronger depth ie less injuries and development of younger players will help.

Edited August 4 by Mr Popodopolous

[Mr Popodopolous]

15th would be a regression though, quite clearly and questions would need to be asked- in particular of the hierarchy.

Albeit Manning wouldn't be immune whatsoever.

[Supersonic Robin]

Just listened to the NTT20 Championship prediction pod. FWIW, I think NTT20 are head and shoulders above the other Championship podcasts, so I give their opinion a bit more weight.

As others have said, NTT20 have us 13th. Most neutral predictions I've seen have us somewhere in that 8th-13th range. I think that's a pretty accurate prediction - midtable (again).

Hard to see us pushing for the top 6 this season. We've brought in some decent players, but I'm struggling to see how it all comes together right now. To really kick on, it feels like we'd need a few attacking players who have no track record of delivering in this league to hit the ground running - logically, it seems unlikely that will happen (or at least not to the extent that we would need it to).

I'm feeling just slightly underwhelmed right now. Given the strength of our defence and central midfield, the lack of FFP pressure, and the fact that we don't have any major outgoings (e.g. Scott, Semenyo), this summer could be seen as a good opportunity......which we perhaps haven't taken advantage of?

Maybe I'm just being negative due to the NTT20 prediction. Maybe with an extra signing or 2 before the end of the tranfer window and Yu back fit, we'll start to look stronger in forward areas. Let's see.

[mozo]

9 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Ha dejavu...truth is a solid legacy was bequeathed so I am hoping for and expecting improvement but strikers are a red flag, then the issue of Twine and Yu..because right now to me, we look about the same in most respects and a bit less goal threat.

Stronger depth ie less injuries and development of younger players will help.

What do you think of our mid table opponents? Improved? The Same? Worse? Obviously our final position will be relative to others.

[Mr Popodopolous]

2 minutes ago, mozo said:

What do you think of our mid table opponents? Improved? The Same? Worse? Obviously our final position will be relative to others.

It hasn't been a particularly expansive Championship this summer all told. I think Hull, Norwich, West Brom are looking weaker in some respects, Cardiff and Preston maybe too.

QPR and Sheffield Wednesday should improve, Sunderland the penny seems to have dropped that they need to tweak the model- I expect they will improve.

I expect no repeat of the poor or slow start for Coventry and Middlesbrough.

[Lew-T]

28 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

15th would be a regression though, quite clearly and questions would need to be asked- in particular of the hierarchy.

Albeit Manning wouldn't be immune whatsoever.

Especially as the division looks weaker this year.

[The turtle]

I don't remember being so meh before a season starts before. I'm really hoping for decent start, with a good performance or two.

I fear, game 1; under 2 shots on target in first half

........

 

Prediction;

This season will be a bit of a plod;

We'll have some games where there's just a glimpse. But goals won't be flowing, but with the aim of control we'll have a decent defence.

10-14th

GD -2 to +4

Too many halves of football where nothing happens, and a lack intent in the name of control.

 

.....

 

My hope 

My prediction is wrong for good reason!

After last season, and then england! I could do with city being fun as well as challenging. I just don't see it 

 

[ExiledAjax]

2 hours ago, Davefevs said:

15th for me

Now is that a hard 15th or a "I've got to rank these 8 teams but really they could finish in any kind of order" kind of 15th?

2 hours ago, Leabrook said:

Are NTT20 a bit try hard in their wild takes?  
 

A bottom 3 of Watford, Millwall and Derby seems massively unlikely to me.  They seem to forget that the first two will just keep changing their manager if they need too. I’d be shocked if either went down let alone both. 

They might seem it, but they nailed Ipswich last season when most weren't predicting them to finish high up. NTT20 do put the work in, they don't just look at the final table from the previous season and bookend it with the relegated/promoted sides. They know their shit.

Watford, Millwall and Derby isn't a completely wild shout. I wouldn't be surprised at all if at least one of those went down. I think it will be a very tight bottom 6 again as well, so really it's splitting hairs for me.

8 minutes ago, The turtle said:

I don't remember being so meh before a season starts before. I'm really hoping for decent start, with a good performance or two.

I remember the last time I felt like this before a season - 12 months ago.

[Supersonic Robin]

12 minutes ago, The turtle said:

I don't remember being so meh before a season starts before. I'm really hoping for decent start, with a good performance or two.

I fear, game 1; under 2 shots on target in first half

 

We ought to start well, especially if we're serious about pushing towards the top 6.

We have what looks to be a very favourable start to the season fixture-wise:

[ExiledAjax]

Just now, Supersonic Robin said:

We ought to start well, especially if we're serious about pushing towards the top 6.

We have what looks to be a very favourable start to the season fixture-wise:

We've started pretty well in the last few seasons. The modern tradition is falling away in the autumn as the injuries stack up and out lack of depth is exposed. We then get some sort of run in the new year to pull clear of the bottom...but never quite enough to do a proper charge.

A hot start hasn't been an issue for quite a while.

[Mr Popodopolous]

2 minutes ago, Supersonic Robin said:

We ought to start well, especially if we're serious about pushing towards the top 6.

We have what looks to be a very favourable start to the season fixture-wise:

 

Just now, ExiledAjax said:

We've started pretty well in the last few seasons. The modern tradition is falling away in the autumn as the injuries stack up and out lack of depth is exposed. We then get some sort of run in the new year to pull clear of the bottom...but never quite enough to do a proper charge.

A hot start hasn't been an issue for quite a while.

I just wonder given the relatively raw new strikers, whether it might be this time.

We got 15 points from the first 10 last season, 14 from 10 in 2022-23 13 from 10 in 2021-22.

[Supersonic Robin]

Just now, Mr Popodopolous said:

 

I just wonder given the relatively raw new strikers, whether it might be this time.

We got 15 points from the first 10 last season, 14 from 10 in 2022-23 13 from 10 in 2021-22.

Suppose you can argue it either way:

A) We might miss out on points vs weaker opponents at the start of the season due to our raw strikers and potentially incomplete transfer business.

B) Our easier start to the season may allow us to get away with having raw strikers and signings who are still adjusting to the team, and we'll then be ready to kick on vs more challenging oppnents.

Glass half empty or glass half full?

[Mr Popodopolous]

1 minute ago, Supersonic Robin said:

Suppose you can argue it either way:

A) We might miss out on points vs weaker opponents at the start of the season due to our raw strikers and potentially incomplete transfer business.

B) Our easier start to the season may allow us to get away with having raw strikers and signings who are still adjusting to the team, and we'll then be ready to kick on vs more challenging oppnents.

Glass half empty or glass half full?

Agreed.

Yes an (on paper) softer start can help to ease in relatively raw strikers.

[Davefevs]

My 1-24, wasn’t gonna do one, and I know one or more of Derby, Portsmouth and Oxford will bite me on the arse.

[And Its Smith]

1 hour ago, Supersonic Robin said:

Just listened to the NTT20 Championship prediction pod. FWIW, I think NTT20 are head and shoulders above the other Championship podcasts, so I give their opinion a bit more weight.

As others have said, NTT20 have us 13th. Most neutral predictions I've seen have us somewhere in that 8th-13th range. I think that's a pretty accurate prediction - midtable (again).

Hard to see us pushing for the top 6 this season. We've brought in some decent players, but I'm struggling to see how it all comes together right now. To really kick on, it feels like we'd need a few attacking players who have no track record of delivering in this league to hit the ground running - logically, it seems unlikely that will happen (or at least not to the extent that we would need it to).

I'm feeling just slightly underwhelmed right now. Given the strength of our defence and central midfield, the lack of FFP pressure, and the fact that we don't have any major outgoings (e.g. Scott, Semenyo), this summer could be seen as a good opportunity......which we perhaps haven't taken advantage of?

Maybe I'm just being negative due to the NTT20 prediction. Maybe with an extra signing or 2 before the end of the tranfer window and Yu back fit, we'll start to look stronger in forward areas. Let's see.

It really surprised me that they had us as 13th considering they are excited by four of our signings.  On Friday they are bringing out a pod talking about their disagreements. I reckon we might feature in that with one of them having us 8-9th

[petehinton]

1 hour ago, Supersonic Robin said:

Just listened to the NTT20 Championship prediction pod. FWIW, I think NTT20 are head and shoulders above the other Championship podcasts, so I give their opinion a bit more weight.

As others have said, NTT20 have us 13th. Most neutral predictions I've seen have us somewhere in that 8th-13th range. I think that's a pretty accurate prediction - midtable (again).

Hard to see us pushing for the top 6 this season. We've brought in some decent players, but I'm struggling to see how it all comes together right now. To really kick on, it feels like we'd need a few attacking players who have no track record of delivering in this league to hit the ground running - logically, it seems unlikely that will happen (or at least not to the extent that we would need it to).

I'm feeling just slightly underwhelmed right now. Given the strength of our defence and central midfield, the lack of FFP pressure, and the fact that we don't have any major outgoings (e.g. Scott, Semenyo), this summer could be seen as a good opportunity......which we perhaps haven't taken advantage of?

Maybe I'm just being negative due to the NTT20 prediction. Maybe with an extra signing or 2 before the end of the tranfer window and Yu back fit, we'll start to look stronger in forward areas. Let's see.

Ali & George are the GOATs, and I also personally struggle to see us finish above 12th. The ‘poor/OK’ teams last season are better. And I don’t think we’ve improved at the same rate. 

[Sir Geoff]

1 hour ago, mozo said:

Or, will he get a contract extension if we finish 8th?

I'd be worried if I was Liam and we finished 8th.

The last manager that 'only' got us up to 8th was sacked 2 weeks later.

[mozo]

8 minutes ago, Sir Geoff said:

I'd be worried if I was Liam and we finished 8th.

The last manager that 'only' got us up to 8th was sacked 2 weeks later.

Nope, Liam was the last manager that got us to 8th courtesy of a 4-1 win away to Watford  

[Davefevs]

32 minutes ago, mozo said:

Nope, Liam was the last manager that got us to 8th courtesy of a 4-1 win away to Watford  

How about higher!

[Ska Junkie]

Mr Bloom fancies us to go really well...

I reckon he's got a soft spot for us tbh.

 

[Ska Junkie]

A few more...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gV_8-kpNbFM

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=m-qXZnQaUV0

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WoBJ9rt29Zs

Edited August 4 by Ska Junkie

[HengroveReds]

Personally think Luton will win league or bounce straight back up, not lost many prem players or core players like the other clubs have. 

[mozo]

50 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

How about higher!

You're moving the goalposts now! 

Gameweek 7 2023/24

[Mr Popodopolous]

Luton interest me. They aren't really buying or selling many for one.

On one hand they have continuity and did buy quite a few Championship strong performers in the PL. Otoh, they don't necessarily have that star lower not that you always need it and as favourites most weeks, that can be a different dynamic.

[Ska Junkie]

9 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Luton interest me. They aren't really buying or selling many for one.

On one hand they have continuity and did buy quite a few Championship strong performers in the PL. Otoh, they don't necessarily have that star lower not that you always need it and as favourites most weeks, that can be a different dynamic.

Kenilworth road is always a tough place to go Mr P, very different to most Championship venues. I think they will be very strong at home but can they carry it to away games on bigger pitches etc. Certainly top 6 for me but top 2? I'm not sure tbh.

[Mr Popodopolous]

1 minute ago, Ska Junkie said:

Kenilworth road is always a tough place to go Mr P, very different to most Championship venues. I think they will be very strong at home but can they carry it to away games on bigger pitches etc. Certainly top 6 for me but top 2? I'm not sure tbh.

Top 6 for sure yeah Ska, difficult away game for anyone, not sure on top 2 though.

Famous last words but the Championship doesn't seem quite as strong. Leeds, Leicester, Southampton all dropping at once in this era is insanely strong and Birmingham and Ipswich at either end exiting..think at one stage it looked like all 4 of Leicester, Ipswich, Leeds, Southampton could all end up with 90+ points!! Birmingham went down on 50 iirc.

[Ska Junkie]

6 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Top 6 for sure yeah Ska, difficult away game for anyone, not sure on top 2 though.

Famous last words but the Championship doesn't seem quite as strong. Leeds, Leicester, Southampton all dropping at once in this era is insanely strong and Birmingham and Ipswich at either end exiting..think at one stage it looked like all 4 of Leicester, Ipswich, Leeds, Southampton could all end up with 90+ points!! Birmingham went down on 50 iirc.

Leeds, Burnley, Luton, Blades, Cov and 'Boro should go well IMHO, after that there's quite a big group of similar sides of which we are one.

Any improvement on last season's finish would be a good season for me. Can we worry the top 6? Possibly but fall short.

Interesting that the only 2 players that didn't get on for Burnley v Cadiz today were McNally and Twine.

I'm expecting Stoke and Wednesday to have much better seasons as well.

Edited August 4 by Ska Junkie

[Ska Junkie]

 

My, very early.and very biased guess.

Burnley

Leeds

Boro

Luton

Coventry

Sheffield United

Norwich

Bristol City

Sheffield Wednesday

Stoke City

West Bromwich Albion

Cardiff City

QPR

Hull City

Sunderland

Preston North End

Millwall

Derby County

Watford

Swansea

Pompey

Blackburn Rovers

Oxford United

Plymouth Argyle

[Davefevs]

41 minutes ago, Ska Junkie said:

Leeds, Burnley, Luton, Blades, Cov and 'Boro should go well IMHO, after that there's quite a big group of similar sides of which we are one.

Any improvement on last season's finish would be a good season for me. Can we worry the top 6? Possibly but fall short.

Interesting that the only 2 players that didn't get on for Burnley v Cadiz today were McNally and Twine.

I'm expecting Stoke and Wednesday to have much better seasons as well.

Having just listened to NTT20, I have same top 8 and same top 6 as them and another person who’s 1-24 I’ve seen. Different orders though. 

[Ska Junkie]

9 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Having just listened to NTT20, I have same top 8 and same top 6 as them and another person who’s 1-24 I’ve seen. Different orders though. 

Where do you have us Dave? I appreciate I may have been a tad biased.

[Davefevs]

14th

[Lorenzos Only Goal]

On 01/08/2024 at 10:49, Nogbad the Bad said:

Conway has declined to sign a new contract and it is him insisting on leaving City at the first opportunity.

Both Pearson & Jason Euell were key players in playing football that suites his strengths.  Manning comes in and plays a very different type of football and his goals dry up.  Would you be full of confidence?

[Lorenzos Only Goal]

1 minute ago, Davefevs said:

14th

I'm little more pessimistic than you right now.  I'm still hedging 18th.

[Davefevs]

2 minutes ago, Lorenzos Only Goal said:

I'm little more pessimistic than you right now.  I'm still hedging 18th.

I think we will have one or two in at some point

[Ska Junkie]

12 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

14th

Sorry Dave, I should have seen that.

In all honesty, between 7th and 15 /16th could be anyone. I just stuck us near the top of that group tbh.

Edited August 4 by Ska Junkie

[Silvio Dante]

17 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

14th

I’m not saying you’re inconsistent but on Noggers prediction thread you had us 15th.

Quite frankly Fevs I’m sick of this playing both sides of the fence. One minute you think we’re on for a creditable 14th, the next it’s a disappointing 15th. It’s no wonder people give you stick under multiple aliases….

[Robbored]

8 minutes ago, Lorenzos Only Goal said:

Both Pearson & Jason Euell were key players in playing football that suites his strengths.  Manning comes in and plays a very different type of football and his goals dry up.  Would you be full of confidence?

That’s more coincidence than anything else.

If anything Manning tried to play in a fashion that made the most of Conways strengths which backfired and actually contributed to the relatively low goal return.

It’ll be different this campaign with the addition of Bird, Armstrong, Fally and Hirakawa and I’m expecting to witness some slick attacking football.

[And Its Smith]

Every season I choose something to happen in each division as an accumulator and normally make a good profit due to cashing out.  Do one now and one after 7-8 games but the second one has much worse odds obviously as all the value has gone

Southampton, Blackburn and Newport to go down and Birmingham to win league one is 164/1.  Worth a fiver! 

[Davefevs]

1 hour ago, Silvio Dante said:

I’m not saying you’re inconsistent but on Noggers prediction thread you had us 15th.

Quite frankly Fevs I’m sick of this playing both sides of the fence. One minute you think we’re on for a creditable 14th, the next it’s a disappointing 15th. It’s no wonder people give you stick under multiple aliases….

Sorry Silv, I didn’t put any effort into this earlier this morning.

Norwich dropped from 1st too, as Sara’s impending sale looked more likely.

[Alessandro]

I don’t see too much to be optimistic about this season - in terms of a promotion push.

We’re largely the same team that was inconsistent and mid table last season - the new additions on the whole are like for like replacements and none look like huge upgrades.

The fact that people have on another threads picking out starting 11 several of our signings either not in the squad or on the bench tells the story of our summer recruitment. We’ll see on those still. Obviously Yu is a miss. Maybe there is still transfer business to come.

Again I feel we’ll be in that area where one or two wins more or less can drag you up or down the table into either fight - Manning has had his pre-season so will be interesting to see.

[Davefevs]

3 hours ago, Alessandro said:

Again I feel we’ll be in that area where one or two wins more or less can drag you up or down the table into either fight

I wrote a piece for QPR’s Loft For Words last week.  Basically 22/23 (W15 D14 L17) vs 23/24 (W17 D11 L18) was 3 draws turned into 2 wins and 1 defeat!

[Olé]

[Silvio Dante]

Just now, Olé said:

Well of those respective solutions as one is training with the U21s and the other appears to still think he’s playing in an U9s playground I think that we “may just miss out”

[Olé]

[supercidered]

8 minutes ago, Olé said:

Blige. I'd take your hand off for 9th place right now.

[Mr Popodopolous]

In some ways I get cautious optimism.

Some red flags are..

*Is Twine or lack of, going to make or break our Season. Do we lack creativity as a result.

*How will two relatively young and raw strikers acclimatise.

*Will there be left-field selections again such as a back 3, Bell on the right, Sykes on the left let alone Sykes at Wingback.

[supercidered]

15 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

In some ways I get cautious optimism.

Some red flags are..

*Is Twine or lack of, going to make or break our Season. Do we lack creativity as a result.

*How will two relatively young and raw strikers acclimatise.

*Will there be left-field selections again such as a back 3, Bell on the right, Sykes on the left let alone Sykes at Wingback.

I think the Twine or lack of is the biggest red flag.

I know there are differing views on Twine but when I watched him play last season we always looked like he could make things happen. Of course it didn't always happen but it felt like it could at any moment. Not just creatively but winning free kicks and the like. We just looked more joined up when he was there.

I know Saturday was a pre-season game but it looked to me that we were crying out for a Twine or similar.

I think your second red flag could largely depend on my points above.

The third flag I think will definitely happen because I think Manning is just that type of coach that does these things FWIW. 

Edited August 5 by supercidered
spelling

[internetjef]

Racing post football pull out is taking quite a positive view 

they have got us down to improve to 8th place finish on grounds of an already decent defence and have added a couple of new striking options

they have tipped us each way on the handicap betting with +28 points , and also tipped us to be ‘top south west club’ (ie finishing above Plymouth and two Welsh sides)

[The Bard]

On 04/08/2024 at 20:49, Robbored said:

That’s more coincidence than anything else.

If anything Manning tried to play in a fashion that made the most of Conways strengths which backfired and actually contributed to the relatively low goal return.

It’ll be different this campaign with the addition of Bird, Armstrong, Fally and Hirakawa and I’m expecting to witness some slick attacking football.

What a load of drivel

[Robbored]

7 hours ago, The Bard said:

What a load of drivel

Thanks for that not so insightful reply Bard…….…

Explain to me why you think it’s drivel………..

[The Bard]

2 hours ago, Robbored said:

Thanks for that not so insightful reply Bard…….…

Explain to me why you think it’s drivel………..

We did not play to Conway's strengths. That's why. Manning probably thought he was and said so but the evidence I saw was the opposite. 

[Pugofwar]

Everyone is so boring  We'll finish comfortably 4th but lose narrowly in the play-off semi final.

[ExiledAjax]

13 minutes ago, Pugofwar said:

Everyone is so boring

A fair criticism 

[ExiledAjax]

On 04/08/2024 at 20:30, Davefevs said:

14th

I don't disagree with much of this at all Fevs. I think you can throw a sheet over the bottom 8 though, really hard to rank those. Honestly not much point in doing my own 1-24 when you've done the work for me and even colour-coded it.

Particularly I agree with Coventry, and also would have Norwich higher had they not flogged Sara...although if they do something with the £15m they got upfront then who knows.

[Silvio Dante]

The thing that gets me in a lot of the previews is that they all follow the logic of Liam being a “progressive head coach” - as we’ve seen, he’s far from that on evidence to date, he’s a very cautious, conservative, defensive coach (nothing wrong with that btw but what’s on the tin doesn’t match the description). So I think in the media previews there is a large degree of groupthink that a “progressive” coach will push a group on, and the forum opinion (generally) of a mid table finish is cached in more reality than a “dark horses” tag that there really isn’t any merit in.

I think what it’s always useful to do in circumstances is look how we’d view our options if facing them. And, if you take out the ”progressive” factor, if we were playing a side with striking options being a player with Sinclairs goal record at this level, an untried Fally and an aging Wells, you’d be looking at it and saying “we should easily contain these”

(Btw I have no issue in the signings of Fally or Sinclair but they are what they are - projects).

If you really take a step back, the squad isn’t stronger than last year. Bird for James looks a good replacement but we have a massive hole in the ten role (thought experiment: would it have been better stumping the cash for Twine, not signing Fally and using Seb as the “project” to aid overall balance). It’s possibly deeper but not stronger, and as has been seen already, we will get injuries. Yu is already out and none of us know if he is an upgrade on what we have that struggled to create.

Last season, post Liam, we had some great performances (yes, Southampton, Watford etc) but they were the exception rather than the rule. We were in horrible form from the turn of the year to Easter, and in the games post Easter we got more than we deserved (and I’m not knocking that habit, but points eventually regress to performance). So, as I lie on a sunbed  I think, what’s changed? What, in the cold light of day, turns us from the team we saw in the second half of the season to playoff contenders - or even comfortable upper mid table not looking over shoulder.

And the answer so far is really nothing if you take a step back. We’re reliant on our defence to a very large degree and lack major creativity. Both Zak and Rob have had “skittish” periods and we can’t afford for that to happen next year or we will be in real strife.

It’s a decent, honest, hardworking group of players. But to come back to predictions, my heart says I’d bite your hand off for 12th in the development of this group, as I haven’t seen enough to say the coach can get them to “overperform”. My head says we’re more likely to be around the 18th mark. But that will depend on our defence - there are worse sides than us at this level, we just need to ensure they stay that way!

 

[Davefevs]

30 minutes ago, ExiledAjax said:

I don't disagree with much of this at all Fevs. I think you can throw a sheet over the bottom 8 though, really hard to rank those. Honestly not much point in doing my own 1-24 when you've done the work for me and even colour-coded it.

Particularly I agree with Coventry, and also would have Norwich higher had they not flogged Sara...although if they do something with the £15m they got upfront then who knows.

I really fancied Norwich, but the Sara transfer, and talk of Rowe and even Sargent going tempered my enthusiasm.

Heres a few more 1-24s and some flashy new columns and rows!

 

 

[Sir Geoff]

11 minutes ago, Silvio Dante said:

The thing that gets me in a lot of the previews is that they all follow the logic of Liam being a “progressive head coach” - as we’ve seen, he’s far from that on evidence to date, he’s a very cautious, conservative, defensive coach (nothing wrong with that btw but what’s on the tin doesn’t match the description). So I think in the media previews there is a large degree of groupthink that a “progressive” coach will push a group on, and the forum opinion (generally) of a mid table finish is cached in more reality than a “dark horses” tag that there really isn’t any merit in.

I think what it’s always useful to do in circumstances is look how we’d view our options if facing them. And, if you take out the ”progressive” factor, if we were playing a side with striking options being a player with Sinclairs goal record at this level, an untried Fally and an aging Wells, you’d be looking at it and saying “we should easily contain these”

(Btw I have no issue in the signings of Fally or Sinclair but they are what they are - projects).

If you really take a step back, the squad isn’t stronger than last year. Bird for James looks a good replacement but we have a massive hole in the ten role (thought experiment: would it have been better stumping the cash for Twine, not signing Fally and using Seb as the “project” to aid overall balance). It’s possibly deeper but not stronger, and as has been seen already, we will get injuries. Yu is already out and none of us know if he is an upgrade on what we have that struggled to create.

Last season, post Liam, we had some great performances (yes, Southampton, Watford etc) but they were the exception rather than the rule. We were in horrible form from the turn of the year to Easter, and in the games post Easter we got more than we deserved (and I’m not knocking that habit, but points eventually regress to performance). So, as I lie on a sunbed  I think, what’s changed? What, in the cold light of day, turns us from the team we saw in the second half of the season to playoff contenders - or even comfortable upper mid table not looking over shoulder.

And the answer so far is really nothing if you take a step back. We’re reliant on our defence to a very large degree and lack major creativity. Both Zak and Rob have had “skittish” periods and we can’t afford for that to happen next year or we will be in real strife.

It’s a decent, honest, hardworking group of players. But to come back to predictions, my heart says I’d bite your hand off for 12th in the development of this group, as I haven’t seen enough to say the coach can get them to “overperform”. My head says we’re more likely to be around the 18th mark. But that will depend on our defence - there are worse sides than us at this level, we just need to ensure they stay that way!

 

Totally with you, Silvio. My head says 18th and a relegation struggle, particularly if we don't start well. Defence may be sound but that's not much use if you're drawing 0-0 losing 1-0, 2-0. Sides that don't score many goals usually get relegated, no matter how good the defence is. As an aside I still don't see many goals from our midfield which NP alluded to 12 months ago.

[mozo]

16 minutes ago, Silvio Dante said:

The thing that gets me in a lot of the previews is that they all follow the logic of Liam being a “progressive head coach” - as we’ve seen, he’s far from that on evidence to date, he’s a very cautious, conservative, defensive coach (nothing wrong with that btw but what’s on the tin doesn’t match the description). So I think in the media previews there is a large degree of groupthink that a “progressive” coach will push a group on, and the forum opinion (generally) of a mid table finish is cached in more reality than a “dark horses” tag that there really isn’t any merit in.

I think what it’s always useful to do in circumstances is look how we’d view our options if facing them. And, if you take out the ”progressive” factor, if we were playing a side with striking options being a player with Sinclairs goal record at this level, an untried Fally and an aging Wells, you’d be looking at it and saying “we should easily contain these”

(Btw I have no issue in the signings of Fally or Sinclair but they are what they are - projects).

If you really take a step back, the squad isn’t stronger than last year. Bird for James looks a good replacement but we have a massive hole in the ten role (thought experiment: would it have been better stumping the cash for Twine, not signing Fally and using Seb as the “project” to aid overall balance). It’s possibly deeper but not stronger, and as has been seen already, we will get injuries. Yu is already out and none of us know if he is an upgrade on what we have that struggled to create.

Last season, post Liam, we had some great performances (yes, Southampton, Watford etc) but they were the exception rather than the rule. We were in horrible form from the turn of the year to Easter, and in the games post Easter we got more than we deserved (and I’m not knocking that habit, but points eventually regress to performance). So, as I lie on a sunbed  I think, what’s changed? What, in the cold light of day, turns us from the team we saw in the second half of the season to playoff contenders - or even comfortable upper mid table not looking over shoulder.

And the answer so far is really nothing if you take a step back. We’re reliant on our defence to a very large degree and lack major creativity. Both Zak and Rob have had “skittish” periods and we can’t afford for that to happen next year or we will be in real strife.

It’s a decent, honest, hardworking group of players. But to come back to predictions, my heart says I’d bite your hand off for 12th in the development of this group, as I haven’t seen enough to say the coach can get them to “overperform”. My head says we’re more likely to be around the 18th mark. But that will depend on our defence - there are worse sides than us at this level, we just need to ensure they stay that way!

 

Low expectations isn't a bad place to start. Let's hope you get some surprises 

[Silvio Dante]

3 minutes ago, Sir Geoff said:

Totally with you, Silvio. My head says 18th and a relegation struggle, particularly if we don't start well. Defence may be sound but that's not much use if you're drawing 0-0 losing 1-0, 2-0. Sides that don't score many goals usually get relegated, no matter how good the defence is. As an aside I still don't see many goals from our midfield which NP alluded to 12 months ago.

Agreed - and to be clear, we definitely had the issues over creativity under NP as well. I’m not sure that LM has made great headway towards solving that (and he actually made it worse for periods of last year in how he setup), and losing our best striker (avoidance of doubt: based on the level of interest, record and the clubs value) makes us even more toothless.

As Kevin Keegan said “Goals pay the rent”. We’d better hope our landlord isn’t Peter Rachman.

3 minutes ago, mozo said:

Low expectations isn't a bad place to start. Let's hope you get some surprises 

I bet you say that to all the people you’re trying to pull  

[Davefevs]

9 minutes ago, mozo said:

Low expectations isn't a bad place to start. Let's hope you get some surprises 

There is a big difference between expectations and prediction.  My expectation of Bristol City based on the likes of LM and BT is top-10 with a challenge for top-6.  My prediction is we will finish 14th.  I will be holding the club to that top-10, “improvement”, “challenge” position.

 

[Mr Popodopolous]

20 minutes ago, Sir Geoff said:

Totally with you, Silvio. My head says 18th and a relegation struggle, particularly if we don't start well. Defence may be sound but that's not much use if you're drawing 0-0 losing 1-0, 2-0. Sides that don't score many goals usually get relegated, no matter how good the defence is. As an aside I still don't see many goals from our midfield which NP alluded to 12 months ago.

Sykes I think if in the correct position consistently could have 5-10 in him.

The others harder to say albeit Knight in his early days at Derby did score some Goals.