With the limited resources and untried players we have from the Championship, I will be happy with not going back down, I cannot see any further than a bottom 6 placing.
We're joint top so far. And I have seen nothing from any other teams this season, so far, to suggest we won't be at least in the same position come the end of the season. So it looks like a long season, hoping we get to the play-offs again, only to be disappointed by going straight up instead.
If we had anyone other than Lee Bowyer at the helmet, I'd be worried. I love the business weve done so far. I think he'll bring in one more perm and then the rest loans. Lee has yet to do anything to make me lost confidence in him yet. With Roland still here, we won't have the resources to smash it, but I do think we'll stave off relegation. 14th
Midfield and strikers are still low end , in terms of depth mainly but also quality . If we could get Bielik and Cullen (or similar) and a couple of useful forwards on loan, we’d have a sniff of staying up. We also need another centre half IMO.
My midfield comment may may seem negative- JFC is an unknown quantity post injury, Williams is exciting but has a dodgy injury record, people seem to forget how poor Pratley was when he played a lot of games , Lapslie is low on quality and Morgan is potentially the best of the lot but still very young and unproven at this level.
As we stand a miracle of zero injuries required with this squad to stay up . bottom two is where I reckon atm
Disclaimer Bonne , aneke, Lockyer and Amos the new additions to last year gone (from players that played a bit ) Cullen , Reeves, Bauer , Bielik , Aribo, Mike Marshall and Parker off the top of my challenged memory is definitely a downgrade from last year but still time for that to all change , hopefully!
Looking pretty bleak at the moment for me, but as others are saying will have to see who comes in as I felt that on day one last season and then we made some crucial signings.
Other than Taylor last season, the 3 midfield lads or Aribo Cullen and Bielik were by far and away our best players, the heartbeat all great at winning the ball and turning defence into attack. Absolutely crucial to us being a half decent team.
We haven’t replaced any of them and Morgan (who I like the look of), pratley and Forster caskey nowhere near on the same level and we’re a division up. We need a midfield otherwise I’m fearing the worst!
Hoping for a half decent start with a bit of momentum and some points on the board before any morale starts to sap if we have a bad run and belief is challenged.
aim pre transfer window was to survive - maybe get a big cup tie and the task for me remains the same IF we can back the boys i think we will get there - the championship has changed so much in recent years, forest last season spent over 50 million and finished 11th
i am looking forward to the better followed clubs coming to the valley and the atmosphere they bring - i think i've faced it that roland wont be going any time soon, and im going to go as many games as i can because if we go down ill regret it.
millwall, barnsley, luton, brum, qpr, wigan are the teams we need to be beating and taking points from.
i expect fulham and cardiff to go back up
and think leeds will be a force this year ( arent they always )
With the limited resources and untried players we have from the Championship, I will be happy with not going back down, I cannot see any further than a bottom 6 placing.
I agree with this .. while not being 'happy' with just avoiding relegation, I'd be 'contented' given our parlous financial and ownership position and the fact that we are now competing with clubs recently relegated from the Prem who have king's ransom type wads of cash to spend on players
Without Bowyer, I think we'd be 22nd. With Bowyer, JJ and Gallen, I think we'll be mid table -14th sounds about right. We may be the worst resourced financially in the division, but thankfully money isn't everything (ask Johnny Williams and Ben Amos!). I'm not usually this optimistic
I think Reading and Wigan will struggle and possibly Brum, Spanners, QPR, Barnsley and Sheff Wed. I think all 3 relegated teams are quite well run and will not crash through like happened to Sunderland, nor are there any obvious basket cases like Bolton or Ipswich this year.
Without Bowyer, I think we'd be 22nd. With Bowyer, JJ and Gallen, I think we'll be mid table -14th sounds about right. We may be the worst resourced financially in the division, but thankfully money isn't everything (ask Johnny Williams and Ben Amos!). I'm not usually this optimistic
I think Reading and Wigan will struggle and possibly Brum, Spanners, QPR, Barnsley and Sheff Wed. I think all 3 relegated teams are quite well run and will not crash through like happened to Sunderland, nor are there any obvious basket cases like Bolton or Ipswich this year.
Sheffield Wednesday's season will depend on who they get in as a replacement for Bruce
Had he stayed then I reckon they'd have been comfortable in mid-table at worst
Instead they've let him go and have an owner who can be on a bit of the loopy side so another Jos Luhukay type appointment could see them in trouble
theres always one established team that takes a nosedive (a la Ipswich last season) - so, take any one from Reading,Brum,Brentford, plus 2 from Blackburn,Barnsley,Millwall,Wigan,Luton.And hopefully we can stay out of bottom three.
theres always one established team that takes a nosedive (a la Ipswich last season) - so, take any one from Reading,Brum,Brentford, plus 2 from Blackburn,Barnsley,Millwall,Wigan,Luton.And hopefully we can stay out of bottom three.
I'm going for Birmingham or Hull City (Based on Grant McCann not coping at this level)
I do like Pep Clotet but dont think they should have sacked Garry Monk (despite the potential Agent scandal) whilst they've not replaced Che Adams
Are they even allowed to actually replace Adams
i.e. they got £15m for him but guess under their soft embargo they have to ask the EFL per each transfer
Depends on the loan signings, particularly whether or not they're familiar faces, and then injuries. At the moment we're rebuilding the entire midfield, and that's not a good way to go into a new season. By the end our first choice diamond was Bielik-Cullen-Aribo-Williams. Mercifully we've just brought Williams back, but other than that we need replacements for the midfield in almost every position and so far we've made two signings for the 10 spot and got JFC back from a year out injured. It's not ideal.
If we manage to bring Cullen and Bielik back then it will be a different story, but we'll still need someone in to replace Aribo's goals, assists and driving runs. He's not easily replaced, and there's a decent chance we'll get neither or Cullen or Bielik (I feel like we have a stronger chance of getting Cullen) so we're looking at getting in three loans in at midfield to define our whole way of playing. Last season we were a pretty attractive prospect for a young player who was going to be loaned out to L1, but this year we're competing with a much higher standard of team who will be after the same players, and many of them will be able to offer loan fees that we won't even start thinking about, which will blow us out of the water. We're not going to pay a fee, and Prem teams will be lucky if we offer to pay a quid of their players' wages for the season.
I'm also a bit uncomfortable with Bowyer's formation change and I'm hoping it's not a permanent thing. I get why he's looking at different shapes, because the diamond is easy to employ at a lower level but can get absolutely torn apart by pace, movement and width at high levels, but I'm not convinced that three at the back is a good option. We have three decent CHs, but next to no cover for them at the moment - right now it's Pratley and no-one - and I'm not sure we've got the right wing backs to handle the job all season. Page is in the right mold but Purrington, Dijksteel and Solly are your old school full backs, and none of them are going to consistently offer the pace and wide attacking threat that we will require to get past Championship defences. Bowyer's been sticking Dijksteel at CH in pre-season so he's obviously looking at his attributes in a similar way, but we definitely can't rely on Wiredu to be our option for a whole Championship season no matter how good his pre-season has been. At that point we might need to bring in a RWB on loan. Given that we need three midfielders, a striker, possibly more CHs and then maybe a RWB too we're over the squad limit for loans at this point, so at least one position will have to be light for depth.
We've also only got one proper first team striker, with Bowyer saying straight off the bat that he sees Bonne as a sub/development option, so the identity or existence of that player will be crucial. Realistically we're looking at a loan and it will have to be a pacy finisher in the mold of Grant which is probably the most in-demand kind of loan option going. If anyone can convince a quality player to pick us over better, wealthier options it's Bowyer, but we stand a serious chance of ending up with a Josh Parker more than a Darren Bent. If we can get in a decent striker on loan then I would be happy enough if we picked up Harriott as a back up striking option and prayed that our strikers never get injured (or suspended, Lyle). It's a hell of a risk to be basing your season's goal success on though and it's likely we'll still be crossing our fingers for it come deadline day. We'll probably then re-sign Parker at the death anyway.
Despite doing so well last season we're basically looking at a proper rebuild no matter what, even though we're halfway through July, and possibly an even bigger one if we opt for a formation change that we're not quite suited to in terms of the players we currently have. We've got good players and a great manager, but ultimately it depends on what loans Bowyer can pry off Prem and Championship clubs, if we can get them in early enough to bed them in, and if everyone can stay fit. We might end up getting loans a bit lower than the quality we would have liked in right at the death though, so we might have to brace ourselves for a slow start that we'll spend a lot of the season recovering from.
Comments
My midfield comment may may seem negative- JFC is an unknown quantity post injury, Williams is exciting but has a dodgy injury record, people seem to forget how poor Pratley was when he played a lot of games , Lapslie is low on quality and Morgan is potentially the best of the lot but still very young and unproven at this level.
If the season started today, we'd be going straight back down. But we have 3 more weeks to get signings in so let's wait and see who else arrives.
bottom two is where I reckon atm
Disclaimer
Bonne , aneke, Lockyer and Amos the new additions to last year
gone (from players that played a bit ) Cullen , Reeves, Bauer , Bielik , Aribo, Mike Marshall and Parker off the top of my challenged memory is definitely a downgrade from last year but still time for that to all change , hopefully!
Other than Taylor last season, the 3 midfield lads or Aribo Cullen and Bielik were by far and away our best players, the heartbeat all great at winning the ball and turning defence into attack. Absolutely crucial to us being a half decent team.
We haven’t replaced any of them and Morgan (who I like the look of), pratley and Forster caskey nowhere near on the same level and we’re a division up. We need a midfield otherwise I’m fearing the worst!
Hoping for a half decent start with a bit of momentum and some points on the board before any morale starts to sap if we have a bad run and belief is challenged.
i am looking forward to the better followed clubs coming to the valley and the atmosphere they bring - i think i've faced it that roland wont be going any time soon, and im going to go as many games as i can because if we go down ill regret it.
millwall, barnsley, luton, brum, qpr, wigan are the teams we need to be beating and taking points from.
i expect fulham and cardiff to go back up
and think leeds will be a force this year ( arent they always )
I wont be surprised if we finish higher (or lower) but this is the Championship, its so unpredictable I'll be happy to be wrong
My only concern is that our two cup runs might distract us a bit.
I think Reading and Wigan will struggle and possibly Brum, Spanners, QPR, Barnsley and Sheff Wed. I think all 3 relegated teams are quite well run and will not crash through like happened to Sunderland, nor are there any obvious basket cases like Bolton or Ipswich this year.
Had he stayed then I reckon they'd have been comfortable in mid-table at worst
Instead they've let him go and have an owner who can be on a bit of the loopy side so another Jos Luhukay type appointment could see them in trouble
theres always one established team that takes a nosedive (a la Ipswich last season) - so, take any one from Reading,Brum,Brentford, plus 2 from Blackburn,Barnsley,Millwall,Wigan,Luton.And hopefully we can stay out of bottom three.
I do like Pep Clotet but dont think they should have sacked Garry Monk (despite the potential Agent scandal) whilst they've not replaced Che Adams
Are they even allowed to actually replace Adams
i.e. they got £15m for him but guess under their soft embargo they have to ask the EFL per each transfer
If we manage to bring Cullen and Bielik back then it will be a different story, but we'll still need someone in to replace Aribo's goals, assists and driving runs. He's not easily replaced, and there's a decent chance we'll get neither or Cullen or Bielik (I feel like we have a stronger chance of getting Cullen) so we're looking at getting in three loans in at midfield to define our whole way of playing. Last season we were a pretty attractive prospect for a young player who was going to be loaned out to L1, but this year we're competing with a much higher standard of team who will be after the same players, and many of them will be able to offer loan fees that we won't even start thinking about, which will blow us out of the water. We're not going to pay a fee, and Prem teams will be lucky if we offer to pay a quid of their players' wages for the season.
I'm also a bit uncomfortable with Bowyer's formation change and I'm hoping it's not a permanent thing. I get why he's looking at different shapes, because the diamond is easy to employ at a lower level but can get absolutely torn apart by pace, movement and width at high levels, but I'm not convinced that three at the back is a good option. We have three decent CHs, but next to no cover for them at the moment - right now it's Pratley and no-one - and I'm not sure we've got the right wing backs to handle the job all season. Page is in the right mold but Purrington, Dijksteel and Solly are your old school full backs, and none of them are going to consistently offer the pace and wide attacking threat that we will require to get past Championship defences. Bowyer's been sticking Dijksteel at CH in pre-season so he's obviously looking at his attributes in a similar way, but we definitely can't rely on Wiredu to be our option for a whole Championship season no matter how good his pre-season has been. At that point we might need to bring in a RWB on loan. Given that we need three midfielders, a striker, possibly more CHs and then maybe a RWB too we're over the squad limit for loans at this point, so at least one position will have to be light for depth.
We've also only got one proper first team striker, with Bowyer saying straight off the bat that he sees Bonne as a sub/development option, so the identity or existence of that player will be crucial. Realistically we're looking at a loan and it will have to be a pacy finisher in the mold of Grant which is probably the most in-demand kind of loan option going. If anyone can convince a quality player to pick us over better, wealthier options it's Bowyer, but we stand a serious chance of ending up with a Josh Parker more than a Darren Bent. If we can get in a decent striker on loan then I would be happy enough if we picked up Harriott as a back up striking option and prayed that our strikers never get injured (or suspended, Lyle). It's a hell of a risk to be basing your season's goal success on though and it's likely we'll still be crossing our fingers for it come deadline day. We'll probably then re-sign Parker at the death anyway.
Despite doing so well last season we're basically looking at a proper rebuild no matter what, even though we're halfway through July, and possibly an even bigger one if we opt for a formation change that we're not quite suited to in terms of the players we currently have. We've got good players and a great manager, but ultimately it depends on what loans Bowyer can pry off Prem and Championship clubs, if we can get them in early enough to bed them in, and if everyone can stay fit. We might end up getting loans a bit lower than the quality we would have liked in right at the death though, so we might have to brace ourselves for a slow start that we'll spend a lot of the season recovering from.
So yeah, probably 1st.