After the match Nigel was understandably not happy at having to speak over the celebrating Hull players. He rightly acknowledged their moment but was clearly hurting when he stated something along the lines of,
"That'll be us next year."
Easy to say but he strikes me as too smart to drop that in as a throw away line where he could easily end up with egg on his face; I think he genuinely believes that we have a proper chance - if the recruitment is right. Didn't a great man in our history once say something similar after losing the 1946 Cup Final?
Since coming in he's brought even the existing squad very, very close; the improvement is there for all to see and now we seem to have put the embarrassing home form to bed. Everything points to a good relationship with Thomas and the early response to season ticket sales has been excellent. Right now I can only feel excited - let's maintain that with early signings who want to be part of something special and perhaps that'll be us next year.
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Comments
Peterborough, crewe or Accrington.
To have had any material effect on our season, he probably needed to join much earlier. In January perhaps?
Overall I'm feeling positive about next year. Everything bar playing staff is strong so get that sorted during the summer and away we go.
Looking forward to it!
Do I hear 12/1 for Andy G anywhere, No.
Sorry Andy I tried.
9/1 it is.
We'll be pushing against, in no particular order:
missing just 2 players thru injury at any particular time and the wheels easily come off - just look at the period without Innis or Famewo
ten or a dozen players out of contract and the 5 loans is squad revolution not evolution
established sides like Sunderland and Portsmouth have been splashing about in this shitty puddle for seasons and only just getting close
For all his enthusiasm TS has no experience in this business, we have no idea how patient he might be in an extended period of disappointing results.
There's 23 other sides trying to get in our way of reaching the top 2
The standard of officiating has been bloody awful, we have the harsh experience of this season to prove how critical even just one goal denying/allowing decision can be.
This season's anti-competitive 'salary cap' might be history but specific wage constraints remain, we can't run before we can walk financially, Wednesday's and Sunderland's budgets will be significantly bigger than ours
We've still got a douchebag for a landlord and his crippling legacy to overcome
Expectations need to be managed
7th was no disaster this season
It would be slightly disappointing next season but, again, far from disastrous
I wouldn't entertain anything shorter than 10/1 on automatic promotion