We are all in League One for reason and that's because we are not yet good enough for the Championship. If we can win 15 games at home and 10 away, we will go up automatically. Need to bring in the right players and be ready to start well. Need a dominant central midfielder and a 20 goal plus striker. Bridcutt and Clarke-Harris would be a good start.
Thomas and Nigel have been very positive about our chances next season and that is my expectation unless things happen to change it. I think announcing the re-signing of players we are trying to re-sign would be a great first step as it will show there is confidence in the project.
It is a mistake IMO to worry about other teams when this stage is about us and whilst we can make some educated guesses, we don't know who will be strong or not next season. What we saw under Powell is that if you make the right recruitment decisions you can get out of this league reasonably easily. The question is, can we? The owner is definitely better and we have a tried and tested manager.
I don't see why not, but my recollection of the summer under Powell was how smooth it was. It felt like decent players wanted to sign for us and a lot of business was done reasonably quickly. I recall speaking to my friends/family who are Bournemouth supporters when we played them the season before and they were raving about Wiggins and when we signed him it made me think something positive was going on.
We are all in League One for reason and that's because we are not yet good enough for the Championship. If we can win 15 games at home and 10 away, we will go up automatically. Need to bring in the right players and be ready to start well. Need a dominant central midfielder and a 20 goal plus striker. Bridcutt and Clarke-Harris would be a good start.
Rotherham are the league winners for me unless we or someone like Ipswich really turn it on early. They were desperately unlucky to go down last season and in Paul Warne they have a very capable manager and a squad that won't struggle at this level
Sheffield Wednesday have got problems and I think will end up hovering above relegation
Ipswich will be boom or bust, they have cleared out a lot of the players who got them to this level and stubbornly kept them here and have bought in some very good signings on paper, if the gel they will be hard to imagine outside the top 2
Wycombe I think will annoy a lot of fans if clubs like ours, their centre forward is a monster and they have kept the bulk of their squad together
Portsmouth are in trouble I think and will have a transitional season but they have the right people in charge there in the Cowley brothers
Sunderland and Lee Johnson are going to have another season of their fans going apeshit about how bad they actually are and how much they will miss Wyke, a guy they only have taken to in the last 10 months
As for us, Nigel Adkins knows this league, we have a very strong starting 11 on paper and as long as we don't suffer our usual crisis with 11 or so senior players getting injured in the pavilion at sparrows Lane we have the makings of a good squad a healthy blend of experience and some good young players to hopefully step up. If Albie Morgan is given a chance and hits the ground running he can become a club legend, I love the kid think he carries quality around with him. Davidson, Barker, Henry, Vennings and Dempsey too all have opportunities to become the next generation spine of the club. Jayden Stockley staying fit is crucial, the guy is a genuine nightmare for defences. With a sprinkling of say 3 experienced professionals to come in to compliment Dobson and Clare who I think will become a fan favourite very quickly we have a very strong chance if top 6 maybe even top 3
Oh and Wigan, new owners are either showing serious ambitious intent or are plain stupid with the money they are spending but they will be another strong squad
I think it’s going to be a very poor league this season. I thought it was desperately poor last season, which is why we managed to only miss out on the play offs by GD.
As mentioned on the rumours thread, I agree that a lot of clubs cannot pay what players were on pre-covid, which means a lot of transfers are on hold. Football’s finances have taken a battering and hopefully it will mean a correction on player wages from the Championship down. I don’t have anything against people making money, but too many average players have been making too much money out of the game for too long. No disrespect to JFC, but I think someone said he was on £5k a week prior to his deal expiring in the summer. That’s quarter of a million a year. For a league one footballer
That’s more than some execs in organisations that make profits. We need a reset, and I hope footballer’s wages in general get pegged down quite a bit.
If that means more teams have youth players making up more of their 23 man squad then I guess that’s the way it has to be.
The difficulty for some of those footballers that have been earning tens of thousands a week and can’t find a club will be an adjustment in lifestyle perhaps.
Too soon to tell, but I think the game outside the Prem has changed for good. No more stupid money unless you’re an Ipswich or Wigan who are going all guns blazing, but let’s see how that works out if they miss out on promotion
L! this season is getting close to the Championship situation .. lots of decent teams, no really obvious rubbish ones, no real stand outs .. the big difference between the divisions though is the golden parachute cash .. this season will be a good one barring anymore Covid panics
Comments
It is a mistake IMO to worry about other teams when this stage is about us and whilst we can make some educated guesses, we don't know who will be strong or not next season. What we saw under Powell is that if you make the right recruitment decisions you can get out of this league reasonably easily. The question is, can we? The owner is definitely better and we have a tried and tested manager.
I don't see why not, but my recollection of the summer under Powell was how smooth it was. It felt like decent players wanted to sign for us and a lot of business was done reasonably quickly. I recall speaking to my friends/family who are Bournemouth supporters when we played them the season before and they were raving about Wiggins and when we signed him it made me think something positive was going on.
1. Sunderland
2. Ipswich
-
3. Sheffield Wednesday
4. Charlton
5. Rotherham
6. Wigan
-
7. Portsmouth
8. Burton
9. Oxford
10. Crewe
11. Lincoln
12. Wycombe
13. Bolton
14. Accrington
15. MK Dons
16. Gillingham
17. Doncaster
18. Fleetwood
19. Plymouth
20. Wimbledon
-
21. Shrewsbury
22. Cheltenham
23. Cambridge
24. Morecambe
2. Rotherham
-
3. Sheff. Wed
5. Charlton
6. Sunderland
-
7. Portsmouth
9. Wigan
12. Oxford
13. MK Dons
14. Plymouth
16. Accrington
17. Shrewsbury
18. Doncaster
19. AFC Wimbledon
20. Cheltenham
21. Crewe
22. Fleetwood
23. Cambridge
24. Morcambe
2. Rotherham
-
3. Portsmouth
5. Wigan
6. Sunderland
-
7. MK Dons
9. Sheff Weds
12. Oxford
13. Doncaster
14. Plymouth
16. Crewe
17. Fleetwood
18. Cheltenham
19. AFC Wimbledon
20. Cambridge
21. Accrington
22. Shrewsbury
23. Plymouth
24. Morcambe
2. Ipswich
-
3. Sunderland
4. Wigan
5. Charlton
6. Rotherham
-
7. Portsmouth
8. Wycombe
9. Gillingham
10. Bolton
11. Lincoln
12. Burton
13. Crewe
14. Accrington
15. Oxford
16. Wimbledon
17. Doncaster
18. Fleetwood
19. Plymouth
20. Fleetwood
-
21. Shrewsbury
22. Cheltenham
23. Cambridge
24. Morecambe
Sheffield Wednesday have got problems and I think will end up hovering above relegation
Ipswich will be boom or bust, they have cleared out a lot of the players who got them to this level and stubbornly kept them here and have bought in some very good signings on paper, if the gel they will be hard to imagine outside the top 2
Wycombe I think will annoy a lot of fans if clubs like ours, their centre forward is a monster and they have kept the bulk of their squad together
Portsmouth are in trouble I think and will have a transitional season but they have the right people in charge there in the Cowley brothers
Sunderland and Lee Johnson are going to have another season of their fans going apeshit about how bad they actually are and how much they will miss Wyke, a guy they only have taken to in the last 10 months
As for us, Nigel Adkins knows this league, we have a very strong starting 11 on paper and as long as we don't suffer our usual crisis with 11 or so senior players getting injured in the pavilion at sparrows Lane we have the makings of a good squad a healthy blend of experience and some good young players to hopefully step up. If Albie Morgan is given a chance and hits the ground running he can become a club legend, I love the kid think he carries quality around with him. Davidson, Barker, Henry, Vennings and Dempsey too all have opportunities to become the next generation spine of the club. Jayden Stockley staying fit is crucial, the guy is a genuine nightmare for defences. With a sprinkling of say 3 experienced professionals to come in to compliment Dobson and Clare who I think will become a fan favourite very quickly we have a very strong chance if top 6 maybe even top 3
As mentioned on the rumours thread, I agree that a lot of clubs cannot pay what players were on pre-covid, which means a lot of transfers are on hold. Football’s finances have taken a battering and hopefully it will mean a correction on player wages from the Championship down. I don’t have anything against people making money, but too many average players have been making too much money out of the game for too long. No disrespect to JFC, but I think someone said he was on £5k a week prior to his deal expiring in the summer. That’s quarter of a million a year. For a league one footballer
That’s more than some execs in organisations that make profits. We need a reset, and I hope footballer’s wages in general get pegged down quite a bit.
If that means more teams have youth players making up more of their 23 man squad then I guess that’s the way it has to be.
The difficulty for some of those footballers that have been earning tens of thousands a week and can’t find a club will be an adjustment in lifestyle perhaps.
Bizarrely if the transfer window shut now top 4 comfortably.