Spent time during lockdown watching a lot of U23 and U18 football on any platform I could find all to pass time and improve my knowledge on who is out there, what the talent is like, how other teams play in comparison, what the standard is etc. Not a lot else you could do back at the start. I had mentioned this before.
As a result I came across Simms before he started banging them in regularly for Everton U23s. I followed his progress and he was scoring a fair amount.
I asked Gallen and he said he had not heard of him, so he wrote his name down to have a research. That really surprised me.
By that point it was around early December 2020 and we had missed the boat because teams in our league had heard of him and done their research before. He joined Blackpool in the January and scored goals to help them gain promotion.
We were after a striker and signed Schwartz, which unfortunately didn’t work out for many reasons. Just signed at the wrong time in my honest opinion.
However, if we had done some research and knew about Simms, it does make me wonder whether he would’ve scored just a few goals for us that took us into the top six at someone else’s expense. And then who knows what could’ve happened.
All theoretical at the end of the day, but what it does say is that we all know Gallen is very good at what he does, but he’s only one person and definitely has required support from others to help with the scouting and recruitment for a little while.
Spent time during lockdown watching a lot of U23 and U18 football on any platform I could find all to pass time and improve my knowledge on who is out there, what the talent is like, how other teams play in comparison, what the standard is etc. Not a lot else you could do back at the start. I had mentioned this before.
As a result I came across Simms before he started banging them in regularly for Everton U23s. I followed his progress and he was scoring a fair amount.
I asked Gallen and he said he had not heard of him, so he wrote his name down to have a research. That really surprised me.
By that point it was around early December 2020 and we had missed the boat because teams in our league had heard of him and done their research before. He joined Blackpool in the January and scored goals to help them gain promotion.
We were after a striker and signed Schwartz, which unfortunately didn’t work out for many reasons. Just signed at the wrong time in my honest opinion.
However, if we had done some research and knew about Simms, it does make me wonder whether he would’ve scored just a few goals for us that took us into the top six at someone else’s expense. And then who knows what could’ve happened.
All theoretical at the end of the day, but what it does say is that we all know Gallen is very good at what he does, but he’s only one person and definitely has required support from others to help with the scouting and recruitment for a little while.
Do you still honestly believe that Gallen had never heard of him, period?
I wasn't there so I don't know but I had heard of him, knew nothing about him but knew the name, position, club etc.
I still find it almost impossible to believe that Gallen hadn't heard of him at all. Not be in a position to discuss strengths, weakness etc etc yeah I can buy that. But to have never heard of him?
There is a saying. One Swallow doesn’t make a summer.
Likewise 3 wins against some of the poorest teams in League 1, doesn’t cover up the appalling performances we witnessed throughout January, February and early March.
I still believe that a change of management is required at the end of the season.
There is a saying. One Swallow doesn’t make a summer.
Likewise 3 wins against some of the poorest teams in League 1, doesn’t cover up the appalling performances we witnessed throughout January, February and early March.
I still believe that a change of management is required at the end of the season.
Yet apparently the Jan-Mar performances with key players out cover up the Oct-Dec ones?
There's another saying... you can't polish a turd. The squad clearly isn't strong enough once we lose a couple of players. We have no threat. A guy who has given so much to this club deserves a chance to build his team over the summer.
You've now called for Jackson out 6 times on this thread... give it a rest. Feel like you want him to fail.
There is a saying. One Swallow doesn’t make a summer.
Likewise 3 wins against some of the poorest teams in League 1, doesn’t cover up the appalling performances we witnessed throughout January, February and early March.
I still believe that a change of management is required at the end of the season.
Yet apparently the Jan-Mar performances with key players out cover up the Oct-Dec ones?
There's another saying... you can't polish a turd. The squad clearly isn't strong enough once we lose a couple of players. We have no threat. A guy who has given so much to this club deserves a chance to build his team over the summer.
You've now called for Jackson out 6 times on this thread... give it a rest. Feel like you want him to fail.
I don’t want him to fail. But I want is best for the club.
My personal feeling is that JJ is not really cut out to be a manager. There are, or there will be, better managers available come the summer.
There is a saying. One Swallow doesn’t make a summer.
Likewise 3 wins against some of the poorest teams in League 1, doesn’t cover up the appalling performances we witnessed throughout January, February and early March.
I still believe that a change of management is required at the end of the season.
Yet apparently the Jan-Mar performances with key players out cover up the Oct-Dec ones?
There's another saying... you can't polish a turd. The squad clearly isn't strong enough once we lose a couple of players. We have no threat. A guy who has given so much to this club deserves a chance to build his team over the summer.
You've now called for Jackson out 6 times on this thread... give it a rest. Feel like you want him to fail.
I don’t want him to fail. But I want is best for the club.
My personal feeling is that JJ is not really cut out to be a manager. There are, or there will be, better managers available come the summer.
There is a saying. One Swallow doesn’t make a summer.
Likewise 3 wins against some of the poorest teams in League 1, doesn’t cover up the appalling performances we witnessed throughout January, February and early March.
I still believe that a change of management is required at the end of the season.
Yet apparently the Jan-Mar performances with key players out cover up the Oct-Dec ones?
There's another saying... you can't polish a turd. The squad clearly isn't strong enough once we lose a couple of players. We have no threat. A guy who has given so much to this club deserves a chance to build his team over the summer.
You've now called for Jackson out 6 times on this thread... give it a rest. Feel like you want him to fail.
I don’t want him to fail. But I want is best for the club.
My personal feeling is that JJ is not really cut out to be a manager. There are, or there will be, better managers available come the summer.
Jacko deserves up till at least Christmas and by then we’ll know whether he’s good enough cos to me I’m not sure either way atm
At least the current good form has put to bed any rumours that Jacko won’t be manager at the start of next season. Personal opinion doesn’t matter as Jacko will be manager come start of next season and will start to make any opinions come August 2022
There is a saying. One Swallow doesn’t make a summer.
Likewise 3 wins against some of the poorest teams in League 1, doesn’t cover up the appalling performances we witnessed throughout January, February and early March.
I still believe that a change of management is required at the end of the season.
Yet apparently the Jan-Mar performances with key players out cover up the Oct-Dec ones?
There's another saying... you can't polish a turd. The squad clearly isn't strong enough once we lose a couple of players. We have no threat. A guy who has given so much to this club deserves a chance to build his team over the summer.
You've now called for Jackson out 6 times on this thread... give it a rest. Feel like you want him to fail.
I don’t want him to fail. But I want is best for the club.
My personal feeling is that JJ is not really cut out to be a manager. There are, or there will be, better managers available come the summer.
Personally i think that long term you'll be proved right, however you can't deny there is a case that Jackson actually is good enough...........when he has his best team available.
There is a saying. One Swallow doesn’t make a summer.
Likewise 3 wins against some of the poorest teams in League 1, doesn’t cover up the appalling performances we witnessed throughout January, February and early March.
I still believe that a change of management is required at the end of the season.
Yet apparently the Jan-Mar performances with key players out cover up the Oct-Dec ones?
There's another saying... you can't polish a turd. The squad clearly isn't strong enough once we lose a couple of players. We have no threat. A guy who has given so much to this club deserves a chance to build his team over the summer.
You've now called for Jackson out 6 times on this thread... give it a rest. Feel like you want him to fail.
I don’t want him to fail. But I want is best for the club.
My personal feeling is that JJ is not really cut out to be a manager. There are, or there will be, better managers available come the summer.
who? (just out of interest)
Shall we wait for the summer to answer that one?
can do, but he did say 'there are better managers available'
There is a saying. One Swallow doesn’t make a summer.
Likewise 3 wins against some of the poorest teams in League 1, doesn’t cover up the appalling performances we witnessed throughout January, February and early March.
I still believe that a change of management is required at the end of the season.
Jackson has taken a side who were, if not in relegation zone, then next to it (genuinely can’t remember) and when with a fully fit set of of strikers delivered promotion form against all sorts of opposition, and not just the three worse ones recently.
Now, this isn’t enough to prove for certain if he is the right man or the wrong man. But my goodness he has done enough to be given a fair crack and take us into the next season with all the fans backing.
There is a saying. One Swallow doesn’t make a summer.
Likewise 3 wins against some of the poorest teams in League 1, doesn’t cover up the appalling performances we witnessed throughout January, February and early March.
I still believe that a change of management is required at the end of the season.
Jacko deserves up till at least Christmas and by then we’ll know whether he’s good enough cos to me I’m not sure either way atm
I fall directly between these two views. If I’m being honest I don’t see anything in Jackson that makes me think he’s the one. If it wasn’t for the fact that it’s Jacko then I think the calls for him to be replaced would be much louder. Having said that, it is Jacko and I agree he deserves the chance to have a proper summer and be given a run at next season. He has to deliver top six by Christmas though. Nothing else is good enough.
There is a saying. One Swallow doesn’t make a summer.
Likewise 3 wins against some of the poorest teams in League 1, doesn’t cover up the appalling performances we witnessed throughout January, February and early March.
I still believe that a change of management is required at the end of the season.
Jacko deserves up till at least Christmas and by then we’ll know whether he’s good enough cos to me I’m not sure either way atm
I fall directly between these two views. If I’m being honest I don’t see anything in Jackson that makes me think he’s the one. If it wasn’t for the fact that it’s Jacko then I think the calls for him to be replaced would be much louder. Having said that, it is Jacko and I agree he deserves the chance to have a proper summer and be given a run at next season. He has to deliver top six by Christmas though. Nothing else is good enough.
To be fair I think a lot of people would probably have said the same about Powell in that first period when he took over. He was obviously capable but I for one honestly didn't foresee the success he'd go onto.
There's no way to know if lightning will strike twice but overall Jackson has done well enough that he at least deserves a chance with his own players, for me.
There is a saying. One Swallow doesn’t make a summer.
Likewise 3 wins against some of the poorest teams in League 1, doesn’t cover up the appalling performances we witnessed throughout January, February and early March.
I still believe that a change of management is required at the end of the season.
Jacko deserves up till at least Christmas and by then we’ll know whether he’s good enough cos to me I’m not sure either way atm
I fall directly between these two views. If I’m being honest I don’t see anything in Jackson that makes me think he’s the one. If it wasn’t for the fact that it’s Jacko then I think the calls for him to be replaced would be much louder. Having said that, it is Jacko and I agree he deserves the chance to have a proper summer and be given a run at next season. He has to deliver top six by Christmas though. Nothing else is good enough.
To be fair I think a lot of people would probably have said the same about Powell in that first period when he took over. He was obviously capable but I for one honestly didn't foresee the success he'd go onto.
There's no way to know if lightning will strike twice but overall Jackson has done well enough that he at least deserves a chance with his own players, for me.
I said before that I was gutted when Powell got the job because there was a 90% chance it would eventually go Pete Tong and he would be booed out the back door. In a funny way the Roland debacle stopped that happening.
I am in the mind now that Jackson does deserve the chance with his own players but
1) Will they be "his players"? We wouldn't have signed the likes of Yann and Morrison with anyone other than Powell as the manager. Does Jackson have that clout at the club or those links in the game? These are not Adkins' players or Bowyer’s.
2) If he isn't the right man it's going to cost Thomas £8-10 million to find out. It's easy to spend someone else's money. I am not convinced Thomas thinks he is.
From a purely cynical point of view Jackson either needs to be a massive success or a massive failer because it needs closer.
There is a saying. One Swallow doesn’t make a summer.
Likewise 3 wins against some of the poorest teams in League 1, doesn’t cover up the appalling performances we witnessed throughout January, February and early March.
I still believe that a change of management is required at the end of the season.
Jacko deserves up till at least Christmas and by then we’ll know whether he’s good enough cos to me I’m not sure either way atm
I fall directly between these two views. If I’m being honest I don’t see anything in Jackson that makes me think he’s the one. If it wasn’t for the fact that it’s Jacko then I think the calls for him to be replaced would be much louder. Having said that, it is Jacko and I agree he deserves the chance to have a proper summer and be given a run at next season. He has to deliver top six by Christmas though. Nothing else is good enough.
To be fair I think a lot of people would probably have said the same about Powell in that first period when he took over. He was obviously capable but I for one honestly didn't foresee the success he'd go onto.
There's no way to know if lightning will strike twice but overall Jackson has done well enough that he at least deserves a chance with his own players, for me.
I said before that I was gutted when Powell got the job because there was a 90% chance it would eventually go Pete Tong and he would be booed out the back door. In a funny way the Roland debacle stopped that happening.
I am in the mind now that Jackson does deserve the chance with his own players but
1) Will they be "his players"? We wouldn't have signed the likes of Yann and Morrison with anyone other than Powell as the manager. Does Jackson have that clout at the club or those links in the game? These are not Adkins' players or Bowyer’s.
2) If he isn't the right man it's going to cost Thomas £8-10 million to find out. It's easy to spend someone else's money. I am not convinced Thomas thinks he is.
From a purely cynical point of view Jackson either needs to be a massive success or a massive failer because it needs closer.
This is Sandgaard's dilemma and the bit I personally think he's fallen/will fall short on - in English football at this level you either win big (I.e. Promotion and the increase in revenue) or you lose big. Sunderland, Ipswich, Bolton, and us - all have spent lots of money for the level and conceivably none could go up this year. The wages will still need to be paid and that is before spending money on replacing/repairing their respective squads.
Sandgaard came in with the intention of speculating to accumulate, hire a big name manager, throw some money at the squad and get promoted so he can start trying to balance the books a bit more. That (obviously) did not happen. Problem is, I am far from convinced he's going to get it right next season frankly and the losses will keep on going up and up.
There is a saying. One Swallow doesn’t make a summer.
Likewise 3 wins against some of the poorest teams in League 1, doesn’t cover up the appalling performances we witnessed throughout January, February and early March.
I still believe that a change of management is required at the end of the season.
Jacko deserves up till at least Christmas and by then we’ll know whether he’s good enough cos to me I’m not sure either way atm
I fall directly between these two views. If I’m being honest I don’t see anything in Jackson that makes me think he’s the one. If it wasn’t for the fact that it’s Jacko then I think the calls for him to be replaced would be much louder. Having said that, it is Jacko and I agree he deserves the chance to have a proper summer and be given a run at next season. He has to deliver top six by Christmas though. Nothing else is good enough.
To be fair I think a lot of people would probably have said the same about Powell in that first period when he took over. He was obviously capable but I for one honestly didn't foresee the success he'd go onto.
There's no way to know if lightning will strike twice but overall Jackson has done well enough that he at least deserves a chance with his own players, for me.
I said before that I was gutted when Powell got the job because there was a 90% chance it would eventually go Pete Tong and he would be booed out the back door. In a funny way the Roland debacle stopped that happening.
I am in the mind now that Jackson does deserve the chance with his own players but
1) Will they be "his players"? We wouldn't have signed the likes of Yann and Morrison with anyone other than Powell as the manager. Does Jackson have that clout at the club or those links in the game? These are not Adkins' players or Bowyer’s.
2) If he isn't the right man it's going to cost Thomas £8-10 million to find out. It's easy to spend someone else's money. I am not convinced Thomas thinks he is.
From a purely cynical point of view Jackson either needs to be a massive success or a massive failer because it needs closer.
I think either way people will blame Sandgaard/players/fans/recruitment because they refuse to believe Jackson might not the chosen one.
There is a saying. One Swallow doesn’t make a summer.
Likewise 3 wins against some of the poorest teams in League 1, doesn’t cover up the appalling performances we witnessed throughout January, February and early March.
I still believe that a change of management is required at the end of the season.
Jacko deserves up till at least Christmas and by then we’ll know whether he’s good enough cos to me I’m not sure either way atm
I fall directly between these two views. If I’m being honest I don’t see anything in Jackson that makes me think he’s the one. If it wasn’t for the fact that it’s Jacko then I think the calls for him to be replaced would be much louder. Having said that, it is Jacko and I agree he deserves the chance to have a proper summer and be given a run at next season. He has to deliver top six by Christmas though. Nothing else is good enough.
But if Jacko doesn’t deliver by Christmas, that's the 2022/23 season gone. Personally I don't think the recruitment, training and team tactics are good enough to produce a strong team early in the summer window to enable promotion next season. The conditions that enabled Powell to succeed will not be replicated for Jacko.
I don’t think JJ necessarily deserves to be manager come the start of next season, however I’m happy to see if he gets the right support, Which he does deserve in pre season recruitment etc. if things start slowly I think TS has to be prepared to act a hell of a lot quicker than he did this season as by then Jacko will have his own team and ethos installed into the players. I’m not convinced as things stand about his ability going forward but will be very happy if he does turn out to be top notch. So at the moment it’s definitely splinters in my arse time, but hope to be getting off the fence. If we don’t have a substantial turnaround in playing staff for next season I don’t see much improving sadly. He’s had this group long enough to be able to see if they can be a promotion winning team, and I’d hazard a guess he knows the answer.
I don’t think JJ necessarily deserves to be manager come the start of next season, however I’m happy to see if he gets the right support, Which he does deserve in pre season recruitment etc. if things start slowly I think TS has to be prepared to act a hell of a lot quicker than he did this season as by then Jacko will have his own team and ethos installed into the players. I’m not convinced as things stand about his ability going forward but will be very happy if he does turn out to be top notch. So at the moment it’s definitely splinters in my arse time, but hope to be getting off the fence. If we don’t have a substantial turnaround in playing staff for next season I don’t see much improving sadly. He’s had this group long enough to be able to see if they can be a promotion winning team, and I’d hazard a guess he knows the answer.
In hindsight, yes I know it's easy, our season was doomed before it started.
We started the season with about 12 fit senior pros and a half fit Inniss. Some of the players knew Adkins didn't want them and we played 4 of the divisions best teams straight off the bat.
The first time Thomas could have justified sacking Adkins was after the Bolton home game. He lasted 3 more games, we won one and lost one in injury time. By and large we have beaten the teams we should beat and lost to the teams we should lose to.
If Jackson or anyone else had been manager from the start, all things being equal, we MIGHT be 5 or 6 points better off and got those points in a slightly different order. We would still be a bang average mid table league 1 team.
My fear is we have a marginally better summer and a bit more luck and have a similar season to Portsmouth next season and it counts as progress because its Jackson.
Based on the rebuilding job that is needed to bring this parlous squad up to scratch, I have already resigned myself to at best another two years in this God awful league.
Not seen anything to show Jackson will get us promoted but hoping to be proved wrong. Seems to be too nice. Saying things like, albeit in public, how much he likes this group of players is not what I want to hear, considering the insufferable performances, particularly away.
I don’t think JJ necessarily deserves to be manager come the start of next season, however I’m happy to see if he gets the right support, Which he does deserve in pre season recruitment etc. if things start slowly I think TS has to be prepared to act a hell of a lot quicker than he did this season as by then Jacko will have his own team and ethos installed into the players. I’m not convinced as things stand about his ability going forward but will be very happy if he does turn out to be top notch. So at the moment it’s definitely splinters in my arse time, but hope to be getting off the fence. If we don’t have a substantial turnaround in playing staff for next season I don’t see much improving sadly. He’s had this group long enough to be able to see if they can be a promotion winning team, and I’d hazard a guess he knows the answer.
In hindsight, yes I know it's easy, our season was doomed before it started.
We started the season with about 12 fit senior pros and a half fit Inniss. Some of the players knew Adkins didn't want them and we played 4 of the divisions best teams straight off the bat.
The first time Thomas could have justified sacking Adkins was after the Bolton home game. He lasted 3 more games, we won one and lost one in injury time. By and large we have beaten the teams we should beat and lost to the teams we should lose to.
If Jackson or anyone else had been manager from the start, all things being equal, we MIGHT be 5 or 6 points better off and got those points in a slightly different order. We would still be a bang average mid table league 1 team.
My fear is we have a marginally better summer and a bit more luck and have a similar season to Portsmouth next season and it counts as progress because its Jackson.
Well his current PPG total would have us 11 points better than we are now if in the completely hypothetical scenario that he started the season managing us.
Based on the rebuilding job that is needed to bring this parlous squad up to scratch, I have already resigned myself to at best another two years in this God awful league.
Not seen anything to show Jackson will get us promoted but hoping to be proved wrong. Seems to be too nice. Saying things like, albeit in public, how much he likes this group of players is not what I want to hear, considering the insufferable performances, particularly away.
The summer recruitment rather than press conferences is how we’ll be able to judge whether he’s too nice. Being too critical in public probably wouldn’t get a good reaction from the players on the pitch. I think he knows a big rebuild is needed and most of them will go.
If too many get new deals and we sign players like Lee permanently then that’ll tell us he really rates this group.
One problem is people are still harking back to the season of Powell's rebuild and think bringing in 5 or 6 players will instantly mean we walk to promotion like that season. But we're not factoring in how tough this league will be next year - it's now like a mini Championship.
We will likely face seriously monied sides in Sunderland, Ipswich, Barnsley and Derby under new ownership.
Then you have big clubs for the league like Pompey, Wednesday and Bolton and the well run clubs that constantly overachieve like Oxford, MK and Wycombe.
If they don't get the decisions right then we'll be finding a top half finish tough again and even if he does it's going to be incredibly tough to get promotion.
So it's a massive season next year in terms of us not becoming an average L1 team and possibly Sandgaard's desire to keep pushing on against what would become a challenging fanbase and yearly £6m+ losses
Hate to say it but this season was the season to go big and 'blow the league away' as Wigan have done.
Comments
Was confirmed in an interview with The Athletic he'd had heart issues amongst other things and didn't get cleared to play again until end of Jan.
As a result I came across Simms before he started banging them in regularly for Everton U23s. I followed his progress and he was scoring a fair amount.
I asked Gallen and he said he had not heard of him, so he wrote his name down to have a research. That really surprised me.
By that point it was around early December 2020 and we had missed the boat because teams in our league had heard of him and done their research before. He joined Blackpool in the January and scored goals to help them gain promotion.
We were after a striker and signed Schwartz, which unfortunately didn’t work out for many reasons. Just signed at the wrong time in my honest opinion.
However, if we had done some research and knew about Simms, it does make me wonder whether he would’ve scored just a few goals for us that took us into the top six at someone else’s expense. And then who knows what could’ve happened.
All theoretical at the end of the day, but what it does say is that we all know Gallen is very good at what he does, but he’s only one person and definitely has required support from others to help with the scouting and recruitment for a little while.
I wasn't there so I don't know but I had heard of him, knew nothing about him but knew the name, position, club etc.
I still find it almost impossible to believe that Gallen hadn't heard of him at all. Not be in a position to discuss strengths, weakness etc etc yeah I can buy that. But to have never heard of him?
would currently put us on 60 points which is 10th
and a season ending total of 71
One Swallow doesn’t make a summer.
Likewise 3 wins against some of the poorest teams in League 1,
doesn’t cover up the appalling performances we witnessed throughout January, February and early March.
I still believe that a change of management is required at the end of the season.
There's another saying... you can't polish a turd. The squad clearly isn't strong enough once we lose a couple of players. We have no threat. A guy who has given so much to this club deserves a chance to build his team over the summer.
You've now called for Jackson out 6 times on this thread... give it a rest. Feel like you want him to fail.
But I want is best for the club.
My personal feeling is that JJ is not really cut out to be a manager.
There are, or there will be, better managers available come the summer.
Give him such a good squad that it's basically impossible for him to not win the league.
Now, this isn’t enough to prove for certain if he is the right man or the wrong man. But my goodness he has done enough to be given a fair crack and take us into the next season with all the fans backing.
There's no way to know if lightning will strike twice but overall Jackson has done well enough that he at least deserves a chance with his own players, for me.
Still need to make big changes in the summer, the squad isn't good enough
I am in the mind now that Jackson does deserve the chance with his own players but
1) Will they be "his players"? We wouldn't have signed the likes of Yann and Morrison with anyone other than Powell as the manager. Does Jackson have that clout at the club or those links in the game? These are not Adkins' players or Bowyer’s.
2) If he isn't the right man it's going to cost Thomas £8-10 million to find out. It's easy to spend someone else's money. I am not convinced Thomas thinks he is.
From a purely cynical point of view Jackson either needs to be a massive success or a massive failer because it needs closer.
Sandgaard came in with the intention of speculating to accumulate, hire a big name manager, throw some money at the squad and get promoted so he can start trying to balance the books a bit more. That (obviously) did not happen. Problem is, I am far from convinced he's going to get it right next season frankly and the losses will keep on going up and up.
Personally I don't think the recruitment, training and team tactics are good enough to produce a strong team early in the summer window to enable promotion next season.
The conditions that enabled Powell to succeed will not be replicated for Jacko.
We started the season with about 12 fit senior pros and a half fit Inniss. Some of the players knew Adkins didn't want them and we played 4 of the divisions best teams straight off the bat.
The first time Thomas could have justified sacking Adkins was after the Bolton home game. He lasted 3 more games, we won one and lost one in injury time. By and large we have beaten the teams we should beat and lost to the teams we should lose to.
If Jackson or anyone else had been manager from the start, all things being equal, we MIGHT be 5 or 6 points better off and got those points in a slightly different order. We would still be a bang average mid table league 1 team.
My fear is we have a marginally better summer and a bit more luck and have a similar season to Portsmouth next season and it counts as progress because its Jackson.
Not seen anything to show Jackson will get us promoted but hoping to be proved wrong. Seems to be too nice. Saying things like, albeit in public, how much he likes this group of players is not what I want to hear, considering the insufferable performances, particularly away.
If too many get new deals and we sign players like Lee permanently then that’ll tell us he really rates this group.
We will likely face seriously monied sides in Sunderland, Ipswich, Barnsley and Derby under new ownership.
Then you have big clubs for the league like Pompey, Wednesday and Bolton and the well run clubs that constantly overachieve like Oxford, MK and Wycombe.
If they don't get the decisions right then we'll be finding a top half finish tough again and even if he does it's going to be incredibly tough to get promotion.
So it's a massive season next year in terms of us not becoming an average L1 team and possibly Sandgaard's desire to keep pushing on against what would become a challenging fanbase and yearly £6m+ losses
Hate to say it but this season was the season to go big and 'blow the league away' as Wigan have done.