Jeffers217 I can take us being tight AS LONG as the club don't act like everything is rosey and that we are potential promotion challengers. I have the upmost respect for McDermott, that guy is superb but I have lost a tiny bit of respect for him praising our defence and saying it's been incredible WHEN DEEP DOWN he knows it's not good enough.
A lot of covering over the cracks by the club I feel. Whilst we were the better side at Pompey, if we were playing against a better strikeforce, we would have been a good 3-0 down by half time, cue Forest and Leicester!
Maybe I'm just a cynical old sod, but I think I can see "tub thumping" for what it is.
You can't seriously expect Madejski, McDermott, et al to espouse anything other than the generic "challenging at the top end" "quality side" kind of soundbites, they are in the bums on seats business,after all.
We
could be serious promotion challengers this year, but with a vulnerable defence, we will be putting a lot of pressure on our flair players to deliver. If they do, then that's fine, we will win more games than we lose. However, If we "pull the team's teeth" by selling flair players in order to shore up what is quite obviously a leaky defence, then it becomes a bit of a "two steps forward, one and a half back" dilemma for a cash strapped team manager.
And to pick up on another point made earlier, it is all very well and good lauding our sensible club for growing its own playing talent.
The problem is that developing youngsters is not an exact science. Some kids go all the way, others finish up at Basingstoke Town.
I would venture to suggest that we are attracting a better quality of youngster these days because of the enhanced profile of the club, and the level we are competing at. Twenty years ago, Mr. Church would probably have wound up at Palace, or Southampton.
If we have to continually cash in on our best young talent, then I fear that the likelihood is that those players who were once farmed out to lower league sides will be making up our first team.
That's what I mean by the club sliding backwards