We wont get promoted......just yet

[TBM]

I believe its gonna take at least another 5 years before we are back in the Premiership - but will you be disappointed?

Personally im just looking forward to the fresh start with new a manager and players - if we finish top half next season i'll be happy, i would just like to see nice football with a young squad that will challenge for the title in 4/5 years time.

Im sure 99% of our fans wont agree though, everyone will see it as our right to be in the Premiership again.

[readingbedding]

Personally, we have nothing to fear from this league.
I reckon we'll be a strong team again this year, and promotion is not a far off dream for myself.
Anyway, plenty of patience, who cares?
As long as we compete and do as well we can, who cares?
But we won't make up the numbers next year.

[bottom left hand corner]

If everyone goes on to say I don’t care as long as we play nice football, and say we do play nice football next year but don’t compete for the league or play offs.

You know people will be slating the team straight away e.g -

- There’s know point playing nice football if there isn't 3 points as well!
- This young team is ****!
- Why did we appoint cubishley?
- We didn’t buy any quality!

[TBM]

If everyone goes on to say I don’t care as long as we play nice football, and say we do play nice football next year but don’t compete for the league or play offs.

You know people will be slating the team straight away e.g -

- There’s know point playing nice football if there isn't 3 points as well!
- This young team is ****!
- Why did we appoint cubishley?
- We didn’t buy any quality!

My point.....hence why i said 99% of you wont agree with me!

[papereyes]

If everyone goes on to say i dont care as long as we play nice football, and say we do play nice football next year but dont compete for the league or play offs.

You know people will be slating the team streight away e.g -

- Theres know point playing nice football if there isn't 3 points aswell!
- This young team is ****!
- Why did we apoint cubishley?
- We didnt buy any quality!

1) It won't be everyone

2) Will you still make such a trite post if its clearly different people.

If we win more than we lose with a young and, more importantly, improving side, then I reckon you'll see little complaint. One or two thick numpties but most would take a clear season of transition if there was some clear signs of development, improvement and a plan.

Most of the criticism this season was based on a team that was clearly talented often playing within themselves and with little in the way of leadership both on and off the pitch. One of the things that I recall being said a lot last summer was "learn from our mistakes".

IMO, we didn't and that's why January through to May were the footballing equivalent of a conversation with readingbedding.

[blue_army1871]

Going to be such a good league next year. Plenty of teams challenging for promotion:

Sheff Utd/Burnley
Reading
Cardiff
Preston
West Brom
'Boro
Hull/Newcastle
Bristol City
Crystal Palace?
Swansea
Leicester?

[Millsy]

I believe its gonna take at least another 5 years before we are back in the Premiership...

Personally im just looking forward to the fresh start with new a manager and players - if we finish top half next season i'll be happy...

Im sure 99% of our fans wont agree though, everyone will see it as our right to be in the Premiership again.

Good post TBM I agree wholeheartedly.

I've made no secret of my pessimism after a genius like Coppell leaving and am worried the wheels have really fallen off. But he had to go as his heart wasn't in it so that's fine. Better to have a lesser manager than a great who just isn't into it. His amazing team was mainly thanks to him and I don't want to detract from him but we mustn't forget the good work was started years before and he came in to improve an already fair side that had been cooking for a while.

We had our opportunity to jump straight back up and I'm delighted we took the opportunituy whilst it was there but we just missed out. After our spell with success we have to look forward to starting all over again with a good side. Our players have either moved on, let their egos get to them, lost passion, or simply gotten too old. We were always going to need to rebuild and now is that time, albeit from scratch.

I definitely expect it to take a good few years. Either we will sink back to League One where perhaps we belong, or we are able to attract another good manager who will build a good team in the next few years for us.

As you say with some jokers considering 4th in the Championship a failure and who see us belonging in the Prem we can be sure we'll get some opposition to this.

[papereyes]

As you say with some jokers considering 4th in the Championship a failure ...

Like Coppell himself?

I mean, that is what he said in his final press conference.

[Hoop Blah]

As I said at the start of this season I'd have been happy to see us finish outside of the play offs this season if it looked like we were building something for the future and not just going through the same old motions.

I was tired of the lack of direction and perceived ambition from the club (from the moment we decided not to give European competition we just drifted along and results and the squads apparent lethargy were hard to take).

It's not so much the results that will dictate how I feel about the next season but the way the club goes about it.

[Ian Royal]

I'd hope we can stay above 16th over the next few seasons, I'd be happy hanging around midtable and challenging for the play offs. Obviously I want us to go up. But frankly anything that doesn't involve a relegation dogfight is good as far as I'm concerned.

[papereyes]

I'd hope we can stay above 16th over the next few seasons, I'd be happy hanging around midtable and challenging for the play offs. Obviously I want us to go up. But frankly anything that doesn't involve a relegation dogfight is good as far as I'm concerned.

For me it depends entirely on how I rate the squad and how we're approaching the season.

To rate our current performance by how well we did at any point up to about 2002 is the work of a sheer, unadulterated numpty.

IMO.

BRING BACK ANGUS WYLIE

[Millsy]

As you say with some jokers considering 4th in the Championship a failure ...

Like Coppell himself?

I mean, that is what he said in his final press conference.

Yup even like Coppell himself, sadly.

[papereyes]

As you say with some jokers considering 4th in the Championship a failure ...

Like Coppell himself?

I mean, that is what he said in his final press conference.

Yup even like Coppell himself, sadly.

Surely he's got the clearest idea of what the squad could have achieved? You're saying that he was wrong to be disappointed with the squad and wrong to think that his team underachieved this season?

[Millsy]

I'd hope we can stay above 16th over the next few seasons,

With Rogers we have every chance of achieving 13th place

Good post, I agree.

[Millsy]

You're saying that he was wrong to be disappointed with the squad and wrong to think that his team underachieved this season?

Yep.

[Ian Royal]

I'd hope we can stay above 16th over the next few seasons, I'd be happy hanging around midtable and challenging for the play offs. Obviously I want us to go up. But frankly anything that doesn't involve a relegation dogfight is good as far as I'm concerned.

For me it depends entirely on how I rate the squad and how we're approaching the season.

To rate our current performance by how well we did at any point up to about 2002 is the work of a sheer, unadulterated numpty.

IMO.

BRING BACK ANGUS WYLIE

You can be disappointed with the showing in the individual season, but as long as we can stay clear of the relegation scraps and finish above 16th, (even if that is a very poor season in terms of performance and potential) we are still there for a better season following that.

The important thing for me is to be in a place where each new season we have the potential to be promoted. That's the long term importance. Individual poor seasons are upsetting but easily survivable. It's a bit of a lottery actually going up. Hang around long enough "in the zone" and you'll make it sooner or later.

[Whore Jackie]

It's not so much the results that will dictate how I feel about the next season but the way the club goes about it.

Agreed. Progression, even at the expense of immediate success would suit me fine. Hopefully there’s going to be a thorough review of the whole set-up and probably an increasing dependance on boys from the academy. One of Coppell’s few weaknesses over his tenure was a reluctance to use many of the youngsters, particularly in league games.

Ironically in his last season, we’ve seen a lot more of the likes of Karacan, Pearce, Henry and Kelly, than might previously be expected. The first two, in particular, look to have promising futures. A mixture of these genuine home-grown prospects, our Irish forwards, experienced campaigners like Ingimarsson and Gunnarsson, some solid replacements to the first XI and, of course, a new management set-up could be the start of something truly exciting.

[Kitson12]

I believe its gonna take at least another 5 years before we are back in the Premiership - but will you be disappointed?

Personally im just looking forward to the fresh start with new a manager and players - if we finish top half next season i'll be happy, i would just like to see nice football with a young squad that will challenge for the title in 4/5 years time.

Im sure 99% of our fans wont agree though, everyone will see it as our right to be in the Premiership again.

I certainly would be happy with what you propose TBM, and we have no god given right to be in the Prem.

However, I feel we could be challenging for a top of table finish from the off, and I believe we can.
This may change with a) who the new manager will be, and b) which players go or stay.

[Eastkentroyal]

As long as we start winning at home again is important to me. Nobody likes supporting a team that cannot win at home. Should we get into the play offs or God forbid promoted (quickly looking out of window for flying porcines - oink oink sneeze) then that would be an added bonus.

[Darren Caskey's Dietician]

For me, it could go either way, dependant on the decisions made this summer. We have just lost a great manager, of that there is no doubt. However, Coppells biggest weakness this season has been his ability to make the changes to get the team playing this season. The great man himself said he felt it was right to leave as the club needed someone with a fresh perspective to get it moving again, and I for one agree with him.

When I look to next season, I still think there is the potential for promotion, if we can keep a few key players. Doyle for me is the most important of them. We need a 20+ goal striker, and Doyle is the only one on our books. Should we lose him, I can't see the money being spent on bringing in a replacement of his calibre. I also think we need to hang on to Marek, and get the strikers and wingers to work on reading his play. He has great vision when he plays some of the through balls he does, but our attacking players aren't reading it. The other players who I think we need to keep a hold of are N. Hunt, Armstrong, Harper and Bikey.

If we keep that spine, and see continued improvement from Henry, Karacan, Church and Pearce, I think we will have a good squad for the next manager to build on.

The right management team is vital for us. We need someone who will come in and get us to play some creative, direct football again. We will also need to be clever in the transfer market. Another goal scoring striker would be a good signing (someone who like hunt will get 10-15 goals in a season), at least one more winger, a center back and especially a goalkeeper are all going to be needed. I personally question whether Federici is capable of keeping the amount of clean sheets Marcus did, and we will need a solid goalkeeper more than ever if we don't have the fire power Doyle offers up top.

This summer is vital. Keep the right players, shift the deadwood, and freshen up with a handful of strong championship level players, and we can go back up next year. Lose our top talent, bring in the wrong manager, and not strengthen adequately, and we'll be hanging around in this division for years to come.