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Post by backonthecoupon on Jul 24, 2017 12:16:24 GMT
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Post by foley on Jul 24, 2017 12:34:34 GMT
I reckon that the reporter should read this forum before starting to make predictions of a play off!!
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Post by oufcyellows on Jul 24, 2017 12:37:52 GMT
Silly thing is, two key players and 1or2 loans could be the difference between midtable and playoffs. Currently we are lacking them hence people being a little nervous. But sign a striker, left back and a couple of prem under 23's maybe a midfielder and winger and suddenly the squad looks very good again. Although still a little on the light side
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Post by charliesghost on Jul 24, 2017 14:02:50 GMT
Silly thing is, two key players and 1or2 loans could be the difference between midtable and playoffs. Currently we are lacking them hence people being a little nervous. But sign a striker, left back and a couple of prem under 23's maybe a midfielder and winger and suddenly the squad looks very good again. Although still a little on the light side I'm sure that we will make another couple of signings, but very few of us will be able to make any kind of predictions because there are too many unknowns: 1. As this hack says, no-one knows if Pep is going to be an Appleton or a Rix/ Kemp (top coaches who couldn't manage). That is nothing against Pep; it's just the way it is. 2. We do not know the impact of losing almost an entire leadership team in the space of a few months. As of last Xmas, the dressing room leadership team was MApp, Faz, Lundstram, MacDonald, Dunkley, Maguire. Of those, only Faz remains. We don't know whether there are leaders within the group who have replaced those people. Maybe there will be better leaders! 3. It's common, and natural, to assume that those who replace those who were here before are "better". But, as we saw with Jake W and Hylton, that really isn't necessarily the case. Mistakes are made, even at the top level. Jeez, Man U let Pogba go and Chelsea let Lukaku go, before both established themselves as players those very same clubs would have paid a fortune to have back! Is Raglan better than Dunkley? I'm sorry, but we do not know. Is Ribeiro better than Edwards? Don't know. Obika better than Maguire? Probably not, but he could be once he's playing with better players. Henry better than Macca? Probably, but he could be on the downward track hence why bigger clubs weren't interested. Xemi/ Lundstram? anyhow, you get my point. 4. We don't know how the other sides in the division are going to shape up. It's hard to see too many relegation candidates of those who are new to the league, but not many who look likely to be world-beaters either. 5. We have a significant number of players who have had recent long-term injuries. We don't know whether those will recur or whether it will prove a stroke of Moneyball-style genius. So, in a way, I have an wry smile at all those who I hear confidently predict the play-offs. And a similar reaction to those who cite relegation concerns. We just don't have any idea because the imponderables are so great. All I could confidently say is: 1. That if Eastwood stays fit he is a real asset in what Brian Clough used to believe is the most important position. 2. That with Nelson and Ledson that should prove a good League 1 spine. 3. That MApp is likely to leave a pretty large gap in the short-term, as is the case when any strong, successful leader leaves a performance-focussed environment. Almost everything else, to me, is so unclear that all we can do is wait for the action to start and find out in real time. But I don't think that it's mad or bad to say that we're in a different position to that which MApp hoped would provide a promotion challenge. He wanted to keep what he had (including himself!) and add 3 or 4 quality players for this level in time for pre-season. If that had indeed happened then I think we would all have been pretty confident and excited right now.
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Post by oufcyellows on Jul 24, 2017 14:22:53 GMT
Quite. And as I've said before I wouldn't be at all bothered if again we have an adjustment season. It might very well be to much to ask to push for playoffs with the number of changes we had to make, and like last season a slow start could cost us. Could be even slower as we have changed the manager as well as key players. But I still think that what we have plus a few more will see us comfortably in The top half (if not playoffs). While what we currently have will see us lingering below half way, especially if we pick up a few injuries. But still it's going to be exciting to see the changes. Mapp had one system, which is fine, but at time we got out smarted and failed to react to the situation in games. Changing personal but not tactics. Will pep stick with the formation faz and the team have passed on? Will Johno stay at lb? Will he makes subs earlier that the 62nd min? Will there be coffee in the lounges ? We shall all have to wait and see.
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