Jump to content
IGNORED

Are we ready for the Prem?


Sturny

Recommended Posts

Thinking back to seasons like 17/18 where you could arguably say we came close to a chance in dream land, it got me thinking were we even ready for it with the squad we had? 

Imagine if we did go up that season with those players. Going off where the majority are now it doesn't look too peachy how it would've ended. Of course if they theoretically did pull out the performances to get us promoted then there would be more factors to consider. 

Looking at the squad now I don't get that feeling at all. I probably thought this during the 17/18 season though ? 

Would you say since we've re-entered the champ we're tiptop ready/prepared than we've ever been? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Club wise - very ready.

Pitch wise - not quite but close.

Our performances and players are much more experienced and skilled. We can see out games professionally now which we never seemed to be able to do in recent seasons (the 3-3's at Derby and Sunderland at home).

Overall on a player by player basis think we are much more impressive than other seasons where we went close.

Maybe 1 or 2 super talented attackers away from being recognised as a favourite for automatics imo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Probably more prepared for it than Bournemouth were when they got promoted, certainly in terms of infrastructure anyway! 

I like the way that Howe trusted their champ team when starting life in the Prem and then building slowly, recruiting the right players without rushing into tearing up that squad. Think he added Josh King that Summer from Blackburn (great signing) along with Tomlin (Yes I know) and Max Gradel (didn't work out in the end). 

I'd like to think that Lee would probably start with at least 8 of our current first team next August should we make it to the Prem. We saw how Fulham went about it in completly the wrong fashion by spending over 100 million on dross, instead of putting more faith in the players that got them there. 

The counter argument to this is possibly Norwich this season, who have made hardly any changes at all, but look to be struggling already. 

This would be a great discussion to have come May 2020!!!! PLEASE....

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Off the pitch? Very much so.

On it. Some ways yes, signing players who are young and PL ready a good policy- yet the number of chances we can concede, the lack of possession so far, partially injury based and partially a tactical choice- makes me wonder. Hell part of me wonders whether it's even all that sustainable at this level, without even considering the PL- when injured players return, the equation will of course change.

12 minutes ago, Kingswoodactor said:

I'd like to think that Lee would probably start with at least 8 of our current first team next August should we make it to the Prem. We saw how Fulham went about it in completly the wrong fashion by spending over 100 million on dross, instead of putting more faith in the players that got them there. 

Hard to class a lot of them as dross, individually- played at good levels either in UK or Europe- but definitely a lesson to be taken, they went about it all wrong. Significantly were lacking continuity and steady growth for sure, though the departures of Fredericks and Targett especially were out of their hands, but pretty important IMO.

Bournemouth, Burnley, and so far, Sheffield United all look like models to look at I reckon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

54 minutes ago, Kingswoodactor said:

Probably more prepared for it than Bournemouth were when they got promoted, certainly in terms of infrastructure anyway! 

I like the way that Howe trusted their champ team when starting life in the Prem and then building slowly, recruiting the right players without rushing into tearing up that squad. Think he added Josh King that Summer from Blackburn (great signing) along with Tomlin (Yes I know) and Max Gradel (didn't work out in the end). 

I'd like to think that Lee would probably start with at least 8 of our current first team next August should we make it to the Prem. We saw how Fulham went about it in completly the wrong fashion by spending over 100 million on dross, instead of putting more faith in the players that got them there. 

The counter argument to this is possibly Norwich this season, who have made hardly any changes at all, but look to be struggling already. 

This would be a great discussion to have come May 2020!!!! PLEASE....

 

Norwich went up on the basis of outscoring opposition, when you put them up against tougher defences and more clinical attackers it was always going to be tough for them. We finished 8th and conceded less goals.

I’d hope we’d approach things more like Sheff Utd have 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Kingswoodactor said:

Probably more prepared for it than Bournemouth were when they got promoted, certainly in terms of infrastructure anyway! 

I like the way that Howe trusted their champ team when starting life in the Prem and then building slowly, recruiting the right players without rushing into tearing up that squad. Think he added Josh King that Summer from Blackburn (great signing) along with Tomlin (Yes I know) and Max Gradel (didn't work out in the end). 

I'd like to think that Lee would probably start with at least 8 of our current first team next August should we make it to the Prem. We saw how Fulham went about it in completly the wrong fashion by spending over 100 million on dross, instead of putting more faith in the players that got them there. 

The counter argument to this is possibly Norwich this season, who have made hardly any changes at all, but look to be struggling already. 

This would be a great discussion to have come May 2020!!!! PLEASE....

 

Chatting to a Norwich fan and they seem to more injuries then us. One of there players from last season fell down the stairs 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, TheCulturalBomb said:

I think there's no doubt that should we get promoted we would spend a large amount, SL has wanted it for decades and he isn't just going to let the dream die when we get there. 

I think that AG would be fine in the PL tomorrow!

Upgraded training facility under way , so another tick✅

Of course we would need to invest in the squad but we would need to avoid doing a Fulham - spend wisely and expect the real possibility of relegation after one season and then re- invest again and try to get straight back up.

Got to give it a right good go in the first season but plan for the worst.

It may be a few seasons before we would be established but it can be done, we just have to expect a few low points on the journey.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When LJ said he wants a team of prem players, that's exactly what I wanted to hear.

We want to build a young team that will keep improving all the time and are mainly prem potential, so when we get there we don't need to do a Villa or a Fulham. We will just need to add in a few areas, but not go crazy.

It is surprising how some players can cope in the prem. I actually thought some Cardiff players did well last season, and they came close to surviving. Sheffield United started excellently. Norwich only spent about a million and still beat Man City.

To get there this season we need to find a way of coping without Afobe. I feel we could have won one or two of those draws had we still had Afobe. Swansea game we clearly missed him.

We need a decent return from these next 15 games to be in a good position to then go into the transfer market. But then bringing in that striker or 2 won't be easy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If we got promoted we would need a right back, reserve left back, centre back, winger and two strikers I reckon to have a good enough squad to possibly survive

6 players. Would be very interesting to see what sort of budget would be put forward for transfers. 

I would hope we would buy the best from the championship so no massive wages, no transfer fees over £15m and if we did happen to go down we would be in a strong position to push for promotion again. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Sturny said:

Thinking back to seasons like 17/18 where you could arguably say we came close to a chance in dream land, it got me thinking were we even ready for it with the squad we had? 

Imagine if we did go up that season with those players. Going off where the majority are now it doesn't look too peachy how it would've ended. Of course if they theoretically did pull out the performances to get us promoted then there would be more factors to consider. 

Looking at the squad now I don't get that feeling at all. I probably thought this during the 17/18 season though ? 

Would you say since we've re-entered the champ we're tiptop ready/prepared than we've ever been? 

With what we have at present I don't think we would fare too well if we went up, so whilst we are improving squadwise we are still a little short of quality.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Kingswoodactor said:

Probably more prepared for it than Bournemouth were when they got promoted, certainly in terms of infrastructure anyway! 

I like the way that Howe trusted their champ team when starting life in the Prem and then building slowly, recruiting the right players without rushing into tearing up that squad. Think he added Josh King that Summer from Blackburn (great signing) along with Tomlin (Yes I know) and Max Gradel (didn't work out in the end). 

I'd like to think that Lee would probably start with at least 8 of our current first team next August should we make it to the Prem. We saw how Fulham went about it in completly the wrong fashion by spending over 100 million on dross, instead of putting more faith in the players that got them there. 

The counter argument to this is possibly Norwich this season, who have made hardly any changes at all, but look to be struggling already. 

This would be a great discussion to have come May 2020!!!! PLEASE....

 

Norwich have an entire first team out injured though, 2 keepers out, both fullbacks out, main CBs out, RM out for half the season etc

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The impact our injuries have had on our campaign this season so far should act as a warning. I think we have been fortunate to be in the league position we are currently after losing Afobe - in a league where any of the top 10 teams could be right up there after one game. 

The Prem is merciless and we simply wouldn’t be able to cope with injuries with the current squad. We almost need 2 first team quality squads to be able to survive up there. 

I really thought with our summer dealings that we had a realistic chance of making top 2 - then the injury curse came along and wiped out arguably our most influential players. 

Of course, there is a lot of season still left to be played and another transfer window, so anything can still happen, but to respond to the OP; not without significant investment in the squad - and I don’t mean that the current first team are crap before anyone accuses me - I mean we would need to be able to cover injuries and bans better than we currently can to have a realistic chance of staying up, if we did get there. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 09/10/2019 at 12:48, BCFCinNW6 said:

I saw a tv segment about Sheffiled Utd who had to make £1m of stadium upgrades to get PL ready for things like VAR, media centres, Sky TV etc 

My God.........that means that they get £199 million instead of £200 Mill?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...