old_eastender Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 Best Jan transfer window dealings I can recall; goal scorer with nearly a 1 in 2 ratio this season, international seasoned power play midfielder, much vaunted ball playing strong centre back, even with Josh gone we are considerably stronger overall. SL has done his bit, MA too, time for LJ. We sit in 6th, and for my money it would be abject failure on his part if we now don't finish in the top 6. If he can't achieve that this season, with the squad at his disposal I don't believe he ever will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashton_fan Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 Providing we avoid injuries I would think we're nailed on for the playoffs and have an outside chance of top two Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 2 minutes ago, old_eastender said: Best Jan transfer window dealings I can recall; goal scorer with nearly a 1 in 2 ratio this season, international seasoned power play midfielder, much vaunted ball playing strong centre back, even with Josh gone we are considerably stronger overall. SL has done his bit, MA too, time for LJ. We sit in 6th, and for my money it would be abject failure on his part if we now don't finish in the top 6. If he can't achieve that this season, with the squad at his disposal I don't believe he ever will. If we play good football and we end up a bit unfortunate then I wouldn't be furious at him for not making top 6. There's plenty of very tough competition for that top 6. Won't be easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
class not gas Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 Spot on Eastender, no excuses now, he has all the tools at his disposal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexukhc Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 I was thinking the same, this is it for him now and if we don’t go up, I’m not sure he will be here start of August, he’s never brought in so much quality in a window, it either works or it doesn’t Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fordy62 Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 2 minutes ago, JonDolman said: If we play good football and we end up a bit unfortunate then I wouldn't be furious at him for not making top 6. There's plenty of very tough competition for that top 6. Won't be easy. Absolutely. If we rediscovered the Man United form and finish 8th or 9th I’d be pretty well appeased. I don’t hold out too much hope though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spudski Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 Finish top 6, then lose in the play offs? Still be happy? Really can't stand the play offs...it gives false hope. Ok only 1 in 4 can go up. Odds more likely to damage the Club. Gotta aim top 2 imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AppyDAZE Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 No pressure then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marmite Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 We are not the only team to have strengthened this window. It's still wide open in this league. But we are in a good position as it stands and if we improve our home form, well, who knows. It's in our hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
And Its Smith Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 1 minute ago, spudski said: Finish top 6, then lose in the play offs? Still be happy? Really can't stand the play offs...it gives false hope. Ok only 1 in 4 can go up. Odds more likely to damage the Club. Gotta aim top 2 imo. The aim will be top 2. But if we don’t finish top 2 it would be nonsense to call that a failure (I appreciate you haven’t done that). Top six would be a very good achievement so I cannot see how finishing 7th would be a failure. A lot of football is about fine margins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exAtyeoMax Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 2 minutes ago, spudski said: Finish top 6, then lose in the play offs? Still be happy? Really can't stand the play offs...it gives false hope. Ok only 1 in 4 can go up. Odds more likely to damage the Club. Gotta aim top 2 imo. Yep, aim for the highest possible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abingdon Red Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 1 minute ago, spudski said: Finish top 6, then lose in the play offs? Still be happy? Really can't stand the play offs...it gives false hope. Ok only 1 in 4 can go up. Odds more likely to damage the Club. Gotta aim top 2 imo. one of the worse things about the playoffs is that it gives you a month less than everyone else to plan properly for next season. If you go up a vast amount of higher quality players suddenly become realistic targets but you can't go for them until you are up, by which time a lot of deals will have already been sorted by the clubs you'll be competing against. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abingdon Red Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 Put simply, with the resources he has available LJ now has to make the top six. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
And Its Smith Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 1 minute ago, Abingdon Red said: Put simply, with the resources he has available LJ now has to make the top six. Why? He doesn’t have the resources of a top six side. This is where fans get it wrong. It is LJ that has raised expectations for this club. It is LJ who has us in 6th already. So if LJ doesn’t exceed the expectations that he has set he has failed? It makes little sense to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spudski Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 I may add...just because we've made quality signings, they would have to hit the ground running. Football is not about individuals. It's a team strategy game. And these players will need time to integrate. Individual brilliance or mistakes will happen. It's not a case of we've brought quality so we will automatically improve. Not every player fits a club...regardless of talent. It's a lottery...it's a short term strategy that we hope will work. No pre season... absolutely nothing. Purely learning on the job so to speak. We also have to play against teams who have also 'strengthened'...so it in theory equals out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveybadger Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 Think it would be fine to demand top 6 or bust for LJ if 1. There were no other quite competitive teams wanting the same thing and 2. Some of those teams have also strengthened That said it's been encouraging and I will be disappointed if we don't make it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandro Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 looking at the money spent by WBA and Fulham it's very ambitious to being talking top 2, IMO. We have the potential to finish top 6 - but it's still too simplistic to make it black or white. Suspensions, injuries, luck etc will all play their parts over the next 18 games - but LJ will know now there are no excuses on the transfer side of things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzz The Dog Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 Agree with this. He needs to get the fans back on board as well. If he can realise the potential of this squad and rekindle our enthusiasm then really there’s no excuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harvey54 Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 4 minutes ago, RedDave said: Why? He doesn’t have the resources of a top six side. This is where fans get it wrong. It is LJ that has raised expectations for this club. It is LJ who has us in 6th already. So if LJ doesn’t exceed the expectations that he has set he has failed? It makes little sense to me. Looking at the sides around us I'd say we have resources comparable to Forest, Brentford, Preston or Millwall. I agree that there's no excuses but it's going to take a few games to integrate the new signings. I still think it's too close to call for even automatic promotion with the top two wobbling. Carpe Diem City Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Isewater Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 4 minutes ago, spudski said: I may add...just because we've made quality signings, they would have to hit the ground running. Football is not about individuals. It's a team strategy game. And these players will need time to integrate. Individual brilliance or mistakes will happen. It's not a case of we've brought quality so we will automatically improve. Not every player fits a club...regardless of talent. It's a lottery...it's a short term strategy that we hope will work. No pre season... absolutely nothing. Purely learning on the job so to speak. We also have to play against teams who have also 'strengthened'...so it in theory equals out. And equally teams who are weakened and equally bedding in new signings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tipps69 Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 22 minutes ago, JonDolman said: If we play good football and we end up a bit unfortunate then I wouldn't be furious at him for not making top 6. There's plenty of very tough competition for that top 6. Won't be easy. So what about if we play average football but make the play-offs or even automatic promotion? For me, being in the position we are now in, it’s all about results, we are in our best position for a very long time & despite all the doom & gloom, we have managed to strengthen our squad with players that have all been chased by other clubs & I don’t mean they’ve been chased by poorer clubs than us, they have been chased by arguably bigger clubs than us & they have all come in commenting on our reputation! It only seems like some of our own fan base have a problem with the way we are playing & our results! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
And Its Smith Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 LJ has made all this possible by improving the likes of Bryan, Reid, Brownhill and Kelly which has meant we can bring in money to make signings that we have in the last 48 hours. If we just miss out on play offs then keep with the plan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cardy Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 We aim for top 6 knowing that we have players at either end of the pitch that could win us the playoffs. Especially if Afobe is back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohbasso Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 Only problem is that there’s about 10 strong teams battling for the top 6 spots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandro Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 1 minute ago, RedDave said: LJ has made all this possible by improving the likes of Bryan, Reid, Brownhill and Kelly which has meant we can bring in money to make signings that we have in the last 48 hours. If we just miss out on play offs then keep with the plan. Yes it's hard to argue against LJ's player development record now. Seeing Brownhill come in, improve and move on, which in turn has taken us a step up the ladder, the result being a forward the quality of Wells coming in - shows 'the plan' is working. It is not a simple case of saying LJ has been backed, now deliver. Yes there was an initial outlay, but that backing has been earned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
And Its Smith Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 1 minute ago, Alessandro said: Yes it's hard to argue against LJ's player development record now. Seeing Brownhill come in, improve and move on, which in turn has taken us a step up the ladder, the result being a forward the quality of Wells coming in - shows 'the plan' is working. It is not a simple case of saying LJ has been backed, now deliver. Yes there was an initial outlay, but that backing has been earned. Exactly. My concern is we lose 2-3 and half the fans turn again. If we are all united till June it will give us a better chance of finishing top six. The home atmosphere has to improve in my opinion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 Top 6 will be a superb effort. No chance of top 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unan Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 Arguably we have one of the best GK/LB/CB(x2)/RW/ST. Then a very good CM(x2)/ST There's only 2 positions (RB/Hunt LM/Paterson) I'd say we don't have one of the top 6 players in. Top 6 should be the minimum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonBristolian Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 25 minutes ago, spudski said: I may add...just because we've made quality signings, they would have to hit the ground running. Football is not about individuals. It's a team strategy game. And these players will need time to integrate. Individual brilliance or mistakes will happen. It's not a case of we've brought quality so we will automatically improve. Not every player fits a club...regardless of talent. It's a lottery...it's a short term strategy that we hope will work. No pre season... absolutely nothing. Purely learning on the job so to speak. We also have to play against teams who have also 'strengthened'...so it in theory equals out. All of this is true and a lot of luck is involved but nonetheless luck and good judgement backed up by fortune is what football management turns on. There are no guarantees for all the reasons you say but ultimately the club and manager have made a judgement call that these are the right players and they will hit the ground running. Their reputation is on the line and I think LJ’s job has to be on the line if it does not work out and we do not have a strong second half of the season and at least push close to the top six. Fair or not, that is the risk he takes as a manager... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downendcity Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 39 minutes ago, alexukhc said: I was thinking the same, this is it for him now and if we don’t go up, I’m not sure he will be here start of August, he’s never brought in so much quality in a window, it either works or it doesn’t Last summer - Kalas, Dasilva, Rowe, Nagy, Massengo and Afobe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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