Jerseybean Posted August 4, 2021 Report Share Posted August 4, 2021 As a new campaign nears kick off I have a few thoughts on what’s different compared with recent seasons. Be interested to hear others thoughts. On balance I’m feeling more optimistic than I have for a few years, the main reason being the impact of an experienced manager. Who has set out….. A more cohesive, clear and coherent approach in terms of recruitment and playing style A sensible, well communicated medium-term plan which is realistic and clearly communicated A significant clear-out giving us a smaller more focused squad Focused recruitment (rather than a scatter gun approach) A better balance in the squad with a decent mix of experience and youth A recognition that our medical infrastructure needed addressing A slight change in culture (which will continue and takes time) including shared values/responsibility, greater level of fitness, less bullshit/gibberish and greater accountability Of course we need to see what happens on the pitch! I’m expecting better performances, us being more resilient, being harder to beat and working harder, being fitter. My main concern remains where will the goals come from. I conclude with us finishing 13th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocking Red Cyril Posted August 4, 2021 Report Share Posted August 4, 2021 14 minutes ago, Jerseybean said: As a new campaign nears kick off I have a few thoughts on what’s different compared with recent seasons. Be interested to hear others thoughts. On balance I’m feeling more optimistic than I have for a few years, the main reason being the impact of an experienced manager. Who has set out….. A more cohesive, clear and coherent approach in terms of recruitment and playing style A sensible, well communicated medium-term plan which is realistic and clearly communicated A significant clear-out giving us a smaller more focused squad Focused recruitment (rather than a scatter gun approach) A better balance in the squad with a decent mix of experience and youth A recognition that our medical infrastructure needed addressing A slight change in culture (which will continue and takes time) including shared values/responsibility, greater level of fitness, less bullshit/gibberish and greater accountability Of course we need to see what happens on the pitch! I’m expecting better performances, us being more resilient, being harder to beat and working harder, being fitter. My main concern remains where will the goals come from. I conclude with us finishing 13th. Yes can agree with most of that. And where goals from a def. worry. I really feel Wells is our man mind he has got to really show he has what we signed him for. Goals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob k Posted August 4, 2021 Report Share Posted August 4, 2021 After the end of last season I don’t see how you could be so optimistic about things? The signings have been what i would have expected and mainly to change attitude within the dressing room as we had no stand out leader. I still don’t see how we score many goals so i see nothing but a tough season ahead 21st and I’d be happy with that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mozo Posted August 4, 2021 Report Share Posted August 4, 2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atticus Posted August 4, 2021 Report Share Posted August 4, 2021 Not great, We ended last season awful released a load of players including a striker that was a record signing before Kalas, and brought in 3 players. 2 of which were a free that is in an overpacked midfield. Dont get your hopes up folks. Not sure what our lord and saviour expects. Hopefully not alot, and he can stop kidding us about promotion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBF Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 Unfortunately it doesn’t look good for us on the pitch, but I am really looking forward to going to Ashton Gate on Saturday and hoping for a big crowd and great atmosphere. I am trying to remember when we last opened a season with seemingly so little up front. Given how poor we were last year I was expecting a couple of signings to get excited about. To date they haven’t materialised. Still it’s a new season, our first with a proven manager in charge for a while, so hopefully we will ship more of the squad out ASAP to free up our wage bill and land another Tammy like loan before the end of the month. We do appear to be producing some promising youngsters and I am expecting to see HNM develop into a top class midfielder this season. My concerns are that we will struggle to bring the ball out of defence, don’t have a midfield player that can control the tempo of our play and keep possession when under pressure, and don’t have anyone who will score 15 goals plus for us. What I have just written makes us sound crap and I haven’t even mentioned our defending of set pieces and corners! We look to be in trouble on the pitch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hampshire reds Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 i think it will be a very average season. cant see where the goals are coming from. lost our main striker in Fam and not been replaced. Time will tell . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waconda Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 Still have concerns that NP wasn't able to improve things when he came in last season (debatable that it actually got worse !). But l like what has been happening since the season ended and we are definitely in the "players to fit the system" mode and the more back to basics simplifying of things will help - IMO. I predict a slow start but improvement post Xmas. 9th position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonBristolian Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 This is the first season in a while where I really feel I don’t have a clue what my expectations are. You could make a decent case for us finishing anywhere between 6th and 24th. My feeling is we will improve enough to keep our heads above water but not enough to trouble the top half. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richyy66 Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 Like many others i cant see where goals are going to come from. I would like to see a Striker on loan coming in. The signings made are as expected - we simply don't have the money for marquee signings. I really think selling Kalas will be a big mistake - you simply cant rely on Baker and Taylor-Moore not good enough. On a plus we do have the likes of Weiman and Williams available to us this season. There are also youngsters who i think will prove their worth this season. I cant see anything but lower to mid table. Hopefully will build on that next year when finances are not so tight. I think this year is all about staying in the division. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Army 75 Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 Mid table expectations for me. But just hoping we can sort our atrocious home form and give us some wins. Otherwise my mid table expectations will rapidly drop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Cyril Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 1 hour ago, Hampshire reds said: i think it will be a very average season. cant see where the goals are coming from. lost our main striker in Fam and not been replaced. Time will tell . Fam is hardly a player I would fear if we played against him. Saying that, not sure any of our remaining players would be ones to fear either... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red white and red Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 To be fair I feel this is the first season in a long time where the fans haven’t been misguided. How many pre-seasons have we had talk of ‘going for it’ and ‘this is our season’ etc. The bluff and spin from the board to get our hopes up, and then a mediocre season plays out. So far I haven’t seen any talk of this, which manages expectations. On the pitch, we look like we could be a tighter and fitter team, higher tempo and squeezing, not giving opposition 70 odd minutes with the ball every game. However, I struggle to see us scoring anymore than 50 goals, which is a real worry. Who scores them? Unless there has been a significant improvement in the movement of the forwards, vision and passing ability of the midfielders (which doesn’t happen overnight), I can’t see anybody getting above 10. Fam had his limitations, but he was good for 12 goals a season. This could be a very 1-0 or 2-1 season. I would be delighted with mid-table given the lack of recruitment and the horrendous season last time out, but I think we will be around 16th/17th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crackers Corner Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 With our awful run last season we had several key players out who have now returned, they will feel like new signings,I'm more optimistic than most and I we can get another forward then can see a top 10 finish, if we can keep players from injury. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattredrobin Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 I'm like many others and unsure what to expect with us this year i don't see why the play offs is'nt something we should be aiming for, yes last year was awful but quiet clearly something was'nt right wether that be fitness, mood in the camp or just simply not good enough, we've finally got a proven manager who we all craved, but obviously lacking a striker is concerning, but we do have wells who if he does start contributing could be that goalscorer we need i don't think we've seen him play a consistent amount of games in his actual position, also most successful teams the whole team chips in with goals and this is where the realistic part comes in i don't think we have that either sadly, if we start well then i think we could have a pretty decent season but again realistically 12th seems to be about the most likely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Engvall’s Splinter Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 41 minutes ago, VT05763 said: Still have concerns that NP wasn't able to improve things when he came in last season (debatable that it actually got worse !). But l like what has been happening since the season ended and we are definitely in the "players to fit the system" mode and the more back to basics simplifying of things will help - IMO. I predict a slow start but improvement post Xmas. 9th position. 9th ? I’ll have some of what you are on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbored Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 Before each season starts I’m always hopeful rather than optimistic however this season I’m actually looking forward this time around for one reason in particular - City have a proper manager at last in Nigel Pearson. He released many of the underperforming players, recruited new and experienced blood in Simpson, James and King along with a new CB in Atkinson, who if his YouTube clips are anything to go by looks to be an excellent signing. Sure we do look to be short of 20 a season striker but these guys are in expensive but still in huge demand so it’s going to be down to what we have to fill the void. Wells is due a good season, as is Martin and the young guns like Conway, Bell and Semenyo will all get more opportunity to step up. Im cautiously optimistic that we’ll be around the pray off places come March/April. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awbb Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 I mean, Wells has been a bit of a disappointment so far at City, but honestly, he’s as good as we’re going to get as a pure goal scorer. He’s another one that was signed without thinking about how he fits into LJ’s tactical system… if he ever had one. Pearson knows this. So long as Wells has bought into Pearson wants. Displays the work ethic out of possession (which he says he will) and as a team we can get him the ball in areas he can do his thing, he will score at a better rate than pretty much anyone else at this level. With us, it’s ‘creativity’ that has always been the real issue. I.e. giving your strikers enough good chances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 Seems we are putting a lot of faith in Wells (who lacked effort/interest in most games he played last season) and Odowda/Weimann who run around a bit but dont score too many. Fammy has not been replaced but the defence middle has been added to. So we will lack goalscoring/firepower but should be harder to beat, cannot see a top half finish. Yes we are building....again....but we will we will lack wins to make any impression this season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robin_unreliant Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 On paper the squad looks no better, arguably worse, than last season. Despite Nige coming in we ended the season in awful form. I am not expecting much and just hope we get a few results early on so the mood doesn't drop. I do look at other clubs and think not many have strengthened. Hopefully a few points deductions coming and we can stay out of a relegation scrap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brad blit Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 Il answer this once the transfer window opens. IF Kalas is sold and we get another cb plus big signing striker then I could see us pushing towards playoffs. We still have a talented squad (who were mainly on the treatment table last year) so I believe Nigel can get the best out of a smaller, fitter squad and make us a more robust but effective team. Right now I’d say 10-13th which would be success after last year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyClapper Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 Last season was an aberration. Lots of factors at play, Covid, lack of fitness in general and also the injuries. It seems that the dressing room was not a good place with too many unhappy unmotivated players. It seems to me that most of the above have been tackled. We have a manager that the fan base and players seem to believe in and have recruited ( bar a striker) exactly what we needed. I see no reason why we won’t revert to a top half, flirt with the playoffs position as previously and finish around 10th. Apart from those with parachute money and perhaps QPR, most teams look weaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daored Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 1 hour ago, JonDolman said: I agree with Nige that we could have a good season. The players look very fit. We look much stronger defensively. Johnson got us to a play off final based on a solid defence and no real goal scorer. @Rocking Red Cyrilwe have to play to Wells’ strengths which for the majority of the time he’s been here we haven’t Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Geoff Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 I'm not so bothered about where we finsish. I just want to see a better more coherent style of football, hopefully with a few more home wins thrown into the mix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CheddarReds Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 I think, by championship standards, it could be a fairly disappointing season. I think the top 4 picks itself, and Derby are already taking up 1 of 3 relegation places. I usually do a 1-24 prediction with my brother and found myself wanted to put lots of teams in 14-20th positions, us included. Lots of teams have squads with less depth and/ or quality. Swansea and Blackburn* are examples of teams that have lost key loanees and top goal scorers, I think they could both finish notably lower than they did last season. Some teams have more serious financial situations too, Reading for example, which I expect will impact them on the pitch too. I think we'll be finishing about 14th /15th. Happy with the signing of Atkinson and I hope King and James can create a more competitive culture that Nige speaks about, some injured players like JD and Weimann coming back will be a big plus, still have a top goalkeeper at this level so I think we'll be fairly comfortable. I hope and expect that we look more competitive and aggressive than last season. However, lacking a bit of quality and a real match winner to get us into the top 10 and pushing playoffs. Here's hoping I'm too pessimistic and we have a really exciting season. Can't wait for Saturday. COYR * - assuming Armstrong goes to Southampton as rumoured Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supercidered Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 I can see a lot of 1:0, 1:1, 2:1 results for and against. As with most of us goals is the main worry for me but also if and when we go a goal down, is there enough creativity to make things happen? I'm not sure that there is. On the plus side I don't see us getting constantly over run or being picked off when looking for an equalizer or a winner which was so evident last year. In summary, anything more than 12th would be cause for optimism that we are over the debacle of last season and everything that went with it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeepUpLino Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 Christ the negativity … what a depressing bunch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clevedon Red Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 Given what’s happened in the past 18 months let’s just be grateful that we are able to go to a match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 I would settle for mid table playing an attacking positive brand of football (especially at home) and to see some young players coming through. I do worry where the goals are coming from though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbored Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 1 hour ago, robin_unreliant said: On paper the squad looks no better, arguably worse, than last season. Despite Nige coming in we ended the season in awful form. I am not expecting much and just hope we get a few results early on so the mood doesn't drop. I do look at other clubs and think not many have strengthened. Hopefully a few points deductions coming and we can stay out of a relegation scrap. What?………surely you can’t be serious? The addition of Atkinson, James, King and Simpson instantly strengthen the squad. Maybe you’ve overlooked the number of OOC players Nige let go………… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.