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What Has Changed?


Mclovin BS14

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The very first season in the championship we did'nt seem to have a BRILLIANT side but a squad which would be competitive in this division, nothing more. But boy was i wrong! we were playing great football with freedom and team spirit, and the players played for the shirt with 100% commitment and we were playing teams off the park week in week out. We got to wembley and you know the story but ever since that day we have just gone off the radar, and to be honest i think we have a better squad now than we did then so what has changed? has the division got more competitive? poor management? etc. This time last year we were going to promised all of that again, and the players we bought stewart, hunt, cisse, albert, jamo etc and we all thought we were going to walk the league but most of them have played pretty abysmal lets be honest and one of the players has had a nightmare of a time, and tbh with you i feel for the guy. I'm curious why its been a very disappointing season, i know coppell leaving was a big factor but the players are professionals so they should know how to handle that sort of situation, but it just hasn't happened for us and its been like this down the gate since wembley. And i just want to know why?

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Loads of reasons.

Blind loyalty to players that obviously weren't good enough

Poor player recruitment

Poor loan recruitment

Poor pre-season planning

Poor tactics/formations/shape

Poor substitutions

New players that broke the team spirit

Injuries

Lee Johnson :)

And that was just under the GJ realm.

The 'Spineless One' leaving us after 2 games

Complete change in tactics

Complete change in formation/shape

Players lacking in confidence

New players that broke the team spirit even more

Stronger division

Injuries

Losing 2 important players

Lee Johnson again :)

BCAGFC

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Winning mentality was a big one for the first season. That, and the fact that no one knew how we were going to play. I think both of these are why Norwich are doing so well, too. Things are fitting together now and i don't think it'll be too long before we can be like how we were in the play off final season, if Millen gets all the players he doesnt want out, and all the players he wants in, by the start of July/middle of July, train frequently together etc, and KEEP MAYNARD, i think next season will be exciting!

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we were playing great football with freedom and team spirit, and the players played for the shirt with 100% commitment and we were playing teams off the park week in week out.

My memory does not recall it in quite those terms.

We did have good team spirit and belief as newbies to the championship, but great football and playing teams off the park week in & week out???

I seem to recall we got a lot of late goals to secure points we often didn't fully deserve, and I remember on many occasions coming home from the Gate thinking how did we win that?

It was great and I enjoyed it, but we over acheived somewhat and cracked a bit under pressure towards the end of the season, then played really well in the play-offs against CPFC.

In the final if Boom Boom hadn't been ill or if LJ hadn't come on and Marv shoved to RB we may have even blagged it into the prem and then anything might have been possible!

Technically we have a much better side now, and if we can do better with injuries next season and add to the midfield creativity then I don't think we will be far off having a good team that can challenge on merit rather than "on the crest of a wave".

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we bought stewart, hunt, cisse, albert, jamo etc and we all thought we were going to walk the league but most of them have played pretty abysmal lets be honest and one of the players has had a nightmare of a time, and tbh with you i feel for the guy.

Most of them? No one of them Hunt.

Stewart - Far from abysmal recently, think he's been solid since getting back into the team

Cisse - Solid

Albert - Amazing, best buy along with Maynard since we've been in this division

Jamo - Some class saves, saved us on a few occasions.

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Johnson - Coppell - Millen is whats changed.

Johnson failed to push on and strengthen after the play-off final largely due to his failure to accept that City had a very great deal of good fortune that first CCC season. Fact was that too many of those players weren't good enough as Johnson subsequently found out. He then started signing loan players without actually seeing them play. Relationships with a lot of his players deteriorated and things eventually decended into the Plymouth bust - up. Two wasted seasons in essence.

In comes Coppell and makes a couple of decent signings before walking away. Its what Coppel didn't do which left Millen to pick up the pieces. A poorly managed pre-season didn't help and its taken Millen most of this season to turn things around. The recent run of results should encourage us fans that with 3 or 4 additions over the summer City will be a force next season.

One thing Millen definately needs to work on is team mentality and get the players 'up' to perform 100% every game without having to bollock them at half time.

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Most of them? No one of them Hunt.

Stewart - Far from abysmal recently, think he's been solid since getting back into the team

Cisse - Solid

Albert - Amazing, best buy along with Maynard since we've been in this division

Jamo - Some class saves, saved us on a few occasions.

yeah they are starting to play well at april?

Stewart - I wasn't impressed with him as he couldnt control the ball and just looked uncomfortable but he's just started to show he can be a decent centre half, but overall he has been okay but not great.

Cisse - To be fair to him he did'nt really get a chance but when he came on as sub he looked like he couldn't pass the thing but he's shown he is capable at this level so im happy with his first season.

Albert - Outstanding, need i say no more!

Hunt - :tumbleweed:

James - Again wasn't great at the start but he is starting to show why he was england's no 1.

Overall the only player who has been consistent through the WHOLE season is albert, but it is really good to see the other players starting to perform, because now we can look foward to next season when they have the chance to play like they are now on a regular basis.

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we all thought we were going to walk the league

Thats why.

For some reason you think we have a divine right to be winning every game 4-0. It's unnecessary pressure put on the team and why people moan like mad if we lose a game or don't play total football for 90 mins.

We are a small championship team with a small regular attending attendance. Not top of the Premier League.

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Thats why.

For some reason you think we have a divine right to be winning every game 4-0. It's unnecessary pressure put on the team and why people moan like mad if we lose a game or don't play total football for 90 mins.

We are a small championship team with a small regular attending attendance. Not top of the Premier League.

look the players we bought and what manager we had at helm at the start of the season! everyone thought this was going to be our year.

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Possibly, as he was the one that kept the team believing.

but i'd take james every day of the week over basso. Basso was an excellent shot stopper but was always mistake prone like the cardiff equaliser on TV.

james is much better at crosses, co-ordinating defence and positionally. i think a big reason we don't see as many memorable saves from james as he is that good positionally he doesn't have to move too much a lot of the time

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but i'd take james every day of the week over basso. Basso was an excellent shot stopper but was always mistake prone like the cardiff equaliser on TV.

james is much better at crosses, co-ordinating defence and positionally. i think a big reason we don't see as many memorable saves from james as he is that good positionally he doesn't have to move too much a lot of the time

James does make the odd mistake himself as we have seen when he's been at other clubs

also i dont agree when you say much better at crosses, i think that is his weakest area. Quite a few times ive seen james come running out of his box and trying to punch it away, and some of them are catchable and he doesnt quite connect with them and puts us under pressure.

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The very first season in the championship we did'nt seem to have a BRILLIANT side but a squad which would be competitive in this division, nothing more. But boy was i wrong! we were playing great football with freedom and team spirit, and the players played for the shirt with 100% commitment and we were playing teams off the park week in week out. We got to wembley and you know the story but ever since that day we have just gone off the radar, and to be honest i think we have a better squad now than we did then so what has changed? has the division got more competitive? poor management? etc. This time last year we were going to promised all of that again, and the players we bought stewart, hunt, cisse, albert, jamo etc and we all thought we were going to walk the league but most of them have played pretty abysmal lets be honest and one of the players has had a nightmare of a time, and tbh with you i feel for the guy. I'm curious why its been a very disappointing season, i know coppell leaving was a big factor but the players are professionals so they should know how to handle that sort of situation, but it just hasn't happened for us and its been like this down the gate since wembley. And i just want to know why?

Speak for yourself!

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The very first season in the championship we did'nt seem to have a BRILLIANT side but a squad which would be competitive in this division, nothing more. But boy was i wrong! we were playing great football with freedom and team spirit, and the players played for the shirt with 100% commitment and we were playing teams off the park week in week out. We got to wembley and you know the story but ever since that day we have just gone off the radar, and to be honest i think we have a better squad now than we did then so what has changed? has the division got more competitive? poor management? etc. This time last year we were going to promised all of that again, and the players we bought stewart, hunt, cisse, albert, jamo etc and we all thought we were going to walk the league but most of them have played pretty abysmal lets be honest and one of the players has had a nightmare of a time, and tbh with you i feel for the guy. I'm curious why its been a very disappointing season, i know coppell leaving was a big factor but the players are professionals so they should know how to handle that sort of situation, but it just hasn't happened for us and its been like this down the gate since wembley. And i just want to know why?

We rarely played any teams off the park in that season. In fact we were battered on a few occasions but had a lot of luck. When we won it was generally by the odd goal.

I don't recall many saying we would walk the league this season either. Just that we had a good chance of the play-offs.

There are loads of reasons why we haven't done brilliantly this season. Maynard being out, Millen playing negatively, our poor start, squad being poor, injuries...etc etc.

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I agree with the Basso comment. He was more than just a keeper - he embodied the spirit of the club, and when he went out of favour then left, the special feeling around the squad seemed to dissipate. When then Mcindoe and mccombe left, then orr there were 3 more of the lads that had some fight to them who went.

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Under Johnson we had a team of battlers and triers. We all knew that they weren't the most skillful bunch (perhaps with the exception of McIndoe, Noble and later Maynard) and that some were past their best (e.g Trundle) but there was a positive team spirit there that was carried by the likes of Orr, Basso and Murray.

Now, I think the opposite is true - we've got a team of quite skillful players (JCR, Adomah, Maynard, Woolford etc) but we're lacking the real battlers who want to put in a die hard shift for the team, although this has started to break through in recent weeks with the battling spirit of the likes of Stewart, Spence and Fontaine. If we could somehow intermix the two teams we'd be right up there!

Here are the thing I prefer about now and the things i think we had better back in the play off season:

Things Better now:

Keeper

Choice of Strikers

Wingers

General skill factor within the team

General quality of new/loan signings

Kit!

Things better back then:

Defensive unit

Team spirit

Passing football

ATMOSPHERE

The feeling that we were capable of giving anyone a run for their money

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How can ANYONE question David James' ability after seeing him this season... Unless of course thats the problem.,.

:disapointed2se:

you don't get 52 caps for not being good,

James is 10 times the keeper basso ever was only reason basso was liked was because of his "hollywood" saves he is an avarage keeper at best

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What does that actually mean?

Its up there with 'character' and 'passion' within a footballing context.

If you mean 'confidence' just say 'confidence'.

I don't mean confidence.

Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United both play with bags of confidence, yet Manchester United drag out those wins when they are backs against the wall against the "lower" sides in the Premier League, whilst Tottenham, struggle to get points against Wigan, Wolves etc

Sure, you can say that it's just because Manchester United are better, but Tottenham should be getting the results against Wolves, Wigans, West Hams. So why are they better? Because they have a winning mentality that Tottenham don't have.

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I don't mean confidence.

Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United both play with bags of confidence, yet Manchester United drag out those wins when they are backs against the wall against the "lower" sides in the Premier League, whilst Tottenham, struggle to get points against Wigan, Wolves etc

Sure, you can say that it's just because Manchester United are better, but Tottenham should be getting the results against Wolves, Wigans, West Hams. So why are they better? Because they have a winning mentality that Tottenham don't have.

But what is it?

I'm guessing most people would mean 'a belief they are going to win'.

Am I the only person who is sick of generic, coined phrases in football which brings people's vocabulary down to about 100 words?

Time and time again this happens. tumbleweed.gif

I think I know what Cappello meant the other week.

BTW - How many teams called Wigan are there?

Middle age rant over.

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I've just explained haven't I? Maybe not.

The ability to get a win out of a game when it seems unlikely? Whether there isn't much time left on the clock and you are still not winning, you haven't had the ball much and been overwhelmed by chances created by another team, yet still get the decisive goal and win, you are 2 goals down and still KNOW that you will win the match (West Ham and United is a great example of this. You just KNEW they would pull it back, didn't you? And so did they), or whether you are just faced with 11 men behind the ball and still able to grind out a win.

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I've just explained haven't I? Maybe not.

The ability to get a win out of a game when it seems unlikely? Whether there isn't much time left on the clock and you are still not winning, you haven't had the ball much and been overwhelmed by chances created by another team, yet still get the decisive goal and win, you are 2 goals down and still KNOW that you will win the match (West Ham and United is a great example of this. You just KNEW they would pull it back, didn't you? And so did they), or whether you are just faced with 11 men behind the ball and still able to grind out a win.

I agree with that.

Fair play and credit to you.

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I've just explained haven't I? Maybe not.

The ability to get a win out of a game when it seems unlikely? Whether there isn't much time left on the clock and you are still not winning, you haven't had the ball much and been overwhelmed by chances created by another team, yet still get the decisive goal and win, you are 2 goals down and still KNOW that you will win the match (West Ham and United is a great example of this. You just KNEW they would pull it back, didn't you? And so did they), or whether you are just faced with 11 men behind the ball and still able to grind out a win.

I agree with that.

Fair play and credit to you.

And, in fairness, it's a lot easier to say "winning mentality" than that long paragraph. Especially since most of us know this is what "winning mentality" means. tumbleweed.gif

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