Alright, So What Type Of Season Are We Going To Have?

[Pezo]

As I’m sure many of us have been trying to figure out over the summer I’ve been trying to figure out what type of season were going to have, 3 games in and it’s going very well at home (6 out of 6, 8 goals scored but 3 conceded) and been a little disappointing away (0 from 3, 0 goals scored and 1 conceded).

I didn’t go to any pre-season games for the first time in about 6 years (apathy) I probably could have afforded it but this would have meant me giving up a lot of other things that I enjoy and with a full season fast approaching thought I would give them a miss, I also didn’t go to Forest for this reason but tuned in to the radio and we sounded quite equal to them from the commentary just conceding a goal through a lack of concentration (seen that before).

So my first game was Palace, I was dreading this game (and to be honest this season) another season like the last 2 and I know I would start questioning the travel costs even though I had already paid for my ticket. I thought the game was quite evenly balanced until we scored and from then on there was only ever going to be one team win the game although there were a few little losses of concentration that let them in a few times (of which they managed to put one away). But not wanting to get carried away the feeling I had walking away from that game was one of interest but I was not interested in how good we were but how good Palace were, were they a shit team or were they a good team? Had we just beaten a good team? (You can only beat what’s in front of you, as the saying goes) my suspicions as they had just lost to 3-2 to Watford were that they were shit so I still had very little idea what type of season we were going to have although I knew we were better than 1 team by quite a way.

So my attention turned to Cardiff, they were going to be much more difficult, a team we have struggled against since being in the Championship and are pretty much a permanent fixture in the top 6 and playoffs.

I woke up Saturday morning with much more excitement for this fixture, I knew it was going to be a difficult game and I was prepared for a loss but at least this would answer my question of where about we were going to finish (mid bottom half was my guess at this point, mid table for a lot of the season and then dipping away at the end so never in any real trouble).

I thought they started strongly and were probably slightly better than us for the first 10/15 minutes (they seemed to have more of the ball but do nothing with it) then we started to impose ourselves in the middle and got our rewards, 1 – 0 “lets hold on to it until ½ time”, they had a big chance and Heaton was unable to be where he wouldn’t have wanted to be due to them putting a guy on him at every corner but they hit the bar and by the time it came back down Heaton was ready to jump over a crowd of players and punch for safety, but we saw the weakness in their defence and scored another goal and before we knew it, it was half time and we were 2-0 up. The second half went pretty much as the 1^st I thought, they came at us and owned the play without doing much with it until they scored, the nerves of the fans started going but on the pitch there was no drop deep and pack the box “tactics” that we have seen in the last 2 seasons, I concede we did drop back but it seemed different, in the past it seemed like everyone dropped back because they didn’t have anything else to do and pretty much didn’t trust anyone else, this time everyone seemed to have confidence in everyone else’s ability to do their job and although they were all back there was shape and a plan. 3-1 nerves all gone! McInnis changed it to a 451 with Elliot coming on for Taylor. Then for me the biggest moment of the game, it went to 3-2 and I felt the mood of the crowd change again, the nerves were back in an instant so what did McInnis do – he put another striker on! That’s some mighty big balls at 3-2 and if it had gone wrong he would have been slaughtered for this decision – it was defiantly the right decision, gave us back our 442 shape with a strong central midfield battling for everything and we all know what happened next.

So now my feelings are still of interest but now I’m interested in how good are we? To try and ascertain the answer I go back to basing it on what I have seen and try and judge it against how our opposition have performed against other teams, Palace lost against Middlesbrough and from what I saw of them and their previous result I would say they will be flirting with relegation all season again, Cardiff had beaten Huddersfield and drew against Brighton, from what I saw and looking at their results they may struggle to reach the playoffs this season and may even be slightly lower mid table.

So where does that put us? Well I would say it’s way too early to tell but if I were to hazard a guess I would say from what I have seen and trying my hardest not to get carried away I would say with a consistent season we have a very slight outside chance of the playoffs but more likely to be between 6^th and 10^th. I’m fairly sure of one thing – A much more exciting season than the last 2.Sorry about the formatting - using a test version of IE that doesn't let me press enter on web sites it seems!

[citywest30]

Wow that must have taken some time. A good read tho. Since del made his first 4 signings I thought top half. With the other 3 and the two home games I am sure that this could be the least to hope for but like you trying not to get carried away. 6th to 10th I think is realistic but with a bit of momentum and maybe an unbeaten run like that in our playoff final season who knows.

[ChrisBCFC]

we will go on a good run, and a bad run, then another good one and another bad one.

Ultimately, low mid-table.

[Port Said Red]

Reasonable home form (e.g. W 13 D 7 L 3) = 46 PTS safety just about. Add a good away record (E.G. W 7 D 7 L 9) = 28pts and you can almost make the playoffs. Personally I still think GJ's old philosophy of 17pts from each group of 10 games is a good one. An average of 1.7pts per game (78/79pts) gets you to the playoffs. You have to imagine that if we have a couple more good results, teams will start to change their approach to us and that could get frustrating. I think a comfortable mid table finish of around 65 points will show the kind of improvement the realistic supporters would expect.

[demet78]

Mid table and I think everyone would be relatively happy taking into consideration the last 2 seasons! They won't trouble the top 6 but they won't be flirting with the bottom 3 either!

[Port Said Red]

I really thought that we would have another relegation struggle this season.

Then McInnes gets Davies and Baldock in and I'm thinking we've now got some goal threat which changes things a little. We then wipe the floor with an albeit poor Palace side, and then at least match Cardiff in every department whilst beating them by two goals. The manner of the wins and the way the team went about it changes things even more positively for me and I'm now thinking that we may not have that relegation struggle.

If he can get one or two centre backs in, then I'll be a lot more confident that we can actually be competitive in this division.

As it now stands, I think a mid-table finish is attainable - much much better than I thought a few weeks ago.

I always think your posts bring the lie to your username, this is even more positive than usual though. While you are not one of them, I do wonder what those people who wanted a completely new squad this season now think of some of our regulars. I am honestly not sure about the centreback situation though, my feeling is that with the majority of teams in this league, they are going to score no matter who is defending. Perhaps thats a defeatist attitude, but I would prefer us to hold on to the money and keep working with Font's, the rejuvenated Carey and James Wilson in particular and maybe developing Ahmadi-Holloway as a centreback too, especially if we are not yet genuine contenders.

[Know the Score]

When you look at the signings we've made, it's hard to understand why pundits have given us such a harsh prediction? But bringing in championship quality strikers for a decent amount of cash shows that we may have new ambitions for the club. Got to say if we did get in a promotion mix, what a positive impact it could have on such off field developments i.e the stadium...