shelts Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 Football is a very strange game and absolutely anything could happen. Our sqaud is young and in experienced and hopefully will improve over time. Tammy looks like the main man up top so his fitness and form are crucial. I think the club is set up to go up. No doubt we could go up. A glorious Bristol City nearly made play offs would keep us all interested!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Army 75 Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 Just out of interest we currently have 9pts . The 2015 -16 season it took us until 16th October last season to get to this number. Making progress. I think the championship is harder this season. You only have to look at the money being spent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The hand of RO'D Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 I wouldn't want us to get ahead of ourselves just yet, baby steps and all that. Id be happy with anything between 6-12th this season and establish ourselves properly this time round. It's also vital to keep building a squad to challenge but also not getting carried away with big spending and moving players on once they hit their peak with us ala agard & ayling. Our infrastructure and recruitment are poles apart from the last time we were in the championship and we've given ourselves good foundations to build on, I just hope we keep doing what we're doing but with LJ & MA at the helm I'm sure we will. Exciting times to be a city fan that's for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downendcity Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 11 minutes ago, Red_Nine said: I concur, no idea what not ready for promotion means, anyone would think we play in a 800 seater stadium and have a team of 14 year olds I bet Bournemouth were not ready for promotion to the prem either. Our infrastructure makes us as ready for the prem as just about any other club. The only thing I can see that puts us at a disadvantage compared to a lot of our rivals is that we've never been in the prem, so the club has no experience of what it involves. I bet Steve Lansdown has been ready for the prem for the last 8 years, but the difference now is that I reckon we/he have/has far better people in place to cope if we do make it. Do I think promotion is possible? Absolutely. The only question is when. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Cigar Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 Not for me, no. I predicted before the season started a 9th placed finish. Which would be a very good achievement compared to where we were. To have got 9 points already is impressive. And we haven't played particularly well. The win over Villa is I'd argue our best result in years. Very significant indeed. Rotherham away will be one of those games where most of us are expecting a win. The same fixture last season led to a dismal run of form and ultimately the end of Cotterill. A win there this season and I'll start to feel quite optimistic. One of the games where if we really do have play-off ambitions we need to win. Similarly, no reason to fear Sheff Wed just yet. They're bound to improve but have made a poor start. Derby at home will also tell us a lot. Again, good time to play them. My points on these so-called "big" teams made a year ago on here still stand. There are very few teams to genuinely fear in this division. Most live off past glories, and a good number of these clubs are abysmally run. (Leeds, Blackburn, Forest...). The key areas for us to work on: 1. Stop going 1-0 down. The evidence was there last season. Get the first goal, we tended to win. Or at least not lose. 2. Get that all important second goal. Very few teams lose a game from 2-0 up. And most will end up winning. 3. Goals from our midfield. 4. Dominate games in the middle of the park. Not be overrun in midfield. I'm literally wetting myself at the thought of Korey and O'Neil in the centre. 5. Make Ashton Gate a fortress. Next season, we should be even better. But, we will struggle to keep hold of our top players. We finish mid-table, and the likes of Flint and Bryan and Magnusson have good seasons, going to be very tough to keep hold of them. Such is the life of a club like ours. For now, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phileas Fogg Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 34 minutes ago, ChippenhamRed said: Magnusson has played, what, five games for the club and already people are saying they wouldn't swap him for any other central defender from any other team, some of whom they've probably only seen play once or twice, if at all? Think people need to calm down a bit. Makes me laugh when that happens. I remember people saying 'we'd be lucky to keep hold of JET beyond January' in his first season.. Or even more recently people were envisioning Tammy playing for England after 25 mins vs Wigan Athletic! Never ceases to amaze me how clubs seem to need to scout players for months, look at wide ranging stats, talk to his coaches and monitor his social media activities before signing.. Whereas some fans can make huge calls and predictions about their future based on a few mins of playing time! Sack Taylor, clearly a waste of money! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Cigar Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 2 minutes ago, downendcity said: I bet Bournemouth were not ready for promotion to the prem either. Our infrastructure makes us as ready for the prem as just about any other club. The only thing I can see that puts us at a disadvantage compared to a lot of our rivals is that we've never been in the prem, so the club has no experience of what it involves. I bet Steve Lansdown has been ready for the prem for the last 8 years, but the difference now is that I reckon we/he have/has far better people in place to cope if we do make it. Do I think promotion is possible? Absolutely. The only question is when. I think you're sort of right, and the point about Bournemouth is valid. Actually, they're all valid points! They're a great story, and were it not for Leicester's heroics, Bournemouth avoiding relegation was the highlight of the Prem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The hand of RO'D Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 2 minutes ago, Phileas Fogg said: Makes me laugh when that happens. I remember people saying 'we'd be lucky to keep hold of JET beyond January' in his first season.. Or even more recently people were envisioning Tammy playing for England after 25 mins vs Wigan Athletic! Never ceases to amaze me how clubs seem to need to scout players for months, look at wide ranging stats, talk to his coaches and monitor his social media activities before signing.. Whereas some fans can make huge calls and predictions about their future based on a few mins of playing time! Sack Taylor, clearly a waste of money! Tammy does play for England tho... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spudski Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 16 minutes ago, sodburyred said: Whilst I get your point, I don't think you can plan to be ready. Its a case of taking it when it comes. Look at Hull , Burnley and the ilk. Considered attractive to players and favourites for promotion in the Championship all thanks to getting to the premiership. Hull back in 2008 could only dream of having that sort of pull. We as a club could be "ready" for the next 20 years and still not be lucky enough for promotion. As for Liz Hurley surely it would be better to have a quick go at 16 than to get to 70 regretting that you didn't get another chance. Whilst I understand your way of thinking, those teams you mention, plus the likes of Bournemouth, Swansea and Stoke...weren't that far off, or even worse than what we have been in recent years. The one thing all those teams have and had, was they built up a solid infrastructure to their Clubs. We've only really started to do that this past year or so. I can't repeat enough times, how shoddy and unprofessional we have been in the past. As for the Liz Hurley scenario...we did that when we were 16 in the 1970's and looked how that finished. Since then, we've hit rock bottom...lived like a tramp, then won the lottery by getting SL on board. We then did what most Lottery winners do, flashed the cash and tried to live with the big boys, without having a clue what we were doing. We soon found out that people only wanted to be out friends for our money...those friendships dried up when we stopped flashing it. Then we had a mid life crisis and a Eureka moment. We've brought in 'friends' that care and wish to share their knowledge...built a new home...and have put a pension plan in place, whilst still having fun and living the dream. Good ol' Liz dropped Shane 3 years ago...she now looks at us as someone who is more mature, even more attractive, and more likely to deliver and sustain rather than being 'two jerks and a squirt' ;-) Perhaps we might move in with her for the long term before she gets to her 60th birthday ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welcome To The Jungle Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 The worst case scenario from promotion would be losing some of our better players after relegation with over 100 million plus parachute payments and received transfer fees. That could be invested into our academy and scouting set up and be a much more attractive proposition to new signings as clubs are more likely to go up if they've been a premier league club recently. Best case scenario is we become to most unlikely top flight winners ever!... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Cigar Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 Actually, scrap my point about how hard it'll be next summer to keep hold of our top players. Keeping hold of Lee Johnson will be the hardest thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BS2 Red Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 Nothing's impossible but I don't see promotion or relegation for us this season. Somewhere between 8th and 15th would be my guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reformed_red Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 Forget 'not ready'. Forgot '4 windows...' Forget 'more points already than last season'. Forget 'Magnusson is God'. Forget etc. etc. etc..... REMEMBER: This season, is arguably one of the hardest line ups of Championship promotion contenders. I won't list teams as we all know who is in our league, but we'd have to have on hell of a season to even think about playoffs / promotion. The league is insanely strong, and will be a real tough fight at the top. Not this season for me. Although it will be nice to sit and enjoy some mid-table security without looking the other way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reformed_red Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 2 minutes ago, Fat Cigar said: Actually, scrap my point about how hard it'll be next summer to keep hold of our top players. Keeping hold of Lee Johnson will be the hardest thing. I don't think it will. I think that the mad merry-go-round of managers nowadays means that those young, hungry up-and-coming managers look for a club where they can stay for a good while. Why leave us and this fantastic opportunity to go and manage Hull / West Brom for a year or so and then get moved on again? I think out of everyone at the club, he is the most secure for a good few years yet.... MA on the other hand...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich_s Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 The only answer is "no". Possible yes, likely no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Cigar Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 3 minutes ago, reformed_red said: I don't think it will. I think that the mad merry-go-round of managers nowadays means that those young, hungry up-and-coming managers look for a club where they can stay for a good while. Why leave us and this fantastic opportunity to go and manage Hull / West Brom for a year or so and then get moved on again? I think out of everyone at the club, he is the most secure for a good few years yet.... MA on the other hand...... Hope so. Mark Ashton will just need to be given a whopping pay rise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RightUpInCider Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 A good window but the loss of Kodjia without a replacement means I think a top ten finish is the best we can hope for. Promotion needs goals and we have just lost a goal scorer. Tammy may bag us 20 but we at best need another goal scorer alongside him to push for promotion, but worst case we need cover in case on injuries and suspensions. May be the Swedish guy is the unknown that could tip the balance. Someone clearly thinks high of him given the fee paid... let's hope they are proved right. Also lets not forget that January will be here before we know it and if we are riding high in the table, with LJ stock increasing and playing a good style of football then we will hopefully start to see a higher quality of player attracted to our club. One thing for sure... we are going in the right direction so surely a top 6 finishe is a matter of time if not this season? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reformed_red Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 2 minutes ago, Fat Cigar said: Hope so. Mark Ashton will just need to be given a whopping pay rise. The danger with that is him being such a good negotiator, he will probably wangle the keys to the city along with SL as his personal chauffeur.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRL Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 A lot of change or me and to some extent a ripping up of the camaraderie that was built with the selling of some key members of that group. Given time and the chance to gel I think there is more talent here, if we finished mid table I would be very happy considering most of our buys have very little championship experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeAman08 Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 1 hour ago, Suffolk Red said: Not likely, but not impossible. I know it's vague but it's most accurate. I'd expect 12. Good chance for 8-9 and 50/50 we can finish higher. If we finished top 6 I wouldn't be surprised but I expect somewhere between 10-13th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Dawe Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 Is promotion likely? No. Not this season. We want to be ready though, for the Championship season when the teams dropping down - or at least two of them - are not as huge and strong as Newcastle, or as up-together and done-it-before as Norwich, like a couple of years ago when Cardiff and Fulham were relegated and in a mess. Or like the year Cardiff, Hull and Palace went up, three clubs we could compete with if we're at our best. That's the time it might be more "likely" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midlands Robin Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 The key thing this season is being able to compete with those around us. The transformation of the club is almost complete and we are now a professionally run and modern football club. The whole image of the club is psychologically worth a few extra points a season. Happy fans, increased gates, players that want to be here, good facilities, it all adds up. I don't feel we are quite there yet in terms of overall quality but the struggles of last year will soon be a distant memory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mozo Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 10 more wins plus 11 draws, and we're probably safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Up The City! Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 1 hour ago, spudski said: Whilst it is obviously the Clubs dream to get to the Prem, if we were to do the unthinkable and make the play offs and go up...what then? Apart from the money, all I can think of are negatives. No way are we ready as a Club to go up yet. Still building as a Club throughout. I'd like to think if we ever went up, then we would be in a position to sustain that position and not come straight back down again. Doing that would make us go backward imo. I'd like to think we could keep getting better each season in this league and develop throughout the club. No point dreaming about the Prem and play offs if we aren't ready for it. It's a bit like winning a night in with Liz Hurley when you were 16...fun at the time, but with years experience behind you, you wish it had been when you were in your thirties, when you knew what you were doing, and could make it last ;-) I'll hand my season ticket back now shall i if I can't dream? Personally I want us to win every game we play, want us to win the league every year, ok it's unrealistic but without hope, without that dream then what the hell is the point? Bournemouth haven't done too badly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityboy Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 42 minutes ago, reformed_red said: REMEMBER: This season, is arguably one of the hardest line ups of Championship promotion contenders. I won't list teams as we all know who is in our league, but we'd have to have on hell of a season to even think about playoffs / promotion. The league is insanely strong, and will be a real tough fight at the top. You say that, but it will only get harder still from next season on as the financial gulf between the divisions widens ever further. £100m for finishing bottom, plus parachute payments? Not sure how the championship teams are meant to compete with that sort of financial power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phileas Fogg Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 4 minutes ago, Up The City! said: I'll hand my season ticket back now shall i if I can't dream? Personally I want us to win every game we play, want us to win the league every year, ok it's unrealistic but without hope, without that dream then what the hell is the point? Bournemouth haven't done too badly. Bournemouth are one example but then there are clubs like Burnley, Norwich, Cardiff etc who have been relegated quickly. Bournemouth are a bit of an anomaly with an exceptional manager but could easily go down this season. Spudski's point is being made pragmatically, not necessarily with the optimism of a fan. Of course we all want us to win every game, but the reality is that the club probably aren't ready for the prem yet. We're only just becoming competitive in all areas (especially off the pitch) in this league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Ian M Posted September 2, 2016 Admin Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 @Fat Cigar appears to be fighting his corner alone but I completely agree with him. A season where we spent much of it expecting relegation before ending up in 18th saw us lose our top scorer for £11m and clubs show some genuine interest in the CB we actually owned. I guarantee if we have a top 8 finish and don't go up, £8m valuations won't scare teams off Flinty and he will be gone along with potentially 2 or 3 others. Plus of course Tammy will be playing PL football in the next step of his progression. If we are able to take promotion this season, take it and trust LJ, MA & DT to bring in the players needed to survive or go down with enough funds to bounce back like Burnley. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcusX Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 From a purely selfish POV, a couple years consolidation at this level before we go up. I may retire from playing and be able to get to every game then! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cidered abroad Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 54 minutes ago, reformed_red said: Forget 'not ready'. Forgot '4 windows...' Forget 'more points already than last season'. Forget 'Magnusson is God'. Forget etc. etc. etc..... REMEMBER: This season, is arguably one of the hardest line ups of Championship promotion contenders. I won't list teams as we all know who is in our league, but we'd have to have on hell of a season to even think about playoffs / promotion. The league is insanely strong, and will be a real tough fight at the top. Not this season for me. Although it will be nice to sit and enjoy some mid-table security without looking the other way! Not an argument against your comments but in a league of twenty four clubs, the "Confidence factor" is the most important thing. Win three or four on the bounce and all players believe they are supermen; lose them and they couldn't pass a ball to someone two inches away. It's there for the taking if any club gets the rub of the green and good hard work by everyone at that club. Whether that is us or any other club, we'll all see but it's guaranteed that a big name will flounder in the bottom six and one "minnow" will be flirting with pray-offs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spudski Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 21 minutes ago, Up The City! said: I'll hand my season ticket back now shall i if I can't dream? Personally I want us to win every game we play, want us to win the league every year, ok it's unrealistic but without hope, without that dream then what the hell is the point? Bournemouth haven't done too badly. see my next post fella ;-) no point having a dream if it turns into a nightmare... Dream by all means...like Leicester Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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