Next Season

[Unan]

1 hour ago, Bar BS3 said:

Let's not forget the impressive 2nd half to last season either. 

I can understand people not being happy between Oct-Feb, but how can some people not see the flip side of that period, during the rest of LJ tenure..?! 

Because he was new here, he's now had time to implement his own 'brand' of football & look what happened.

[JamesBCFC]

17 minutes ago, ScottishRed said:

James, with all respect, there is still a reasonable chance that we may may be relegated. I  believe that this situation should never have even been closely possible, but that is where we are.

It is utterly clear to anyone that understands the game that the current Head Coach should be nowhere near a Championship team.

The reason he is in that position is subject to many opinions, however the facts are clear - maybe one day he will be able to do a job at this level, now is not that time.

Where at any point have I suggested otherwise?
As I covered on another thread, out of the 4 teams most likely to go down, we have the best chance of staying up.

 

Facts are clear, LJ has a top 10 record with us, that suggests he is capable at this time. That doesn't make us being where we are any better, but is disproves the "out of his depth" nonsense.

[Robbored]

5 hours ago, wendyredredrobin said:

With the same head coach, how could you expect a different outcome to this season?

Maybe.......with the experience of this season Junior will have benefitted greatly and be better for it next season.

[pillred]

1 hour ago, JHAGa said:

 

I haven't at any point said it's been a good season. But I won't completely rule LJ out like some.

 

Let's hope we find replacements for Abraham and Wilbs (Djuric?). We certainly left LJ in the lurch by not replacing Kodjia, so hopefully the same mistakes won't be repeated.

we did replace kodjia, tammy Abraham albeit only for one season

[JHAGa]

1 hour ago, ScottishRed said:

So it's Friday night....

" We  certainly left LJ in the lurch by not replacing Kodjia" mmm! Really ? That young lad that wears the number 9 shirt has done OK!!

The highest scoring teenager ever in this league - Tammy is going to be a superstar - but it is utterly SHAMEFUL that we are in the position we are in with him in the team.

 

How many times? Abraham wasn't Kodjia's replacement, he was playing alongisde Kodjia and hence why we were bidding £6M for Joe Mason on deadline day. Panicking, trying to replace him.

 

Abraham has been great but we've been utterly reliant on him for scoring. Selling our best player without a replacement days before the window shut was of course an extremely difficult challenge for the manager to face. As it would be for any other manager.

[JHAGa]

1 hour ago, BobBobSuperBob said:

You still using this ?

As I've pointed out before as LJ has stated himself the decision whether to keep or sell JK was his and ashtons  - SL left it to them

So if he was sold without a replacement blame those two 

If we had been half professional we would have agreed to sell JK on the proviso we acquired a replacement first , if that's what we wanted

 

 

oh yes I forgot - you claim SL and LJ both lied about this !

 

 

 

 

I'm a big fan of SL, I've defended him numerous times for sticking by LJ and find myself baffled by those who question his commitment, but it's hardly ludicrous to say that SL lied, when he directly said we wouldn't sell to a Championship rival and that we would be prepared if Kodjia were to go. Both cases proved not to be true. Not like we haven't got history of leaving manager's in the lurch when it comes to the transfer market. LJ was hardly going to state publicly that he was not happy about Kodjia being sold.

 

Anyway, you're the one twisting my post into a negative when I'm one of those that am positive about our future under LJ and SL. Unlike others on here!

 

But we do need a striker in the summer. Hopefully we make amends for our failure to replace Kodjia.

[BS4 on Tour...]

2 hours ago, JamesBCFC said:

Facts are clear, LJ has a top 10 record with us, that suggests he is capable at this time. That doesn't make us being where we are any better, but is disproves the "out of his depth" nonsense.

So why aren't we in the top 10? Have I missed something?!

[JamesBCFC]

17 minutes ago, BS4 on Tour... said:

So why aren't we in the top 10? Have I missed something?!

Because his record with us is more than just this season.

[Guest]

7 hours ago, JHAGa said:

 

I haven't at any point said it's been a good season. But I won't completely rule LJ out like some.

 

Let's hope we find replacements for Abraham and Wilbs (Djuric?). We certainly left LJ in the lurch by not replacing Kodjia, so hopefully the same mistakes won't be repeated.

Without Abraham we would be relegated already imo......even with him its still a possibility we could still go down, such has been the crapness of our management and season.

 Even if we find someone like Kod or Abs we will sell them when the first decent bid comes in. This is why we will never get anywhere.

[Guest]

7 hours ago, Robbored said:

Maybe.......with the experience of this season Junior will have benefitted greatly and be better for it next season.

and sometimes some never learn

[Hampshire Red]

Rednwhiterob, ScottishRed; you really know how to spoil a good weekend ahead with your glass 3/4 empty approach to life. Maybe you should start a new forum with the others who can't wait to have a pop at a club many of us have supported through thick n thin and who we also pay good money to watch every week.

Why is it shameful we are struggling? In any Championship season half the teams struggle at some point, have good runs and bad runs. You must also conclude it is shameful Forest, Wolves, Bham, Ipswich, QPR etc etc have also struggled, not to mention Premier league Wigan?

City took a giant leap forward under Cott's (7 of his boys started v Norwich, 4 of our back 5 today were in the glorious Double team

 It takes time to progress steadily and all some of you guys want to do is moan, criticise and tell the world you know better than our inexperienced coach. Let's hope for some decent results today and Tuesday. CoYRs

[City Ben]

6 hours ago, JHAGa said:

 

I'm a big fan of SL, I've defended him numerous times for sticking by LJ and find myself baffled by those who question his commitment, but it's hardly ludicrous to say that SL lied, when he directly said we wouldn't sell to a Championship rival and that we would be prepared if Kodjia were to go. Both cases proved not to be true. Not like we haven't got history of leaving manager's in the lurch when it comes to the transfer market. LJ was hardly going to state publicly that he was not happy about Kodjia being sold.

 

I always took the comment re not selling to a championship rival as positioning ahead of a negotiation over the price, rather than a "lie". I'm sure we've all taken some positions in negotiations which later on we've been able to move away from... as long as I get something in return. The fact that we got (or will get) 15m says to me we negotiated well. 

[ChippenhamRed]

6 hours ago, JHAGa said:

 

How many times? Abraham wasn't Kodjia's replacement, he was playing alongisde Kodjia and hence why we were bidding £6M for Joe Mason on deadline day. Panicking, trying to replace him.

 

Abraham has been great but we've been utterly reliant on him for scoring. Selling our best player without a replacement days before the window shut was of course an extremely difficult challenge for the manager to face. As it would be for any other manager.

Kodjia played as a central striker, often on his own, in 2015/16 and was one of the top scorers in the league.

Tammy played as a central striker, often on his own, in 2016/17 and was one of the top scorers in the league.

Kodjia did not play "alongside" Tammy, he played out wide whilst Tammy played centrally. One of the main reasons the club were able to even consider allowing Kodjia to leave was the fact they already had a ready-made replacement on the books in Tammy Abraham. Not to mention the fact that we subsequently signed Engvall for the same amount of money we paid for Kodjia the previous season. That's nowhere near being "left in the lurch".

It is an absolute nonsense to say we haven't replaced Kodjia when we have clearly replaced our main source of goals for another equally reliable source. 

[ChippenhamRed]

14 minutes ago, Hampshire Red said:

Rednwhiterob, ScottishRed; you really know how to spoil a good weekend ahead with your glass 3/4 empty approach to life. Maybe you should start a new forum with the others who can't wait to have a pop at a club many of us have supported through thick n thin and who we also pay good money to watch every week.

Why is it shameful we are struggling? In any Championship season half the teams struggle at some point, have good runs and bad runs. You must also conclude it is shameful Forest, Wolves, Bham, Ipswich, QPR etc etc have also struggled, not to mention Premier league Wigan?

City took a giant leap forward under Cott's (7 of his boys started v Norwich, 4 of our back 5 today were in the glorious Double team

 It takes time to progress steadily and all some of you guys want to do is moan, criticise and tell the world you know better than our inexperienced coach. Let's hope for some decent results today and Tuesday. CoYRs

It's shameful that we've struggled because of the investment made on the pitch this season. We've spent more than pretty much all the clubs you compare us to.

Yes, it takes time to progress steadily, but finishing 18th last year, spending £15m, then likely finishing lower than that the following year, does not represent progress by any measure.

As for "Premier League" Wigan, they were in League One last season and you're talking about a town half the size of Swindon.

[Wanderingred]

I dont see the point in even thinking about next season yet... We have no idea what division we will be in, who will be in charge or what sort of form we will finish this season in. All I'm looking at is the remaining 8 games, and I think we will have enough to scrape over the line... after that, who knows?

[Natchfever]

11 hours ago, JHAGa said:

 

They've made up their minds and don't like to see signs of being proven wrong in recent weeks for whatever reason, so continue their blatant agendas. Very sad.

He needs a strong finish to the season to win a number of fans back I believe. Last season is irrelevant in my view, as we are hanging on right now by our fingertips. As for agendas I don't personally know a single fan now who wants Johnson to **** up. Why? Because he is going nowhere and if he doesn't turn things around we are down - With him at the helm in league 1..

[Garland-sweden]

9 hours ago, Bar BS3 said:

That's the spirit!! 

 

He he. Many are pessimistic Hope and think we will stay up. This season have had no real structur in the team. To many players in and out and defence and confidense not in harmony. The 4 last games only one goal conceded. At last I think LJ found the cocktail. Next season I think we can be a proper team in this leauge. Established so to say, midtable but my heart wish top six offcause. KS and Bryan will be good and then Wright, Flint and Hordur, Moore. Like Fielding in goal, think he is nr 1. Tammy will go but we have Djuric, Taylor and Engvall. Tomlin not to forget. The key is the defence, you always build the team fr.o.m. there. LJ have had one season in this leauge, he have made misstakes but also the players. So all and all, If we stay up, Im optimistic for next season. We are still learning and in our best moments we are a good football team. By the way, Odowda will be very good. 

[JamesBCFC]

1 hour ago, ChippenhamRed said:

It's shameful that we've struggled because of the investment made on the pitch this season. We've spent more than pretty much all the clubs you compare us to.

Yes, it takes time to progress steadily, but finishing 18th last year, spending £15m, then likely finishing lower than that the following year, does not represent progress by any measure.

As for "Premier League" Wigan, they were in League One last season and you're talking about a town half the size of Swindon.

If we ended on a higher points total, but lower position would that be progress?

It would represent a higher points tally from each game, in a more competitive league, but lower final placement.

[ChippenhamRed]

23 minutes ago, JamesBCFC said:

If we ended on a higher points total, but lower position would that be progress?

It would represent a higher points tally from each game, in a more competitive league, but lower final placement.

No. You progress is comparable to other teams. You can't directly compare two different seasons against different teams with different players. But you can directly compare your performance against teams in the same division in the same season, as everyone has played the same opposition in the same year. No one was ever awarded a trophy or a promotion based on a points total alone.

[JHAGa]

3 hours ago, ChippenhamRed said:

Kodjia played as a central striker, often on his own, in 2015/16 and was one of the top scorers in the league.

Tammy played as a central striker, often on his own, in 2016/17 and was one of the top scorers in the league.

Kodjia did not play "alongside" Tammy, he played out wide whilst Tammy played centrally. One of the main reasons the club were able to even consider allowing Kodjia to leave was the fact they already had a ready-made replacement on the books in Tammy Abraham. Not to mention the fact that we subsequently signed Engvall for the same amount of money we paid for Kodjia the previous season. That's nowhere near being "left in the lurch".

It is an absolute nonsense to say we haven't replaced Kodjia when we have clearly replaced our main source of goals for another equally reliable source. 

 

They were playing in the same team, they were playing alongisde each other. Tammy was playing up front, but Kodjia went up alongside him when we switched the system during the game a few times. But I didn't mean alongside in a literal sense anyway. The point is we lost a key attacking threat which left the manager with far less at his disposal. Even the top PL clubs struggle to replace their star players in the short term. It doesn't help when it's last minute and no replacement was lined up.

 

Tammy replaced Kodjia's goals but we've sorely lacked Kodjia's pace, movement and additional ability to score goals. It's far easier to mark one potential threat than it is to mark two.  Engvall was always one for the future. Again, hence why we were throwing around big bids for Mason on deadline day as we were seeking a proper replacement.

[The Gasbuster]

3 hours ago, Hampshire Red said:

Rednwhiterob, ScottishRed; you really know how to spoil a good weekend ahead with your glass 3/4 empty approach to life. Maybe you should start a new forum with the others who can't wait to have a pop at a club many of us have supported through thick n thin and who we also pay good money to watch every week.

Why is it shameful we are struggling? In any Championship season half the teams struggle at some point, have good runs and bad runs. You must also conclude it is shameful Forest, Wolves, Bham, Ipswich, QPR etc etc have also struggled, not to mention Premier league Wigan?

City took a giant leap forward under Cott's (7 of his boys started v Norwich, 4 of our back 5 today were in the glorious Double team

 It takes time to progress steadily and all some of you guys want to do is moan, criticise and tell the world you know better than our inexperienced coach. Let's hope for some decent results today and Tuesday. CoYRs

[ChippenhamRed]

34 minutes ago, JHAGa said:

 

They were playing in the same team, they were playing alongisde each other. Tammy was playing up front, but Kodjia went up alongside him when we switched the system during the game a few times. But I didn't mean alongside in a literal sense anyway. The point is we lost a key attacking threat which left the manager with far less at his disposal. Even the top PL clubs struggle to replace their star players in the short term. It doesn't help when it's last minute and no replacement was lined up.

 

Tammy replaced Kodjia's goals but we've sorely lacked Kodjia's pace, movement and additional ability to score goals. It's far easier to mark one potential threat than it is to mark two.  Engvall was always one for the future. Again, hence why we were throwing around big bids for Mason on deadline day as we were seeking a proper replacement.

"It's far easier to mark one potential threat than two".

That's a different argument. Replacement implies one in, one out. We replaced one centre forward for another, albeit with different styles. As for Engvall being one for the future, that is categorically not how he was presented back in August.

[downendcity]

11 hours ago, JHAGa said:

 

I'm a big fan of SL, I've defended him numerous times for sticking by LJ and find myself baffled by those who question his commitment, but it's hardly ludicrous to say that SL lied, when he directly said we wouldn't sell to a Championship rival and that we would be prepared if Kodjia were to go. Both cases proved not to be true. Not like we haven't got history of leaving manager's in the lurch when it comes to the transfer market. LJ was hardly going to state publicly that he was not happy about Kodjia being sold.

 

Anyway, you're the one twisting my post into a negative when I'm one of those that am positive about our future under LJ and SL. Unlike others on here!

 

But we do need a striker in the summer. Hopefully we make amends for our failure to replace Kodjia.

SL is an experieneed business man and used to negotiating. It must have become clear last season that we would struggle to hold on to JK.

That being the case SL's priority would be to get the best price possible . The best price would come from a prem club but if it became clear that no prem club was interested, and knowing that JK wanted out, it would have to be a Championship club.

Stating we would not sell to another championship club enabled our bargaining position to be stronger.

Did it suceed? Absolutely. 

Did SL act in the club's best interest? Also absolutely.

Did SL lie to us? Depends how you view it,  but given the fee we received I couldn't care less if he'd gone to Rovers!

 

[robin_unreliant]

If we were keeping Tammy and losing Johnson I would feel quite excited about next season.

As it is probably going to be the other way round I am in the pessimist camp. IF we stay up this season he will have us in another relegation fight - no doubt in my mind.