A disappointing end to what has been a frankly underwhelming season.

[pillred]

well, I know what Percy Pig thought would happen today and unfortunately, he was right and I was wrong, I predicted a draw which I thought we deserved but ultimately we didn't get it, but at the end of the day I left the ground deflated we deserved something from that game, yes the stats probably say we were outplayed but from where I was sat it looked pretty even and you would at times have been hard pressed to see much difference between the sides, a worldie and a stupid mistake from well we all know who cost us the game, at the moment we are finding it hard to compete with parachute payment clubs and in my opinion the quicker that inequity is stopped the better.

[Rob k]

Nothing too much to be deflated about today, we more than matched them after the break and gave away 2 sloppy goals. We have played both Burnley and Sheffield Utd in recent weeks and given both a good game. The thing I’m deflated about this season is there was a real opportunity for a team to get promoted and unfortunately we were not able to be in the mix, make no mistake.l, this was as poor a championship as i remember and next seasons already looking far tougher. 

[Kingswood Robin]

Hopefully we'll be one of the teams making it tougher.

[pillred]

28 minutes ago, Rob k said:

Nothing too much to be deflated about today, we more than matched them after the break and gave away 2 sloppy goals. We have played both Burnley and Sheffield Utd in recent weeks and given both a good game. The thing I’m deflated about this season is there was a real opportunity for a team to get promoted and unfortunately we were not able to be in the mix, make no mistake.l, this was as poor a championship as i remember and next seasons already looking far tougher. 

I often wonder what we keep doing wrong, I mean this season Millwall Luton and Coventry have all done better than us with arguably less financial backing ground capacity ( Coventry excepted) and overall support, to say I'm scratching my head would be an understatement, what you have to remember is that I have been attending games for over 55 years at the end of this season and I have had to watch teams that should, in theory, be inferior on the criteria I listed to us pass us by, if anyone has the answer for god's sake let me and the club know what we keep doing wrong.  

Edited April 29, 2023 by pillred

[A Horse With No Name]

Sorry, but how anyone can say we deserved anything from today has rose tinted specs on. We looked like boys against men for much of the match, and Burnley outplayed us without getting out of second gear.

Edited April 29, 2023 by CrackingCheeseGromit

[pillred]

2 minutes ago, CrackingCheeseGromit said:

Sorry, but how anyone can say we deserved anything from today has rose tinted specs on. We looked like boys against men for much of the match, and Burnley outplated us without getting out of second gear.

Well then my seat must have a better view than yours, yes they had more shots on target but we gifted them their winning goal and to me, they looked to be time-wasting for half of the second half, a draw would have been a much fairer result, deserved anything? harsh.  

[lenred]

9 minutes ago, pillred said:

I often wonder what we keep doing wrong, I mean this season Millwall Luton and Coventry have all done better than us with arguably less financial backing ground capacity ( Coventry excepted) and overall support, to say I'm scratching my head would be an understatement, what you have to remember is that I have been attending games for over 55 years at the end of this season and I have had to watch teams that should, in theory, be inferior on the criteria I listed to us pass us by, if anyone has the answer for god's sake let me and the club know what we keep doing wrong.  

Most seasons a team (or teams) with less resource, smaller support, worse stadium etc etc etc do better than us.   Just as we are doing better than teams who think they should be doing better than us.   It’s just football.  
Given our position at the start of the season, where exactly did you think we should be? 

[Son of Fred]

38 minutes ago, Rob k said:

Nothing too much to be deflated about today, we more than matched them after the break and gave away 2 sloppy goals. We have played both Burnley and Sheffield Utd in recent weeks and given both a good game. The thing I’m deflated about this season is there was a real opportunity for a team to get promoted and unfortunately we were not able to be in the mix, make no mistake.l, this was as poor a championship as i remember and next seasons already looking far tougher. 

We were nowhere near good enough for top six, however you dress it up.

[pillred]

11 minutes ago, lenred said:

Most seasons a team (or teams) with less resource, smaller support, worse stadium etc etc etc do better than us.   Just as we are doing better than teams who think they should be doing better than us.   It’s just football.  
Given our position at the start of the season, where exactly did you think we should be? 

Well, that's a difficult one, personally slightly better than we actually did, but with the benefit of 55/20  hindsight, I suppose I should have known when we might do better, probably never given that I'm the eternal optimist. 

Edited April 29, 2023 by pillred

[bpexile]

16 minutes ago, pillred said:

I often wonder what we keep doing wrong, I mean this season Millwall Luton and Coventry have all done better than us with arguably less financial backing ground capacity ( Coventry excepted) and overall support, to say I'm scratching my head would be an understatement, what you have to remember is that I have been attending games for over 55 years at the end of this season and I have had to watch teams that should, in theory, be inferior on the criteria I listed to us pass us by, if anyone has the answer for god's sake let me and the club know what we keep doing wrong.  

I understand your frustration regarding Millwall, Luton and Coventry but imho we haven't had a capable management/physio team in charge UNTIL NOW, sure we had great results with Cotts but for whatever reason he wasn't allowed to follow it up. I honestly believe we now have the management/physio team to achieve. It's an unfair league with the parachute payments in place but hopefully we can be in the mix next season, hang in there mate .

[pillred]

3 minutes ago, bpexile said:

I understand your frustration regarding Millwall, Luton and Coventry but imho we haven't had a capable management/physio team in charge UNTIL NOW, sure we had great results with Cotts but for whatever reason he wasn't allowed to follow it up. I honestly believe we now have the management/physio team to achieve. It's an unfair league with the parachute payments in place but hopefully we can be in the mix next season, hang in there mate .

Thanks It must be even harder for you watching from afar, believe me today the stats don't give you the whole picture we really deserved something from today.

[Swede]

Actually I'm quite upbeat about next season. We've cleared the decks and recovered financially whereas a lot of other clubs have yet to face that (Swansea being a perfect example) I think we've made great strides this season with improving the backroom staff so in turn the player's fitness is much improved. There is a collective responsibility and we can see the benefits of this through improved and consistent performances on the pitch.

[joe jordans teeth]

1 hour ago, Rob k said:

Nothing too much to be deflated about today, we more than matched them after the break and gave away 2 sloppy goals. We have played both Burnley and Sheffield Utd in recent weeks and given both a good game. The thing I’m deflated about this season is there was a real opportunity for a team to get promoted and unfortunately we were not able to be in the mix, make no mistake.l, this was as poor a championship as i remember and next seasons already looking far tougher. 

Dunno about that,I don’t think I’ve seen as bad a 2 teams in Everton and Southampton drop down into our league for a long time 

[CheddarReds]

Has it been an underwhelming season?

I suppose in one way it has - you play sport to win so any season without promotion and trophies could be viewed as underwhelming. 

Though realistically there will always be 21 Championship teams who don't get promoted, 3 of which are relegated so 18 teams will have to look at the bigger picture to judge their season. 

Ok you still can't ignore the league table - barring some eyebrow raising results on the final day, we'll finish at best 14th and worst 16th. Not as high as we'd like, but still a slight improvement on the last couple seasons. Additionally many of us felt our status as a Championship club was safe earlier in the season too.

Also let's not forget how frustrating we've been to watch at times in the last couple years. If my memory is correct our 2020-21 season saw us break the record for the least shots on goal in a Championship season since records began (2013), and 2021-22 saw us concede a ridiculous number of late goals losing us valuable points. Such obvious flaws in our squad and system, be it tactical, mental or physical have seemingly been eradicated. 

Financially I understand we're in a stronger position, as evidenced by paying a rumoured 7 figure sum for Mehmeti in Jan. We've continued to reduce our wage bill, smartly managing some of the higher earners by offloading them (e.g. Bentley) or resigning them (e.g. Wells) on improved terms.

Thankfully our academy has continued to produce talented players. We're continuing to reap the financial (Semenyo sale, expected Scott sale) and footballing benefits of this, and there's players to be excited about in the next crop coming through. 

Looking ahead to next season's incomings, it feels like once again there is a more coherent strategy in place. It's encouraging to see us return to signing up and comers rather than believing our hype and signing players on their way down for over inflated fees and wages. Also many of the players we've signed in recent windows from lower leagues are finding their feet at Championship level - Atkinson and Tanner come to mind especially.

All in all, many reasons to look at it as a progressive 12 months for the club. I'm already excited to see what next season brings and how the squad shapes up come the first game of the season.

[IAmNick]

Wow, really?

Last August if you'd have offered me comfortable mid table with games to spare, 5 or 6 academy players starting every game, and one or two of our young stars with moves to the prem for serious cash which we can reinvest I'd have bitten your hand off. We've also played some quality, entertaining football... Wasn't today our first home league loss this calendar year? We couldn't buy a win at home a year or two ago.

I think a few of us have perhaps forgotten quite how f*cked we were a year or two ago. Some serious perspective needed.

It's been a good season for me, and I'm excited for next year for the first time in ages.

[exAtyeoMax]

I enjoyed this season over all, really looking forward to fixtures release day in June so I can start planning next season. 
 

[redkev]

People saying next year’s division will be a lot tougher , coming down will be soton, likely Everton , Leeds forest possibly Leicester coming up Ipswich ,the janners, coming up and going top 6 will be very tough and as for those coming down they may be big clubs but are all in a mess and watching on tv have put in some pretty woeful performances 

[Out of his pie crust]

Top half next season will be decent next year, we’d have to have an unbelievable transfer window to get playoff ready

[Davefevs]

2 hours ago, pillred said:

I often wonder what we keep doing wrong, I mean this season Millwall Luton and Coventry have all done better than us with arguably less financial backing ground capacity ( Coventry excepted) and overall support, to say I'm scratching my head would be an understatement, what you have to remember is that I have been attending games for over 55 years at the end of this season and I have had to watch teams that should, in theory, be inferior on the criteria I listed to us pass us by, if anyone has the answer for god's sake let me and the club know what we keep doing wrong.  

I’ll keep saying it, Luton, Millwall, Coventry (and others) are much further down the track of a well conceived and executed plan, focussed on 1) a sound financial plan, 2) excellent player recruitment, and 3) a way of playing (aligned to recruitment).  I would add a 4) longevity of manager, but in Luton’s case it’s no so but they followed up 2) with excellent manager recruitment.

They are making excellent use of resources, not hamstring by a huge cost base, etc, etc, etc.

We are trying to do similar, in our own way.  We are bringing through academy (lots of them) whilst in the rebuild phase, because we can’t afford PL loanees.  We had little choice.  We’ve executed pretty well in the circumstances.

We’ve got ourselves sorted, we are back in the game.

Part of the problems our fans have is they see teams like the ones above as inferior…they should be looking at them as “smarter”.  They are quick adapters because they have financial contingency.  Covid hit them less hard in terms of FFP.  It fooked us!  It’s not hard to look at both of the last 2 seasons and think that we could easily have gone down without the hard work and planning of Pearson and Gould.

We never say, look how much better we are doing that those recent ex-PL clubs like Reading, Cardiff, Wigan, Sheffield Wed, Derby, or there or thereabouts with Watford, Swansea and Norwich.

So that’s my answer, what your thoughts back?

43 minutes ago, IAmNick said:

Wow, really?

Last August if you'd have offered me comfortable mid table with games to spare, 5 or 6 academy players starting every game, and one or two of our young stars with moves to the prem for serious cash which we can reinvest I'd have bitten your hand off. We've also played some quality, entertaining football... Wasn't today our first home league loss this calendar year? We couldn't buy a win at home a year or two ago.

I think a few of us have perhaps forgotten quite how f*cked we were a year or two ago. Some serious perspective needed.

It's been a good season for me, and I'm excited for next year for the first time in ages.

amen brother Nick.

[Red-Robbo]

2 hours ago, Rob k said:

Nothing too much to be deflated about today, we more than matched them after the break and gave away 2 sloppy goals. We have played both Burnley and Sheffield Utd in recent weeks and given both a good game. The thing I’m deflated about this season is there was a real opportunity for a team to get promoted and unfortunately we were not able to be in the mix, make no mistake.l, this was as poor a championship as i remember and next seasons already looking far tougher. 

 

ONE sloppy goal. The first was contender for a MOTD goal-of-the-month strike.

You're deflated and I am too. That wasn't the last home game I wanted to see. Before and after the match it felt like we were sucking Burnley's collective c***, which I wasn't happy about. 

We gave a top team - albeit one cantering about with no real urgency - a decent game but there were many deflating aspects to this match:

Pearson starting the side that hadn't bossed piss-poor Rotherham again. As if they were suddenly going to cope with Burnley!

Alex Scott seemingly having left the stadium already. I get he doesn't want to injure himself, but c'mon. Leave on a high. Not be subbed off after a mistake that would've seen less regarded players booed for. 

Yet another shite ref overawed by the "PL" side.

At the end of the game, I couldn't wait to leave the stadium and forget about it and this underwhelming finish to our home matches this season.

I have no unshakable belief that Nigel Pearson will guide us to a higher finish next season. I'm afraid that match just left me feeling bleh! 

 

 

[Southend Blue]

I look out for Robins results actually.     Nothing disingenuous I want you to do well.      Last top league appearance was in 1980 I think,  not quite old enough to recall it but point being I'd like to see City being part of the top most league once again.    And why not ?

There was some talk here around the turn of the year about City being possibly relegated.     Just think that possibly could have come to pass and take it from me you don't want to drop into League One.        Finishing lower mid-league (in the Championship) is no disgrace, there's a whole bunch of teams below that would swap positions right away.      Had a live TV glamour feature with Manchester City in the F.A. Cup.     From an impartial viewpoint don't think it's been quite as bad as some would imagine.   

Of course we and Plymouth join Robins in the Championship from August.       Looking forward to being back and what we can this time bring to the table.      Incidentally we gave Burnley two very tough games in the F.A. Cup earlier this year.     Two divisions apart but came very close to getting a result from it / putting them out.         I suppose it shows just for how far we've come this season.   

[Simon bristol]

4 hours ago, Southend Blue said:

I look out for Robins results actually.     Nothing disingenuous I want you to do well.      Last top league appearance was in 1980 I think,  not quite old enough to recall it but point being I'd like to see City being part of the top most league once again.    And why not ?

There was some talk here around the turn of the year about City being possibly relegated.     Just think that possibly could have come to pass and take it from me you don't want to drop into League One.        Finishing lower mid-league (in the Championship) is no disgrace, there's a whole bunch of teams below that would swap positions right away.      Had a live TV glamour feature with Manchester City in the F.A. Cup.     From an impartial viewpoint don't think it's been quite as bad as some would imagine.   

Of course we and Plymouth join Robins in the Championship from August.       Looking forward to being back and what we can this time bring to the table.      Incidentally we gave Burnley two very tough games in the F.A. Cup earlier this year.     Two divisions apart but came very close to getting a result from it / putting them out.         I suppose it shows just for how far we've come this season.   

Nice one, ipswich have always been a good club, certainly since the robson days, im sure you will understand though that theres ill feeling on here about your ceo! 
 

im actually surprised we finished well clear of relegation, and the days of no shots on target seem over, plus its always great to see young lads come in and be a clear step up on the mercanaries weve signed over the last 5 years or so. Once the kalas and dasilva contracts are off the books, plus a few others, we can hopefully see some decent recruitment… will it be enough to push us to the playoffs? No idea, history says probably not!

[Guest]

5 hours ago, Davefevs said:

I’ll keep saying it, Luton, Millwall, Coventry (and others) are much further down the track of a well conceived and executed plan, focussed on 1) a sound financial plan, 2) excellent player recruitment, and 3) a way of playing (aligned to recruitment).  I would add a 4) longevity of manager, but in Luton’s case it’s no so but they followed up 2) with excellent manager recruitment.

They are making excellent use of resources, not hamstring by a huge cost base, etc, etc, etc.

We are trying to do similar, in our own way.  We are bringing through academy (lots of them) whilst in the rebuild phase, because we can’t afford PL loanees.  We had little choice.  We’ve executed pretty well in the circumstances.

We’ve got ourselves sorted, we are back in the game.

Part of the problems our fans have is they see teams like the ones above as inferior…they should be looking at them as “smarter”.  They are quick adapters because they have financial contingency.  Covid hit them less hard in terms of FFP.  It fooked us!  It’s not hard to look at both of the last 2 seasons and think that we could easily have gone down without the hard work and planning of Pearson and Gould.

We never say, look how much better we are doing that those recent ex-PL clubs like Reading, Cardiff, Wigan, Sheffield Wed, Derby, or there or thereabouts with Watford, Swansea and Norwich.

So that’s my answer, what your thoughts back?

amen brother Nick.

I’m hoping that you will start a thread (if you haven’t already) laying out our position (financial and playing) at the end of the season.

Will all the players under contract have been signed by Nige (or given contract renewals by him), will our projected financial status be positive (assuming sale of Scott), projected FFP position etc.

I think I’ve read a quote saying next season is season 0 for Nige.

I’d do it but I’m not clued up enough….please Dave

[Rob k]

7 hours ago, Son of Fred said:

We were nowhere near good enough for top six, however you dress it up.

That’s the point - IMO this season has been a missed opportunity because we have not been in a position to challenge. Next season won’t be as easy as this one. 

[Tim Monaghan]

This season was always going to be a difficult one. Let’s be honest, the club was in a complete mess. We had an FFP points deduction looming over us, and a team that was, well, meh. A lot of us were seriously worried at the beginning of the season, especially knowing that we didn’t have any cash at all to spend. Relegation was a REAL possibility and worry. 

Fast forward to today. Our team is literally littered with talent from the academy. From Sam Ball, Tommy Conway, MO’L and of course our star boy Alex Scott. Now, if rumours are to be believed, and Alex is sold the £25m+ then we have such an amazing platform to jump from next season. Concidering, we really AREN’T that far away from the top 10. 
 

With other young talent such as Atkinson, Tanner, Sykes and Mehmeti who are undoubtedly huge talents and haven’t even reached their prime. I believe Mehmeti just needs a preseason to full bed in. If the rumours are true, and Joe Bryan is heading our way, then we are even stronger again. A real quality championship /  premiership left back. An upgrade on Jay and we even get his wages off the books if he ends up at Cov. 

In my opinion, this is lining up to be one of the most crucial summers in recent history. To that from where we were 12 months ago is incredible. I can’t see how anyone can be anything other than exited / optimistic.

Lets gooooooo. Come on you reds. In Nigel and Tinnion we TRUST.

Ps, let’s not talk about the shirts. 

[Rob k]

5 hours ago, Red-Robbo said:

 

ONE sloppy goal. The first was contender for a MOTD goal-of-the-month strike.

You're deflated and I am too. That wasn't the last home game I wanted to see. Before and after the match it felt like we were sucking Burnley's collective c***, which I wasn't happy about. 

We gave a top team - albeit one cantering about with no real urgency - a decent game but there were many deflating aspects to this match:

Pearson starting the side that hadn't bossed piss-poor Rotherham again. As if they were suddenly going to cope with Burnley!

Alex Scott seemingly having left the stadium already. I get he doesn't want to injure himself, but c'mon. Leave on a high. Not be subbed off after a mistake that would've seen less regarded players booed for. 

Yet another shite ref overawed by the "PL" side.

At the end of the game, I couldn't wait to leave the stadium and forget about it and this underwhelming finish to our home matches this season.

I have no unshakable belief that Nigel Pearson will guide us to a higher finish next season. I'm afraid that match just left me feeling bleh! 

 

 

It was a sloppy goal as we gave away possession so easily in a dangerous position, can’t take anything away from the finish tbf.

Agree with you about sucking them off, we gave them the whole of the Atyeo which we have not done for other teams, guard of honour etc, do that after the games finished. 

[Redstart]

I think any team that had the number of injuries we've had this season would be struggling to achieve any more than we have this season. 

 

Talented youngsters in the squad now, dead wood cut away and hopefully some money to invest in the summer - roll on next season. 

[Glen hump]

1 hour ago, Rob k said:

It was a sloppy goal as we gave away possession so easily in a dangerous position, can’t take anything away from the finish tbf.

Agree with you about sucking them off, we gave them the whole of the Atyeo which we have not done for other teams, guard of honour etc, do that after the games finished. 

Chuck them off after the game?

Just now, Glen hump said:

Suck them off after the game?

[Guest]

6 hours ago, Davefevs said:

I’ll keep saying it, Luton, Millwall, Coventry (and others) are much further down the track of a well conceived and executed plan, focussed on 1) a sound financial plan, 2) excellent player recruitment, and 3) a way of playing (aligned to recruitment).  I would add a 4) longevity of manager, but in Luton’s case it’s no so but they followed up 2) with excellent manager recruitment.

They are making excellent use of resources, not hamstring by a huge cost base, etc, etc, etc.

We are trying to do similar, in our own way.  We are bringing through academy (lots of them) whilst in the rebuild phase, because we can’t afford PL loanees.  We had little choice.  We’ve executed pretty well in the circumstances.

We’ve got ourselves sorted, we are back in the game.

Part of the problems our fans have is they see teams like the ones above as inferior…they should be looking at them as “smarter”.  They are quick adapters because they have financial contingency.  Covid hit them less hard in terms of FFP.  It fooked us!  It’s not hard to look at both of the last 2 seasons and think that we could easily have gone down without the hard work and planning of Pearson and Gould.

We never say, look how much better we are doing that those recent ex-PL clubs like Reading, Cardiff, Wigan, Sheffield Wed, Derby, or there or thereabouts with Watford, Swansea and Norwich.

So that’s my answer, what your thoughts back?

amen brother Nick.

Persistant poor manager recruitment by our leader has got us to where we are today; we all hope hes got lucky this time with NP, jury still out for me on him, some team selections have been baffling, maybe choosing his favourites over ability.

We have been in the rebuild phase ever since SL dumped SC and its got us where exactly ? Need new blood at the top imo where-ever that takes us, time to twist not stick.

[Lanterne Rouge]

Personally I think it`s been a pretty positive season.

Cleared a lot of the deadwood, got the finances under control and everyone seeming to be pulling in the right direction.

Safe from relegation with several games left.

The emergence of Cam Pring, Sam Bell and Tommy Conway (who in their wildest dreams could see him ending the season with 12+ goals?) along with the revelation of how good Zak Vyner can be.

Alex Scott`s continued development and consequent increase in value.

There`s lots more to be encouraged by and I think it`s been one of our better ones given where we were in August.

Onwards and upwards.