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

[spudski]

1 hour ago, Rob k said:

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. 

Your two quotes are exactly how I see it too. 

Sadly we weren't in a position to take advantage of a league that was very average this season. 

Next season will be much harder. So even if we do improve in quality from this season, the standard will be higher next season...so in theory we will have to double our quality to better this season. 

I should imagine Norwich, WBA and Watford will be more disappointed than us this season. 

The 3 coming down from the Prem, from the candidates, look stronger than Burnley, Sheff Utd and any of the play off contenders. Coming up Plymouth, Ipswich and maybe Sheff Wed are arguably stronger than bottom 4 teams in the Champ now. 

Add those to the teams that don't go up through play offs, the likes of WBA, Watford, Norwich, Swansea, Stoke, Sunderland, QPR...it looks massively tough next season. 

On paper it looks one of the toughest Championships in years next season.

[Bristol Oil Services]

10 hours ago, pillred said:

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.

You sound like you need cheering up a bit. Why don't you try extracting some pleasure and delight from other (obnoxious, vile) teams' struggles and misery - I think the Germans have a word for this? I have just watched Wolves humbled six nothing at Brighton, glorious! Joyful. Check out the sixth goal, and the miserable West Midlanders filing out of the away end before the end.  If that doesn't do it, how about Everton deep in the **** and staring down the barrell? I've just watched the goals again from their home thrashing by Newcastle midweek, and more bitterly upset fans leaving early in their droves; lifts the spirits no end to see this.

Or even sh***y little northern clubs dropping out of the Championship - pity it isn't Cardiff, but one take's one's pleasure where one can find it, in these midtable mediocrity meh seasons.

[Lanterne Rouge]

41 minutes ago, spudski said:

Your two quotes are exactly how I see it too. 

Sadly we weren't in a position to take advantage of a league that was very average this season. 

Next season will be much harder. So even if we do improve in quality from this season, the standard will be higher next season...so in theory we will have to double our quality to better this season. 

I should imagine Norwich, WBA and Watford will be more disappointed than us this season. 

The 3 coming down from the Prem, from the candidates, look stronger than Burnley, Sheff Utd and any of the play off contenders. Coming up Plymouth, Ipswich and maybe Sheff Wed are arguably stronger than bottom 4 teams in the Champ now. 

Add those to the teams that don't go up through play offs, the likes of WBA, Watford, Norwich, Swansea, Stoke, Sunderland, QPR...it looks massively tough next season. 

On paper it looks one of the toughest Championships in years next season.

Totally agree Spud. Next season is going to be very tough and we`re going to have to be on it from day one. It`s one of those where if you lose 5/6 in a row you will find yourself tailed off pretty easily. There`s very few clubs you will be able to describe as deadwood in there for next year.

[firstdivision]

8 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.

This is the discussion we were having a while back, Dave. Despite the financial issue, we still had good players. (Their wages were hampering us, yes - Kalas, Dasilva, Wells - and the injuries - Williams, Atkinson this season - and I know the financials limited us on recruitment but we still brought in Sykes and Atkinson who most feel have done well). NP has been fortunate to have some excellent young players coming through: Scott and Conway are the best two in my 50 years, and I’ve changed my mind about Bell this season. 
Plus we had Antoine for a while. (Still sad that’s he’s gone.) And when he went, we brought in two forwards. 

Anyway, let’s move on. Here’s  my question: do you think we could play Mehmeti, Conway, Bell as our front three? Bell has the same engine as HC but looks to have a lot more speed and guile.
 

I felt, and still feel, that HC was an unnecessary signing. We have options there. We needed to strengthen in midfield and defence. And if we were/are going to bring in a forward player, we need a different type - one with some height and strength for when we need to go to plan B (for want of a better phrase). 

Edited April 30, 2023 by firstdivision

[bexhill reds]

2 hours 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. 

Agreed, we had 3 chances to stop the cut and run inside, nice finish granted, but he should have been blocked off.

The whole guard of honour thing was total bollocks, an ex-Prem team with parachute payments pretty much cantered the league and we need to be giving them plaudits? The only thing missing from the street party we organised for them was a trestle table with cakes on it. Sadly we are not a team capable of getting in the opposition faces, but that's what it needed yesterday, give them a proper game then say well done at the end, not before. 

[spudski]

12 minutes ago, Lanterne Rouge said:

Totally agree Spud. Next season is going to be very tough and we`re going to have to be on it from day one. It`s one of those where if you lose 5/6 in a row you will find yourself tailed off pretty easily. There`s very few clubs you will be able to describe as deadwood in there for next year.

I look at what teams could potentially be in the league next season, added to what's going to be here already, and like we both see...a very tough league indeed. 

[pillred]

15 minutes ago, Bristol Oil Services said:

You sound like you need cheering up a bit. Why don't you try extracting some pleasure and delight from other (obnoxious, vile) teams' struggles and misery - I think the Germans have a word for this? I have just watched Wolves humbled six nothing at Brighton, glorious! Joyful. Check out the sixth goal, and the miserable West Midlanders filing out of the away end before the end.  If that doesn't do it, how about Everton deep in the **** and staring down the barrell? I've just watched the goals again from their home thrashing by Newcastle midweek, and more bitterly upset fans leaving early in their droves; lifts the spirits no end to see this.

Or even sh***y little northern clubs dropping out of the Championship - pity it isn't Cardiff, but one take's one's pleasure where one can find it, in these midtable mediocrity meh seasons.

Well, when you put it like that :laugh:.

[pillred]

1 hour ago, spudski said:

Your two quotes are exactly how I see it too. 

Sadly we weren't in a position to take advantage of a league that was very average this season. 

Next season will be much harder. So even if we do improve in quality from this season, the standard will be higher next season...so in theory we will have to double our quality to better this season. 

I should imagine Norwich, WBA and Watford will be more disappointed than us this season. 

The 3 coming down from the Prem, from the candidates, look stronger than Burnley, Sheff Utd and any of the play off contenders. Coming up Plymouth, Ipswich and maybe Sheff Wed are arguably stronger than bottom 4 teams in the Champ now. 

Add those to the teams that don't go up through play offs, the likes of WBA, Watford, Norwich, Swansea, Stoke, Sunderland, QPR...it looks massively tough next season. 

On paper it looks one of the toughest Championships in years next season.

QPR?

[spudski]

12 minutes ago, pillred said:

QPR?

I think they'll be stronger next season. They've gained more points than us in the last 6 games. Turned a corner. 

[And Its Smith]

8 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.

Saved me typing, cheers! This is so obviously the reason but some fans don’t want to listen to it. They’d rather be down about things. Up to them I guess. 

[pillred]

11 hours 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? 

With the amount of promising young players, we had come through I thought around 8th to 10th though the amount of injuries we have had has not helped that was also part of my disappointing bit about the way we have been unlucky in that respect.

[pillred]

12 minutes ago, And Its Smith said:

Saved me typing, cheers! This is so obviously the reason but some fans don’t want to listen to it. They’d rather be down about things. Up to them I guess. 

We do want to listen to it and I'm pretty sure nobody chooses to be down about it, my take on the season is that I'm slightly disappointed with the way it has panned out for whatever reason, I know injuries have not helped but Nigel has been in charge for a while and whilst I can see some improvement I was expecting a little more, especially in our consistency I wonder when we will see some real upturn, what do you think?

[petehinton]

3 hours ago, Ghost Rider said:

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. 

It’s crucial, but the important thing is that Pearson and co know it. If things are true, it seems we have basically already signed and sealed 3 transfers before the window is even open. 
 

Compare that to the last summer we properly went for it, and waited about 9.6 years for Nketiah to come before bailing. 
 

An underwhelming season finishing mid table, having 6 academy players in the starting 11 for a big chunk of games. On Boxing Day we were ‘sleepwalking’ to relegation unless we sacked Pearson. Can’t keep up. 

Edited April 30, 2023 by petehinton

[Mr Popodopolous]

44 minutes ago, spudski said:

I think they'll be stronger next season. They've gained more points than us in the last 6 games. Turned a corner. 

They also are heading into a trickier FFP position, lost £24.7m pre tax last sesson and no sales of note this year so who knows how much they'll need to sell.

Could go either way basically.

Edited April 30, 2023 by Mr Popodopolous

[Mr Popodopolous]

2 hours ago, Lanterne Rouge said:

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.

Add to that, O'Leary in 2022 definitely not seen as a likely number one.

Tanner has continued to grow, had Atkinson been available more I'm sure we would have seen even more development from him and he's good and improving as it is already.

Edited April 30, 2023 by Mr Popodopolous

[E.G.Red]

37 minutes ago, And Its Smith said:

Saved me typing, cheers! This is so obviously the reason but some fans don’t want to listen to it. They’d rather be down about things. Up to them I guess. 

I think we have to look at the bigger picture when comparing ourselves with the Millwalls etc. We've built and are building a sporting complex under the Bristol sports umbrella with associated infrastructure hotel etc not just what is happening on the pitch, what SL wants to leave as his legacy. I don't think that are any clubs outside the PL can compare in this regard. Whilst that is now progressing we need to get back to the day job and success on the pitch. I'm quite optimistic,  the players seemed to be aligned with NP and the coaching team and there appears to be a team unity - look how several went up to Alex Scott after his error . I see a top half/play off place next season (officials permitting!)

Edited April 30, 2023 by E.G.Red

[cityexile]

In my decades watching us, the type of rebuilding we have done over the last couple of seasons has historically been accompanied with a relegation, and all the excuses were there if it happened again, so obviously a big plus. Also worthy of some note that given how average the season has been in terms of looking midtable for a while, that we will finish with the 7th highest average home gates in the league, so our fans don’t hate it too much.

Its always easy to look at the small number of teams that have done better than us with less resources, whilst ignoring those doing worse. Speculation, but it is at least possible that one result of Covid has been to give a temporary boost to well run stable clubs with a smaller cost base that gave them flexability.

I think NP at least deserves a decent crack at it with fewer constraints. It’s clear that it is not a full on love match between SL and NP but I hope he is given time. Let’s see what the summer brings, but reasonable to be aiming for a top half finish flirting with the play offs next season as a fan I think.

[And Its Smith]

1 hour ago, pillred said:

We do want to listen to it and I'm pretty sure nobody chooses to be down about it, my take on the season is that I'm slightly disappointed with the way it has panned out for whatever reason, I know injuries have not helped but Nigel has been in charge for a while and whilst I can see some improvement I was expecting a little more, especially in our consistency I wonder when we will see some real upturn, what do you think?

I think you might be happier if we were on 62 points now the same as Norwich which is 0.13 more points per game. Not gonna get down over tiny margins 

[Bristol Oil Services]

10 hours ago, Davefevs said:

 

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.

 

Lots of people did say just that, Dave, particularly in LJ's time, when they were looking to counter the "why are we trailing behind Preston/Huddersfield/some other minnow doing very well" or seeking to excuse the lost opportunity of the time of plenty under Ashton and Lee.

They said exactly this.

I would say, let's see how we do when we fly that near the sun and then have the wax melt on our, er, wings, as it were, and we drop back down to the Championship. Then we can compare ourselves to yer Wigans, yer Wednesdays, yer Cardiff and yer other ones. Let's see how well Steve shepherds us through the "relegated but parachute payments" thing. 

Remembering, of course, how we fared last time we dropped out of the top level.

And isn't it right and proper to measure ourselves against clubs doing well than clubs in a pickle? Set the bar higher rather than rock bottom? 

If we had beaten Hull at Wembley, I slightly tremble at the thought of where we would have ended up under Steve as we inevitably failed at the highest level. It doesn't bear thinking about. 

No, let's compare, best as we can, like with like, and there isn't anyone much more "like" us in this Championship run than Preston. 

[Davefevs]

32 minutes ago, And Its Smith said:

I think you might be happier if we were on 62 points now the same as Norwich which is 0.13 more points per game. Not gonna get down over tiny margins

Which in reality is a one or two penalties given for us / not given against us.

5 hours ago, Countryfile said:

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

I’ll do one at some point.  But in summary, wage bill down, amortisation down, transfer profit up hugely (Antoine)….therefore a financial position allowing us to be proactive this summer.  The selling of Semenyo in January has probably cost us a few points, maybe a place or two, but it gives us the opportunity to go and recruit NOW.  Many clubs will be waiting to offload first.  Last season we did get Sykes, Naismith and Wilson done early, but they were all OOC, so we could approach early.  Our improved financial position allows us to go after in-contract players.

A lot of pressure on Tins.

Yes, I called it “ground zero / season zero”.

This is from a guy who set up MRKT - a football recruitment / data analysis company.

They have worked with Swansea, they currently have one of their recruitment consultants placed at Plymouth working directly with them day-to-day.

5 hours ago, Ghost Rider said:

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.

I agree.  Need to stick to the plan and not get carried away by a potential £25m coming our way.

3 hours ago, gl2 said:

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.

Need to push for a proper-Chairman.  We have an amateur appointment in a pro-world.

2 hours ago, Lanterne Rouge said:

Totally agree Spud. Next season is going to be very tough and we`re going to have to be on it from day one. It`s one of those where if you lose 5/6 in a row you will find yourself tailed off pretty easily. There`s very few clubs you will be able to describe as deadwood in there for next year.

I don’t think it’ll be much different…it’s always tough, whether that be a few streak-away teams or a bunched up group.  Everton for example could go straight through like Sunderland did.

2 hours ago, firstdivision said:

This is the discussion we were having a while back, Dave. Despite the financial issue, we still had good players. (Their wages were hampering us, yes - Kalas, Dasilva, Wells - and the injuries - Williams, Atkinson this season - and I know the financials limited us on recruitment but we still brought in Sykes and Atkinson who most feel have done well). NP has been fortunate to have some excellent young players coming through: Scott and Conway are the best two in my 50 years, and I’ve changed my mind about Bell this season. 
Plus we had Antoine for a while. (Still sad that’s he’s gone.) And when he went, we brought in two forwards. 

Anyway, let’s move on. Here’s  my question: do you think we could play Mehmeti, Conway, Bell as our front three? Bell has the same engine as HC but looks to have a lot more speed and guile.
 

I felt, and still feel, that HC was an unnecessary signing. We have options there. We needed to strengthen in midfield and defence. And if we were/are going to bring in a forward player, we need a different type - one with some height and strength for when we need to go to plan B (for want of a better phrase). 

Good players, yep…not enough though to give depth.  And when even a couple of injuries to those players happens we had no depth.  Much as I like Kalas, it’s no good having your best defender (depending on your view) unavailable.  I accept teams rarely have any injuries, it’s just we’ve had injuries to key players.  No coincidence our worst runs came when both James and Naismith were out, and also Williams injury meant playing King and OTC.  Unless you get very lucky with injuries, you’re only as good as your depth.  I love the academy kids getting an opportunity, but it’s been from a position of not battling at either end of the table, where the pressure might’ve been too much.  But it’s meant we didn’t have to and make loans, at high cost for example.

 

Someone else asked whether there will be any players not signed or contracted by Nige come this summer.  The answer is just Joe Williams.

[Davefevs]

14 minutes ago, Bristol Oil Services said:

And isn't it right and proper to measure ourselves against clubs doing well than clubs in a pickle? Set the bar higher rather than rock bottom? 

If we had beaten Hull at Wembley, I slightly tremble at the thought of where we would have ended up under Steve as we inevitably failed at the highest level. It doesn't bear thinking about. 

No, let's compare, best as we can, like with like, and there isn't anyone much more "like" us in this Championship run than Preston. 

I think there’s a difference between balanced comparison and who we are striving to be more like.  I get what you’re saying though, and I tend to agree.

[Mr Popodopolous]

15 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Which in reality is a one or two penalties given for us / not given against us.

I’ll do one at some point.  But in summary, wage bill down, amortisation down, transfer profit up hugely (Antoine)….therefore a financial position allowing us to be proactive this summer.  The selling of Semenyo in January has probably cost us a few points, maybe a place or two, but it gives us the opportunity to go and recruit NOW.  Many clubs will be waiting to offload first.  Last season we did get Sykes, Naismith and Wilson done early, but they were all OOC, so we could approach early.  Our improved financial position allows us to go after in-contract players.

A lot of pressure on Tins.

Yes, I called it “ground zero / season zero”.

This is from a guy who set up MRKT - a football recruitment / data analysis company.

They have worked with Swansea, they currently have one of their recruitment consultants placed at Plymouth working directly with them day-to-day.

I agree.  Need to stick to the plan and not get carried away by a potential £25m coming our way.

Need to push for a proper-Chairman.  We have an amateur appointment in a pro-world.

I don’t think it’ll be much different…it’s always tough, whether that be a few streak-away teams or a bunched up group.  Everton for example could go straight through like Sunderland did.

Good players, yep…not enough though to give depth.  And when even a couple of injuries to those players happens we had no depth.  Much as I like Kalas, it’s no good having your best defender (depending on your view) unavailable.  I accept teams rarely have any injuries, it’s just we’ve had injuries to key players.  No coincidence our worst runs came when both James and Naismith were out, and also Williams injury meant playing King and OTC.  Unless you get very lucky with injuries, you’re only as good as your depth.  I love the academy kids getting an opportunity, but it’s been from a position of not battling at either end of the table, where the pressure might’ve been too much.  But it’s meant we didn’t have to and make loans, at high cost for example.

 

Someone else asked whether there will be any players not signed or contracted by Nige come this summer.  The answer is just Joe Williams.

We thinned out in January too.

As well as Semenyo, also potential depth in Bentley, Klose, Massengo and Martin. Granted in came Haikin, Mehmeti and Cornick but Haikin also departed..some of these might need replacing before we even consider ins and outs this summer. Versatility helps too of course.

Couldn't even replace Baker properly considering our FFP position last Autumn.

O'Leary

Tanner, Wilson

Vyner, Atkinson

Pring

James, Williams, Naismith, Scott

Benarous, Cornick, Mehmeti, Sykes

Conway, Wells, Bell, Weimann

Clearly there are several who are out of contract too but who knows.

Edited April 30, 2023 by Mr Popodopolous

[Merrick's Marvels]

2 hours ago, spudski said:

I think they'll be stronger next season. They've gained more points than us in the last 6 games. Turned a corner. 

I'll take our manager over theirs every day of the week.

And none of their players - bar Chair - would be an upgrade on what we already have. 

As we know too well, sometimes a club is held back by things off the field not being right. I get that feeling with QPR and one or two others in this division. 

[ExiledAjax]

It's not a season that will live long in the memory or echo though the annals of history.

But, we have improved. Perhaps not overall in terms of league position, but in parts we are worlds away. Defensive output has improved massively. Fewer shots against us, fewer shots on target against us, and thus fewer goals against us. 

Offensively we've flatlined a bit. It's been up and down as the front line has changed quite a bit through the season. So that's an area where we will need to improve next season if we hope to climb the table. Personally I see that improvement coming in midfield - chance creation and feeding Conway and his supporting cast (and I do see Conway as being our No.1 striker next season).

The signs are there. We successfully stabilised this season following the previous season of drastic manoeuvres and course correction. Next season is about harnessing that stability, building on it, and climbing as high as we can.

Edited April 30, 2023 by ExiledAjax

[spudski]

22 minutes ago, Merrick's Marvels said:

I'll take our manager over theirs every day of the week.

And none of their players - bar Chair - would be an upgrade on what we already have. 

As we know too well, sometimes a club is held back by things off the field not being right. I get that feeling with QPR and one or two others in this division. 

I agree. 

[pillred]

4 hours ago, And Its Smith said:

I think you might be happier if we were on 62 points now the same as Norwich which is 0.13 more points per game. Not gonna get down over tiny margins 

Tiny margins, if you are happy with yours who am I to complain. :laugh:.

[pillred]

17 hours 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? 

Most seasons for us personally, and why do you think that is? give me a reasonable explanation, and not just that's football.

Edited April 30, 2023 by pillred

[firstdivision]

4 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Which in reality is a one or two penalties given for us / not given against us.

I’ll do one at some point.  But in summary, wage bill down, amortisation down, transfer profit up hugely (Antoine)….therefore a financial position allowing us to be proactive this summer.  The selling of Semenyo in January has probably cost us a few points, maybe a place or two, but it gives us the opportunity to go and recruit NOW.  Many clubs will be waiting to offload first.  Last season we did get Sykes, Naismith and Wilson done early, but they were all OOC, so we could approach early.  Our improved financial position allows us to go after in-contract players.

A lot of pressure on Tins.

Yes, I called it “ground zero / season zero”.

This is from a guy who set up MRKT - a football recruitment / data analysis company.

They have worked with Swansea, they currently have one of their recruitment consultants placed at Plymouth working directly with them day-to-day.

I agree.  Need to stick to the plan and not get carried away by a potential £25m coming our way.

Need to push for a proper-Chairman.  We have an amateur appointment in a pro-world.

I don’t think it’ll be much different…it’s always tough, whether that be a few streak-away teams or a bunched up group.  Everton for example could go straight through like Sunderland did.

Good players, yep…not enough though to give depth.  And when even a couple of injuries to those players happens we had no depth.  Much as I like Kalas, it’s no good having your best defender (depending on your view) unavailable.  I accept teams rarely have any injuries, it’s just we’ve had injuries to key players.  No coincidence our worst runs came when both James and Naismith were out, and also Williams injury meant playing King and OTC.  Unless you get very lucky with injuries, you’re only as good as your depth.  I love the academy kids getting an opportunity, but it’s been from a position of not battling at either end of the table, where the pressure might’ve been too much.  But it’s meant we didn’t have to and make loans, at high cost for example.

 

Someone else asked whether there will be any players not signed or contracted by Nige come this summer.  The answer is just Joe Williams.

I think that’s my feeling too. A bit too thin to challenge, although I think we’ve squandered some points.

I think I was more interested in your response to my second point about a possible front three of Mehmeti (left) Conway and Bell (right). See my point about the signing of HC. 

[pillred]

15 minutes ago, firstdivision said:

I think that’s my feeling too. A bit too thin to challenge, although I think we’ve squandered some points.

I think I was more interested in your response to my second point about a possible front three of Mehmeti (left) Conway and Bell (right). See my point about the signing of HC. 

How Mehmeti did not feature at all yesterday was a surprise, is he injured or has he fallen out with the management? 

[firstdivision]

49 minutes ago, pillred said:

How Mehmeti did not feature at all yesterday was a surprise, is he injured or has he fallen out with the management? 

My hunch is neither. Just that we had everyone fit (for once). If Mehmeti had been in the squad, we would have to have left out Wells or Weimann, I presume. The bench was balanced with lots of options. 
We won last week so that means an unchanged team in NP’s mind. Weimann scored the winner; Wells created it. I’d have left out Harry Cornick because I don’t think he’s made the impact we all hoped. But 19 into 18 doesn’t go.