How do we compete?

Just looking through the league table and picking out clubs that have overtaken us and become established championship clubs.

Cardiff, Brentford, Preston, Reading, Millwall are all similar clubs to us, and some of them spent years below us in the leagues.

I'm finding it really frustrating to see the majority of these clubs doing so well on the pitch whilst we flounder.

I know it's not all about gate money, but our attendances are at a 16year high, and better than 3 of the clubs mentioned, but sadly that's going to end if we get relegated.

Short of getting ourselves in debt like the vast majority seem to be doing, how do we close the gap on these clubs?

We've spent 76 years at this level, which is some achievement all considered, but what are we going to do to really re-establish ourselves in the championship and lose the "team's like Barnsley" tag?

If we go down, the sugar daddy pub team that is Wigan will passing us in the opposite direction, and that really boils my piss. No, I don't want to become them, or Bournemouth for that matter, but we need to turn the club around, grow it and make it more competitive.

I'm sure the new owners aren't here just cos it's the growler capital of the world, so let's hope they've got some good ideas eh?

 

To realistically compete we need money. For the first time in our history we have, in theory, got some. Fingers crossed.

 

Cardiff and reading have both been a gnats whisker away from going bust due to spending levels they couldn’t afford.
The other 3 you mention haven’t been without their financial problems but seem more steadily run clubs to me.
Brentford and Millwall benefit significantly from being able to generate money from commercial streams as they are based in the capital, a path that our new owners are here to take although more further afield.
Out of the 5 you mention, if we manage to stay up, I would expect us to be on more of a financially balanced playing field with at least 3 of them moving forward

 

Stop selling our best players and replacing them with bang average ones would be a start .

 

One word: investment.

Investment in better players/future players. Investment in more and better coaching staff (which may have begun - time will tell). Investment in more stadium facilities and to " improve the matchday experience".

That investment will come either from: 1) Increasing club revenues and commercial activities and continuing to 'recycle' players by realising their increase in value; or 2) The owners gambling a small part of their own considerable resources in order to reap the financial and club status rewards in the future.

Evidence thus far would suggest that the new owners are more inclined towards 1) than 2). But this may change. Time will tell.

 

I would say within our current budget the only change you can make is to pay higher wages to less players.
We have a massive squad of players on our books all of a very similar quality (or lack of)
The alternative is to try and bring in a better standard of player but lose out on squad depth.
Now of course the drawback is this leaves you wide open to injuries and suspensions.
It's a risk I'd take though as at the minute we are wide open to the damage caused by all our players being sh*t

 

How do we compete?

Start laikin game reyt.

 

If our ambition is to compete with the likes of Brentford and Millwall then we might as well pack up . We should be aiming for Burnley, Bournemouth, Swansea, Watford etc.

 

I agree with all of the above....however i really think short term (rest of season) we really must improve our fitness and get back to hard press off the ball.
We need to start scrapping for points...regardless of formation....ie make us diffecult to beat.

 

Don’t sell all your best players and expect lads playing at a much lower level to step straight in and rep,ace them. One or two maybe but not a whole team. It was absolute madness and always likely to fail.

 

You look back at those matchday programmes from the old 4th division.....at the results page, with the teams on....and wonder how the **** we managed. Virtually unchanged all season - players only coming in when someone was out injured. One sub, much harder game (tackling was allowed then) and yet we coped, brilliantly, with a first team squad around half the size it is now. Probably less. You have to wonder what the **** has happened to the game.

 

Baby steps mate.

 

I'd take baby steps , problem is we're currently running backwards .

 

Blooding eleven players all at once, who are inexperienced at this level, is neigh on impossible, while ever our strategy is to assemble new squad of players from lower league and abroad every 12 months, we’re never going to compete at this level, it’s a unforgiving league with teams of real quality and experience.

 

Don't you think that some of these players would have progressed or adapted quicker to this division if it wasn't for the coaching genius of know your role Paul Heckingbottom who tried to force a way of playing that didn't work with the type of player we had bought rather than changing the formation to get the best out of the squad. That's a coaches job he wasn't the club's overall manager but the consensus on this forum is that the players are just not good enough, can't wait for the new coach to disprove this.

 

You’ll be waiting a long time.

 

I have been very interested in bolton of late.....their debt was just inimaginable and recently i see the revenue have "let them off"....on the pitch they seem to have galvanised a very poor squad (at this level) to pinching points here and there.
Their coach has done a tremendous job and without loads of dosh...i have yet to see them play but ......so far impressed by the way the playing side has gone about its business...we on the other hand have done their reversal!

 

I’d be even more impressed, if they’d built a brand new side and done it.

 

I agree with all those saying investment. It doesn't need to be millions and millions chucked at it but more money on wages to enable keeping our best players on competitive contracts is vital.

However, I also think that from our excellent promotion/first half championship team we are missing the following:

Quality. Obviously quality. The players that have left have been replaced by so far inferior ones. Some may come good, others won't.

A leader. We don't have a Captain. A guy to grab the game by the scruff of the neck and give underperforming players an earbashing. Yiadom is more of a 'follow me' leader than a shouted and baller which is fine if you have others that can do some of the talking for you.

Work rate. Our high tempo Work rate without the ball has dropped off completely. We give too many teams too much time and space on the ball. I understand containment at times but others you have to press the ball, like the first goal Tuesday night and we didnt then had to suffer the consequences.

Ticker. We lack heart, bottle, passion and fight. Too often we concede, roll over and have our tummies tickled. It needs to be rectified. Sometimes against top teams in the division like Wolves for example we are going to be second best technically but that should mean we compete for everything. Fight for every ball and win little battles to grind them down.

We move the ball too slowly. Arguably this fits into the better players part of this post. But we move from back to front or side to side and backwards far too slowly to allow teams to get behind the ball, then we don't have the quality to break them down.

I said before the season started it looked as though we were building a team for a tilt at league one next season. A year of Championship experience, relagated, bounce back quickly and with confidence and maintain in the Championship the year after. My opinion hasn't changed. I just hope Jose is the man to right the ship, keep us up and prove me wrong.

 

I certainly think some of the changes Hecky made every week were down to sports science.