This season

You do surprise me

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My concern... although it's premature to be a concern really... is what will our expectations be next season? Taking a purely objective view, surviving again whilst being competitive every week would probably be good enough. I do wonder though how many fans will be expecting another top half finish, minimum? Even reasoned, considered supporters will probably privately hope to at least match this season. If we struggled but survived, even comfortably, say finishing 18th... would that be seen as a failure? It'll be interesting because I see a really tough season ahead. Recruitment is key clearly. It's worth remembering that despite a possible low-key end to this season, we've actually set the bar very very high.

 

We've finished in the top eight of this division something like six times since WW2, the last occasion was probably when we had one of the bigger budgets in 99/00, with the parachute payments. "Good" players, on good wages left, others saw out longer contracts and nearly put us out of business. The start of a decline we've only really come out of in the last year perhaps. Could we have speculated a little in January? Definitely, but with no guarantees of success and also a risk that by bringing in more expensive players, on more expensive wages, upsets the apple cart and the team ethos is broken. I've no idea what our budget is, what anyone else's is, how much of the Stones/Mawson money has been paid upfront, in stages to come.

One of my first posts on here was after the Leeds game that virtually nailed our relegation in 2014, the club absolutely on its arse. Where we are today, and I've no idea where we'll finish in May, is a huge turnaround, and maybe I'm easily pleased with that alone. Yep, there'll always be that feeling of what-if about January but for me the same applies had the squad stayed as it was. I don't know what the Winnall situation was but my preference was for us to keep him and Hourihane until the end of the season.

Going by previous history, this may be our peak for a few years. There's that sense of a missed opportunity v not taking a risk. But when I look back at 2002 and 2014, that's the gauge for me sadly. And were way ahead where the club was then.

 

Expectation is a personal thing.

When we were in league one I expected us to be competing to get out of it.

This season I expected us our promotion momentum to slow in the face of the quality and wealth of the opposition, didn't work that way though, at least until the window had its effect.

Next season, I expect it to be tougher for us, but much depends on who leaves and who comes in.



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I would love next season to be equally as good as this.

In reality I think next season we will struggle.

We now have championship status and players want championship wages. Of which we clearly can't pay.

So we will by virtue of our recent success struggle.

I don't want that to happen but am preparing myself for that scenario.

It's been a great and almost dream filled 12 months though. But without investing some of the riches we've made we look to rely on the same model. I don't have much against the model it's been very successful. But a slight tweak maybe required to have the same success but at the higher level might be needed.

 

We need to finish as high as we possibly can this season and hopefully take some momentum into next season, and get plenty of renewals.

Also it would make us more attractive to the players we try to sign.

Money won't be in our favour though, as you rightly say.

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That's the spirit mate!

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Didn't they lose a quarter of a million quid and find a Lee Johnson..

 

I almost lose my tenuous grip on reality and thank God daily for them taking the useless berk. He'd still be in a job nar, telling us we aren't used to small technical players and that we won't be getting the ball into the box at the first opportunity

 

I still can't believe we managed to get compensation for him.

Surely we should be paying compensation to them

 

I'd be changing address and not leaving a forwarding one for when the compound claim comes in