I suppose it's all about perceptions , considering we were rock bottom of The 3rd division 17 months ago , mid table division two is not meh....I would imagine Wigan fans would snap your hand off for that position .
I can see that as a point of view. Though I'd expect Wigan to return to the pre Whelan abyss. There's a bit of difference between them and us the most 'successful' championship team of all time. I'm not sure the club's around us say Ipswich or Qpr or Bristol City would see their seasons as anything other than average. We have had some great moments. We have made some progress. Unfortunately this has been undermined by our inability (thus far) to replace departed players adequately. At the start of the season the aim had to be to consolidate. The League position suggests we have done that. Progress has to be measured in other ways as well. Do we genuinely feel that we end the season with a stronger better squad than we started it with? I am not talking about improving here but have we managed to even stand still. Do we genuinely believe that we can enter next season with even the level of confidence we started this? Based on the squad at our disposal. Are we now adding to a talented squad to move forwards and develop or are we pretty much starting from scratch (I think we are near to starting from scratch) I don't apportion any 'blame' for this. The board will have undoubtedly done all they can and then had difficult decisions to make but they have been eaten alive by clubs spending money they don't have on players they can't afford. Where does this leave us? Of course we can go again. We can recruit. But as Hecky has acknowledged this will be more difficult with clubs watching what we have done. Even if the recruitment goes well can the players be integrated and up to speed in time for next season. Looking at Moncur it has taken a year for him to adjust to the demands of a higher level. Bradshaw has perhaps not developed at the pace we would have hoped. Huddersfield followed a similar recruitment path last year but had all the signings on board by late May. I am not confident that we are geared up in a similar way. Finally Mr Cryne's illness. The elephant in tbe room. Mr Cryne is a tremendous man and a hero of Oakwell. The sad news of his illness casts a long shadow of the season and tbe club itself. As on a personal note for me does the death of Paul Futcher
Rimmo's passing hit the club hard too. It's been an emotional season with so much grief and strife off the pitch that it serves to illuminate even more just how well we've managed on the pitch.
Yes I meant to mention Rimmo as well a massive loss for us. It feels like we have lost someone who is truly irreplaceable to
This thread is the best not so thinly veiled "I'm a better fan than all of you" post we've had in a long time. Well done Christopher.