And that our players are more than good enough for that league but what worries me greatly is that I don't think the gap between league one and the championship is that great at the moment. The standard of football in the championship this season has been frankly awful and we have still managed to not only come up short but come up short without being anywhere near the required standard in so many games.
That was the championship a year ago, it has been a lot weaker this year than it was last year. Rotherham changed their squad a lot too
Right to be cautious but we're equipped to bounce straight back provided we get a manager the players can like/respect and wants to get the basics right first. We'll have to have more energy/motivation and learn to attack the ball, close down etc. I think Moore and Bradshaw could do damage given the right midfield balance.
Rotherham weakened their squad If anything. Blackburn other than adding Dack did little. Wigan did not very much.
What we need to do is be ruthless in identifying which players are not only good enough to get us out of this league but then push on in the championship too. Players like Jackson, Bradshaw etc need chopping because although they should do a job in L1 they aren't championship players.
We've been in the league for 120 years and only "bounced back" at the first attempt once. I don't know where so many people are getting their confidence from.
how can anyone think we will walk league one when we don't even have a manager? if we bring in another man as good as jose we will be staving off relegation again
Rotherham must surely be thinking: "not very long ago we had Neil Warnock waiting to take us forward".
Agree with OP totally. The relegated Wigan squad were far, far better than ours that has just gone down, they even beat our team containing Roberts, James, Scowen etc. Blackburn also had some decent players and improved as well, including by adding a good manager for that league. I look at Danny Graham, Bradley Dack, Craig Conway, Peter Whittingham, Charlie Mulgrew and Amari Bell and don't see any comparable players in our squad. Rotherham are not up yet and I think I'm right in saying that only the odd two or three of their current starting line-up were regulars last year. The thing about Wigan, Blackburn and Rotherham is a complete red herring for me and is easily countered by the fact that all three promoted sides this season survived the Championship, two of them thriving and finishing just outside the play-offs. Would love to be more optimistic but can only see this current squad, particularly the midfielders and remaining full-backs, being a recipe for league 2 in 12 months time.
On paper weve got a squad thats competative for L1. The fact the club have ****** off obe player who can and will galvanise the squad worries me. Its down to two things. New manager. New signings. If they are young french lads like thiam hoping to turn to quick bucks... well be out leage one at the first attempt... downwards.
Most of what I’ve read and tend to agree with, is that we have a good number of players that are well capable of playing in League 1. IMO, The key now of course is to appoint a manager/ head coach who is knowledgeable about the league and be aware of what players we already have. This and a few additions that can add more to what we already have could well see us having success next season. People can either wallow in misery all summer and be a Despond (Older Les Dawson fans will get that) or as I always do pre-season, look forward with hope. Expectation will come, (or not as the case maybe) as the season progresses.
A season of struggle. Accept the point about last year's relegation sides being near the top of League 1, but a much more familiar scenario is that losing sides take a lot time to change their habits. And we have been losing - or at least not winning - for the better part of 15 months. I'd even suggest we could be flirting near the bottom. Lot depends on this upcoming managerial appointment.
Hmm At the moment I am not convinced we are in a good position to bounce straight back. For sure we have a decent nucleus of players who we think will do a decent job in L1 - though the best one looks set to leave and head off down under. But a lot will depend on who goes and comes this summer and who the manager is. For sure we wont struggle if its Mick and we may even bounce back at the first attempt but I dont expect him to come if he is even offered the job My biggest concern is the owners will try the international route for head coach again - it could work Wagner has done a great job at Huddersfield and Santo has done OK at Wolves but I think there is far more chance of another Jose than one of those. If you offered me a playoff spot now I'd snatch your hand off.
I think we have thrown it away this season there have only been 2 maybe 3 teams that have beaten us well this year our problem has been lack of effort and the fact that we. Haven’t played the same 11 twice on the bounce all season. I can understand change but swapping 4/5 every game was ridiculous
The immediate task is to get out of League One and if Jackson and Bradshaw can help us do that we should keep them and then make decisions if we get promoted - no point getting rid of them based on a hypothetical promotion.
Your favourite player Adam Armstrong scores for fun in that league, says it all. We will walk it next year.
having a group of players with some talent and potential and knowing how to win football matches are two utterly different things