Stronger or weaker

I hope Barnsley finish above Wycombe and Rotherham - but I hope they both do well.

 

It'll be Mowatt if he was to re-sign he'd av' done it by now. Just a hunch with way club operates now.

 

I hope he leaves.
While ever he is here then there will a tendency to play him.
If he’s gone then better players have to be found.

It’s a bit like the pits still being open.
While ever they were open men had a tendency to work there - no matter how bad it was.
When the pits shut then better alternatives had to be found.
And please don’t say that no better alternatives were found - cos believe me no job above ground is worse than a job underground.

 

I'd genuinely love for them to stay up. It would be one hell of an achievement, but I just think that the jump could be too big for them. They've not strengthened hugely this summer, and if Jason McCarthy is going to be one of their first choice full backs, that doesn't bode well!

 

We have had little movement and I am happy with that. I am confident that with the current squad we can stay up and even push on for mid table.

we have a young and talented team who are getting better both as a group and individually.

we would benefit from a new striker to challenge both Brown and Woodrow. However that won’t be cheap or easy to find.

 

I'd certainly say we're no weaker. We've not lost anyone of any note (yet), and we've added a bit of strength in depth with Ludewig re-signing and Frieser.

A couple of players have signed new longer deals, none more important than Styles signing a 4 year contract.

We're still a bit light in certain areas, but we've trimmed the wage bill a fair bit by letting a few fringe players leave, so I fancy us to get the players in at some point.

I do think we have the potential to be much higher up the table this season. If we can carry on the form we've experienced since Struber took over, I see no reason why we won't be at least lower mid table.

Good luck for the season Pelly. I hope neither of us are locked in a final day relegation battle again!

 

What about no job at all?
I’ve seen men deteriorate that took redundancy and finish in early graves which they may or may not have done in full time employment .
I agree in principle about the disease, accident and moral sapping hell hole but it was the merry go round of the community and gave people a sense of pride that they were providing for their families along with the spin offs from the industry.
The failure to provide adequate jobs for the pit to in most parts run down and close in an orderly and socially economic fashion was criminal.
Worthwhile Jobs that were coming into the country were centred around London and the south .
Whole communities were left to struggle from miners to shopkeepers , hairdressers etc etc .
Private employment Agencies were set up to exploit cheap labour and drive wages down and send the whole town into poverty and austerity .
So whilst yes they Were horrible places to work in they gave communities dignity especially in hindsight (although many predicted this )of what came after and I’d argue it still hasn’t got to any way near the prosperity we had .

 

Bit tongue in cheek comparing Mowatt with pit closures - but I hope it made a point.

As for men leaving mining and not lasting very long - I witnessed this for years - well before pit closures.
Sat talking to them on how much they looked forward to retirement - and inside a year of retirement they were gone.

My thoughts about this are this - they were in a hard stressful job - they saw leaving the pit was the time to relax and put their feet up.
When you’ve had a hard life like that - then suddenly putting you feet up is probably the last thing you should be thinking about doing.
It killed them.

 

And that’s exactly what Maggie and Major did to a lot of miners including older ones not quiete ready for retirement .
Going back Your point about Mowatt . I’d hope the club are looking at replacements continually for all positions either ready made or to mould .
Mowatt as others are in the team till better or similar comes along or they decide to move to better their career .
IMO all positions are temporary and we should be looking for all players to one day be replaced no job is secure in football .

 

Just a ps on your retirees reference it’s well known the majority of miners never got to retirement age and as you say many those that did died soon after .

 

The conversation seems to have moved on from stronger and weaker teams to pit closures and employment agencies. With Luton airport and Vauxhall trucks shedding jobs plus all the airline companies it looks worse than usual for Luton - especially as the airport is run by the council and they have had to lay off 400 council workers causes of Covid and the council now faces bunkruptcy. On the plus side we got Bree and Lockyer signed on frees. Good business, not signings for money this summer. All the players bar Sluga on about n£3,000 a week so squad costs about £3mn a year, Should be doable. One more signing and we will be mid table this season, no worries. Your second 11 might even start with a win first game

 

Surely Bree will be on a bit more than that? Absolutely banging signing if not.

 

I could get involved in this, but I like Luton and their fans and so I won't.

 

I wish we had signed Bree. Jealous.

 

I for one hope to see Mowatt in a reds shirt next season , he is the most influential player in the side & to buy a replacement of his quality would be out of our budget . Its a regular thing with some of our fans , our best players seem to attract more criticism than players with less ability , Brian Howard & Connor Hourihane were prime examples , they, like Mowatt seem to take stick , its as if some fans want to drive the better players away from our club just to satisfy their own agenda , quite bizarre .

 

The bloke I had a season ticket near for many years in the Ponty had an irrational hatred of Nicky Eaden. Except of course when he came back to Oakwell with Birmingham and Wigan, when he had suddenly become the best player on the park.

 

Am I the only one on here who thinks that Wednesday will finish higher than us...hope I'm wrong....
I'll even repeat my caution about writing Rotherham off...too
Plus..I'd say....let caution be the guide.....No matter what Dane says about keeping players .....Conway and co have got history of fire sales....when those pound notes come out to play ..
By October we could have lost at least 3 if not four players.....God forbid.....remember our ambition and success differs vastly from Conway and co's idea of the same thing.....

 

I know you're a negative, cynical type Bri, but if Wednesday finish above us, I'll tattoo Roy's face on my left arse cheek.

 

Marlon, with all due respect, you've bitten Nudger's chrysodine dyed caster.

 

Wednesday have an aging sqaud on high wages and little cash to improve.
They do have experienced players though .Untill we reach two months into season we will then have a realistic view of who does well.
This covid could have an effect on everybodys team .Ultimately a bigger squad maybe benificial