It’s bloody weird this season

That's a great post. I've been trying to find the words to explain this season but you've pretty much hit the nail on the head. I've seen a lot of 'promotion pushes' in 50 years but I can't remember one where we have looked so bad/ordinary. There's no enthusiasm in the crowd and the games are very flat. I'm sure that's more to do with the way the Cub has been run in recent years and in that context the fact we are so high up the league is extraordinary. Defensively!!! There really aren't words.

However, we are in a Play Off position and, as one poster pointed out earlier, it's quite similar to last season - which was going nowhere. We then battered Derby and the Season took off. I accept that the personnel we have now isn't near the level we had last season but to compensate, the overall standard of this Division is the worst I can remember.

So - hope remains - though it will take a few more signings than a player arriving on a four month contract from the USA to get us into the top two... imo.

 

Pines is here until the end of the 24/25 season. There’s also a further year in the clubs favour.

 

Unless the release clause is triggered.

 

I think last season we had more of an identity and cohesion in our play. Duff set out a blueprint a bit like Val and we stuck to it. Weirdly, it worked better against better opposition than the weaker teams. I remember under Val beating Bournemouth away and then comfortably being beaten by an average Coventry. We had the same last season, battered by Exeter who wernt doing much and then smashing other teams like Plymouth, Wednesday, Derby to bits. I mean the play off against Bolton we never looked like loosing. I think this season this has been flipped on his head. I also believe Collins has made life harder by constantly playing Williams as a CB when it has been to us supporters, clearly the wrong move. I think a lot stems from this its broken down the confidence of the team.

 

I see the Williams/defensive situation differently.
I think that NC has played Williams there all season because he believes that this is (for want of a better way of putting it) the "best of a bad job" and no other combination of the players he had available to him was a better option - and I agree with this. Personally I would much prefer Williams at RWB because I think he is head and shoulders above O`Keeffe and Cotter but thus far this season out of necessity he has had to play at CB. Not ideal and sometimes leaves us exposed (Derby away is the best example of this) but the signing of Pines may solve this. Making Jordan Williams the scapegoat for our shortcomings to me is just wrong!

 

I hear you, I'm not making him a scapegoat. I'm just saying what I've seen. It's probably 3 times a game he messes up to the point he has to be consoled. He's not comfortable at all and it's having a knock on effect. He's a good player but he just shouldn't be playing there. It doesn't work, we know it doesn't. I mean moving Mael out there and putting Lopata in the middle would be a better option surely? Then Jordan can do what he's good at. You need the captain to lead by example, I just see a player who is scared!

 

This is ignoring the number of time his pace has got us out of trouble which is the reason NC has stated that he is playing in that position. I am not ignoring the downside of playing JW there but he has pace that MDG and Lopata just don`t have. Hopefully the signing of Pines will solve this.

 

Pretty much every professional footballer has a release clause in his contract so you’re probably right.

Don’t get me wrong there’s plenty of sticks to beat the club with at the moment. But this isn’t one of them.

 

When Collins came to the club 6 months ago he knew nothing about the players he inherited or the new signings or the loan players. He needed time to get to grips with what style of play best suits what he's got. I know there's arguments on here that he's technically inept, but I disagree. The current side we have is not as good as last season. If we had Mads, Kitching, Morris and a fit Connell from day one we'd now be in the top two. As it is we are sixth with more points and more goals than this time last year. I'm sure we all would settle for promotion with the current (some would say boring) style of play over losing at Wembley in the play offs playing attractive football. Ferguson said we were the best side they've played this season so Collins can't be as inept as some say.