Never had a stronger squad in League 1.

Really enjoyed the way we started yesterday, especially getting the first goal in that time. Lincoln and Crawley away very similar, straight out of the blocks, obviously Clarke likes us to do that.

 

I think Bristol rovers will be knocking about around 10th, and Lincoln certainly (they've won all their other league games other than our loss). We absolutely battered bristol rovers, especially first half, did well against lincoln away first half, held on well second half (Roberts got lucky too), but I don't think either of these sides should be sniffed at. 2 very solid performances & wins and I think Lincoln will definitely be in top 10 and bristol rovers not far behind. They both have very decent squads

 

Yep, great win at Lincoln considering how strongly they finished last season. Bristol are usually one of the teams that aren’t quite good enough to challenge, but will take a point or 3 from the top teams during the season.

 

Still only 5 games in, and we've been a bit lucky with the fixtures so far. We haven't played any of the probable end of season promotion and play off contenders yet, but it will be interesting to see when we do.
I think somebody else said the next real test, could be Stockport at home.
But we shouldn't look any further than Stevenage away. Yeah I know it sounds boring, but let's just take each game as it comes.

 

Depends on what you are judging it on. I agree the Stendel 11 was better as just a starting lineup.

But to win a title etc. you generally need a better squad to get through the games. We were lucky that season not to have too many injuries etc.

Arsenal missed out on title not long ago due to injuries and the lack of depth they had.

This year we have a good standard through the whole squad, there is not much of a drop off between who starts and who comes in for them, back under Stendel that definitely wasn't the case, the sub options were a much bigger drop off.

 

We had our main striker out with a serious head injury that would generally make an impact but it didn't really. That 2019 would beat this team in my opinion - played some of the best attacking football I've seen at Oakwell

 

I'd probably agree they would, it was some team for L1.

But we had no suitable replacement for Moore at all, so when he was injured so had to play a different formation and rely heavily on Woodrow scoring.

That starting 11 is probably the best we've had at the level, and as a starting lineup, was better than what we have now for sure. But it was a very small squad with very few options on the bench. We have much better squad depth now

 

I'd be surprised if Lincoln don't finish in the top 10. They just missed out in 2023 and were only just behind us in 2024.

 

Its very early days. I'd say the start has been solid after a woeful first half an hour against Mansfield, but against teams that are mainly lower table.

Already we've made individual mistakes at the back. I'm worried about the keeper we have and when we come up against teams with pace.

Midfield could turn out to be one of the biggest embarrassment of riches we've ever had... Though obviously we're paying the price for that in wages. Up front, jury is still out and I wouldn't be surprised if our top scorers this season are midfielders.

Creatively, I think we'll be OK, but I think clean sheets might be a rare phenomenon.

 

That's a prediction, not a fact. By the way, all three teams what we have beaten are currently in the top half of the table, despite having lost to us.

 

The next big marker will be after the Christmas period, if we're sitting in the top 6 then we will be in with a real chance barring injuries and suspensions.

 

Lincoln top 10 deffo!

 

I don't see this squad as better than the Hecky/Stendel/Duff vintages - but hopefully I'm proved wrong.

It does seem stronger than last season though - as long as Humphrys replaces the goals that Cole scored.

 

As squads go of Barnsley in the 3rd tier. Look no further than 1980/81. I'd struggle to put any player in any other 3rd tier team over the years into that one. Definitely as a starting 11.

https://www.footballdatabase.eu/en/club/team/271-barnsley/1980-1981

 

I would suggest that based on current form we have already covered goals from Cole. Last year we supposedly averaged 1.79 per game and so far we are on 2 per game and Humphries hasn't kicked a ball for us yet.

 

Very small sample size though - be nice for it to continue, suppose till will tell.

 

If the post headline is true it will be pretty dating if we don’t go up automatically and worst case through play offs if our best every squad can’t do it. If we win the league though it may well validate the statement.

 

Maybe they (our brilliant midfield) just forgot to turn up today ehh lol.
Who knows though, if Stevenage gain confidence and form after this win today, they might even be thinking of mid table or better.
Lincoln might do once again, but I can't see Northampton or Mansfield finishing in the top half.

 

Very reactionary. We'll lose again this season.

 

This squad is nowhere near as good as our 1980/81 one. However, I believe it remains to be seen whether it can reach the levels of our 2015/16 & 2018/19 squads. I do like our current group of players, but even if I didn't, I wouldn't adopt a knee-jerk reaction to today's performance & result and write off the 2024/25 season.