Consolidation first for me, especially after the trauma we've been through this week.
February and March will see us play Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday through to April and the picture will change dramatically in a short space of time. My concern is the wafer thin size of the squad and the effect the inevitable injuries / suspensions / loss of form will have on the squad. If we can get in loanees of the calibre of Stanley and Robinson to cover eventualities then we'll be pushing towards 7th place.
Perfect consolidation means a trip to Old Trafford to compensate for the visit we missed out on. If we get promoted this season I feel we would have a season of struggle in League One, especially with our current attendances/budget.
I'll take promotion over consolidation every time.
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I'd much rather we took the time to build and improve for another two or three seasons before going up.
If we're going to make it to League One again I don't want us to come back down, right now we're not ready.
For me the ideal season would be to get to Old Trafford and lose in a close but exciting playoff final.
We could then perhaps aim for promotion the following year.
We are in no state to maintain League 1 football at present (we have to get the Grandstand sorted first to avoid that becoming a distraction) and if we did sneak up it would almost certainly lead to a further relegation and, once that happens, it is always difficult to stem the slide down still further.
Modgull wrote:For me the ideal season would be to get to Old Trafford and lose in a close but exciting playoff final.
We could then perhaps aim for promotion the following year.
We are in no state to maintain League 1 football at present (we have to get the Grandstand sorted first to avoid that becoming a distraction) and if we did sneak up it would almost certainly lead to a further relegation and, once that happens, it is always difficult to stem the slide down still further.
Reluctantly agree on the first point and positively agree with the second.
A couple of successive play-off appearances would give us a better foundation for any life in League One.
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I would be happy to consolidate in the league. But if for any reason we get into the play offs come the end of the season, we should go for it.
If we got promoted, we would get more money from it, our better players like ellis and o'kane would stay longer. Plus if were getting better teams week in week out at plainmorr the crowds will get bigger.
As a club i agree it many early, but if we got there it may be a good thing with more fans coming back to plainmoor.
But if we stay in league 2 id also be very happy as we could build for a new season
The only problem with going up is the financial support through the gates. We will probably struggle and TBH, as the last foray into L1 showed, crowds drop when you struggle, regardless of which league we're in. Yes there may well be more away fans for some games but not enough to cover the increased wages that playing in L1 will involve.
Personally speaking, I thought we were in with a chance of the playoffs before the season started and, barring injuries, we still are. I will still be happy with a top ten finish regardless.
So are most people saying, if we were in the play off final at OT in may. You all would want us to lose?
If we was in the final and deserved to be there, surley you would want our team to win?
As the original post points out the upcoming run of fixtures is going to decide where we end up, it's going to be a very tough run of games indeed. I personally don't believe we are strong enough to contend at present as there is not enough strength in depth within our squad. Playing Saturday-Tuesday until April will definitely have an impact on a small squad with injuries suspensions etc and you only have to look at our bench to see we don't have like for like replacements beyond the starting XI. That's not a complaint, I'm a realist in this respect and understand like I'm sure most supporters do that with gates around and below the 2,000 mark we won't have a bigger squad than we do currently. In think PB has got the balance about right and I'm pleased with the two additions.
That said, on our day we have the quality to turn anyone over in this league and if come April we are in with a shout I will definitely be hoping we go all the way. League 1 survival would be very tough but not impossible. Whilst we would be fancied to struggle it may suit us to play in a division that is currently a lot more southern based than league 2. When we went up under the old regime we were never really prepared to stay there, I'm sure that within reason the board would back PB as much as they could. It's all hypothetical at the moment though and we currently sit 12th. At this point I would be ecstatic with a top half finish with the chance to challenge next season.
Trojan 67 wrote:Consolidation first for me, especially after the trauma we've been through this week.
February and March will see us play Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday through to April and the picture will change dramatically in a short space of time. My concern is the wafer thin size of the squad and the effect the inevitable injuries / suspensions / loss of form will have on the squad. If we can get in loanees of the calibre of Stanley and Robinson to cover eventualities then we'll be pushing towards 7th place.
Perfect consolidation means a trip to Old Trafford to compensate for the visit we missed out on. If we get promoted this season I feel we would have a season of struggle in League One, especially with our current attendances/budget.
I'll take promotion over consolidation every time.
NickGull will be worn out doing two matchday previews a week for two months.
Nick, just bring the ones done that got postponed up to date and save yourself a shipload of extra work.
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tufcbrett wrote:So are most people saying, if we were in the play off final at OT in may. You all would want us to lose?
If we was in the final and deserved to be there, surley you would want our team to win?
Trojan 67 wrote:Consolidation first for me, especially after the trauma we've been through this week.
February and March will see us play Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday through to April and the picture will change dramatically in a short space of time. My concern is the wafer thin size of the squad and the effect the inevitable injuries / suspensions / loss of form will have on the squad. If we can get in loanees of the calibre of Stanley and Robinson to cover eventualities then we'll be pushing towards 7th place.
Perfect consolidation means a trip to Old Trafford to compensate for the visit we missed out on. If we get promoted this season I feel we would have a season of struggle in League One, especially with our current attendances/budget.
I'll take promotion over consolidation every time.
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I can see what Trojan is saying, I think if we went up this season we would come straight back down with little gained. Next season is our season, we have a really young squad, and by the end of this season, youd be looking at players like Zebroski, O'Kane, Ellis, Robbo all to start fulfilling their potential, Kee and Lathrope seem to have something aswell. If we can secure one of these loanees on a permanent, then we can be serious contenders next season.
I don't quite understand fans who don't want to get promoted because they believe we will come straight back down again. Isn't the whole point of football to win games and achieve things? I'd rather go up then come down than have two mediocre seassons of league 2 footy. Unbelievable!!! If we can get up via the play offs ( unlikely but possible ) then we can take it from there. Consolidation is already assured as Barnet and Stockport are going down. Play offs are a possibility. The strange thing is i would fancy us more to win one off play off ties than i would actually stringing a few good wins together to actually get in the play offs in the first place!! I don't believe we will make the play offs because we cannot get consistency of results. Even though our squad is limited and a bit threadbare we could go close if we stopped making stupid errors week in week out. We need the confidence back we had at the start of the season. The bizarre thing is that Bucks will have done an amazing job if he gets us in there and that is despite his tactics and dubious loan signings costing us loads of points already this season.
andygull wrote:I don't quite understand fans who don't want to get promoted because they believe we will come straight back down again. Isn't the whole point of football to win games and achieve things? I'd rather go up then come down than have two mediocre seassons of league 2 footy. Unbelievable!!! If we can get up via the play offs ( unlikely but possible ) then we can take it from there. Consolidation is already assured as Barnet and Stockport are going down. Play offs are a possibility. The strange thing is i would fancy us more to win one off play off ties than i would actually stringing a few good wins together to actually get in the play offs in the first place!! I don't believe we will make the play offs because we cannot get consistency of results. Even though our squad is limited and a bit threadbare we could go close if we stopped making stupid errors week in week out. We need the confidence back we had at the start of the season. The bizarre thing is that Bucks will have done an amazing job if he gets us in there and that is despite his tactics and dubious loan signings costing us loads of points already this season.
I agree with this and Brett's earlier comments.
I think we'll finish in a mid-table position, but if we make a push for the play-offs surely all fans would want us to go up? We would be the bookies' favourites to come back down, but who's to say we couldn't hold our own at that level? We've already beaten two League One teams this season and attendances would be higher. We'd be able to attract better players and could command bigger fees for our current stars.
Just because you reach or come close to the play-offs one season, it doesn't mean you'll be knocking on the promotion door the next. We could end this campaign strongly, but lose Buckle, O'Kane and Ellis in the summer which would leave us back at square one. If there's a sniff of promotion, we must do all we can to grab it with both hands.
