Not taking anything away from the players tonight but in order for us to kick on and consolidate in the championship there are players in that starting 11 tonight that aren't good enough and we need better next season.
They’ve got lucky big time. The mad thing is they don’t actually need to do much now, the young lads are getting better all the time & we’ve got so many players who can play various positions that we don’t need a huge squad. A new striker to probably replace Woodrow & I’d imagine a new right back with Ludewig going & there isn’t much else to change unless Mowatt also leaves
It's a bloody dogfight unless you have a lot of money to spend....although even if you have money to splash it doesn't guarantee success...the trick is a decent manager who understands man management....fosters team spirit and belief...a mix of youth and experienced professionals.... and lots of hard f*****g work. Aiming for the fittest squad in the division is a pre-requisite.
Could not agree more and that sums up our Attitude since Struber has taken over . We’ve all had our differences of opinions this season and I suspect we’ve all been right and wrong but no one can say Struber hasn’t deserved another crack at this league .
I don't agree....since Sollbauer came ( I don't attribute everything to him btw) the defence has improved dramatically. Anderson and Halme look as though they are going in the right direction, I can't think of anyone (although I still hold reservations on Ritzmaier) who doesn't look as though they are capable (particularly bearing in mind how young they are)..of progressing nicely...I hear a lot of criticism about 'the William's sisters' but both these young lads are better than ie Pinillos, or some of the other full backs we've had recently. It might help if you named the players.
Definitely Marlon...even if we had fallen short tonight, Struber deserves another crack...I'm sometimes surprised by his team selections and set ups...and I've never been convinced by the diamond....but...he has put points on the board and cut the mistakes that cost us so dearly early on...the fact that these young lads produced more chances to score than 19 other teams in the Championship tells a story.
Don't bank on apparent weakness...there are are a number of teams who spend bigger than they can afford, look at Hull...bottom of the League....Middlesborough, Stoke and Huddersfield who have squeezed through by only an odd point or two.
I hope and pray you're right Marlon, but while I was elated tonight, we're in the position we are thanks to our owners, and I have no faith that they will see this as an opportunity to 'kick on' at this level. I hope they prove me spectacularly wrong but I'd expect another season next year like this one.
Imo the board have come in for some deserved stick this season and if they make same or similar mistakes next season the support will rightly be toxic for them . I’m willing to give a bit of Lee way as this league doesn’t do runaways at either end of the table but they have to back the manager and as we now know with solly and co it’s not got to be in money but experience/quality .
Amen to that Marlon, when we came up last time it was blindingly obvious that at the very least we needed to keep that squad together plus add at least four or five better quality players to give us the stronger spine (i.e keeper, centre back, centre mid, centre forward) that could make us competitive. Having just cheated the hangman we have an unexpected (but very welcome) opportunity to revisit that option - do you have any faith the owners will either recognise this or do anything to remedy our problems?
I haven`t a clue what this board will do before the restart, but one things for sure next season wont be broke up into 9 match sprints. The effort we have put in would be hard to keep up over a season and the fact that at times we have created little makes me wary of getting too carried away. Still Championship for yet another season. Red Army.
With the "fluid" financial situation at the moment, I expect many of the usual suspects - Brum, Weds, and Derby - will struggle financially and may not even last the season or at least face a points deduction.
I would go further and say it will be easier staying in the championship playing those clubs then being relegated and trying to get out of a league including Charlton, Hull, Sunderland, Portsmouth and Ipswich. Some big clubs used to higher league Football are going to still be hanging around there in 12 months time.