Yes we were poor, yes we've got a new team, no we don't know who will flourish or who will be crap, but just look at the team that took us nosediving to the bottom of LG1 Then went on a fantastic run as the players developed, gelled, grew in confidence. Last season we had the nucleus of that team for the first half of the season, ripped apart in January, but highest scorers in the first half of the season. Made up of non league, lower FL players we had never heard of. Now we go again against all the usual odds, with yet again unknown players, unknown potential. Only 1 victory in the last 15 games...but To see some of the assassinations of the performance on the strength of 1 game is a tad unfair. We also had at least 3 players out who would have figured. Am I worried? Yes of course, I am a Red of 49 years experience so am used to it, but give 'em a chance to get going!
All true and good points raised. My concern is that a lot of that promotion side developed playing the likes of Bury, Colchester and Oldham Athletic. Mistakes could be made and learned from but rarely punished. Missed chances didn't so much matter because w'd get a couple more later on. You could lose four games and move one place, win 5 games and jump ten places. What we're asking this year is for players starting from a similar position, with comparable experience in football, to develop at Sunderland, Wolves and during derby games with full houses. As Bristol showed, you can be ruthlessly punished in this league. But you are correct that these young players can grow and develop and I will support them all in doing so. I just really hope we can survive the first ten games without many batterings to enable these lot to get used to what is required before their confidence is shot.
As pointed out above league one is very much easier. The quality in the championship means mistakes are often punished, wasted chances are often punished and making up ground in this league is going to be very difficult.
The quality in the Championship the season is obscene. I had a scan at the squads on show this weekend and even with Bree, Roberts, Hourihane, Morsey, Scowen, Watkins and Winnall we would've still been one of the weakest squads on show. That being said, if we had kept Bree, Hourihane, Morsey and Winnall in January then we might have been comparing our squad with Premier League squads, who knows.