How's it looking for 21/22?

Just wondering how your squad is shaping up this season. After last seasons efforts and losing the manager it is a hard act to follow.
Down at Luton we are starting to off load your old boys and seem to have a love in with Leicester City players now. We've lost a few, LuaLua, Moncur, Collins, Pelly being the main loses. Got eight new players, four from lower league clubs, one from Leicester but he only ever played out on loan, and two from Wycombe and one from the SPL. Possibly another guy on loan from Leicester to replace last seasons star man Dewsbury Hall. Total cost about a million, mainly on Mendes Gomes from Morecambe. Think we are cautiously optimistic, certainly got more forward options

 

Hey up mate. Very little happening at the mo. On the player front. Only Mowatt and Dyke gone. From the main squad. (Apart from players out on loan last season gone down the same rd.) New manager evaluating the squad. Rumours of incomings but the club are keeping things close to their chest. Signed a few for the development squads. Cole being the only one brought in to bolster the first team. Expectations of a couple or so signings over the next week or so. Personally I’m very optimistic. We’ve still got an eager young squad that have gained experience. And hopefully hungry to achieve bigger things. This guy is renowned for pressing football but with a bit more playing out from the back I believe.
Sounds like lots of changes at your club so may take a while to gel.
Good luck for the coming season. Although not sure you’ll need it, I’ve always got the impression yours is a happy camp. That want to play for the manager And if you’ve got that you’re halfway there to start with.

 

Sol?????

 

Hello mate.

No wholesale changes, which I'm glad about. I suspect that we may need to sell one first teamer to balance the books, although the fact that we've received somewhere in the region of £3-4 million for two managers in the last nine months may negate that! If Schopp continues with the good work that Struber and Ismael started then it could prove to be extremely shrewd business indeed.

As mentioned in another post, Mowatt gone on a free, but as we already have his replacement in Callum Styles I don't think it'll be such a huge problem. Darryl Dike will definitely be a big miss, though he was never our player. Hopefully it will allow Morris to shine even more, bearing in mind how good he looked last season despite not being fully fit. Expecting big things from him. And we've lost Solbauer in central defence who had a huge influence on the team, especially in keeping us up in 2020. We've got plenty of cover in that area though. Overall I think we've got more than enough quality in the squad to deal with the losses, although all three of the departures were by all accounts big influences off the field as well, especially Mowatt and Solbauer.

Expectation is high after last season so our card will be marked far more than it was. Personally I'll be very happy with an upper mid table finish of between 12th and 9th and to be honest that's what I'm expecting. Anything else will be a bonus. Lower than that would definitely be a disappointment, especially as we now have a lot of very good players for this level.

Genuinely can't see either us or Luton anywhere close to being in danger. There are just too many basket cases. Good to see a few chickens coming home to roost.

Good luck for the season. Always had a soft spot for Luton due to a sadly departed dear friend who was a Hatters fanatic.

 

I think it will be a tough season.

the hole left by Ismael and Mowatt will be very difficult to fill.

we will benefit from the experience of last season and should have enough to stay up but I think it will be a long slog

would love to be wrong but suspect somewhere around 12th to 18th

 

The reality is that we've never been a club that can sustain being competitive at the top end of this league over a run of seasons. We have a good year here and there.
Much as I disliked how Ismael's tactics ultimately degenerated into the almost unwatchable (subjective I know) he created something so different it took a lot of clubs by surprise and they couldn't deal with it til late on in the season. The new guy seems to be playing a brand of football much easier on the eye but one that everyone in our league will be familiar with.
We've got some good players but I can't see a repeat of the run we had last year and I reckon we'll be mid table.

 

Comfortable top half finish, we've kept hold of the bulk of the squad again. A quick edit after the appointment of the new CEO -the replacements so far of the backroom staff, apart from the manager, who we've yet to assess, seem to be the next level up - both from the City Football Group.

 

We're in for a season of consolidation and if we keep hold of our star players - Helik, Mads and Styles - we can get a comfortable 10th place

 

Another tumultuous close season, and I expect one or two more key players to move on, simply for self sustainability reasons.

We've lost our captain, manager, a coach, CEO and club secretary. A couple of other analysis staff. Sollbauer has been moved on (though I'm not a fan) which reduces experience and a loud voice. Obviously Dike is no longer here, but that was very much expected anyway.

Can we keep enough players to build? Can they assimilate the new tactics and style quickly to get a good start and stave of concerns of a blip or hangover from last year? Can we effectively replace Mowatt and Murphy?

We'll just have to wait and see.

 

I think lower mid table will be a good season for us. Solbauer, Dike, Mowatt and Val were the spine of the team so bringing in adequate replacements will be hard.

I think we will be too organised to go down but that we won’t be able to get ‘oven ready’ replacements for those players so will lumber around no mans land.

 

I think it will be extremely difficult to replicate the last campaign. We've lost Ismael, Mowatt, Sollbauer, Dike, the CEO (although we've just appointed a new one today), club secretary, assistant coach & a couple of the backroom staff. We're all hoping our new Head Coach Markus Schopp will be a success, but at this stage none of us really know.
I'd like to think with a couple of new signings we'll be capable of finishing midtable. Anything better will be a pleasant surprise.

 

What you said. A lot for me will depend on if we bring in a replacement for Mowatt, centre forward and left back. If we don't get the engine room right it could be a mediocre season.

 

Styles for Mowatt, left wing back may then need sorting unless others step up to the mark.

 

I'm certainly prepared to be patient with Markus and allow him the time to get his ideas across.

 

Interesting, thanks for your responses. Sounds a bit like us, probably 9-12th, just depends on whether the new players can make it at a higher level. Apparently both you and us are fighting to get Josh Benson from Burnley. I think he would be a our final signing. Unlike you are management team seem rock solid, no changes other than one or two minor additions. Somehow we had a profit of £3mn last year!.

 

Apart from the fact he left you, failed in his new role, and came back again.

What makes you think that he won't bail on you again if you're doing well?

 

Disappointed at losing Val, we’ve lost better players than Mowatt and coped Sollbauer is a big loss but plenty of cover assuming we don’t lose Helik.
I’m slightly concerned about the lack of activity so close to the start of the season

 

Oulare is an unknown quantity but will hopefully bolster our striking options. A replacement for Mowatt is a must as is a new left back. If we were to get those I think we’d be somewhere around 10th to 14th. If we don’t strengthen adequately then we could be around 15th to 18th.
Think last season was a bit of a one off although I’ve been wrong before on many an occasion. Would be happy to be wrong again too…..

 

I think we're all prepared to be patient before a ball has been kicked, hopefully that patience extends well into the season.

 

Sometimes managers just fit a team.