Based on recent seasons, if were hoping for promotion, at least 60 points will be needed in first half of season. Seemingly we only gather a handful of points after that. Wonder will simon have a plan this season to counteract the near expected slump
its just coincidence that we have had that slump in recent seasons, many things equate to it, i.e. injuries, players tiring, international duty etc. im not saying it wont happen this time around again but i certainly am not near expecting it
i think the slumps have been due to our main players never been rested, last year howson played every game and should be rotated with nunez, snodgrass burnt out and we have back up wingers like sam or white or even nunez again
Logi is 100% right. Snodgrass was half dead at the end of last season, Howson stopped making an impact and even Gradel wasn't as good. Watt and Sam only started less than 10 games between them, and should have been rotated a lot more.
Sam had a lot of injuries last year as did Watt...think thats why Snoddy played so much... With Sam,Howson,Gradel,Snoddy,Clayton,Brown and Nunez..... a decent Midfield squad..... if we add another loan player job done...
I'll be happy if we don't end up in the bottom seven this season, we are so far off the other teams with regards to quality in the squad, that relegation has to be looked as a possibility.
60 points by Christmas is a pipe dream . Take it one important game at a time & see where you are in May
we actually have an amazing amount of quality in the squad, it's been totally overlooked and underestimated that we already have amazing players just because we haven't spent much.
It's stupid people going on about how we'll struggle. We've only lost 3 decent players from last seasons squad and one of those places as been filled by a better player and the other two look to be going the same way. Let's wait for the season to start to see how tough the league is, everyone thought Middlesbrough would run away with it last season and look what happened.
It's all "we" on this subject, yet people forget that the other teams have BETTER squads and BETTER players. The league this season will be far tougher than last season, so let's get real and hope we at least compete.
other than West Ham and Leicester who on earth is significantly better than us at this moment in time?
That depends on how you measure quality of squad. Teams like Birmingham, West Ham, Leicester, Cardiff, Blackpool, Derby, Nottm Forest, Boro, Reading and Watford, have players more than capable of playing in the Championship and taking their clubs to the top, whilst Brighton and Southampton have attracted good players to their squads for the new season. Brighton also have a new stadium and increased attendances, hence they will be a hard team to beat at home from now on. This is a much harder league this season and with the exception of Brown, we haven't brought in players better than last season. We shouldn't look at the league in rose tinted glasses, we are bound to fail by doing that.
