I for one am very concerned for where we may finish next season. Our lack of activity in the transfer market with the season upon us leaves our squad much the same as last season which is nowhere near good enough to compete at the top end. Tony and Les have learned their lessons about throwing money away but with the gap growing between clubs even in the championship then money has to be spent. Pay money for good solid players, show some ambition. I know we have tried it before but that was bad buys and bad advice. There doesn't feel like any sort of buzz around our club and I fear doom and gloom is all we may see.
Said before, we have gone from shopping in Harrods to Poundland without stopping at Tesco's first. The club has got rid of the best players and we have average League One players in return. The manager is not good enough (in fact I think he is way out of his depth). Yet again it was another Tony cock-up bringing 'Hollow" back. We have actually gone backward under him. The team is not good enough and it chops and changes every week because our manager hasn't got a clue. The chairman promised Training grounds/New stadium/great football and what has he delivered? The fans were spoilt and expect too much from a club that is poorly run. I just hope that we get rid of 'Hollow' before it's too late and we are playing in League One. Then I hope TF will pack his bags and take Les with him.
I can't think of three worse teams than us, with a tough start I don't see anything other than a long slow descent. The club has been a shambles for virtually all of TF's reign, one bad decision followed by another, a man so out of his depth he really needs to think seriously about quitting the club as he has run out of cock-ups and fans patience will be at breaking point...
I looked at the fixtures and couldn't see a win in the first 6 games. We have Reading at home to start and Hollow will bottle it. He will make mistakes that will cost us. Then he will say something like "It was my fault, we are learning".
To be honest lads what did anyone expect? We've gone from being a complete and utter basket case with unsustainable spending under Warnock (yes I include him as he signed Barton, SWP), Hughes & Redknapp to a club that is actually attempting to live within it's means and guess what, the fans are unhappy, quelle surprise....... They say there's a lack of ambition, they say they're not impressed by a lack of activity in the transfer market, they blame Hoos & Ferdinand to the same extent as they blame Fernandez, yet both Hoos and Ferdinand inherited the basket case situation. In the last 12 months they've managed to sell a couple of youth players for actual money, when did that last happen excluding Stirling? They've also overseen the progression of some youth players into the first team, again something that didn't happen under any of the previous managers because they weren't interested in promoting youngsters not when you can splash ridiculous monies on has beens, but still the fans complain...... The club has only one overpaid/under played player on it's books now, the rest have gone and Ferdinand should get credit for that, the club seems to have a policy of identifying decent young prospects whom they can develop and sell on at a profit, that's what clubs of our size do these days after all we're competing in a league where Sunderland "win" £94m for being one of the worst EPL sides ever and rake in close to £30m for their goalkeeping prospect...... Personally I'd sell Smithies if we get an offer of £7m as he's about our only saleable asset and we appear to have 2 decent keepers on the books.......we don't need an 20 goal a season striker as they don't exist and between them those that we have should be capable of 30 - 40 between them with the midfielders chipping in with 5 - 10 each. At the moment we are a lower table Championship side and will be for a few more years. I was as underwhelmed by Holloway's appointment as the rest on here, he made a complete pigs ear of the end of season and is probably on borrowed time, currently 7 defeats in 8 games, could quite easily become 12 in 13 given our opening fixtures. There's no quick fix to the problems at the R's but off the pitch things appear to be getting better, it's on the pitch that things have to improve a tad quicker..... The spoilt fans need to grasp reality.......
Surely we all know by now it's notoriously difficult signing players because agents and clubs Know they can push it right to the bitter end of the window to get the best deal. Also now we are barely able to spend anything it must be even more of a challenge to get the right players in. I don't think we can be too critical of the club in this respect largely because none of us, not even our resident know-it-alls really know the intricacies of putting a transfer deal together. I have no idea really what to expect this season, I am not confident and I suspect we may see a managerial change at some point but ffs we aren't relegated yet.
We cannot moan about Sunderland because 3 seasons ago it was us that got relegated and had more money than the rest of the division. All we have done is wasted it. I also cannot agree with all your comments because what clubs sells Charlie Austin for £4M when he was the second highest scorer in the Prem that season? What idiots gave "Benny' the full-time job when he clearly wasn't up to it? Who said we were going to bring through the youth into the first team only to sell them before they get a chance? Sorry Tramore but too many apologists for the club. Time after time TF has cocked up. It's not the fans fault as we just pay to watch them cock up
Spoilt??? Even when Redkrapp took us up we were pants. If we were playing attractive football it would be a lot more bearable, if we had an occasional cup-run it would be a lot more bearable, if we were progressing and looking like a team it would be a lot more bearable, sadly it's that bad many are losing interest as reflected in the tumbling attendances. It will, as usual, all end in tears...
I have a few concerns for next season but I'll go with just the one for now. Last season we kept three clean sheets from our 46 league games. With no defenders brought in thus far, this means we will still have the same defence as last season. The only other defender that has been touted is that Watford bloke ( Hoban?) who was on loan at Blackburn, and they were relegated last season.
I read this thread and metaphorically feel like shooting myself in the head. I will judge our season on the results and I would love to be pleasantly surprised.
Quite right we are not relegated yet, ffs season isn't even started, yes I'm a bit concerned but leave my thoughts till after about 10 games & re-access
My main concern for the coming season is that we will be playing lots of teams that will have better players than us, and/or have a better manager than us, and/or are better organised than us, and/or are more composed than us, and/or have a better game plan (plans A, B or and sometimes C) than us. In various combinations. Most will also have better stadiums and training facilities. In short my main concern for the coming season is the coming season. However I am confident that we are as good as most at running up and down hills, swearing a lot and clapping the crowd at the end of games. And we still have more than six weeks to shift a few very average players out and get some very similar ones in. Wunderbar!
Let's see at the end of the transfer window what players have been brought in, rather than complaining at the start of it about lack of action. Let's see where we are in the league after a dozen games, rather than resigning ourselves to relegation before we've kicked a ball in anger. As Tramore pointed out, the club is working to different, more pragmatic, financial rules than previously. Sensible, but not so exciting.
My main concern is TF is being guided by Sir Les who has no idea what he is doing. Les is guiding Holloway who has no strategic game plan. The damage to the club is happening at the top. This season willl be more of the same.
