Always said we would go down.

[Scowey]

Goals are obviously important, but clearly there is no perfect formula that can compare and contrast but I think this little stat from last season to this perhaps highlights the issue in isolation

Waghorn 16
Garner 10
Celina 7
McGoldrick 6
Connolly 4
Spence 4
Sears 2

Of that list the top 5 goalscorers have left, the 6th (Spence) has had the worst season of his career and the 7th is currently our top scorer this season.. Let that sink in. To look at purely on a numbers point of view our 7th best attacking player last season is now our best attacking player this season. Though not because he has improved massively, but because those ahead of him are no longer there which shows how much we have regressed or traded down (however you want to look at it)

 

[YorkieLancsHampyLondoner]

Goals are obviously important, but clearly there is no perfect formula that can compare and contrast but I think this little stat from last season to this perhaps highlights the issue in isolation

Waghorn 16
Garner 10
Celina 7
McGoldrick 6
Connolly 4
Spence 4
Sears 2

Of that list the top 5 goalscorers have left, the 6th (Spence) has had the worst season of his career and the 7th is currently our top scorer this season.. Let that sink in. To look at purely on a numbers point of view our 7th best attacking player last season is now our best attacking player this season. Though not because he has improved massively, but because those ahead of him are no longer there which shows how much we have regressed or traded down (however you want to look at it)

That's one way of looking at it.

Another way is to say that these numbers are not all that impressive anyway. Two thirds of the league scored more goals than Town last year. The year before we scored even fewer - more or less the same ratio as under Paul Hurst - and it didn't relegate us. The year before that only 53 goals and finished 7th.

Why don't we compare it to 2014-15 when we were actually a force and look at what went wrong from there (selling Murphs for a pittance) - or look at this unbelievably poor goalscoring record and points haul under Paul Lambert and ask where has he gone wrong?

 

[YorkieLancsHampyLondoner]

Top scorers 2016-17

Look at this and minus Tom Lawrence who was a loanee anyway it's pretty much identical to this year.

Tom Lawrence 9
Freddie Sears 7
Grant Ward 6
David McGoldrick 5
Luke Chambers 4
Brett Pitman 4
Luke Varney 3
Christophe Berra 2
Jonas Knudsen 2

 

[itfcptc]

There are numerous reasons for our downfall but I think losing the strikers who scored the goals of last season where we scored whilst creating very few chances is certainly one of them. But I think their goals along with Barts superb form papered over the cracks. We have been a poor team for a number of years, heck let's face it even in our playoff season we weren't a great team but we had a striker in red hot form.

We have been a club on the slide slowly since ME has been at the club, with a culmination of poor decisions which ultimately has felt like death by a thousand cuts. Mick papered over the cracks without really trying to fix them and we lost the paper over the summer.

Take away those strikers, our best defender, the good form of our goalkeeper and you get relegation. I remember saying a few games in I hoped we were in a relegation battle with the emphasis on battle as at the point I was worried that we wouldn't even make a contest of it, which we didn't. By the time Lambert came in we were speeding for relegation, the results haven't improved but he was on a bit of a hiding to nothing, the players he brought in in January through no fault of his own, were low on match fitness and injury prone because that's the best we could hope for. There was a point where it looked like performances were starting to turn with it looking like Sears and Keane could be a decent top 2 for us but then they both got injured.

All ifs buts and maybes but i think if the trio of Collins, Sears and Keane would've stayed fit we would still be in the fight now.

I just hope Lambert has the ability to turn this around because we've been a poor team for a number of years now and losing is a difficult habit to get out of.

 

[YorkieLancsHampyLondoner]

There are numerous reasons for our downfall but I think losing the strikers who scored the goals of last season where we scored whilst creating very few chances is certainly one of them. But I think their goals along with Barts superb form papered over the cracks. We have been a poor team for a number of years, heck let's face it even in our playoff season we weren't a great team but we had a striker in red hot form.

We have been a club on the slide slowly since ME has been at the club, with a culmination of poor decisions which ultimately has felt like death by a thousand cuts. Mick papered over the cracks without really trying to fix them and we lost the paper over the summer.

Take away those strikers, our best defender, the good form of our goalkeeper and you get relegation. I remember saying a few games in I hoped we were in a relegation battle with the emphasis on battle as at the point I was worried that we wouldn't even make a contest of it, which we didn't. By the time Lambert came in we were speeding for relegation, the results haven't improved but he was on a bit of a hiding to nothing, the players he brought in in January through no fault of his own, were low on match fitness and injury prone because that's the best we could hope for. There was a point where it looked like performances were starting to turn with it looking like Sears and Keane could be a decent top 2 for us but then they both got injured.

All ifs buts and maybes but i think if the trio of Collins, Sears and Keane would've stayed fit we would still be in the fight now.

I just hope Lambert has the ability to turn this around because we've been a poor team for a number of years now and losing is a difficult habit to get out of.

Indeed - I do think the battle went out of us when we appointed Lambert. A lot was made of the harmonious dressing room and happy players but sometimes a bit of friction is healthy.

It’s up to Marcus Evans whether we can mount a challenge next season. And ultimately it’s up to him how long Lambert is at the club if we don’t hit the ground running. There’s only so much Lambert can do - it’s time for the owner to step up.

 

[Bigalreigned]

Indeed - I do think the battle went out of us when we appointed Lambert. A lot was made of the harmonious dressing room and happy players but sometimes a bit of friction is healthy.

It’s up to Marcus Evans whether we can mount a challenge next season. And ultimately it’s up to him how long Lambert is at the club if we don’t hit the ground running. There’s only so much Lambert can do - it’s time for the owner to step up.

I wouldn't hold your breathe about ME bucking his ideas up any time soon.After all,he's sleep-walked us into the present disaster showing little sign of rousing,barring sacking Hurst,which has hardly proved to be a resounding success!

 

[TopBunk]

Relegation.........it’s been a long time coming.....but coming it has been.......MM has a habit of preparing clubs for the drop......it’s not because he’s gone that we went down.....it’s because he was here at all imo.

Marcus Evans is the main reason we stagnated and are now free falling to obscurity......hopefully he will be embarrassed into action sooner rather than later.