We’d have to recruit like Forest did if we went up purely for the sake of not having enough pre existing quality
They were at the top of the table for their XG difference so they were always likely to turn it round quickly once they started converting chances
But again, nobody would have said our 2008 or 2013 squads were going to get promoted either. It isn't just the best three squads on paper that go up. And even if it was, this league is always low on quality; teams like Millwall are competing for top 6, why on earth should we be ruling out being able to compete with them?
2008 maybe, although it was clear we were onto something special. 2013 we had a quality squad. Elmo, Brady, Chester, McShane, Myler, Fryatt, Koren, Rosenior, Dawson, Quinn, Davies, Cairney, Boyd, Faye, Aluko, etc, and with decent depth. That was a squad way above what we currently have and one that could be expected to get promoted.
The 2008 team had serious momentum from Christmas onwards and I was personally confident of promotion, partly because of that momentum but also because we had a rock solid back four and keeper, two goalscoring strikers that complemented each other and leaders with experience of success and promotions all over the pitch. I'll give you that the 2013 version wasn't quite the same (although ironically that was the team that went up automatically) but the current lineup, for me, falls just short in quality, experience and, crucially, leadership. That's not to say that a couple of tweaks in recruitment couldn't change that.
Realistically, this team probably will fall short, as will the majority of the other 15 or so sides who are realistically in with a shout. It'd be mad not to consider ourselves in with a shout when we're only 6 points away though. Of course the 2008 had an incredible momentum built on spirit and players proving they were higher quality than they'd been given credit for until then. The same was true of 2013 (no one was tipping us for promotion either time) and the same could be true again of this team.
Both those teams were packed full of leaders and experience though and the 2013 side was a lot better than people give it credit for even now
I don't see is finishing top 6. Top 10 would be a fantastic achievement given the rocky start to the season.
I agree, it's just a personal thing that I'd rather not get promoted if it's felt we're not quite ready and risk a short, unfulfilling, visit to the top table. The next time we go up should be the basis of a sustained stay in the PL a la Brighton, Palace, Brentford et al, something we've never managed.
Honestly feel you have to take promotion when you can get it. You can easily spend fortunes and not get promoted in this league and it has bankrupted a few. If you go up unprepared at least you can come back down with the parachute payments and 'boing boing', using the money to establish a squad capable of staying up. Like a WBA or Burnley did for many years.
You can keep listing things that those sides had but as I keep saying, nobody at the time thought they had enough to go up. In hindsight they look brilliant and everyone agrees they were. If we were to pull off something similar this year then in hindsight we'd say ah well that 2023 team had several internationals and a couple of players who'd won promotion the previous season...
Sounds like Chelsea are trying to make us keep all three loans... Baxter's loan move has an agreement to make it permanent in the summer, but the club continue to investigate the possibility of terminating that deal with the 23-year-old again struggling with injury. However, Hull Live understands the top-flight outfit are keen for the trio to stay at City. Vale made just a second start of the season in the FA Cup defeat to Fulham last Saturday, while he was joined by Xavier Simons making just his first start since arriving on deadline day in the summer transfer window. It had been expected that Baxter and Vale would return to the Kings Road, with Simons - a player Rosenior rates particularly highly - remaining at the MKM Stadium for the remainder of the season. Rosenior, however, says head of recruitment Lee Darnbrough and vice-chairman Tan Kesler remain locked in talks with Chelsea about any potential next moves. "We still don't have one hundred percent clarity," Rosenior explained. "There's lots of legal work, lots of talking to make sure that we come to the right decision. "I've left that with Lee (Darnbrough) and Tan (Kesler) to speak to Chelsea, and when they have news, I'm sure they'll let me know. There's lots of moving parts when it comes to speaking to Chelsea, there's lots of things that we need to get to grips with. It's not certain that they're going to go back."
If we had a average home record we would be well up there, a lot will depend on that starting on Saturday.
I think this squad has limits and the style of play is suited to their limits , it’s safe controlled and functional - this is not a criticism . We need extra quality to make sure we get the 1-0 wins away or win comfortably occasionally , Wigan excepting we rarely do . If the quality of this squad stays as it is then we are mid table and players will only work their socks off for so long - rotation of players of the same quality will be needed to maintain that even .
The game has moved on so much in the last 14 years it’s pretty pointless comparing anyway to the past when it comes to promotion out of the championship anymore.
We're six points off, but it's still only January and let's face it, given our squad we'll likely go on and lose a few between now and the end of the season. I mean if we win a lot of games and end the season in good form, it'll show that we don't need a huge overhaul in the Summer. I agree that I think we can comfortably finish midtable, maybe even top half, but if we start saying we should be in the playoffs we're just setting our expectations far too high given what we've seen this squad do this season. If you have a squad that's good enough to challenge for the top two, and you fall into the playoffs, it's generally a sign that you are just about there. I know patience in the long term is really difficult in football and everybody wants every transfer done this second and promotion done this season, but we're a project that's going in the right direction and building a foundation is most important for seasons going forward.
Yeah, we've sort of cracked the basics and we need a solid spine of a team that's a constant every week. After that, we can add guile, pace etc on top of that to make us better. We'll go up in the next few seasons if we keep working like we are.
