Tipped by lots of fans of other teams to either go up automatically or in play offs. Wish I was so confident!
I don't think that is too fanciful. We have not sold any of our main players from last year but looks like we have made some shrewd acquisitions (time will tell on this) relegated teams seem strong but it can take time to get used to Championship football again and sometimes it just does not work out how it should so we will just have to wait and see. If we use th Fulham games last year as a general yardstick we competed very well against them and were perhaps a little unlucky not to progress, I believe we are stronger now and can compete with the relegated teams as well as anybody so I am tentatively hopeful of a good season. KS has already stated more than once that the club are aiming high so let's show them some support and some faith and see where the roller coaster takes us
I would be more confident if we had Amad Diallo. I have noticed pre season we don't ping it about as much and haven't got that zipabillity in midfield anymore. Yes we've gained in size and power...there's a fine line...
Diallo may well be a miss but Roberts is a very skillful and capable player as well and may just shine a little brighter. the passing in most pre season has seemed good and fairly quick all be it that we have tried different formations and and different players playing in new positions. as for the defeat at Hartlepool I mentioned on another thread that the pitch was playing very slow which caused us some real problems as the ball was not running freely (more down to long grass than a bad pitch IMO) and this just got worse as the rain continued, No excuses though as the team should have adapted better, but on the whole we have added height and some strength to midfield and we already have pace/skill with Clarke, Roberts and by all accounts the new striker Mayenda is rapid (yet to see how good he is) so I think I am more optimistic this season than I have been for quite a few years.
There's no doubt in my mind that this division is going to be harder than last year. The teams that have into it are more likely to be better than the teams who have gone out,imo. That said,I'm expecting our young players to benefit from last year's experiences and to pick it up. However,it's not going to be easy.....I'm expecting ups and downs.
