Assuming we are safe, do people think we'll suffer from the dreaded SSS? I tend to think we'll be ok as long as we hang on to McNally and Lambert. These are not guys who will let the grass grow under their feet and be happy merely to stand still. I also hope the fans will play our part and not get unrealistic expectations. If we are in the same situation this time next season (i.e. safe bar a miracle with eight matches to go) that would be as much as an achievement as this season has been Also, we have a very young squad (I think I'm right in saying the youngest in the Prem) and almost none of them had any Prem experience at the start of the season. So, with a season under their belt and a summer's rest, they should be ready to step up to the next level. Plus I'm sure we'll get some new blood. I think we definitely need another forward (Rhodes?). Not sure about the defence - partly depends on how Bennett gets on and I think we should blood him as soon as possible now. Haven't the last three years been wonderful?
I think SSS all depends on this summer! We do need improving, in certain areas of the pitch and maybe a bit more cover on others but you have to take off the sentimental yellow and green tinted glasses to see that. Reading when they were last up finished 8th but then had a shocking season after due to not improving there squad enough! I do not want to see us rest on our lorals and think that our squad at this present time is good enough to keep us up next year! The problem is though, the fact that we arent going to spend loads on players which is fair enough and i completely understand. But we need to also look at the facts of staying up or going down. How hard is it to come back straight away, not many sides have done it in the last 10 years. I also read that we should push the boat out for naughton and a top striker. Now when i see that youre atleast talking £5mil+ per player so thats £10 mil straight away. The last 3 years have been unbelievable and cant wait to see it continue, BUT this summer could be a very important one for the future of our clubs league status for years to come!
Well said VC, of course the dreaded SSS can't be taken lightly! maybe our expectations will be higher next season, but, realistically, our main aim should be 17th or higher. As you say, providing we hang onto our prized management team, I'm sure we'll be fine!
Second season syndrome statistics since the turn of the millenium 2000-2001: Bradford went down, Sunderland finished seventh 2001-2002: Ipswich went down, Charlton finished fourteenth. 2002-2003: Bolton 17th, Fulham 14th, Blackburn sixth. 2003-2004: Man. City 16th, Birmingham 10th. 2004-2005: Portsmouth finished sixteenth 2005-2006: West Brom went down 2006-2007: Wigan 17th West Ham 15th 2007-2008: Reading went down 2008-2009: Sunderland finished sixteenth 2009-2010: Hull went down, Stoke finished 11th 2010-2011: Birminham went down, Wolves finished 17th 2011-2012: Newcastle and West Brom will both survive. So the statitsics are: Stayed up: 15 Went down: 6 Chance of relegation: 29 %
Personally I don't think we need to worry about a case of SSS. Teams who have suffered in the past have either failed to adapt the team and style of play, thus losing the element of suprise (Reading, Bradford, Watford) or have gone out and brought in a load of 'big' names who haven't provided what they were expected to (Finidi george at Ipswich, Vennegoor of Hesselink at Hull). There is certainly no danger of us failing to adapt and being found out as I don't think the squad know what formation we're going to be playing half the time, who would've though Simon Lappin would go from being nowhere near the squad to starting against Wolves? In fact I think our biggest threat is NOT settling on a formation or best XI. As for signing 'big names' according to Canary Call last night Lambert has already drawn up his list of transfer targets for next season so it looks like we'll be having another busy June/July again. I wouldn't be at all suprised if we do see one, maybe two, more well known players coming in now that we've had a season to adapt but I do think he'll stick as closely to the model that has got us where we are and only deviate if absolutely essential.
i think we could see at least a couple of players recruited from abroad this summer. they would not cost as much or expect such a high salary, and why did PL travel to see pep guadiola in barca recently? stop press- norwich sign lionel messi on loan with a view to a permanent deal. well, maybe not.
PL has already rejected the idea of any sort of "clear out". He said again yesterday that he trusts his players, every one of them, to do a job for him when asked. "Dead wood" obviously has no part in his thinking, which is exactly why the players give their all for him. He will look to make one or two signings "to give the lads already here a hand". As a result, we'll be stronger next season, and PL himself is learning from every game. My guess is that "SSS" refers to what happened to just one or two clubs, who were unexpectedly very successful in their first season and unexpectedly awful in their second, rather as "BS" i.e. Blackpool syndrome, has entered football folklore.
There is no such thing is second season syndrome... what a load of utter bullshit. The very mention of that terms makes me angry! Every season under Paul Lambert has been a monumental improvement, so don't even say it...
If Norwich can sign a decent PL standard centre mid and a couple of decent defenders to complement Naughton then I don't see any reason why they would be "found out". The problem for Reading was their goals dried up with strikers who were going through purple patches the season before (Doyle & Lita) stopped scoring and they didn't have enough fire power to win games and their already fragile defence was found out after playing another year in the league. Norwich will be sound though, I reckon.
I was talking to someone about this today. They were of the view that we would suffer. I was of the view that they were basically saying the same sort of things, as they have about all the the things Lambert and the team have already proved them wrong about - not being able to catch Leeds, not being able to hold onto the lead and take the League 1 trophy, Holt may have been good in League 1 but he would be found out in the Championship, that we would struggle in the Championship, we weren't good enough to get automatic promotion, Holt would struggle in the Premier league, we would last two seasons in the Premiership (summer and autumn) etc, etc, etc, etc.
All those questions eeore have been answered but along the way significant improvement has been made each time and aslong as that is done again then i have no fears of such a thing happening
That was the point I was making. The one thing we have lost however is the ability to score late goals to win matches.
Yeah that is a shame but tbh theres only really one team in the prem who does that and thats the best in the land
You obviously didn't see Mick McCarthy today. He said there is definitely an SSS. It manifests in players wanting rewards for staying up, new players seeing themselves as improving the squad so wanting more money than existing players, the need to bring in established players as your success means players and clubs will up the asking price so you might as well buy from the Prem but then you take the risk of buying fading stars. Plus you have to tell players who have got you into that position that they aren't wanted anymore. That's just the financial side. Then theres the expectations of supporters which pressurises the team to perform even better than the previous season. And all this for a club that has done so well so should be basking in the glory, not worrying about being successful. In fact the whole interview was a master class of pragmatism coupled with being a real nice guy.
Whose grandmother would Mick be trying to teach then? David McNally's? (1) I'm sure the players are already in line for some reward for staying up -- not to mention the wage reduction they would have suffered had we been relegated. (2) New players are brought in "to give the lads already here a hand"; they have to earn the right to play. If their heads are so big they expect to be guaranteed a place, they won't be on PL's shopping list anyway. Added to which, it hasn't gone unnoticed (except by the MOTD "pundits") that nobody in PL's squad -- apart maybe from John Ruddy -- is a shoe-in for every game. By the time a player gets to putting his signature on the contract, I'm sure he will be under no illusions about how it works here. (3) I can't see PL signing any fading stars, or the club paying over the top for "established" players. They try and get the players PL wants at a price the club can afford, full stop. (4) And, as I pointed out on another thread, PL doesn't think in terms of "dead wood" or "not wanted any more". He trusts his own judgement and equally importantly trusts all his players to do a job for him when asked. The only thing he doesn't seem to tolerate, rightly, is any "attitude" that jeopardises team spirit. In other words, the policies which have got us where we are, have all the ingredients in place for avoiding SSS as described by Mick. So even if teams (at any level) do sometimes or often fall foul of the syndrome, I'm confident City will not. As for the supporters, that's another question! IM&LWT
