I thought it showed great mental toughness, considering the pressure, to get promotion from league 1 when Huddersfield were matching us every match with wins and then the next year we did it again. Perhaps in less emphatic style but we were still efficient and determined. We nearly went the whole of last year without losing at home for heavens sake. But this year we do seem to be conceding goals late and haven't strung two 90 minute performances together yet. That should come though we have the manager to instill mental toughness and confidence.
A club of our size should never be anywhere near League 1 and I would of thought we would of been out of there by now , its about time we became more arrogant and actually demanded more . In simplistic terms we are in the top 20 clubs in the Country so we should be in or near the Premiership , us getting out of the Championship was an acheivement and one I think we could not do so again if we had to start again if we went down and sold our players .
Some have said that we've come up too soon but that implies you have a choice. There is no guarantee that we would get promotion this season if we had failed to go up last season.
All we need to find is three teams worse than us. Three of us, Reading, Norwich, Villa, Wigan, QPR, Stoke and Swansea will go down.
I am confident we will stay up to be honest. Maybe it is misplaced faith, but I think we have the team and manager to pull through.
I dont like the old three teams worse than us as it shows we have made no progression and by default we stay up .
I would accept staying up by default this season after the start we've had. We can start again next season with lessons learnt.
About the only thing we're touching at the moment is cloth. But I still still reckon we'll stay up. Blind faith or experience, I don't know. Just reckon we will eventually blindside a few teams, once they get complacent against us; and then in January, will definitely strengthen in all the right places, seeing as our weaknesses are so blatantly apparent.
So we write this season off ? A price worth paying I suppose BUT there would have to be changes for that , you cant not progress with a team and simply stagnate and expect to be given a free ride on the back of staying in a division (regardless of what one) by default .
- Obviously. All promoted teams do the same thing; Sole aim: Avoud relegation. We are no different, if anything, we are even more likely to do that as we have come from league one. Stay up, even if it is on goal difference, and it is an incredible achievement. We can then kick on and strengthen in the summer. What were you expecting us to achieve this season? Top four?
I just think that staying in the PL this season is essential for future investment and continued interest by the Leihberrs and NC. I think the continued interest of the latter is important to avoid being taken over by all those dubious investors out there. Good ones are hard to come by.
So in short our team wont be any stronger than before , if Ramirez plays or plays well he will be gone , so we have completely wasted a year , why did we not do that year ? I do agree with you though we have to stay up at any cost , any cost indeed , regardless of what it costs in summer we need to shell out , we should of done it in the summer mind but there we go .
Newcastle did not , Reading did not either when they came up , West Ham are not either , what exactly are you on about ?
You are wrong. All newly promoted teams aim to stay up, and anything else is a bonus. Newcastle are different as they had only just gone down the season before, and kept a lot of premier league quality in their squad. They also spent a lot of money on signings. Reading had a team brimming with talent, they still hold the record for points gained in a season in the championship. We have come up from administration and league one, and as such our squad isn't anywhere near as strong in depth as these teams were. Yes we have spent money, but there is no quick fix and Adkins has tried to keep our core together. (As QPR are finding out, you can't just replace a whole team.) I'm sorry, but I just don't understand your logic at all. You're saying if we finish in 17th you'll be disappointed?
Some people seem to be saying that when Gaston Ramirez is fit again we will be OK and avoid relegation. I think that it will take more than Ramirez being back in the team to keep us in the Prem. The whole first team squad need to be firing on all cylinders and set up correctly in every game. Ramirez should be a pivotal player for the team given how much we paid for him but he cant do it on his own. What happens if he gets another bad injury ? To my mind Ramirez is like a few more of our players, we have to see them play lots more games before we can be sure that they are as good as we would like them to be and make Saints into a competitive Prem team.
