Isn't it strange. Under Bates ownership and with two average managers in Grayson and Warnock, most if not all fans were disgusted at our lack of progress and failure to challenge for promotion despite being a handful of points away from playoffs on a couple of occasions. Our new leaders now have what they call "a debt free club" a far better manager and because they've said so, mid table mediocrity is now acceptable to many because gfh have said they have a three year plan. A crucial part of that plan seems to be to get rid of a majority share in 18 months. It's probably no coincidence that despite innovations in ticket sales, attendances are still poor at home games. Are our expectations to be lowered every season until we eventually become a millwall?
Don't think we have lower expectations at all,accept we don't have QPR's money to invest but I think we have a good shot at top 6.
Think itll be a lottery this season like last. I see very little difference in most teams in the division. Squads made up of mainly average players. One or two players maybe making the difference in the end of season
I also think we have a fair shot at top 6. This is the season we show major progress from last season. If we go up, great. But I quite like the idea of a 2 year plan. End of this season, we will see a number of players leaving, as their contracts come to an end. That will afford BMD the opportunity to bring in a couple of quality players who will lead us up to the promised land next season.
I think the reason expectations have lowered is because people are starting to realise this 1 season wonder idea doesn't work. If you bring a manager in and tell him you must get promotion this season then he has to build a whole squad capable of it in just one transfer window likely preferring older, stronger, been there done it heads over younger players that will improve the club over many years because they are cheaper and likely to have a better effect over a one season period. It doesn't work even more so with a small budget and then when it fails, we have to repeat the same process of trying to build a whole new squad over again in one transfer window. I far prefer the approach of bringing in a manager to grow with the club and build the club itself along with the squad to be successful for many years to come. I would still say we are aiming for promotion this year and I'd expect nothing less but I am not going to get on McD's back if he doesn't achieve it because I think he is the most likely man to get us up within the next couple years. You can't expect a manager to get promotion in his first season, not saying it doesn't happen but it puts so much more pressure on the manager to achieve this.
Attendances cannot be judged yet as two of our games were on tv and at silly times. Fans will return if the club shows its making an effort to progress an if the results are decent. Not gonna happen overnight. As for getting rid of a majority of shares within 18 months, where is this said ? Have they not already turned down a proposed majority share takeover ?
GFH said some time back themselves they would hold on to a minority share and 18 months was mentioned. Theyre not here for the long term and given their financial position thank god
As fans, we need to get rid of our apparent, obsessive need for instant gratification. This club is finally heading on the right direction. Numerous tv games have affected attendance - of course! This is why the clubs get paid additional money when games are televised! P-A-T-I-E-N-C-E, people.
Eventually become a Millwall? Is it 7 seasons we've been in the same division now? I reckon your already there.
Your not watching it right m8,watch the nillwall seasons highlights first,makes us look like Barcelona.
I've been banging on about this for years....and annoying a lot of people on here for such a view for just as long. A slow build-up, stregthen from within, have a philosophy that runs through the club, stop the immediate "we're going up this year" syndrome. It will take time to get the fans back, but it will happen. But we need to change our play and our style,and in McD I believe we have the manager that can do that. But he needs a Strachan. That requires real money these days. But we will find that player, who motivates the whole club, who demands that everyone runs 100% for 90 minutes, who demands the ball back once we have lost it, and demands that players realise they are part of a team, not just prima donna individuals. Bring on that player. He will arrive, and he will conquer. Insh'trachan.
And people are starting to realise this but there are still people that expect that we should just automatically achieve promotion every year with a complete new manager, new players and new everything. We need to get out of this cycle and it looks like we are going through that phase at the moment of breaking the cycle.
Who would have believed when we were relegated 10 years ago we would still be out of the top division 10 years on? I don't expect immediate promotion but I didn't expect to drop to the third tier and I did expect us to be back in the top flight within 10 years. How many times can we say we were probably one maybe two players away from gaining promotion? When I first joined this forum I said we will NEVER be in the top flight under Bates and Grayson and sadly I can say I don't believe we will ever be back under the GFH and BMD partnership. We might have BMD in 2-3 years time when GFH have sold us and who knows, maybe he will then get us back. Of course GFH want us all to believe in a two year plan, what they mean is we haven't any money and we are trying to buy time from you believing lot so get your asses back into the ground make us some extra profit so we can dish it out between the shareholders and sell you in 18 months time for a serious profit. Are we better off now than we were under Bates - Yes of course we are but like I said before, it isn't hard is it? Do we have a better squad of players now than 12 months ago - Yes - Do we have the best squad of players that we have had in the last 5 years? NO WAY
Fair play Ristac. Spot on and what I was trying to say in my original post. Frustrating too, when like me, I'm in my fifties and season after season have to listen to various spin and stalling tactics to try keep fans onside.
Do you accept now Josh that Bates was wrong for the club, I remember you were one of his supporters who believed he actually saved us yet now you believe the cycle of expectation needs to be broken after 10 years outside the top flight...
When we dropped out of the 1st Division in 1982, we spent 8 years in the 2nd Division. I had no illusion that it would be any different this time, given the financial state of the club. Back then our chairmen were just as bad as the ones we had recently - we were constantly in debt and under pressure of going under. We now have a manager that can be classed as comparable to Wilko. He will build the club up from the bottom. Under Wilko, the chairman Manny Cousins I think, gambled and did a Ridsdale of the timne. If it had failed, we would have folded. Luckily it worked. What we don't have yet is that talismanic player - a new Strachan. So it's different. The financial system is different, the fitness of players is different, the stamina levels of all players and pitches are different. It may be quite impossible for a team like ours to do it that way ever again - it is all about teamwork now and having a system of playing that is fast, accurate, and everyone desires the ball ands can control it. Look at the teams that go up - they all play a fast tempo for 90 minutes, they pass accurately, they move off the ball fast to space, and they hassle to get that ball back, and have excellent team tactics. That takes time to develop. You can't do it immediately by building a brand new team. It takes 2 or 3 or 4 years. That's what I give GFH. You can stick with your one-season wonder demands, but they are unrealistic in my view, and extremely unfair on the new owners.
