Automatic promotion has to be the aim. Play offs were great fun last time but too stressful! People said we were broken last time we went down and we went back up straight away so no reason why we can't do the same again with the right manager.
Hard to say at the moment really with all the potential variables. I think we'll most likely finish in the top 6 but remains to be seen whether we'll get an auto spot.
We don't know the manager, the squad or the rivals for promotion at this stage... That said, I'll go with 2nd (because we like to go up, but never as champs)
I've gone for the autos too. Has to be our aim. As others above had said though, too many variables so top 6 is minimum and I think that is 95% happening. Need a new manager and not to be too disappointed if it is someone we havent heard of. Most of all need to bottle last season's atmosphere as going to St Mary's was actually a fun experience and something I looked forward to, rather than dreaded.
The aim should be to win the league. We've got loads of time for preparation and one of our fellow relegated clubs has big financial issues. Not saying I expect us to win it but that absolutely should be the target. Just read somewhere that if Luton go down and the current top 3 go up (which all seems fairly likely) then us 3 relegated teams will be the only clubs with parachute payments next season. Can't be arsed to check it but that's insane if true and means it would arguably take a worse season than this one to finish outside the top 6.
Got to be careful though not to 'do a Leeds' and have to settle for the playoff lottery again. As much as I loved the day out, the outcome could have been so different
If Burnley and Sheff Utd go up and Luton go down (all very possible) then that leaves no team in the Champ in year 2 of parachute payments. If Leeds also go up then only the relegated teams will have parachute payments which will create an even bigger advantage for us. If Leeds don’t go up, who cares it’s Leeds and they will be in year 3 of parachute payments so will likely not be as strong as they have been the last 2 years. I’ve been to a few Bristol City games this season and they are ****. Like really bad and they are fighting it out for a playoff spot with 6 games to go. The standard is poor and we really should be competing in the top 6 minimum with the likely players we have and money to spend. I will say the same as last time we went down though. This is a squad full of spineless pussies who may be talented for Championship level but if they don’t get over this season quickly and we sleep walk our way through the first third of the season or so then we could finish mid table. If we start quickly and win games and build the infamous team spirit because of it then id expect us to do just as well as last time we got promoted.
All about who we get in as manager. Squad-wise, our defence is already good enough. But our attack is crap. Need to basically replace the entire front line. Adarma is good at LW, but not as a striker. The rest can all go.
I’m worried about Arma to be honest. I think he is excellent in the Championship, but after the way we have treated him this year loaning him out, will he stay? With Arma, Archer and TP up front, we should be prolific next year.
I think it will be poor. This club is truly broken, you don't just fix that by getting a new manager in and some new players, the crap we are is soaked into the very fabric of the club.
Diaz as well. But yeah I can see a scenario where all of them want out after this season. Dibling, Ramsdale, Fernandes and KWP are all on my list of definitely leaving. Then there is about a dozen more that is a wait and see. Will likely be who wants them but maybe bridges have been burnt with the likes of Armstrong. He can’t have been happy with being loaned out and might not want to return
I know you can’t keep people purely out of loyalty, but last year he was a major reason we came back up. He even scored the only goal in the Playoff Final and was captain for more than half the season. What we did loaning him out when we can’t score for toffees anyway is basically saying “You are **** in this league, bugger off and we’ll use you again next year” That is how I would take it if I was him. He may just think sod this I’ll go to another club, be prolific and maybe they will appreciate me more.
Impossible to even give it an educated guess. So much will change between now and the start of next season, with us and our opposition. We should be aiming to win the Championship, that has to be the mentality. Ipswich are probably going to be better placed for that imo, they have built a Championship super team, but we’ll see where we both (and Leicester) are come the start of the season.
Please please please please please no HMS piss the league It's grim as **** and it's our rivals who are synonymous with the Navy.
Will we keep ugo? If so suga/bree, bednarek, THB, manning and Downes/ugo should be an ok defence. GK and striker are concerns. Oh and manager obviously
Our defence is okay? Not sure about that. We conceded more than 60 goals in the Championship last time and are on track to concede 90+ this season, and that's with a much better keeper than we'll have next year. Oh, and we're likely going to lose our best full-back. Sure, some of that was down to the way Martin played, but I still don't think our defence is that good.
