Last season it was 0-5, the season before 0-4 and from what I have seen in pre-season when the competitive stuff starts again next Saturday we could be in for yet another home drubbing! Many will slate me for this but the worst thing that happened to us last season was bringing in Redknapp and then allowing him to stay after we got relegated. Relegation was never going to be Harry's fault. QPR was an easy job for him as he couldn't lose, if we had stayed up he was a miracle worker and when we got relegated it was expected because he took over in an impossible position. Already this season he is making his excuses with missing out on Hooper! This man broke our transfer record not once but twice and actually managed to turn us into a worse football team than we were under Hughes! We should sought out a young manager with fresh ideas, cleared out all the deadwood and brought in young talent on the playing field rather than the over the hill and just here for the money brigade that we now have. Watching the team pre season there doesn't seem to be any spark, imagination or flair about them. Just an expensive bunch of mercenarys counting out the fivers. We are favourites to win this league but very few of us fans with hands on hearts believe that will happen. The five year plan needs to start all over again and dare I say it the blueprint should be Swansea. We need a visionary at the helm not the wheeler dealer that cant even inspire our greatest talent to get out of bed. We need a youthful squad that actually wants to play good football and take the club places. Sadly what we have is a clapped out old manager and team full of players earning wages way beyond what their talent is actually worth. It's no wonder Jamie Mackie couldn't stay a minute longer!
Hard to disagree with most of that though, at the time, I think Harry was the right choice. We simply have to win against Sheffield W, and we have to win convincingly. If we don't get of to a good start we haven't got a chance of attracting any decent players before the end of the transfer window. If we lose, the negativity we build, Uncle Tony will panic, Harry will be off as "it's been difficult Ya know, what could I do" and we will be on our way to league 1.
Well you are a ray of sunshine aren't you. You will feel a lot better after next Saturday. Welcome to Schizophrenics Anonymous.
I have to say i'm looking forward to it. Yes I know we have had bad starts but you've got to look forward not back. Start with optimism - it's the only way!
I'm struggling to build up any enthusiasm. It is easy to say "clear out the deadwood" but not so easy to do. I'd have thought that we've tried to move on a number of players but not found takers for them; who in their right mind would pay them close to what we do? I'd be very happy with a younger, more imaginative manager, and to wait a few years while the team and club are re-built. I doubt that the men at the top share that opinion though, the minimum requirement for them must be to start be getting the right publicity out of our club. Redknapp will keep us in the news, not necessarily for the right reason though.
To be honest I'm buzzing with excitement. Always have been before the first game of the season since I was a nipper and still feel the same now. It's the anticipation of what season lies ahead, the highs, the lows, the agony and the ecstasy. I guess that's what makes us fans of this great club of ours and I wouldn't miss it for the world. Come on you Rrr's !!
I'm looking forward to it. The team I saw last night beat Southend appeared to have team spirit (if lacking in talent in some parts of the pitch if we are to get anywhere near justifying our status as favourites for promotion.) Team spirit can be created in adversity (we've had a shed load of that). That's why Mackie was shifted out quickly once he'd put the transfer in. His head was in the wrong place and the squad doesn't need it. It may also be why Redknapp is keeping the recalcitrant players away from the rest. They're playing Orient behind closed doors today. Anyone would think they had leprosy. As far as Hooper is concerned, we failed largely because of career ambitions a Premiership club like Norwich can enhance, but also because although we agreed terms with Celtic, the club apparently dragged its feet over personal terms for the player. You can understand how this would happen. Under the new hard-nosed approach by the owners, this can drag things out. I suspect the failure was not down to Redknapp, but he was a muppet for trumpeting the signing too early
Well im tempted to take 4/1 Sheff Wed nicking it next week particularly with the vibes coming from Harry saying he still has work to do in getting 4 or 5 players in to be competitive next season and its still a few weeks away. Im going for a 0-2 defeat next Saturday. Im sure our visitors will be well prepared ,have a game plan and be physically up for the challenge something we don't always have on recent evidence. Obviously hope im way off the mark.
