I tip my hat to Rodney for saying what we are all thinking..... He has pointed out the obvious (on the podcast too) that with massive ticket increases and spending almost zero money that the Flabio and Bunnie are taking us all for mugs. I realise that our hands are somewhat tied......we all want to go watch our beloved Hoops now that we are in the promiseland, and with the torrid amount of heartache and strife over the past 15 years we are all on the edge of seats waiting for the season to get going...... But at the risk of sounding like a martyr, but I feel a Crash and Burn is on it's way. All for the following reasons: 1) Adel Tarrabt - no doubting the talent, but he is not right for us. OK in the championship, but in a weaker team in the prem, he is gonna have tantrums of massive proportions. He can't defend. He is gonna score a couple of tasty goals, but it will be like playing with 10 men when he is having an off day or we go behind. 2) When the Prem novelty wears off - Not an issue for Season Ticket holders, but with members now being able to buy one ticket per membership (RUBBISH!!!), when we are lingering around the bottom of the league, more games on SKY and are playing Wigan, West Brom, Wolves, Sunderland etc.......Are people seriously gonna pay £50 + for a ticket? I think not........ 3) Business Men Owners, Not Supporters - I know that it is fashionable for multi-millionaires to own sports franchises, but it pained me to hear last season when Ecclestone described what happens on match days for him. He expressed that WHEN he goes to games he leaves at half-time....WTF!!!! AND he barely knows the names of the players. They tore up loads of season-ticket holders seats on South Africa Rd stand to make way for they "comfy" seats. 4) Cash - I was almost done bragging to all my other footy mates about how much we are gonna spend, especially in light of a) billionaire owners b) SKY revenue c) ticket price increases......but alas, no, we have spent 1.25M on one player. How the hell can West Brom cough up £6-7M for Shane Long........Enuff Said. 5) Signing of broken robots - Just look at Kieron Dyers track record over the past 5 years. I don't give a monkey's that he USED to play for England, what can he bring NOW? He is well past his sell by date. Two words. Lee Cook. 6) Gorkks - Please tell me that we are not seriously considering one of our best assets?!! Look, I know that Kaspars ain;t the most skillful man on the pitch, but he is fearless.....and that is what 80% of being a good centre back is, along with heading and marking. We do not need another midfield.....we are actually well stocked in that area. I, like much of the country do not agree with the wages that many Prem league players make, especially when you have numptys like Ballotelli and Tevez throwing their iPads out of their Bentley prams cos they don't like the weather in Manchester, but if we are going to the party we may as well dance. Maybe my life would be happier if we were back in the Championship.....less d*ickheads in the league, cheaper tickets and a much more level playing field.....rather than the lague consisting of the uber rich teams competing to see who can buy the title. Who knows.........
..and relax. I think you have made loads of good points and all we can do is wait and see. We are a lot of people's favorites to go down because of the above. I'm hoping the Warnock factor and a third of a season before we are sussed will scrape a 17th place.
Lets see what tarbs does, if he cock's about he wont do his 'rep' any good so maybe he will surprise lets hope so. The robots may also surprise they have both looked quite strong in preseason(dyer's so tough now he trains in his pants!!) and if not over worked one might last...... agree with every word of the rest.
Newbury Great thread. I'm pretty new here as well and have only mentioned a few of my concerns. I tend to find on these supporter sites that if you raise concerns then some people start calling you a dooms day merchant or a pessamist. I agree with pretty much all that you have said. I also have grave concerns about the coming season. 1) We are starting the season with a very unsetteled board. This cannot help and IMO all the rumours and rubbish being printed may affect NW or the players. Board unrest and behind the scenes unrest has affected other clubs in the past, who are we to think that we may be different. 2) Our team and squad is not strong enough. Historical facts would point at newly promoted clubs generally struggling in their first few (if they are lucky to stay up in first year) years. We have spent nothing. I think Jay and DJ are pretty decent strickers and will give us something different but lets be realistic Dyer and Gabbidon were released by West Ham who were relegated. These players have hardly played 10 mins over the last 2-3 years. Why is NW putting his faith and potentially our survival hopes in their hands. Sorry guys but for me, this does not add up and may come back to haunt NW. I think even our most die hard fans would admit that our defence is fragile at best. The lack of pace right across our back four is a major major worry. 3) I know NW is a club legend and deserves huge respect from us, BUT!!!!!!!. He may struggle in the Prem. I know some of you will not like to see this but i feel that he still has to prove himself at this level. That can be a motivating factor for him that we could benefit from (I really hope so), or he might be out of his depth at this level. All the Prem teams will have studied how we played last year. They will have worked our system out and therefore NW will have to have a Plan B, and C. Does he have a Plan B and C? Do we have the players to change systems? How will NW manage when experienced Prem managers and teams have worked him and our team out???. 4) I know that Tarbs is a joy to watch on his day, but i think that he is over rated at 10 million plus. He is not proven at Prem level. His ability to sulk and give the ball away on a bad day may hurt us badly this year. He will be marked tightly by some of the best defenders in the world and it will be interesting to see if he has grown up at all in the last few months. It will be hard enough playing with 11 let alone 10. I also think that he is not captain material and when our back is to the wall this year (which it will be) we will need a leader. Tarbs is not a leader. I know a lot of people will disagree with the comments above. Thats fine. Everyone has an opinion. Like you all i love my club more than life itself. I am embarrassed at how the club has been managed in the last number of years. Despite this gross mismanagement, the supporters, NW and the players pulled in the same direction and got us up. What an achievement. I know we all want whats best for our club and thats these goons out and NW given enough funds to give him and us a fighting chance to stay up. We dont expect tens of millions, we are a small family club. I hope i'm wrong with all of the above, i'm just being honest.
I think it's fair to say our current squad would struggle to get automatic promotion in the Championship when you look at what some of the contenders have spent in close season and the strength of that league in general. We did so well to win it last season and the Goons are doing their damnedest to squander the opportunity, as if we drop back into the Championship the backbone of our team will be too old to repeat the feat and we'll face the possibility of being at the wrong end of that table. It's hard to fathom the logic of what is going on at present. Taarabt holds the key to us making a good start to the season which will boost the whole team, a bad start, multiple strops and we could be done for by Christmas. Whatever happens I expect a major fall-out at some point before he departs in January. I think we are still five quality players short of a squad that will be clear of the bottom three and there has been nothing to suggest we'll have those players in place by the end of the window, so I can't see us being anywhere other than bottom by October once our shortcomings have been exploited. It's hard to disagree with most of your points and you have to ask if we can see what is wrong with the club at present why can't these wealthy and experienced businessmen who run the club see it as well? Sadly, the return of Flav has shattered the 14 months of calm at the club and the fact Paladini is still on the scene says all you need to know about what may be in store. The bottom line is wait for the next crisis...
I agree with your comment Bush Rhino, or at least I would like to think Tarbs can curb his enthusiasm! On one hand I would like to think he is smart enough to play for a big contract for a future date (he blew his chance at Spurs eh), but on the other hand a leopard cannot change his spots. time will tell
Agree with most of what's written above... because they are facts. As facts, they're well known to the powers that be but the question is, what are they going to do about it? The answers we've seen coming through to date amount to nothing much. That's takes us back to doe, oh, oh, oh. Fans moaning and groaning? Hardly surprising but as the optimists say, glass half full - so it's good enough for some.
I would have said this time last year that our squad wasn't good enough to achieve what it did, so it just goes to prove what can de done with good management, tactics & players fighting for the cause. However, this season is going to be a completely different kettle of fish. My fears are that our defence is going to struggle to cope with the majority of the strike forces that are coming our way. There is an awful lot or pace in the top division, and sadly, our current crop of defenders don't possess a great deal! Up top, I think we've signed a couple of decent strikers, so I think we'll score a few, but concede more. On the plus side, there's still three weeks to go before the transfer window slams shut, so sufficient time to address the problem. As for the board, we all know what they think of us, it's been said enough times. Lets hope we succeed in the top flight in spite of them, & not because of them!
Taarabt may have finally opened up to the idea that he is only going to get a transfer to a big club if he plays well week in, week out. No clubs are going to come in for him if he continually strops. As for the goons, theres nothing we can do about it for the time being. That doesnt mean however we shouldnt make it uncomfortable for them. As for this season, sure we may not have the quality palyers that the other clubs have, but I genuinely believe if our players play with passion then we wont have a problem reaching safety
