One weeks time and we will have played Blackpool fc and our first movement in the table will have been complete. I thought i would gain a collective thought of City fans ahead of a very exciting season ahead! How are your feelings with the general completeness of the squad? What are your ambitions for this season? Hopefully 3 points will be on the board and we shall be in position 1 atleast for ahwile..
When the fixtures were first announced, based on the squads at that time I expected us to lose. After they lost a few players, including Charlie Adam, I thought we would be more likely to gain a point. After (probably) losing DJ Campbell in the next few days I think we stand a real chance of winning. 2-1 would be my early guess. The squad's looking pretty good, but the best we can realistically hope for is the bottom of the playoffs, although having said that, there is no difference between 3rd and 6th anyway. I wouldn't mind a bit more depth but if we add just one central defender to our ranks then I'll be happy enough. I'd like to see us give it a good go this season, and who knows, without a poor start to the season like last year, we might be surprised and find ourselves right up there. So far what I've seen from city supporters is a very pessimistic and reductionist view in terms of our strikeforce, with some voicing their concerns over goalscorers if Fryatt should be ruled out by injury or suspension. With Adebola added to the squad I see no reason why Simpson couldn't step up to the mark, he's better off with a target man, as is Fryatt. If they can get 15 goals in half a season between them without a target man, who knows what they could get in a full season with one. And let's not forget McLean who will hopefully also provide us with a few goals after getting a full pre-season under his belt. I've rambled myself off topic there so to summarise, I'd like to see one central defender added (Ayala please) and have the same ambition as last season, hopefully this time with more success; the playoffs.
The best we can realistically hope for is Champions. It's unlikely of course, but if and it's a massive "if", we produce the football we showed against Liverpool regularly, if we dominate teams and everyone chips in with goals (Cairney, Koren, Stewart.. the lot), the CBs gel, we avoid major injuries, we improve our home record.. many things then it's not impossible. The transfer window is still open but at the moment I'm positive we'll better last season's 11th.
I think an additional centre back now looks likely, the loss of Hobbs and Macca to injury(along with poor pre-season performances from Killer) showed up the lack of decent cover at the right time and hopefully we'll get that sorted next week(though I do expect Hobbs will be fit for Blackpool). I am slightly concerned about what effect losing Fryatt would have, Simpson, Mclean and Adebola all have something to prove, but as long as we can get to October with Fryatt, we also get Stewart back as an option and I'm more than happy to see him playing as a striker. The squads definitely better than last season, the league will be tougher, but I'm expecting us to be in and around the play-off places all season.
We've improved the squad from the one we finished with last season. If pre season is anything to by, we look more attacking and have the likes of Cairney improving and chipping in with a few goals with the defence looking solid. A good pre season will hopefully boost everyone's confidence and will provide the foundation to a good start. We can't afford to play catch up this year. For next Friday night, a draw wouldn't be a terrible result but like DraedtoDream i've become more confident as the weeks have gone on. I'd say our away game at Ipswich the following week looks a much tougher prospect, therefore it's imperative we get something against Blackpool. Defence does appear to be a concern at present, NP will maybe dip into the loan market or if there's any free agents about who could do a job. Another striker could happen but then there's Stewart to come back , Bramby can play there and i'm more confident about Jay Simpson than i was at the start of last season. If that Martin Pusic is decent, sign him up i say! If there's no garauntee of keeping brady after Christmas, it maybe good to get cover now. As for the season, no garauntees but i expect us to do better than last season. We may just sneak into the play off places, i'd say something around 5th-9th. Anything is possible given how we played against Liverpool, but it won't be as easy as that given how teams play in this league. Barring a very poor season i'd expect NP to stay here too.
