Cast your minds back to the end of last season and the impending gloom surrounding the way key players let the club down. Now spring forward to today and see the fresh shoots of optimism steadily growing as the squad rebuilds almost from scratch. To be honest I'm amazed this pre-season how many targetted players have ended up contracted to the club compared to previous seasons.The usual patern was interest/iminent signing/failure to agree terms. Imagine how it would be if we were constantly linked with players this season like some clubs,only to end up gutted only weeks before the first game. I'm feeling quite optimistic.
I think so far so good, needs a bit of tweaking and we wait on certain players that could be key. But as you say Bob, an air of optimism is to be seen throughout the rank and file.
Cautiously optomistic. Some questions over the quality of individuals in the midfield and need to see how they play as a team. Happy with the options for the back 5 and the front 1/2/3 (depending on formation).
Too many squad type players; unsure who is to be the first choice especially in defence and midfield; some players not ready eg Wildig, Mason (both potentially OK) and the first year pros; others clearly not up to it eg Naylor, Taiwo and Parkin. The argument that the whole is better than the sum of its constituent parts does not wash with me but happy to be proved wrong once the season gets underway. Recruits mainly from lower standard clubs than ours so there is a sense that we are building for mid table mediocrity. ***an - a reject from Hull that even Hull fans think is a League 1 player - is another example. Early days of course but an injection of more quality is required - we have sufficient squad players already. Hopefully if more signings are to be recruited they will be permanent and not loans. Arguably the reason why we are getting players and not just talking about them is the possible fact that our recruited players have not been in demand.
Not overly impressed tbh. The back line is okay and we're ok for keepers. The front men should do a job but the midfield is less inspiring at the moment. Time and games will tell us more (obviously) but I'm a tad jittery
Hit The Road! Is the second sentence in your last comment linked to the first,or are you first in the village bath tonight?
Luke: I think fans who see a player regularly are generally good judges of a player's ability. The comments from Hull posters seem to be pretty well balanced.
Gunnarsson will be by far your stand out player this season! and if you can do well this season one of the players in the league IMO
I must admit I'm quite happy with things so far, good mix of youth and old hands. It's the old hands of Miller & Earnshaw that gets me excited, Bothroyd & Chopra scored 27 league goals between them last season, I think Miller & Earnie will beat that easy.
cautiously optimistic as I am every season but with a sense of mid table mediocrity. Think Gestede and Kiss could be superb.
I think we must accept that a lot of our players are relatively untried in the maelstrom that is the Championship race for the big time but lets look at it. so far MM has spent very little up-front money and I would imagine just becasue these guys are coming up he has probably got a wage bill right now that is less than it was before Chops and others left. If he can get rid of a couple more, so much the better. We think we need a couple at least of good quality more mature/ Prem quality players to set these guys are who will be able to guide them chivvy them and support them. Well I would think that come the loan window proper he will be in a good position to wentice just that kind of player. There is room in the wage bill and surely still some in the buying coffer too if its needed. I think we have to have faith that he knows exactly what eh wants, he has gone at immediately and got players so far, with no messing about and without being beaten to it. If we can see the need for this couple of proven players we must accept he can too. Lets just hope he already knows who they are and is doing his preparations just as well has he has done so far. KTF PS I hope one of them is Bellers or him in addition to them.
I think having been serious contenders for the past few seasons has made it easier to attract targetted players. Difficult to gauge the potential effectiveness of individual signings given that a new manager with a new ethos and style is in place now. There is now a whole host of players at the club that have not played together before, so as much will depend on MM's development skills as the skills of the players themselves.
Well i think we will do really well, i think we will be one of the hardest teams in this division to break down, i think we will win many games 1 - 0 and this could see us being suprisingly promoted automatically.
well, you know me boys, ever the optimist with City.. I'm happy with the defence, ok they've been a bit sloppy in pre-season and we lost Gezza to a concussion/stitches against Bournemouth (hoping he'll be ok for West Ham), if we replace Taylor for Naylor we have a decent back line. Out of preference, i'd like to see Marshy start for us, he's the better stopper imo. not the better 'keeper (if you know what I mean) but I think that Marshy can do well for us this season. Gunn-show has shone in pre-season midfield so far and Whitts seems to be revelling in his role of central mid (something I ain't too convinced about due to his tendency of going missing during games), Kiss apparently had a great game last night, but this was against Yeovil, so it's difficult to judge off one game.. Miller and Earnie I think will strike up a good partnership and Mason and Gestede seem to be highly rated, particularly impressed with Mason after Celtic. Parkin has to go though.. On the whole, what a surprise.. quietly optmistic, feet are firmly on the ground after recent season's disappointment however. My guess? Solid top half team, if we make playoffs, outstanding, if not, I can live with it.
Agree with Ronny. The new signings are a sign of intent from the board, and that intent is promotion. Malky has been given a free hand to reconstruct the coaching staff and players. Apart from just selecting them, I'm confident he'll mould them into a force to achieve the success to which all Championship clubs aspire. I don't think it 'll be long before this side starts to click, even with the "unknown" players signed at present (are Earnshaw and Miller unknown? ). I also don't think Malky and the board have finished yet. I think there is a "big name" or even two to come, probably on loan but I wouldn't rule out an outright purchase. Whatever, I think we'll be promoted by some route this season, and if we get those one or two marquee additions, even as Champions. Everyone seems to be talking about Leicester and West Ham these days as having the autos sewn up - long, long old season to go.
Yeah it's great them being put in the frame from Day 1. Nothing like piling on a bit more unwanted pressure. We should all know about that from last season. lol
