Prediction time!

Glad you're having a pleasant summer Spanish! Sounds good. Sydney is a nice 22 degrees most day so all good this side of the world. Regarding the season - potentially the most difficult to say for a long time. Let me look at what I believe are the pro / cons and try to somehow come up with a rough position. Not an easy task!

Start with the ++.
* Webster back is key. Like having a new signing in itself. SHOULD help us play more footy.
* The addition of Celina in particular is a welcome coup. I think Rowe will prove very good out wide. I think we're a lot better in the wide positions this time around.
* Garner joining. Had a great pre season - I don't think he'll score lots but he'll be a foil for Dids / Sears ( hopeless pairing / one or the other ) and create space at worst. At least we'll have some form of battering ram / hold up play.
* FINALLY the END of Luke Chambers at RB. I think Spence is a decent player at this level and the Wolves lad could be a steal. Much more balanced team on paper.
* The kids are alright. Have quite a few breaking through now, Kenlock / Dozza / Bish / and Flynn Downes in particular seems to have had a good pre-season. Could be one for the future this lad....
* I think style of play will be more pleasing to some degree this term, even with Mick at the helm. It's never going to be fantastic under him even if he was at Barca I make no bones about that, however I think he's assembled a decent and perhaps more important from last pre season balanced squad.
* #9 shirt is vacant - who is on the way?!

***** Sidenote. The club have actually had a brain this summer regarding tickets. Well done, for once...

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* Mick haters, he's still incharge. Potential to play horrific footy again.
* Strength in depth looks questionable at best....
* Can Huws play CM in a 4-4-2?
* ONLY three proper strikers at this time of writing. One or two short.
* Especially when McGoldrick gets injured and sits out 6 months....
* Unsure as to a Webster / Chambers CB pairing which looks our option. Potentially need a Berra to play with Webster.... unsure re Lukey C.
* If Bart does go ( which I can yet see ) who do we get in?
* We may have spent reasonably well, but we're miles off others in this league cheque book wise. Miles off. What can we realistically do with our budget, whoever is incharge!?!?

My position right now taking all things into consideration - and considering a few other clubs who I think will be pants in relation to their expectation ( Hull/Bolton/Sunderland all spring to mind ) I think we'll finish somewhere between 8-12. Depending who else we bring in between now and the deadline could make or break our season. I don't see the mistakes of last year happening again regards being clearly lacking a #9 all season.

Over to you Mick. Decent start to the season on paper, your job to win fans back and us push on. COYB.

 

Sorry for your loss Warky. RIP Peter.

 

Sad news JWM, my thoughts are with you and your family

 

Position = 11th
Top scorer = Garner on 16
Player of the season = Kenlock

 

I will predict young Flynn won't be heard of after August 6th.......not through any fault of his own.

 

Thank you all for your kind words of support.

Apologies for hijacking this thread.

 

I think we will finish lower mid-table, I'll go for 14th. I'll copy everyone else and say top scorer will be Joe Garner with 12, he's had a strong pre-season, but I'm hoping a few players will be hitting double figures this season. Player of the season ... I'd say Bart, but I'd be surprised if he's still with us come the end of this campaign. So I think Player of the Year will be Grant Ward. He should hopefully play regularly in his favoured position out wide, now we have a few options, and are apparently sticking with 4-4-2.

Some wider thoughts: I think this will be McCarthy's final season with the Town. He'll keep us stable and I think we'll be seeing more of the youth given a chance (considering the smaller squad) and we'll play better football than usual, but ultimately it won't be enough, he'll probably resort to negative football and insulting supporters when we hit a bad patch of form, and a new manager with fresh ideas will be a requirement.

Our new signings are largely positive, but we have seen 14 players depart this summer and that has, presumably, freed up the wage budget. Therefore, has Evans really invested a lot in this squad? We've only bought two players permanently for fees (Huws and Garner). We clearly need another striker as we only have three and McGoldrick is very injury prone. I think a fourth centre-back and a fourth winger would also be good additions.

I don't have any real enthusiasm for the season, it's reminiscent of the Keane / Jewell years in that respect! I believe the squad is half decent and I'm glad the deadwood has been mostly shipped out, but I feel that with a few injuries, we'll be looking short of numbers and experience. I don't think we have enough quality to make a sustained challenge for the play offs, partly because of my lack of faith in McCarthy, partly my complete disillusionment with the current state of football and how moneyed and unequal this division has become (and how the financial gap continues to widen).

Can I also praise the board, for once. I know I've been one of their most consistent critics, and the season ticket pricing fiasco left a sour taste. But the £25 cap on away tickets is a very sensible policy, the charity on the back of the shirt is a nice, thoughtful gesture, and the on-the-day ticketing prices are more generous this season. So credit to the board for implementing some more PR-friendly policies and for being more closely engaged with the local community. Please keep it up!

 

Pretty sure Milne's already come out and said the 6 new signings ( despite the fact Huws / Spence were here last year ) have actually cost us more in wages than the ones departing!

 

Question is, Westy, do you believe him?

 

God knows Nuggets, the mans a bloody Chelsea fan and a melt. He knows exactly what I thought of him when we met.

 

I believe him on this one.
If you look at who we released, only Pitman would've been on a decent wage (and possibly Berra too).
The likes of Huws, and Celina and even Garner won't be cheap.

Hopefully once Bru goes, we can sign one more striker, which i then think will be job done.
I have optimism this year, and i genuinely believe it'll finally be our year with at least a play off spot (am i mad???)

 

22nd...

 

Lost again today....relegation looks likely...need a few better players to avoid going down...

 

When Sigurdsson goes, you'll be back to where you belong. L1.