With so many players set to leave in the summer (thankfully) and others set to depart to remain part of the premier league set-up I cant help but think we may struggle to rebuild a squad capable of pushing for promotion next season (Play-offs must be the minimum target.) with Ramsey in charge. Will he have the managerial nous to pull together a team from almost nothing? Will he have the pulling power to convince players to join the beloved hoops? Lots of questions. Don't get me wrong, I think Ramsey is a great coach but I personally believe that the managers job that is at hand may be too much for such an inexperienced coach. I would have preferred to wait until the end of the season to see which managers were about (Big Sam, even Mclaren being mentioned with the boot.) and gone for one of those as manager and installed Ramsey as the assistant to learn the ropes. I wish the guy every success and I truly hope that I am wrong, but it'd be good to get the views of other Rs supporters.
I think he's well respected inside the game, and that so far as attracting players goes, he's actually more likely to bring in the players we need than Harry was. Harry - for all his faults - had the experience and the 'name' but tended to restrict himself to the players he had worked with before, and the kind of player who liked the crinkle of a big pay packet above wanting to work for the team's success. I think with Chris it'll be different.
We've tried big names in Hughes and Redknapp. We need someone who will sit quietly under the media radar and simply do a good job. I hope - and feel - that Ramsey could be just the right person for the job in hand.
Why should play offs be the minimum target? The only way to do that with the player turnover we have is to buy a bunch of other old gits to grind it out and repeat all the same mistakes. McClaren, Allardyce...all the same old names. Despite his decent season last year, McLaren is a serial failure, more bad/underachieving years than good ones. Fat Sam? Do me a favour. Be patient.
He will need help as he is inexperienced especially in the transfer market but as I have just posted on the Dunne OP we have more players than you think and I for one would like to see all the youth get a chance with about 4 or so experienced players through the spine.. We will have a good goalkeeper whoever it is for a start and.had about 6 on loan last year who could all improve playing with better players and coaches.,
We'll do bloody well to avoid going straight down. Survival and stabilising the team is the target, top half would be a bonus, we just can't create a new team overnight and a transfer embargo could scupper us totally...
A realistic target should be....never in trouble...If we can last the season as mid table mediocraty I will be pleased. That would give us something to build upon
Anything beyond mid table would be a huge bonus next season......give Ramsey and Ferdinand a chance to introduce younger players with a smattering of seasoned professionals and mid table becomes realistic. The following season the older professionals are reduced in number and replaced by those in their late 20's with the aim of a play off place if possible. Season 3 should be the all out assault on automatic promotion as by then the younger players introduced next season should have matured into seasoned professionals...... Off course this may not be the case but it's how i see this panning out.......
I cannot agree with this. We should be aiming for a higher position otherwise all CR's job is to do is be mid table? If he is the 'Dream manager' than surely we should expect something higher than mid table? Even with most of the old wasters going we still have parachute payments and a few quality players and with some decent additions to be able to make the play-offs in a poor division; that should be the realistic target otherwise why Ramsey? or am i expecting too much?
I think it all comes down to the FFP business. It's pretty obvious that the owners have set much tougher financial constraints going forward but if we can avoid a big fine the parachute payments can be used to allow Rasmsey the opportunity to pick and choose the best prospects from the lower divisions. If a fine wipes out these payments then we will really be scrabbling around for any kind of squad. The nightmare scenario for me will be if the fine is small but Ramsey is still not given a reasonable budget to rebuild which will indicate that the owners want to use the parachute payments to recoup some of their losses. Personally, I'm taking TF at his word that the club still has ambition so I will be disappointed if we are not pushing for a play-off place at least next term.
The target for the team has got to be promotion. There is nothing else. It is quite possible to rebuild and be successful in the same season, many do it.
1. FFP will not screw us over to the extent it will affect us. 2. Our younger players aren't good enough for the Championship. Any transition from our academy to first team regulars is still a few years off. The only ones that have hope next season is Grego-Cox getting half a dozen games and Furlong possibly playing when we are short. Nobody else is good enough to mark their own spot. 3. This is the season to 'get it right' with our signings. We need to buy sensibly in key areas to get us out of the division again. We will need a new goalscorer; a hard working wide man, a creative midfielder and a towering centre back (providing Caulker goes.) 4. Realistically, the Championship next year is going to be even tougher than this year. I would imagine at least 16 teams will be thinking they can get into the play-offs. We have to aim high.
For example? Which teams have traded out 14 plus players and won something/ been promoted immediately after? Not that I think keeping those 14 or so would get us promoted. Serious question Jock. The Championship is a lottery, play offs are a possibilty for nearly any team.
We need to keep some core first team players. As Elnino says we don't have the youngsters that are ready. We need to keep a core and bring in the right mix og hungry, experienced and talented players without doing another Hughes.
I hear the same every season that next year the division will be tougher and it never is. Other than a few teams the standard was shocking. What is going to make these poor teams any better this year? I agree with Oslo in that we must be aiming to bounce back. We all know as does TF that The Championship is a rubbish division for media/money and he will want us out ASAP. All this talk about rebuilding and doing a 4 year plan is utter rubbish. People who think TF and Co will want to wait until some untested 18yr old matures into a good player to then win promotion is deluded. People who think TF and Co will wait 3 years for CR to win promotion are also deluded. Wake up and smell the coffee! The board will want out of this 'money losing' division as soon as they can and if it means making the same mistakes again they will until they get it right. Just think about it, Sunday/Monday live football on Sky or 30 secs of highlights (complete with sh@t presenters) on Ch4? Full page spread in the papers of our games or 5 lines at the bottom. Radio talking about your club everyday or lucky to hear your team name mentioned. In a sensible way we should bring a young hungry team through and regroup but in reality money talks and they won't wait, like with previous mistakes they will make a quick fix. Hopefully they would have learnt that we need 2 decent forwards especially after Charlie goes and to get rid of the wasters is priority.
I think TF's credibility is on the line with the managerial team he's put in place. He could have gone for a "name" and hidden behind him when it all went wrong. He's gone for inexperienced but (he says) with potential. If it all goes tits up this time, he'll be the one emerging from the sea without his bathers on
Agree Goldhawk it's a big risk for TF having Ramsey manage us in the championship. I hope it pays off for all.
