Will we make top 6?

Yes that was a very encouraging listen, even though Ashton winds me up with how he comes across he says some encouraging things. It's clear to me that Ashton undermined Cook but now he's got his appointment in place and one which has no management experience they seem to have a sensible relationship with McKenna having total control over footballing matter (Ashton was keen to highlight).

McKenna comes across very well but I'll only believe we're on the right track when we have a sustained promotion campaign....we've been burnt far too many times for me to feel too optimistic

 

Ptc, we are on the right track, cheer up! Things have improved dramatically on & off the field. We are enjoying our matches again, and so our all those amazing fans, I mean almost 7000 travelled to the last game, insane support! Wish I could be amongst them.

 

I know, I know but we were saying the same things under Lambert and Cook and whilst McKenna has done brilliantly as a Rookie manager coming in so far, there is still lots of room for improvement and I do think the constant rotation of forward players has been one of them, I think he's overthinking it.

The 4-0 Gillingham win was probably the most complete performance I've seen from a Town team in nearly 20 years..the passing and movement, players awareness of space and those around them was superb but he changed that team after the next result and has rotated since. I haven't seen anyway near that level of performance since, the results have been good but there are weaknesses still there and alot of them are similar to when we hit a decent bit of form under Cook.

The good thing is because McKenna is Ashtons appointment I got the feeling from the interview there is that mutual respect and one won't go out of the way to undermine the other....for the time being anyway

 

I agree we are all wondering what his next forward combo will be! I would like to see Bonne & Norwood again, now we have Morsy back, but forget the Pig.

 

It was a good listen. The mature level of discussion on his decisions must make a lot of teams jealous. Not a single cliche yet. I think Ashton has done brilliantly to get him and I’m sure he’ll manage big European level sides here or abroad at some point. I get the feeling Man U would be happy to see him do well with us for a few years..,

I don’t see him as all that inexperienced. He’s been coaching since he was 24 and clearly had a big role to play in training and developing players at Man U so I don’t think it’s a big step up in many ways. He discussed the extra responsibilities but none of them are to do with the core duty of training and player development.

the way he’s got this dysfunctional side that was a car crash under cook ticking is frankly remarkable in such a short space of time. Woolfenden is thriving again, we have two key ways to beat the opposition’s high press and a method of using evans or carrol to best effect. We’re able to keep possession far better (2nd only to Rotherham) and don’t concede anything like we used to. I see a team on the pitch in control and aware of what to do during a match as the drama unfolds and tactics ebb and flow. Cook couldn’t do that. KM can do it spades and he’s pitched it just right for the skill set at his disposal. I think there’s a lot more to come.

 

I see what you're saying Bucky, I'm just not there yet in terms of being totally convinced, again alot of that is due to 15 years of failure and too many false dawns and I'm going to play devil's advocate here so:

- being a well respected coach at Man United doesn't mean you'll be a success as a manager, there's lots of coaches with far bigger reputations than McKenna who have been failures as managers
- Arguably given the talent Man United have had over the past few seasons they have not looked particularly well coached on the pitch and we are led to believe McKenna played a huge part in this
- Apart from the Gillingham 4-0 game I haven't seen a huge difference between alot of Cook's performances in comparison to McKenna, we kept possession, haven't looked 100% balanced in a few areas, many of the strengths and weaknesses are similar with the exception of the defence who have been very good of late, although the midfield have still looked vulnerable defensively its just we now have 3 CBs to get them out of trouble. My feeling also is I think we would have seen some of these more consistent performances anyway whilst all the new players really bedded in. Obviously McKenna looks more flexible tactically and his in game subs have looked better but in some ways we've gone from a rigid 4231 to chopping and changing the forward line too much. Whilst some of the matches we've had the majority of possession we certainly haven't been in control and the amount of times I've thought if we were against a better team we would've been punished for that poor piece of play.

I get the excited as he's saying the right things and there has been improvements I just need to see the proof in the pudding but we also need to have the patience with the fact we have a Rookie manager who is learning as he goes

 

I would hardly call Paul Cook’s efforts a car crash. He took over a decaying team and reversed our trajectory by signing plenty of very good footballers. Let’s not forget all that during a change of ownership and a pandemic.

 

Cook left us mid table with a bunch of as you say ‘very good footballers’. I think that’s more or less where PL finished with the old guard. I can’t see that’s good enough and it was completely inconsistent in performance and results wise.

ITFC makes an interesting point about Man U and them looking poorly coached. I’d be reluctant to pin that in KM. I’m not here to blow smoke up his ass bit I know a well organised team when I see one and we have been since he took over. Man U have underperformed and looked poor since Sir Alex left. They’ve had a string of coaches inc some big time Charlie’s and they’ve all left in relative failure so I’d think there’s more to it than purely coaching.

 

I was a fan of Cook but probably the most disappointing aspect of it was the end of last season, it was bloody awful but i still feel if he had the backing and was given time I think he could've achieved something here especially once the squad is a bit more settled. Its pretty clear to me that Ashton likes to appoint young up and coming managers, which is great as we are a club with a rich (and successful) history of giving young managers a chance however part of me feels there are also other reasons why Ashton does this because young inexperienced managers won't challenge him as much and we've seen with the staff he appoints they're all 'his' team. But if its successful here who cares ...for the time being anyway.

We certainly look more organised defensively but we did start to under Cook anyway and from some of the matches I've seen under McKenna the midfield certainly doesn't look more organised defensively, some games I've seen they've been all over the place which was similar to Cook before Morsey came into the team but the difference is this time we have a consistently selected defence who've now played a number of games together plus an extra CB sweeping up.

I'm not trying to dispell the outstanding start McKenna has had especially for a Rookie manager but I haven't seen enough yet for me to know with an amount of certainty that he will be a success here or climb the ladder to be a successful manager for Man United. If every performance was like that 4-0 win against Gillingham I'd be saying something different or even 70% of that performance but they haven't been and whilst it's good we're finding ways to win there have still been glaring weaknesses in the team which often have been caused by McKenna tending to try to be too clever tactically, especially from the start of games although to his credit I've been impressed generally so far with his subs

 

The proof will be in the pudding, and we can all eat humble pie!

I know that I am just enjoying being a rather elderly Town fan again, and one day will make the big effort to get back to PR and its hallowed turf, and cheer my head off!

 

I’d bet on Sheffield Wednesday to be top six at least. We were above them just five weeks ago so proof that it’s very much achievable.

 

It is looking unlikely after the last two draws. I think we all appreciated just how far off the pace we were when we sacked Cook. I don’t think expecting play offs this season under McKenna was a serious ambition, as he’d have to average around two points a game, which is typically automatic promotion form. However, he has this team playing well and results under him have generally been really positive. He’s definitely surprised me with the impact he’s made.

We desperately need others above us to slip up. Hopefully Sunderland’s erratic form continues, as they’re the most vulnerable of the top six so far. Fingers crossed Oxford also continue losing a few games. The big threats around us are Plymouth (three points above us, two games in hand) and Portsmouth (two points below us, two games in hand).

 

Having recovered from a serious accident, I cant let my mind dwell on false hopes and expectations! So, agree Nuggets, I think we all believe it is now unlikely that we will make the leap and bridge the gap this time. Equally, we are all delighted to see the real transformation the Club has gone thru.

Much improved defense, some exciting play, but clean sheets & no goals dont win matches!

I have every confidence in KM to sort the attack out, one way or the other.

 

I still think we might do it, we've averaged exactly 2 points a match in McKennas time in charge which should be good enough to see us over the line. I'll maintain that I think we'll have something to play for on the last day of the season.

The standard of opposition is increasing over the next few fixtures but it is squeaky bum time where the teams at the bottom suddenly start picking up a few points and the teams at the top feel the pressure. Plus with the strikers we have I'd like to think that at least one will find form soon

 

You're probably looking at 7 teams fighting for 3 places (top 2 look done and dusted, with MK looking pretty good for a top 6), with us currently being in the worst position out of all of them.
Sheff Wed look to be flying, and have probably peaked at the right time, therefore we need to probably more than the 2 points per game to get in there.
We simply HAVE to win our next two against Fleetwood and Lincoln, which then sets us up for the following three matches against Pompey, Oxford and Plymouth (where we would need to beat Pompey and Oxford at least)
Its a very tough ask,even if we do our bit, i can't see 4 of the teams above us all faltering - but, you never know!

 

It really makes no odds how other teams are doing. That will average out. They can keep up their form and it makes no difference to our target, remember that we need to have title winning form.

Do I fancy us to get what we need to be in sixth place? Not if we fall behind our 2 ppg target at any point, which requires us to win on Saturday and keep it going against the stronger sides.

 

I think it kinda does matter how the teams above us are doing. If 3 or 4 of them continue picking up wins, then it could be irrelevant what we do.
If we carry on with 2 ppg, that will give us 75 points - in my opinion, this will not be enough.
Oxford will need 13 points from 10 games, Wednesday 14 points from 12 games, Sunderland 16 from 11 games (and thats not bringing in Pompey and Plymouth who both have 2 games in hand on us)
I think we need to be looking closer to the 80 point mark, just for top 6 - therefore 2.5 ppg will be what we require i think (i.e win 3 lose 1)

 

How we missed the chances we had last 2 games, I will never know! Crying over spilt milk and all that. 6 pts would have us right up there.

 

There has been nothing extraordinary about the points totals to date, so why would you expect it to be so much higher than previous seasons?

 

It def matters how other teams are doing. We’re trying to climb up and overtake teams above us. If they keep winning we can win every game and we’ll still finish below them. It’s how league tables work.

lowest points ever for 6th was 69. Average is74.5 and everything suggests this year it’ll be above that so I think there’s obvious data to indicate it’s a high one this season. 79+. Literally the only person I’ve heard dismisd this proposition is Hampy…