Doldrums

There's not much activity on this site recently IMO, I suppose its because we had so much hope at the start of the season and its been washed away with how things have gone. There's 14 games to go and then we can start afresh I think we are going to see major changes hopefully the players that stay and those that are brought in match our expectations and are prepared to get stuck in so we have something to cheer about, I feel that the owners are starting to sort things out and they have shown they are prepared to put their money on the table, we are finally going to get rid of the dead wood, onwards and upwards UTV

The problem is we've been saying how things are going to get sorted out for the better in pre-season, for the last ten or so years now. There's always something going on that gets the fans hopes up that we're finally doing things right, whether it's spending big money on a host of new players, a new manager who's finally going to do well for us, a DOF who's going to help modernise the club, new CEOs who know how to run a club, or ambitious new owners... In fact I'd say pre-seasons for us have been more entertaining, and provided more joy for a while now, than the actual season, just for the hope that they give, when you see what seem like positive changes, but the pattern remains the same, whatever we do, and however hopeful the fans get, when it comes to the football in the actual season we always seem to underachieve, whatever we've done during the summer.

Some deadwood still here next year as Hogan and McCormack are still stealing a living of us!

DOF and Mendes need to show their worth in the summer?

TBAR only ever liens up when there is a takeover in the offing?

Theres not much discussion on here lately either, you could always rely on some cutting edge discussion in the past, have people got fed up and moved on or are they shell shocked?

Saunders82 wrote:Theres not much discussion on here lately either, you could always rely on some cutting edge discussion in the past, have people got fed up and moved on or are they shell shocked?

Just don't know what to say really any more. I've run out of ideas which ironically is what seems to plague our beloved club!

I think we have all arrived at the realisation that the season is as good as over heading into March, unfortunately. That, I think, has obviously taken the wind from our sails.

On a positive note; I think Hause is going to be a solid signing now he is getting up to speed with games under his belt, an upgrade on Taylor at LB and young enough to further improve. We also already have a RB secured for next season. So heading into the summer we have our FB positions sorted, which has to be a positive. We wait to see what happens at CB, I think we’d all love Mings to stay but my feeling is that’s maybe beyond us. But never say never! I am encouraged by the signings made under Dean Smith thus far, I think Kalinic, Hause, & Mings are proving shrewd acquisitions. Hopefully there’ll be many more during the summer that will have equally good effect at the start of next season. Perhaps if we can get Grealish, Carrol, & Tuanzebe back playing by mid March we can finish the season with a bit of a flourish to take some momentum into the summer. Also fingers crossed that Hogan can find some form & fitness during his loan at Sheffield Utd, he’d be an asset if he did.

Dazzle wrote:On a positive note; I think Hause is going to be a solid signing now he is getting up to speed with games under his belt, an upgrade on Taylor at LB and young enough to further improve. We also already have a RB secured for next season. So heading into the summer we have our FB positions sorted, which has to be a positive. We wait to see what happens at CB, I think we’d all love Mings to stay but my feeling is that’s maybe beyond us. But never say never! I am encouraged by the signings made under Dean Smith thus far, I think Kalinic, Hause, & Mings are proving shrewd acquisitions. Hopefully there’ll be many more during the summer that will have equally good effect at the start of next season. Perhaps if we can get Grealish, Carrol, & Tuanzebe back playing by mid March we can finish the season with a bit of a flourish to take some momentum into the summer. Also fingers crossed that Hogan can find some form & fitness during his loan at Sheffield Utd, he’d be an asset if he did.

I'll hold both hands up high and say I was wrong about Hause. It's still early days of course but I should've afforded him more time to settle into the team before emphatically dismissing him. Mings is a trooper, a fantastic addition to the backline and would love to see him and Chester together sooner rather than later as I see Elphick as inferior to both but a reasonable understudy in the meantime.

VTID85 wrote:

Dazzle wrote:On a positive note; I think Hause is going to be a solid signing now he is getting up to speed with games under his belt, an upgrade on Taylor at LB and young enough to further improve. We also already have a RB secured for next season. So heading into the summer we have our FB positions sorted, which has to be a positive. We wait to see what happens at CB, I think we’d all love Mings to stay but my feeling is that’s maybe beyond us. But never say never! I am encouraged by the signings made under Dean Smith thus far, I think Kalinic, Hause, & Mings are proving shrewd acquisitions. Hopefully there’ll be many more during the summer that will have equally good effect at the start of next season. Perhaps if we can get Grealish, Carrol, & Tuanzebe back playing by mid March we can finish the season with a bit of a flourish to take some momentum into the summer. Also fingers crossed that Hogan can find some form & fitness during his loan at Sheffield Utd, he’d be an asset if he did.

I'll hold both hands up high and say I was wrong about Hause. It's still early days of course but I should've afforded him more time to settle into the team before emphatically dismissing him. Mings is a trooper, a fantastic addition to the backline and would love to see him and Chester together sooner rather than later as I see Elphick as inferior to both but a reasonable understudy in the meantime.

I just think it’s positive what we are witnessing with the signings made under Dean Smith. Ok, one or two are loans that we might not be able to get permanently, but they’re looking very decent and better than what was before them. Maybe I’m under-selling us by thinking Mings wouldn’t stay on, he might I suppose. I think we all just want to see a fully fit 11 that Dean Smith wants on the pitch. Let’s get Grealish, Carrol, Lansbury back for starters and see what that can do for us for the remainder of the season. I think Lansbury is definitely a Smith type of midfielder who can play a big part in the team, and Carrol was fairly highly regarded not so long ago and could also be useful with games under his belt. I think we have the option on Carrol to buy, so we’re hoping he slots in well for the games ahead. 12 games left to win as many as possible, if we beat Derby at the weekend I’m sure we’ll all be talking about the possibility of snatching 6th place again..........especially when one looks at the Bristol City fixtures, they might well drop a few results out of those! I suppose we should all try and stay more positive!

The new owners didn't think this season was realistic for promotion and I get the impression we all think we'd not last long in the PL without the core of a team (which we don't currently have) to build around. I was excited by the run of wins when Smith came in but injuries, bad luck and some incredibly unenthusiastic performances from one or two players have really dented any possibility of promotion.

I wonder how badly we were affected by Xia's spending spree. We wasted a lot of money on players who weren't good enough or didn't blend into a team. Have we been missing out on other targets because other clubs want more money than we can now afford? I mean if we can throw £12million (or whatever) at McCormack or Hogan we can pay them great big chunks of money for their players too.

Either way I think we're much better off than with Bruce and I reckon in a few years time we'll be able to see how well the new owners have done at making the academy work properly.