So, it's clear that our team is in a bit of a rough patch right now. We did not beat the teams in our mini league and we're 99.9% certain to be relegated unless we witness a miracle of biblical proportions. Now, don't get me wrong - I'm a big fan of Steve Cooper, but I can't help but wonder if we missed an opportunity to bring in someone like Dyche to help us get out of this predicament.
To make matters worse, it seems like we're not playing the right kind of football to get something from away matches. When Dougie Freeman was our manager, we might not have been able to score a lot of goals, but we were organized and tough to break down. If we had played like that in our away matches, we could have at least picked up a point here and there.
Looking ahead to next season, I have to say that I'm not feeling too confident. We just don't seem to have the same core of team that with a slight tweaking here were able to blitz the Championship in '93/'94 and '97/'98. We need to establish some kind of structure or formation if we want to be successful.
Now, I will say that yesterday's match gave me a glimmer of hope. We looked okay in the first half and that's something to build on. But we need to do more than just look okay - we need to start winning matches if we want to climb our way back up the league.
At the end of the day, it's hard to know what the future holds. Football is a crazy sport and anything can happen. But one thing is for sure - we need to stay positive and support our team through thick and thin. Who knows - maybe they'll surprise us all this & next season and prove us wrong!
Next Season 2023/2024
posted on 9/4/23
Dougie got the boot due to a owner & fans with unrealistic expectations of what the squad was capable of achieving. Probably the same now!
All of us expected too much from the new recruits, we all underestimated the challenge. The recruitment team who had a good idea about a yo-yo future were sacked off by the Greeks, so we're all responsible for the current mess.
I exclude Wood Shelvey & Lingard from the above they're Greek panic buys.
posted on 9/4/23
Lingard was a misjudgement not a panic buy, but still a waste of space.
Cooper is playing the owners buys, that is why Surridge isn't getting a sniff.
posted on 9/4/23
Lingard was the ‘marquee’ signing that enticed the likes of MGW. He was supposedly our statement signing, unfortunately it hasn’t worked too well.
I agree we are almost certain to be relegated, but having said that, there are other very poor terms, and maybe 3 worse than us, 4 if Everton get deducted points.
I think we’d have a very decent nucleus of a team to go straight back up, yes we’ll need a keeper, and ideally a centre forward who can score goals, but defence and midfield i think will be ok.
We’d probably lose Johnson, MGW and hopefully Shelvey, we wouldn’t have to sign Wood. That would help balance the books.
This season has been a fantastic experience, and i wouldn’t swap it for anything, however, i much prefer the honesty of the Championship. It will be disappointing to be relegated, but we’ll soon get over it, if it happens.
IMO the most important part of our jigsaw is still Steve Cooper, don’t forget he’s still learning too.
I am at times amazed by some of his substitutions, but generally i am 100% behind him, wherever we end up.
posted on 9/4/23
Original Red, I’ve used paragraphs especially for you.
Hope it helps.
posted on 9/4/23
Haha! Thanks Reddave
posted on 10/4/23
comment by reddave (U8660)
posted 1 day, 5 hours ago
Lingard was the ‘marquee’ signing that enticed the likes of MGW. He was supposedly our statement signing, unfortunately it hasn’t worked too well.
I agree we are almost certain to be relegated, but having said that, there are other very poor terms, and maybe 3 worse than us, 4 if Everton get deducted points.
I think we’d have a very decent nucleus of a team to go straight back up, yes we’ll need a keeper, and ideally a centre forward who can score goals, but defence and midfield i think will be ok.
We’d probably lose Johnson, MGW and hopefully Shelvey, we wouldn’t have to sign Wood. That would help balance the books.
This season has been a fantastic experience, and i wouldn’t swap it for anything, however, i much prefer the honesty of the Championship. It will be disappointing to be relegated, but we’ll soon get over it, if it happens.
IMO the most important part of our jigsaw is still Steve Cooper, don’t forget he’s still learning too.
I am at times amazed by some of his substitutions, but generally i am 100% behind him, wherever we end up.
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Think we have already signed Wood