Expectations this season

[Mello Yello 2,281]

As to where the club stands at the moment? I currently see it at a crumbling crossroads with a small sink-hole appearing in its centre......I personally, cannot see us making a ''hit the ground running'' start to the forthcoming season........I don''t mind admitting feeling slightly negative and concerned as towards the latter end of last season in the Premiership, we actually went out with a wobbling whimper.....

The curious departure of the previous Chairman and the appointment of his successor - coupled with the arrival of (in my personal view) a ''naïve new Director.'' Didn''t (and still doesn''t) actually instil me with the hope and confidence, that things would like Phoenix, arise from the ashes.......

The previous CEO and his confusing weekend ''Will he? Has he? Yes, he actually has, resignation really flummoxed me.....Just what was actually going on at the club - and especially at Club board level?

Inevitability due to our unfortunate relegation, the foreseeable sale and departures of our '' alleged better players'' was on the cards.....One''s official, and a few ''others'' are rumoured to also be exiting Norfolk in the not so distant future....Gary Holt''s also gone. I really hope that his replacement is a more experienced football person......

My Expectations at this moment in time? I see us fluctuating around 8th to 12th in what I feel is a competitive Championship League. If between now and the onset of the season we manage to pull a few rabbits out of the hat - and these rabbits have lucky feet? Well, my expectations will hopefully see us flirting around the play-offs at least......Now, just the matter of the appointment of a new CEO......but, I don''t really want to ''Labour'' on about that......

[A Load of Squit 5,134]

Great. #oneforthedickensfans

[Indy 3,283]

I expect that we will see a new manager by December as everytime relegated we''ve replaced the manager by December!

I hope to be pushing the top 6 but can''t say we will be, there are lots of clubs who are bigger and better off than us in this division.

I''d be happy with top 6.

[TIL 1010 4,722]

[quote user="Duncan Edwards"][quote user="TIL 1010"]Play offs at the very least.[/quote]

With no money, no coach and no Chief Exec? Really?[/quote]There will be a new coach and CEO and the money we have will be achieved by selling before we buy. Mind you if we don''t appoint a new coach or CEO i expect some will be satisfied with that especially as i was reading somewhere that we are a club in transition and consolidation for a few years is the best way forward.

[Highland Canary 76]

New investment as the only way of competing even in the chumps. Failing that gradual decline with a top half finish this year followed by a steep decline into a prolonged slump.

[morty 0]

[quote user="Highland Canary"]New investment as the only way of competing even in the chumps. Failing that gradual decline with a top half finish this year followed by a steep decline into a prolonged slump.[/quote]How on earth did we manage to get promoted last time then?

[morty 0]

And the time before....

[BroadstairsR 2,138]

Agreed.

Consolidation is not on. We must strike whilst the iron is hot and still have the likes of Howson, Klose, Tettey, Olsson and Naismith on the books.

After two seasons the parachutes run out and we will run at a loss unless we go up.

Consolidation doesn''t happen when losing money, decline does along with just a glimmer of hope that enough youngsters come through in order to spark a revival of sorts and we strike lucky in the loan market.

It''s a quicksand that we need to extricate ourselves from post haste.

[93vintage 16]

I''m confident we''ll survive.

[Lessingham Canary 99]

Keep expectations to a minimum at this stage, then can''t be too disappointed as team will overachieve.

Have to believe we are good enough for a top 6 place, but to predict anymore until window is closed is nigh on impossible imo.

[lake district canary 4,531]

I''m optimistic and expect us to do well.  We will still have a strong team and a strong bench, even without Brady.  Newcastle will probably be the team to beat, but we should be able to compete and be in the top six.  If AN can harness the use of the younger players and get some of them involved, we could see something quite exciting develop.

[Hoola Han Solo 448]

Everybody''s focus will be on Newcastle and they''ll be the team everybody wants to beat. Either they''ll thrive on the pressure or they won''t. Same with Villa. With less attention on us we could slip under the radar a bit and this could work in our favour. Despite what other ''fans'' might think, we''re the best equipped and experienced at this level compared to Villa and Newcastle. Confident we''ll have a good season nod excited to see what new players we bring in. Alex Neil favours a short, attacking style of football, which he ditched after the Newcastle game, so if we get it right we could be a really exciting side to watch this season.

[Duncan Edwards 2,222]

[quote user="TIL 1010"][quote user="Duncan Edwards"][quote user="TIL 1010"]Play offs at the very least.[/quote]

With no money, no coach and no Chief Exec? Really?[/quote]There will be a new coach and CEO and the money we have will be achieved by selling before we buy. Mind you if we don''t appoint a new coach or CEO i expect some will be satisfied with that especially as i was reading somewhere that we are a club in transition and consolidation for a few years is the best way forward.[/quote]

It is confusing isn''t it?

Last season we were too tight, obsessed with being debt free rather than a Premier League club and refused to take a risk with our budget.

Now it seems that we weren''t obsessed with being debt free, we did gamble in January and now we have to sell to buy.

By the same token, lots of people felt that last seasons relegation was unnecessary, yet with (currently) a very similar squad, I don''t see too many confident of automatic promotion.

You''d think if we "should have stayed up" that we''d be expected to go up.

However, you yourself have been told that we''re skint. We''ve already offloaded our most dangerous player to balance the books, we lost out to Bristol City for Gary O''Neil, the loan players have gone back, we are without a CE, our first team coach quit after one day back at training and we''ve been turned down by small local companies for shirt sponsorship.

Yet you mock when I suggest we''re in transition? If all that is true - some of which undeniably is - it seems like we''re most definitely in transition.

Given that we''re skint having spent 80% of the last 5 seasons in the Premier League, things are unlikely to improve without external investment. With that in mind, consolidation would surely be the best we could hope for? Especially with, you know, Delia refusing to sell and the board lying to the fans about potential investors?

Play offs indeed.

[lake district canary 4,531]

[quote user="Duncan Edwards"][quote user="TIL 1010"][quote user="Duncan Edwards"][quote user="TIL 1010"]Play offs at the very least.[/quote]

With no money, no coach and no Chief Exec? Really?[/quote]There will be a new coach and CEO and the money we have will be achieved by selling before we buy. Mind you if we don''t appoint a new coach or CEO i expect some will be satisfied with that especially as i was reading somewhere that we are a club in transition and consolidation for a few years is the best way forward.[/quote]

It is confusing isn''t it?

Last season we were too tight, obsessed with being debt free rather than a Premier League club and refused to take a risk with our budget.

Now it seems that we weren''t obsessed with being debt free, we did gamble in January and now we have to sell to buy.

By the same token, lots of people felt that last seasons relegation was unnecessary, yet with (currently) a very similar squad, I don''t see too many confident of automatic promotion.

You''d think if we "should have stayed up" that we''d be expected to go up.

However, you yourself have been told that we''re skint. We''ve already offloaded our most dangerous player to balance the books, we lost out to Bristol City for Gary O''Neil, the loan players have gone back, we are without a CE, our first team coach quit after one day back at training and we''ve been turned down by small local companies for shirt sponsorship.

Yet you mock when I suggest we''re in transition? If all that is true - some of which undeniably is - it seems like we''re most definitely in transition.

Given that we''re skint having spent 80% of the last 5 seasons in the Premier League, things are unlikely to improve without external investment. With that in mind, consolidation would surely be the best we could hope for? Especially with, you know, Delia refusing to sell and the board lying to the fans about potential investors?

Play offs indeed.[/quote]

Change happens, it''s how you deal with the change that matters and whatever changes are going on within the club, speculative or otherwise, all that really matters is a determination to succeed.   That, above everything is what will get us in the play offs, or higher......

[Mr Jenkins 0]

lake district canary wrote the following post at 30/06/2016 9:23 PM:

I''m optimistic and expect us to do well. We will still have a strong team and a strong bench, even without Brady. Newcastle will probably be the team to beat, but we should be able to compete and be in the top six. If AN can harness the use of the younger players and get some of them involved, we could see something quite exciting develop.

👍

[93vintage 16]

[quote user="Duncan Edwards"]We''ve already offloaded our most dangerous player to balance the books, we lost out to Bristol City for Gary O''Neil, the loan players have gone back, we are without a CE, our first team coach quit after one day back at training and we''ve been turned down by small local companies for shirt sponsorship.

Yet you mock when I suggest we''re in transition? If all that is true - some of which undeniably is - it seems like we''re most definitely in transition.

Given that we''re skint having spent 80% of the last 5 seasons in the Premier League, things are unlikely to improve without external investment. With that in mind, consolidation would surely be the best we could hope for? Especially with, you know, Delia refusing to sell and the board lying to the fans about potential investors?

Play offs indeed.[/quote]Saying we''re unlikely to improve without external investment implies that we''ve been firing on all cylinders. On the contrary, I think we''ve got huge room for improvement in our present situation, precisely because the club has been run so badly in the recent past.Of course, whether those in charge are capable of changing, and getting the club to operate more efficiently is another matter. It doesn''t bode well that the recent incumbents to the board apparently have little relevant experience.

[Duncan Edwards 2,222]

I was talking financially. Or are you suggesting that the reason we''re skint is because of mismanagement?

[sgncfc 1,223]

Everyone think Newcastle are a shoe in but it isn''t that easy. Them, us and Villa will all be top 6. Other than that impossible to say yet.

[GJP 79]

Newcastle will be top 2.

Us and Villa might be in the top 6.

But I wouldn''t be surprised if we are the lowest of the 3 relegated clubs.

[93vintage 16]

[quote user="Duncan Edwards"]I was talking financially. Or are you suggesting that the reason we''re skint is because of mismanagement?[/quote]I see what you''re saying, but I''m not seeing things like transfer budget as being entirely dependent on size of club.Skint because of mismanagement? In a way. If we''d have been run better in the past few seasons then we''d have more money in general over time, so spending the same as we did last season would mean we''d have more money for this season.It''s not just transfers where we''ve gone wrong, it''s things like staff retention and general organisation, the sort of stuff that often gets discussed on here. Get those things right and we could achieve a fair bit more, financially and on the field.

[nutty nigel 7,509]

You''re like a breath of fresh air 93v buddy. Most people see the answers in getting rid of people. You''re one of the first posters I''ve seen suggest the solution is keeping people.

[93vintage 16]

I think keeping Alex Neil will be vital, even if we have a disappointing season. I can''t see the sense in people wanting him gone if we''re not in the top six by December, before a ball is even kicked.

[Lord Horn (again) 130]

I expect to get a decent pre-match pint in The Jubilee as always. Beyond that I have no pre-conceptions of what the season may hold (apart from the guaranteed 6 points against the Scum of course).

[Essjayess 307]

Seems like Wolves are the latest club who are on the verge of a massive billionaire takeover, so the number of  Champs clubs with very rich owners even in this division is ever getting larger. Makes life harder for us and our cousins down the road each season, we have punched above our weight much more than them in the last few years, but reality is that just because we have acheived promotion to the Prem  more than once in recent history, does not mean it gets any easier. Of course in future years nobody really knows what effect Brexit may have on the financial side of English football, so its interesting times.All things considered, and looking at our squad  at July 1st, a mid table position to me feels more probable than anything else.

[norfolkngood 1,086]

I think keeping Alex Neil will be vital, even if we have a disappointing season. I can''t see the sense in people wanting him gone if we''re not in the top six by December, before a ball is even kicked.

my thought on this is why not change the manager

lets face it he was fantastic when he first came in

then last season he failed in keeping us up ditched the tactics that brought him rave reviews chopped changed and looked lost

stuck with players that needed dropping and dropped some players after one mistake

his transfers were not good only klose was really what we needed at the time

our strikers didnt score or have many chances

now people will say players not good enough

well why didnt the manger and his coaches set it up that they played as a unit ?

we have many teams over the years and Euros this year where through passion ,tactics , desire have achieved far more than they should have take Iceland / leicester sunderland when they looked died last season

simple fact is AN did not get the best out of the players last season like he dd in his first 6 months

and if that continues he has to go

we can not afford the best players

so the manger has to have a system that works to get the Very best out of the team

the coaches need to improve players and install a style that suits the players

so if AN fails or looks like failing this year he must go and quickly

we must be known as a club that we do not reward failure

[nutty nigel 7,509]

I thought that lot down the road already had that investment?

[morty 0]

[quote user="nutty nigel"]I thought that lot down the road already had that investment?[/quote]And they still didn''t get promoted?A puzzler indeed.