Heaven,Hell...or somewhere in between?

[Beauseant 0]

I''ve read with great interest the views of other posters.Clearly there is a wide spectrum,and who''s to say who''ll be proven right.For what its worth,here are my thoughts as we go into the season proper:

1.Regardless of who did what to who, the Cullum "deal" is old news for the present,so we must put it to one side and move one.

2.Again,regardless of the reasons, GR''s squad is still not finalised and we can expect three more signings,one of whom will the long awaited target man.In addition,Bell has yet to play.

3.Point 2 means that we will not be able to make a rational judgement on the quality of the squad for a couple of months.However,all the new players seen so far have shown signs of quality,particularly Hoolahan and Clingan (I suggest that its no coincidence that they have been here longest).The new players have a right to expect our support as they settle,rather than some of the knee jerk judgements that have appeared on this forum.I was at the game yesterday,and while Kennedy looked rusty and made a couple of big errors,he also showed  a lot of good signs.Players aren''t machines.They can''t just switch on and play as if they''ve been together forever.

4.Preseason results count for nothing.

5.Inevitably,because of all the above,we are likely to start slowly,but the season lasts 42 games.Look at last year.In November we were dead and buried,yet by February we could realistically consider the playoffs,so a mediocre start won''t be the end of the world.I''m as impatient for success as the rest of you,but we have to give GR, and what is virtually a new team, time and support.

6.Other Championship clubs are still finalizing their squads ( Bristol City and the binners being two examples),so our situation is hardly unique.The difference with us is that because of GR''s radical surgery we have more new faces to integrate than most.However,I genuinely believe that we are headed in the right direction.

I will now don my tin helmet and await the inevitable brickbats!Thank you for your time.

[Tony Harrison 0]

Strangely rational. Agree with all your points. Think GR is gonna be our saviour - especially when he gets over his "matt patty is a great utility player" fixation.

[scrimmage 0]

I totally agree with everything you said. Great post and the most sensible I''ve read on here for a while. I truthfully and possibly rather optimistically believe we are in for a good season ahead. A slow start is inevitable with the squad needing games together to "gel", but after the bedding in period, we have the quality to push into the top half of the table.

[NCFC_Thain 0]

Good post and I agree but the season lasts for 46 games.

[SWP = Poor Mans Ruel Fox!! 0]

You wont be getting any brickbats from me, a very sensible post, we certainly cannot be expecting immediate results after the amount of changes have been made to the squad. 

However I am sure some of the usual suspects will appear soon enough, although without any reasonable arguments of their own!!

[TheCardinal 0]

You can always tell a sensible post as the ding bats of this forum steer as clear from it as possible. A very rational post that''s totally correct [Y]

[Giovani Dos Santos 0]

Best post Iv read on here in ages.. and this is proved by the fact all the crazy whingers are refraining from replying!

I agree with all your points and in particular about giving this squad time.

I believe already the squad looks stronger than it was last year.. We have 2 players for every position, excluding striker, and some of the new signings are real quality.

Hoolahan - looks like the midfield playmaker/passer we have needed for ages

Clingan - looks industrious, hardworking but also with quality

Lupoli - you don''t play for Arsenal and Fiorentina without being half decent

Kennedy - Scottish international and Celtic first teamer before injury tells all about his quality

Stefanovic - experienced campaigner who shackell should benfit from playing with as well playing for pompey for several years in the premiership

Bertrand - widely praised, several premiership teams wanted him

Bell - goalscoring, creative midfielder... just cos he didnt cos 1 million or above doesnt mean hes rubbish