Relegation struggle next season??....load of rubbish

[Duffman 0]

There are 2 good reasons why we CAN succeed in the Championship next season.

1. Blackpool

2. Leicester

These 2 have been excellent this season and find themselves fighting for a top 6 finish with 2 games to go.

I thought I would take a look at their players and see how they compare to our current best 11.

Blackpool team that won on Saturday

Matthew Gilks

Stephen Crainey

Ian Evatt

Alex Baptiste

Seamus Coleman

David Vaughan

Keith Southern

Charlie Adam

Brett Ormerod

Gary Taylor-Fletcher

Dudley Campbell

Leicester team that won on Saturday

Chris Weale

Michael Morrison

Wayne Brown

Bruno Berner

Jack Hobbs

Andy Kig

Richie Wellens

Jay Spearing

(on loan from Livpool )

Steve Howard

Martyn Waghorn

Paul Gallagher

Our normal starting 11

Forster

Martin

Nelson

Doherty

Drury

Russell

Smith

Lappin

Hoolahan

Holt

Martin

Now compare those squads and I think you will see there really isnt a huge gap in quality (especially when you take into consideration Askou and Whitbread can''t get into the team)

So, looking at those squads, are we really that far behind Blackpool and Leicester??

[Yorkshire Canary 118]

With Lambert in charge i agree. The current squad would imo be bottom half though. having said that it only takes 2 or 3 good signings to make all the difference

[First Wizard 0]

I know I''m in the minority, but we can make the top two again..........Premier bound...........bookmark that!

[Fiery Zac 1,041]

Looking at whos coming down, i think its going to be an open season next year with a few surprises at the top. With Lambert in charge we could be one of those surprises

[nutty nigel 5,545]

This season reminds me of the play-off season in 2002. The new spirit amongst the fans, the large away following including a new generation of younger fans is great to see. It happened that way in 2002 and we went on together to just miss out on the play-offs the following season before being promoted the season after. Without big investment momentum is our best chance of success.

Back to the prem in two years? Stranger things have happened.

 

[UEA Canary 0]

our squad is only 3-4 new quality additions from being very competitive in the championship. i have total faith lambert will get the right players in, and believe if we get off to a decent start the play offs are a realistic aim, as has been mentioned blackpool, forest, swansea have all been in league 1 only a couple of seasons ago and are now up there so im full of optimism next season and would love us to be in the play off mix this time next year!

[Legend Iwan 30]

The Championship will be wide open next season I feel. From the teams that look likely to come down from the prem, burnley have a good Championship squad but Laws in charge and Portsmouth are going to be a complete unknown after this summer, Hull have a huge amount of debt so if they come down I would expect a fire sale to go on.

I agree with Nutty that momentum (footballs new favourite word) will make a big difference, if there is a lot of belief in the team then who knows we could certainly be pushing in the top 6. [Y]

[Syteanric 1]

lets not run before we can walk,

will we have a raw and relatively untried goalkeeper next season laying in Rudd?

Is Russell Martin good enough when he has barely looked it this season?

Will Holty cut the mustard, i think he will.. But what about Chrissy Martin who has looked out of his depth at that Level, Oli Jonhson and Cody mac?

i''ll settle for a respectable 14th place.

[Duffman 0]

The point I was trying to make (which you appear to have missed) is if you had no knowledge of Blackpool and Leicester''s league position would you look at those teams and think they are any better, man for man, then what we currently have ??

It''s all about the managers ability to get so called average players to play as a great competitive team.

[Ivana_rubyatitz 6]

A quality manager + momentum from being used to winning + 5 quality new faces to improve the squad = potentially a side that ought to be up there in the top half [:)]

[UEA Canary 0]

so chris martin cant cut it in the championship because he didnt over 2 years ago?! jesus give a guy a chance to show how hes improved, do u write off all youngsters at an early age and expect there to be no progression?

[Jacko 0]

[quote user="UEA Canary"]so chris martin cant cut it in the championship because he didnt over 2 years ago?! jesus give a guy a chance to show how hes improved, do u write off all youngsters at an early age and expect there to be no progression?[/quote]

I agree. Also who said the guy cant cut it. The bloke started with one hell of a bang in the championship and got in the England under 19 side I recall. Didnt he get something like 4 in 4 when he started. He effectively kept us afloat when Earnie got injured. Unfortunately under Roeder and Grant things meandered a bit because he wasn''t getting first team games as the likes of Cureton, Evans and Dublin were ahead of him in the pecking order.

[WeAreYellows49 0]

I''m still enjoying this season far too much to worry about next season [<:o)]

[Canary_on_the Trent 0]

[quote user="jas the barclay king"]But what about Chrissy Martin who has looked out of his depth at that Level, Oli Jonhson and Cody mac?

[/quote]A little harsh to say he won''t make it now because as an 18/19year old he struggled, from what I remember he certainly looked good enough but went backwards for a while in a very poor side.

[InLambertWeTrust! 0]

[quote user="First Wizard"]I know I''m in the minority, but we can make the top two again..........Premier bound...........bookmark that![/quote]

I just LOVE your confidence Wiz.

Oh and fyi this post has been book marked for future reference ;)

[Official Joe 0]

Whilst I really want to think we could make the play offs, in reality I can''t see it. Yes we have that winning feeling but that could be gone within in a few games.

I am no pessimist but without a few good quality signings lower/mid table for me would be realistic.

[ron obvious 1,298]

[quote user="Duffman"]The point I was trying to make (which you appear to have missed) is if you had no knowledge of Blackpool and Leicester''s league position would you look at those teams and think they are any better, man for man, then what we currently have ??

It''s all about the managers ability to get so called average players to play as a great competitive team.[/quote]I seem to remember discussing the relative effects of manager, players, finance, the Board etc. with NN on a thread some time ago, & came to the conclusion the manager was by far the biggest factor - largely based on St. Brian of Clough''s record.I wasn''t sure about Lambert''s abilities - I said he looked angry & ambitious - but he''s proving to be a good motivator & man manager, with a good mix of humility & passion. Early days, but he''s looking the Real Deal ...

[paul moy 235]

[quote user="ron obvious"][quote user="Duffman"]The point I was trying to make (which you appear to have missed) is if you had no knowledge of Blackpool and Leicester''s league position would you look at those teams and think they are any better, man for man, then what we currently have ?? It''s all about the managers ability to get so called average players to play as a great competitive team.[/quote]

I seem to remember discussing the relative effects of manager, players, finance, the Board etc. with NN on a thread some time ago, & came to the conclusion the manager was by far the biggest factor - largely based on St. Brian of Clough''s record.
I wasn''t sure about Lambert''s abilities - I said he looked angry & ambitious - but he''s proving to be a good motivator & man manager, with a good mix of humility & passion. Early days, but he''s looking the Real Deal ...

[/quote]

I agree with you that the manager is the biggest factor (Martin O''Neill being another example), and thus we will IMO punch above our weight in the Championship next season. I''m going for a conservative play-off place, but wouldn''t be too surprised if we challenged higher... as long as Lambert stays. I''ll be getting my bet on as soon as I pick up my rather hefty winnings for this season. [:D] 

[singing canary 0]

agreed, and look at how much Ipswich spent on new players ...

I would put money on it Lambert knows who he wants for a while now ,and no reason why we cant do well with most of the players we have now .

[singing canary 0]

wonder what odds you would get on promotion next year now..?

[Andy Larkin 14]

[quote user="Good Touch For A Big Man"]

[quote user="UEA Canary"]so chris martin cant cut it in the championship because he didnt over 2 years ago?! jesus give a guy a chance to show how hes improved, do u write off all youngsters at an early age and expect there to be no progression?[/quote]

I agree. Also who said the guy cant cut it. The bloke started with one hell of a bang in the championship and got in the England under 19 side I recall. Didnt he get something like 4 in 4 when he started. He effectively kept us afloat when Earnie got injured. Unfortunately under Roeder and Grant things meandered a bit because he wasn''t getting first team games as the likes of Cureton, Evans and Dublin were ahead of him in the pecking order.

[/quote]Big nail hit with a f**king hooooyowwwwwwwwwj hammer!

[Superflash 0]

Excellent examples with Blackpool and Leicester, but it''s way, WAY too early to be making these kind of assumptions.

Don''t get me wrong, I''m as optimistic and as hopeful as the majority of you. But I think we need to accept the possibilty that it won''t be all that hunky dorey for us next season. We shouldn''t be getting our hopes up so much. We were relegated to the third tier for a reason after all.

For instance, prior to this season I was banging out about how we''d walk the division and easily return to the Championship. We then got SPANKED on the opening day. Luckily, it''s worked out tremendously since then. But even so, it''s made me incredibly cautious before I predict anything like that again.

It all depends on who we get in the summer. But I can tell you for a fact that we''ll need to strengthen. Lambert again has done a tremendous job in terms of this and with a shoestring budget to boot, but he''ll need to do it again at Championship level and that''s easier said than done.

Again, apologies for my slight negativity. I just don''t think we want to get too ahead of ourselves. Truth be told, I''d settle for a comfortable mid-table finish next season as we get our finances in order before we think about Premier League football.

[woody11 0]

i think we should have a realistic target and not bother about top six yet, if we have a good season we should be around top ten. but staying up would be the first thing on Lamberts mind before anything else and take anything else as a big bonus. it wouldn''t surprise me if Lambert will want a little run in one of the cups to make the profile of the club bigger now and show how much it has improved over the past 3 seasons. but set your sights low and anything else we do in the season will be a bonus

[grantroederdisaster 0]

The Championship minus Newcastle, West Brom and another decent team out of the play offs won''t be that wonderful, particularly since the clubs coming down from the Premiership won''t be that great either!

 

And Yes if the likes of Blackpool and Doncaster can do well in the Championship then so can we!

 

Our squad just needs 4 Championship quality players coming in to replace some of the fringe players and with Lamberts ability to get the best out of players then I think we can seriously have a good go at getting in a top 6 place!