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a1canary

So, two games in, have you changed your expectations?

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From the early glimpses of the Championship so far, i''m wondering if promotion is realistic. It''s definitely possible - winning the title is possible. But that''s just it, nearly every team can rightly believe they could win it.

This works for us and against us - it means yes we have a chance, but so does nearly everyone else. It''s totally wrong to say about yesterday "oh, it''s only Scunthrope, we should be beating them anyway" Rubbish we SHOULD be beating them. As Hull, Burnley, Blackpool have shown, no team has ANY right to say they SHOULD beat these teams. Most of our fans definitely would have said we should be beating those three before they got in the Premiership.

So yes, we just about beat Scunny, but we have to do that 30 odd times up against some very good teams and many other teams who we will say we should beat but who will be out for themeslves to do a Blackpool. This league is a lottery and whether or not we go up seems to me to be down to whether or not we''ve got a winning ticket. And i don''t play the lottery!

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I''m watching two of the Championship "giants" on Sky right now, and frankly neither of them worry me. I think we are more than equal to the standard currently on display.Obviously I think a lot will depend on our luck with injuries and suspensions, but I think we have enough quality to do well.

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[quote user="a1canary"]From the early glimpses of the Championship so far, i''m wondering if promotion is realistic. It''s definitely possible - winning the title is possible. But that''s just it, nearly every team can rightly believe they could win it.

This works for us and against us - it means yes we have a chance, but so does nearly everyone else. It''s totally wrong to say about yesterday "oh, it''s only Scunthrope, we should be beating them anyway" Rubbish we SHOULD be beating them. As Hull, Burnley, Blackpool have shown, no team has ANY right to say they SHOULD beat these teams. Most of our fans definitely would have said we should be beating those three before they got in the Premiership.

So yes, we just about beat Scunny, but we have to do that 30 odd times up against some very good teams and many other teams who we will say we should beat but who will be out for themeslves to do a Blackpool. This league is a lottery and whether or not we go up seems to me to be down to whether or not we''ve got a winning ticket. And i don''t play the lottery![/quote]

My expectations since the close season signings have been a mid table finish, but better with an injection of pace.

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My expectation was to win more games than we loose. I haven''t changed this and still believe it''s possible.

Davo

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Before the new signings by PL this summer, i.e. at the end of last season, most people concluded that even promotion would not guarantee us anything but a low table finish, but probably avoiding relegation.

The arrival of the new signings, giving us a larger effective squad, and increased skills in certain areas if the newcomers play according to reputation, surely means a top half finish.

Games played have not changed my expectation that, given normal good fortune and injuries, etc., we would seem to be a top half team. We are a good attacking unit but mistakes within the defence could make us struggle. Even at Scunthorpe the clean sheet should not conceal the fact that we came near to conceding when our opponents had two good chances early on and another at the death.

I feel that we would really have to have luck on our side to get into the play-offs. In fact, I suspect that the club does not expect anything better, but believes that with a young side maturing and one or two judicious additions next summer, we could mount a serious challenge for promotion in 2011-12.

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I''m going to put the Watford match down to a false start ,as a) Holt didn''t start and b) Lambert got the balance wrongin midfield - which I believe was adressed yesterday.

2 games in the only conclusion that can be drawn so far is that we''re better than Scunthorpe, we''re going to need 3 or 4 more games yet to have a good idea on where we stand in this league.

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---My only pre-season belief/expectation (as opposed to hope) was that we

wouldn''t get relegated and nothing - so far - has changed that. But that

apart I didn''t have a clue, and still don''t. There are so many

imponderables, to do with our club and all the others. Will we stay

relatively injury-free? Will Lambert stay as manager? Will we get some

investment (in addition to surreptitious piggy-bank raiding by Smith and

Jones of the kind that probably funded our summer spending)?

Will Sheffield United do better or worse for having sacked Blackwell?

Will the change of ownership (which is all it is so far) at Leicester

produce game-changing investment or not? Will Keane stay at Ipswich and

if so would that be good or bad? Aaaaargghhhhh...[*-)]

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[quote user="canary cherub "]

[quote user="Yorkshire Canary"]No We are 10th after 2 games will be quite happy with that at the end of the season[/quote]

Ditto

 

[/quote]Aren''t we ''12th'', or do my eyes decieve me?

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In this league we''re still looking too vulnerable at the back for my liking.

Russell Martin has no real competition and i would at least like to see if Whitbread or Askou in place of Nelson makes us more solid. Nelse has a place in the squad and will run through brick walls for us but i''m not convinced he is first choice. Trouble is, Lambert rightly likes a settled back four and the longer Whitbread is out the more likely it is he''ll stick with the current 4. Quite a dilemma there i think.

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[quote user="a1canary"]In this league we''re still looking too vulnerable at the back for my liking.

Russell Martin has no real competition and i would at least like to see if Whitbread or Askou in place of Nelson makes us more solid. Nelse has a place in the squad and will run through brick walls for us but i''m not convinced he is first choice. Trouble is, Lambert rightly likes a settled back four and the longer Whitbread is out the more likely it is he''ll stick with the current 4. Quite a dilemma there i think.[/quote]Nelson, Ruddy and Ward all looked a little more comfortable with each other yesterday, it takes time to get used to each other, and in the case of Ward, get properly up to match fitness. I think they will improve with game minutes together.

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[quote user="John"][quote user="canary cherub "]

[quote user="Yorkshire Canary"]No We are 10th after 2 games will be quite happy with that at the end of the season[/quote]

Ditto

 

[/quote]Aren''t we ''12th'', or do my eyes decieve me?[/quote]There are three teams absolutely equal on points, goal difference and goals scored, but we are placed third of them purely alphabetically. It''s rampant alphabeticism![:@]

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No change in expectations - the team is making good progress at gelling after a fairly heavy overhaul to the squad in the summer, I do feel progress will be made and performances in 6 games time or so will be a much better indicator of how the following 30 something games wil go

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Aslong as we''re not in any danger of relegation i''m happy. From what i''ve seen I think we have enough to finish mid table.

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No, still expecting upper mid-table, say 9th or 10th. Still think we will score (and concede) lots of goals, despite my prediction of a 3-3 draw yesterday being just a little bit out...

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I''d say about 13th or around that has always been a fairly realistic target.  I''m not going to change my mind drastically on the strength of two league games.

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It''s interesting how many people are saying they''re expecting a mid table finish. I wonder if there won''t still be disappointment among fans if we actually do finish 12th or so.

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One thing that really fills me with confidence which hasn`t been mentioned much is the subs bench- McNamee, Hughes, Smith, Jackson, Askou and Fox are all very good players who`d walk into several other Champs sides imo.  If it wasn`t for the iffy defence and our slightly lightweight look at times, i`d be confident of a play-off place.  I just hope we`re in with a shout of grabbing one towards the end of the season to give a bit of excitement- and i think there`s a good chance we will be.

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Not really!

 

What I''ve worked out is that playing Crofts at the bottom of the diamond is a must cause the central defenders were so  much protected than they were against Watford!

 

Without Holt up front we''ll struggle!

 

Messrs Nelson and Ward will be OK against slow players but anyone with real pace and they could struggle!

 

We''re capable of doing well if everything falls into place regarding injuries!

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My expectations remain the same, to stay comfortably away from relegation.

My opinion of our strengths and weaknesses have already been seen in the two games to date I feel.

On the negative side, the side lacks pace, especially at the back. Other teams will no doubt look to exploit that.

Strength-wise, I think we have plenty of goals in the team. I think we have strikers who will score goals and enough quality in midfield to create goals.

Overall I think we are good enough to safely avoid relegation providing everybody stays relatively fit and healthy.

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