NEXT SEASON

[Rjk]

Re: NEXT SEASON

I await Mick's close season preparation with anticipation , and have a good feel about it .

I await it with trepidation. For all that has been good about McCarthy's reign (and there are definitely positives) the one big question mark remains over transfer market activity. When he joined we tried to sign 3 players and managed to get one of them. The three were Jonny Williams, Cameron Jerome and Jordan Rhodes.

[Rjk]

Re: NEXT SEASON

I see that the ‘love in’ with Fulham is already starting again and they haven't even arrived in the Championship yet. I just don't get it. They are patently not good enough for the Premier League. In their last two ‘attempts’ their record is worse than ours was in 2018/2019. Their scoring and goals conceded record this year is abysmal (again)- 25 goals scored in 33 games so far. If they were half as good as people make out on here, they would be at least in for Champions League qualification. All this on the back of spending fortunes in the transfer market each year. They were lucky to go up last season as well and achieved it on the back of some of the worst general cheating, diving and screaming that I have seen, far worse than Swansea this season. Their manager is obviously out of his depth in the Prem as well. If our squad is ‘lower mid table quality’ how on earth did we manage to get into play offs last season and finish around 8th or 9th this season.

We scraped into the playoffs last time with a very good run, then this time many of our key players are a season older. 8th or 9th this year isn't a big change from last year we could easily have finished 8th or 9th last season.

[dml1954]

Re: NEXT SEASON

We scraped into the playoffs last time with a very good run, then this time many of our key players are a season older. 8th or 9th this year isn't a big change from last year we could easily have finished 8th or 9th last season.

Don't disagree with you but at worst we are an upper mid table team.

[surge]

Re: NEXT SEASON

Don't disagree with you but at worst we are an upper mid table team.

How much does league placing matter if you're not promoted and not relegated compared to building for future? If we assume that Huddersfield are slightly ahead of us in changing style of play, and accept the assumption that greater capability on the ball is needed to survive in premier league, then us being an upper mid table team over past two years and them just about staying in the league has less meaning. Of course, being more attractive to Sky cameras and season ticket buyers is important and last years league position does influence.

Regarding any new signing/contract extensions, they should be assessed on: i) can they help secure results in championship and help bring young players through? ii) are they going to help us get promoted in 2022-2023? and iii) are they players who can help us stay in premier league in 2023-2024 and beyond?

Cameron Jerome on 6 months deal fits us much better than a Jordan Rhodes on 2 year deal even if neither is a young, exciting prospect.