They fancy them more than us.Quote:
Originally Posted by North Cardiff Blue
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They fancy them more than us.Quote:
Originally Posted by North Cardiff Blue
Aye, no idea who either of them have lost or signed yet?Quote:
Originally Posted by the other bob wilson
20th isn’t too bad for a team who plays 20 minutes a match (max)
I think this thread illustrates the underlying feeling from supporters that last season's 12th finish was definitely not a true reflection on the strength of the squad. I think it's looking stronger, but probably no more that keeping us mid table again, assuming we don't get the luck and good fortune of last season. There are 12 or so teams who I think are significantly better than us -Burnley, Coventry, Hull, Leeds, Luton, 'Boro, Norwich, QPR, Sunderland, Watford, WBA and Sheff. Utd. Also Preston, Stoke, Sheff Wed, Swansea, Blackburn and Bristol City seem to have strengthen their squads. It's going to be another tough one for City !
We're going up as champions
as ******* Champions :ayatollah:Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueArmy 86
I agree it will be tough, but give it a couple of months and if we are doing well, the usual Championship knockers will be saying it's the weakest Championship for years!Quote:
Originally Posted by A Quiet Monkfish
We are 66/1 with Skybet and they have us relegated. 3rd bottom. Only Plymouth and Oxford below us.
That really surprises me. Yes, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that your transfer business is so much better than anyone else’s when it isn’t, but, if we are really signing someone like Robertson then I think our squad looks better than last season’s- I think twelfth flattered us somewhat, but not to the extent that the bookies are suggesting - I feel we should be disappointed if we don’t finish in the top half.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hilts
Out of interest, what do you think we need to finish in the top 6?Quote:
Originally Posted by the other bob wilson
For me if we get the 3 more players in that Bulut alluded to including the box-to-box midfielder and another striker I would think we will have real strength in depth this season to have a real go at it.
Maybe it’s blind optimism or wishful thinking, but everyone I talk to appears to feel more enthusiastic about this new season than they have in the last few years
We've lacked mobility in midfield for years, but, hopefully, something is being done about that and we'll have someone in to try and rectify that before the season starts.Quote:
Originally Posted by olderblue
I've just watched a stream where two Luton fans predict where everyone's going to finish, one of them had us in tenth, which is about as high as I've seen us in these sort of things, solely down to Willock, tbe other one had us in 20th solely down to Horvarth who he doesn't rate at all - he said their promotion was far more down to their defenders than Horvarth. Must admit, I'm not totally convinced by Horvarth and I'm not convinced Alnwick is a top end of the Championship keeper, but I don't see us bringing in anyone in that position.
We also let in far too many goals last season, but we have two new defenders and, if the rumours are to be believed, have someone else coming in to be a starter next week, so, even if we lose MCGuinness, as I suspect we will, we would seem to have strengthened there.
I'm more optimisitc about Kanga than I was at first, but he still doesn't strike me as someone who is going to be prolific. I think much will depend on how much Bulut trusts Isaak Davies and how much more confident Isaak will be after his goals in Belgium last season, but I still feel concerned that there aren't enough goals in our forward players to make us reralistic top six challengers.
Two new defenders?
Chambers and Tsunoda.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman
I think at the moment we have depth but I’m not sure about strength but also a lot of question marks over players. Ramsey and ODowda seem to always pick up an injury, NG has his back problems hang seem to pop up during the season. Chambers hasnt played regularly for 3 years and ElGhazi hasn’t really played for a year, even Willock hasn’t had many minutes pre season I don’t think. Kanga is totally unknown.Quote:
Originally Posted by olderblue
That’s not to say they should be written off, most of them have quality but they will need to be managed well especially in the opening weeks.
To really push on to top 6 I would like to see Romeo, Wintle and Rino moved on but I still think we need a striker, winger, midfielder, left back and another right back.
OK. I hadn’t considered the latter. Isn’t he long term injured? I know nothing about him to be honest.Quote:
Originally Posted by the other bob wilson
Like you, I’m not convinced by Horvarth. I prefer Alnwick based on what we saw from both last season.
They don't rate Hull either 28/1. Portsmouth half our odds at 33.
Careful, you'll be accused of being negative.Quote:
Originally Posted by 2b2bdoo
I agree with what you say. I also think we need to revise our defensive tactics as well. I don't see the situation as pushing on from a top half finish. I see us needing to improve from a crap last 6 months of the season before we even consider finishing 12th again.
These odds have shifted a bit overnight. It's now:Quote:
Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman
11/8 - Oxford
9/4 - Plymouth
7/2 - Cardiff
4/1 - Blackburn
4/1 - Preston
9/2 - Bristol City
9/2 - Derby
9/2 - Millwall
9/2 - Watford
5/1 - Swansea
Have QPR had investment or made a lot of signings.? I'd have them as one of the drop favourites.
The problem we'll have, as touched upon already in this thread, is the new players who've come in are not up to fitness.
If they were all up to speed from the get-go I'd be more confident, but that won't be the case.
Anwar El Ghazi could be a potential game-changer, but we may not see him at full fitness until past the middle of September.
Chris Willock, Calum Chambers, and Wilfried Kanga are all in the same boat regarding fitness, although admittedly to a lesser degree than El Ghazi.
Looking at the first seven fixtures that will take us up to the end of September (Hull City away), it's difficult to see where the points will come from if we don't have our strongest side playing, aside from perhaps Derby County.
If we begin with a midfield of Siopis, Ralls, and Ramsey we'll get overrun. Ralls and Ramsey don't have the legs anymore.
I can also envisage us starting with Ollie Tanner, I'm not saying he's a bad player, but he shouldn't be starting.
We need to stop this playing out from the back, it's suicidal and inviting pressure on ourselves.
Finally, we need to press effectively, it's so frustrating to watch our lackadaisical approach to this aspect of our game.
These last two issues are on Bulut.
I just hope by October we don't find ourselves too far adrift.
Unless there's a change of style then a pressing game won't be seem. Bulutball is a stand off break us down if you can get everyone behind the ball and try and play through us.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rock_Flock_of_Five
Will the players we've brought in improve things from last season?
Me too, but that cost me last season. I did a pre-season bet involving one outcome in each division:Quote:
Originally Posted by Hilts
Sheffield United to be relegated from the Premier League @ 4/6
QPR to be relegated from the Championship @ 5/2
Cheltenham to be relegated from League One @ 5/4
Stockport County to be promoted from League Two @ 11/10
Chesterfield to be promoted from the National League @ 6/5
5 x £5 four-folds and a £5 five-fold.
QPR were rubbish during the first half of the season and in the relegation zone for a long time, but they picked up eventually. By the end of the campaign they'd become one of the form teams. They won five and drew one of their final eight games, which killed my bet. I got £86 back for my £30 stake but it would have been a whole lot more if QPR had behaved themselves.
Chambers could potentially be one of the very best defenders in the division, but he's played very little football in recent seasons.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rock_Flock_of_Five
El Ghazi should be a class act at this level if he can recapture his form and fitness, but he hasn't started a game in over a year and his career seems to have been in decline for a few seasons.
Willock should be more than decent at this level, but he also needs to recapture the form he was showing at QPR a few years ago for that to be the case.
Kanga could be anything.
In my opinion, these signings are among the most interesting the club has made in some time, but there are obviously significant question marks against all of them.
They changed manager from Ainsworth, with a win percentage of 17.9% to Marti Cifuentes 37.5%, I was thinking the same as you both, but they must be assuming he can keep things going and push them up the table a bit.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman
I'm optimistic, I think we will see an improvement this season. I like the signings so far and think they will work, Kanga we probably know the least about but I've just got a feeling he's going to be decent for us. Talk of a new midfielder next week Robertson possibly and as Bob has been saying a centre-half starter. Time will tell if they will come off, but things feel much more positive, and am looking forward to the new season!Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric the Half a Bee