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We can only guess as to whether Bunn had lined up any new faces for the January transfer window 🤔

 

The new man in will have to move fast and I hope that whoever comes in has the right connections - we need two or three. Possibly more if Surridge and Miller leave.

Stott back from Stockport anybody?

Edited by TheBigDog
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11 hours ago, League one forever said:

No, the spaces make it easier for me to read what I’ve written. 😁

 

Fair enough, you don’t rate Bunn. 

 

But your convienantly not answering the main point. What should the expectation of any manager be this season- given that it’s common knowledge we have a reduced budget? 

 

Did you/do you expect promotion on a reduced budget? 

 

 

 

 

The reduced budget is a fact of footballing life when you get relegated but any club that is relegated should consider themselves at least a playoff candidate.

We lost our loan players from last season and all the disruptive elements.

I had an expectation of promotion which was tempered because of Bunn's lack of managerial expertise which rapidly became evident as the season progressed.

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Just now, astottie said:

Ta. Just looked at Crusoes list. Lyden also. Any idea when the expiry date is for half season loans? If we lose those 2 we are down to the bare bones.

Not sure if you know this little known secret, so I'll whisper it...…..WE CAN BRING IN OTHER LOAN PLAYERS!!!

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12 minutes ago, mikejh45 said:

Not sure if you know this little known secret, so I'll whisper it...…..WE CAN BRING IN OTHER LOAN PLAYERS!!!

Wow. Thanks for making that clear. 

Which if we lose them we would need to. I'd rather keep 2 players who are reasonably settled and playing fairly well. Also as we have no manager currently I don't know who would be bringing new players in, if anyone.

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22 minutes ago, mikejh45 said:

The reduced budget is a fact of footballing life when you get relegated but any club that is relegated should consider themselves at least a playoff candidate.

We lost our loan players from last season and all the disruptive elements.

I had an expectation of promotion which was tempered because of Bunn's lack of managerial expertise which rapidly became evident as the season progressed.

There are enough examples of clubs that have gone straight through league one and two, Chesterfield most recently, to have tempered anyone's expectations. 

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On expectations...

 

My fear, as we hurtled down the table..., was we’d be another Chesterfield. 

 

My expectation, given the performance of the majority of relegates clubs in L2, was play-off contention.

 

I accept budget talk and impact etc. 

 

But how how would you assess the quality of teams we have faced.....?

 

And with the players we have, should we be doing better?

 

They say the table never lies. But should be closer to the play-offs for me. 

 

We’ve got the players. We appointed a manager who evidently needed to learn with regards substitutions (still appeared to be a weakness there) and tactics (although it seems our good run was based on the manager being bullied into playing two up top...!).

 

Patience must have run out, after a near-miss with the FA Cup late show. Our league position could be, or could have been, key to attracting good loan signings?

 

We desperately need a good run early this year; otherwise, if we lose at Fulham, a dangerous ‘season over’ mentality could take over. I assume AL is desperate for us to stay in the play-off picture to avoid attendances spiralling off. 

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2 hours ago, astottie said:

Wow. Thanks for making that clear. 

Which if we lose them we would need to. I'd rather keep 2 players who are reasonably settled and playing fairly well. Also as we have no manager currently I don't know who would be bringing new players in, if anyone.

So you are back to not trusting AL to bring in a couple of players from abroad. 

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5 minutes ago, Dave_Og said:

The league table, even at this level, has a remarkably close correlation with home attendances. There are a couple of big outliers, notably Notts County,  ut all in all it's not a bad guide. We are 13th....

ITS GOT NOTHING TO DO WITH THINGS LIKE ATTENDANCE MONEY AND BUDGETS DAVE. OUR SQUAD SHOULD BE TOP OF THE LEAGUE. . . . 

 

Ive had to put like it that, as it seems people have to use block capitals to make a point. 

 

 

SO I THOUGHT ID GIVE IT A GO. 

Edited by League one forever
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6 minutes ago, League one forever said:

ITS GOT NOTHING TO DO WITH THINGS LIKE ATTENDANCE MONEY AND BUDGETS DAVE. OUR SQUAD SHOULD BE TOP OF THE LEAGUE. . . . 

 

Ive had to put like it that, as it seems people have to use block capitals to make a point. 

 

 

SO I THOUGHT ID GIVE IT A GO. 

 

 

WELL WORTH A TRY

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30 minutes ago, singe said:

How we are doing v other teams by position is still quite telling, the odd result aside.

DvvouynWsAAqpc8.jpg

 

Well, we've lost one against the teams in the top 6 (only won one mind you) and the Exeter and Carlisle games were aberrations, so not bad.

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2 hours ago, IceStationLatic said:

On expectations...

 

My fear, as we hurtled down the table..., was we’d be another Chesterfield. 

 

My expectation, given the performance of the majority of relegates clubs in L2, was play-off contention.

 

I accept budget talk and impact etc. 

 

But how how would you assess the quality of teams we have faced.....?

 

And with the players we have, should we be doing better?

 

They say the table never lies. But should be closer to the play-offs for me. 

 

We’ve got the players. We appointed a manager who evidently needed to learn with regards substitutions (still appeared to be a weakness there) and tactics (although it seems our good run was based on the manager being bullied into playing two up top...!).

 

Patience must have run out, after a near-miss with the FA Cup late show. Our league position could be, or could have been, key to attracting good loan signings?

 

We desperately need a good run early this year; otherwise, if we lose at Fulham, a dangerous ‘season over’ mentality could take over. I assume AL is desperate for us to stay in the play-off picture to avoid attendances spiralling off. 

 

Just to fact-check this assertion...

 

2017-18

Coventry - 6th (P)

Swindon - 9th

Port Vale - 20th

Chesterfield - 24th (R)

 

2016-17

Doncaster - 3rd (P)

Blackpool - 7th (P)

Colchester - 8th

Crewe - 17th

 

2015-16

Leyton Orient - 8th

Notts County - 17th

Yeovil - 19th

Crawley - 20th

 

2014-15

Shrewsbury - 2nd (P)

Stevenage - 6th

Carlisle - 20th

Tranmere - 24th (R)

 

2013-14

Scunthorpe - 2nd (P)

Bury - 12th

Portsmouth - 13th

Hartlepool - 19th

 

 

So over the last five seasons,  only 6/20 (30%) of relegated teams reached either the playoffs or were automatically promoted in their first season. 9/20 (45%) finished 17th or lower...

 

How many points closer to the playoffs do you think we should be?

 

My view, for what it's worth, is that we're about where we should be. On average attendances, we're 13th, and by all accounts we cut our wage bill fairly sharply over the summer. We tend to beat teams below us in the league, and not beat teams above us. At the start of the season, some pundits were tipping us for relegation (FourFourTwo had us 24th; Guardian as relegation candidates) - largely because of our off-the-field issues - whilst others thought we'd fare slightly better.

 

We're a mid-table team, with mid-table players, mid-table attendances, and up until Boxing Day a steady if unspectacular manager. That's not to say we shouldn't aim higher than that, but to "expect" us to be further up the league than we are seems a little ill-founded.

 

 

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