Midsblue Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 That's how I view this next season - I don't mean the owners jumping ship but Sheridan at the helm. Next season has got to be the first season since the QPR Play-Off defeat that we have the strongest chance to go up. I personally think that we exploited the transfer market brilliantly by bringing in established quality or emerging quality without breaking the bank. From what I understand we haven't been held to ransom and have actually signed players on our terms as opposed to stretching ourselves to satsify the demands of players or their agents. Where we've paid a fee, you can safely see this as an investment - O'Grady this season, Davies last. Our squad is the healthiest too in respect of versatility, experience, pace, flair and creativity. This league will be wide open egarding promotion and Play-Off probabilities. Even the likes of Leicester and Leeds aren't guaranteed because they've shown weaknesses last season and I personally feel that the 22 players that form the nucleus of the playing squad are more than a match for the more favoured. With all this in mind the pressure has been cranked up to maximum for Sheridan and rightfully so. I did question whether Sheridan was able to be a successful manager for us after last season but I've begun to changed my mind over him. The acquisitions he's made this summer have been promising and I can see us being creative in the midfield, pace on the flanks and strength and speed around the box. I'm seriously excited for this season and I'm confident that Sheridan can break the hoodoo of us remaining is this league for eternity. So, my thoughts are Promotion as opposed to Bust. What do you guys and gals think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ritchie82 Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 If we don't go up then he should (will) be sacked, I doubt he would even argue against that. He has spent a lot this close season and TTA have backed him far more than I thought they would. Unless something horific happens then he will have no excuses for failure. I think we have a chance but with Leeds and Leicester in our league we may have to go through the play offs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghostofcecere Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 That's how I view this next season - I don't mean the owners jumping ship but Sheridan at the helm. Next season has got to be the first season since the QPR Play-Off defeat that we have the strongest chance to go up. I personally think that we exploited the transfer market brilliantly by bringing in established quality or emerging quality without breaking the bank. From what I understand we haven't been held to ransom and have actually signed players on our terms as opposed to stretching ourselves to satsify the demands of players or their agents. Where we've paid a fee, you can safely see this as an investment - O'Grady this season, Davies last. Our squad is the healthiest too in respect of versatility, experience, pace, flair and creativity. This league will be wide open egarding promotion and Play-Off probabilities. Even the likes of Leicester and Leeds aren't guaranteed because they've shown weaknesses last season and I personally feel that the 22 players that form the nucleus of the playing squad are more than a match for the more favoured. With all this in mind the pressure has been cranked up to maximum for Sheridan and rightfully so. I did question whether Sheridan was able to be a successful manager for us after last season but I've begun to changed my mind over him. The acquisitions he's made this summer have been promising and I can see us being creative in the midfield, pace on the flanks and strength and speed around the box. I'm seriously excited for this season and I'm confident that Sheridan can break the hoodoo of us remaining is this league for eternity. So, my thoughts are Promotion as opposed to Bust. What do you guys and gals think? I think we are defo top 10 or could possibly get the play offs, but to be genuine contenders I think we need a quality left footed left back and left winger. I feel that when you ask any player to 'fill in' it harms the team and upsets the balance. It easy to defend against a player who you know will always cut inside. We knew we needed it last summer, and up to this point we still haven't signed anyone yet, it should have been the number one priority to me. If we fill these key positions, or at the very least the left back one, then we could be in for a great season. It certianly won't be bust in any event, there are surely 4 worse teams than us in this division. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ritchie82 Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 I think we are defo top 10 or could possibly get the play offs, but to be genuine contenders I think we need a quality left footed left back and left winger. I feel that when you ask any player to 'fill in' it harms the team and upsets the balance. It easy to defend against a player who you know will always cut inside. We knew we needed it last summer, and up to this point we still haven't signed anyone yet, it should have been the number one priority to me. If we fill these key positions, or at the very least the left back one, then we could be in for a great season. It certianly won't be bust in any event, there are surely 4 worse teams than us in this division. We have signed more than enough centre mids and forwards, its down to Shez if we don't have cover on the left come the Millwall game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GlossopLatic Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 That's how I view this next season - I don't mean the owners jumping ship but Sheridan at the helm. Next season has got to be the first season since the QPR Play-Off defeat that we have the strongest chance to go up. I personally think that we exploited the transfer market brilliantly by bringing in established quality or emerging quality without breaking the bank. From what I understand we haven't been held to ransom and have actually signed players on our terms as opposed to stretching ourselves to satsify the demands of players or their agents. Where we've paid a fee, you can safely see this as an investment - O'Grady this season, Davies last. Our squad is the healthiest too in respect of versatility, experience, pace, flair and creativity. This league will be wide open egarding promotion and Play-Off probabilities. Even the likes of Leicester and Leeds aren't guaranteed because they've shown weaknesses last season and I personally feel that the 22 players that form the nucleus of the playing squad are more than a match for the more favoured. With all this in mind the pressure has been cranked up to maximum for Sheridan and rightfully so. I did question whether Sheridan was able to be a successful manager for us after last season but I've begun to changed my mind over him. The acquisitions he's made this summer have been promising and I can see us being creative in the midfield, pace on the flanks and strength and speed around the box. I'm seriously excited for this season and I'm confident that Sheridan can break the hoodoo of us remaining is this league for eternity. So, my thoughts are Promotion as opposed to Bust. What do you guys and gals think? I don't know about promotion or bust but certainly top 6 that is a realistic expectation Leicester and Leeds will have bigger budgets than ourselves so I won't say top 2 and the play offs are a lottery we are one bad refereeing decision, wicked deflection, bad injury at the wrong moment from losing those games. That said it really depends how the season pans out and the football we play and how things develop over the course of the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wozz_oafc Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 If we don't go up then he should (will) be sacked, I doubt he would even argue against that. He has spent a lot this close season and TTA have backed him far more than I thought they would. Unless something horific happens then he will have no excuses for failure. I think we have a chance but with Leeds and Leicester in our league we may have to go through the play offs. Cant agree with if we dont go up he should or will be sacked at all, if we fail to make even a play off challenge then yes, but the league is wide open again, a lot of teams will be expecting a good season. With Shez at the helm and Tony Philliskirk continuing to bring on the youth we have a good set up which is helping us to continue to survive, they have shown they are not scared to play the youngsters if they are good enough. I am sure we are building up a reputation as a good club for good young players to come to and that can only benefit the club as a whole. Dont get me wrong I hate the fact that we have been languishing in this division for god knows how long and I think we have assembled a squad that on paper looks like it could definitely achieve promotion, but if we give it a good go and just miss out i dont think getting rid of Shez is the way forward. A new man will come in with a new 3 year plan or whatever and we wont achieve promotion again so he will be sacked and this cycle could go on for ever! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3 Lions Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 If we dont go up, he should definitely not be sacked, it's lunacy to even consider it. I dont think its unreasonable to set ourselves a minimum target of the play offs, but that is a crap shoot in itself. We could fail at the semi final stage as we have done every time we've qualified(Personally I think we're jinxed when it comes to the playoffs!). If he goes, then the next man wants 2-3 years to build his own team, it's time we broke out of this vicious circle of changing managers too soon(Although Sharp had to go...Ritchie should have been given the job after Royle left). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy_Fent Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 I think it's too early to judge how good our side actually is right now, I'll make my mind up when we've played a few competetive matches. I remember the 02-03 play-off season we didn't win a pre-season friendly but certainly got off to a stormer that season, I think one of the seasons under Ritchie we did very well in pre-season but couldn't score a goal for the first 4 games Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alec1954 Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 Listening to Five Live the other day, they had a League 1 review and the manager of Carlisle was the informed expert. He mentioned about 10 teams in this league that will be there or thereabouts at the end of the season. He didn't mention us. So, have we hid our light under the bushel, or are we all overoptimistic? At this point we do seem better prepared but I do wonder if we have a team plan at all. Do we have a style of play or is it all made up during the game? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garcon Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 I still think Shez is the man to guide us long term. We SHOULD be competing with the playoff contenders this season, and I certainly won't be calling for his head if we narrowly miss out on promotion after a good campaign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wozz_oafc Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 Listening to Five Live the other day, they had a League 1 review and the manager of Carlisle was the informed expert. He mentioned about 10 teams in this league that will be there or thereabouts at the end of the season. He didn't mention us. So, have we hid our light under the bushel, or are we all overoptimistic? At this point we do seem better prepared but I do wonder if we have a team plan at all. Do we have a style of play or is it all made up during the game? A lot of the time id say this often the case at the start of every season:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy_Fent Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 A lot of the time id say this often the case at the start of every season:) that is true, I dont ever recall a season where we've ever been tipped for promotion by someone from outside the club Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeslover Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 Listening to Five Live the other day, they had a League 1 review and the manager of Carlisle was the informed expert. He mentioned about 10 teams in this league that will be there or thereabouts at the end of the season. He didn't mention us. So, have we hid our light under the bushel, or are we all overoptimistic? At this point we do seem better prepared but I do wonder if we have a team plan at all. Do we have a style of play or is it all made up during the game? If we aren't top 10 material now, then we MASSIVELY overachieved last season! 8th, with rank injuries to numerous key players and blooding kids for half a season. If we can't make top 10 with (fingers crossed) an average season for injuries, those kids a year further on and a crop of signings, at least some of whom will strengthen us, then something is wrong. I'm not going to talk about sackings but I would be very disappointed with 7th place this season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flytrap Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 Everyone gets over optimistic at the start of the season, but based on the (what looks like) improvements to the squad we have now I think top 6 is a good target. Lomax doesn't inspire me with confidence, we have to get a new left back or teams will exploit and punish us in that area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
razza699 Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 I posted something very similiar few week back http://www.owtb.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...p;hl=make+break Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boundaryblue80 Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 That's how I view this next season - I don't mean the owners jumping ship but Sheridan at the helm. Interesting line... Even more interesting is this line... Corney: "If this isn't the year then I don't know when it will be." Seems to me that it really could be the last role of the dice for them. The most stark line I've heard from them! No pressure Shez! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudemedic Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 Listening to Five Live the other day, they had a League 1 review and the manager of Carlisle was the informed expert. He mentioned about 10 teams in this league that will be there or thereabouts at the end of the season. He didn't mention us. So, have we hid our light under the bushel, or are we all overoptimistic? All that shows to me is that the Carlisle manager doesn't know his arse from his elbow. We came 8th last year and that was with some horrible luck with injuries, some bad managerial decisions (letting Ricketts play against us for example) and some late late goals against. The season before we came 6th having led in February and faded as our lack of squad depth showed. This time around we have a better squad and the injuries last year forced us to bed some youngsters who did well and will have helped their development. Being underestimated will work for us and I don't we are being over-optimistic to say the play-offs are a real possibility and automatic promotion is a good shout as well. Let me guess the Carlisle manager mentioned his team as being one to watch yet I'd fancy Latics to out-perform Carlisle in the league (I really think Carlisle will struggle). I've already discussed my views on what the team needs to do for Shez to be sure of having a job next year (in a thread from last week(s))and although promotion isn't a must i think he should consider getting into the play-offs almost a necessity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yard Dog Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 I think it's too early to judge how good our side actually is right now, I'll make my mind up when we've played a few competetive matches. Same here.... Love the promotion talk from some people on here before a ball's even been kicked. Really hope we go up, obviously. But there's some strong sides in this division this year and it won't be easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senor_Coconut Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 Carlisle will do nowhere this season, trust me. They will be the play off team that struggle at the bottom of the league (theres always one) so I don't give a toss what he thinks. Saying that, I don't thik we'll do any better than last season as the same old problems are still there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stitch_KTF Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 Saying that, I don't thik we'll do any better than last season as the same old problems are still there. True, the squad looks thin and the injury list is lengthy to say the least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senor_Coconut Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 You can sign another 100 players, but if they aren't in the positions you need then you still have a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oafcmetty Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 You can sign another 100 players, but if they aren't in the positions you need then you still have a problem. What - you mean 115 midfielders won't take us up?!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edhunteruk Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 True, the squad looks thin and the injury list is lengthy to say the least. lets be honest now here eh....hands up how many said shez gets the benefit of the doubt till christmas(holds hand up) this season is shez's watershed season....he has had fantastic backing from the owners right from the start,and im sure would be the first to admit his first and most of his second season he didnt buy good,with the odd exception.ALLOTT.... we didnt play the kids last season because they were good enough...we didnt have an option,we had to play them as we had the horrific injury list,and didnt have any other option. however this season we have again brought players in,and really none leaving,so we now have depth in squad,but like has been said elsewhere were crying out for a natural left footed defender and midfielder....and like has already been said if come millwall someone is being played out of position it is down to the manager and nobody else...he's asked for players and hes got them,so its his call.... after seeing a couple of reserve games,and the players we have brought in,then i have changed my outlook slightly,and am now prepared to give shez total backing for the complete season,not just until christmas....i think we have a very good mix of youth and experience,and im sure once the season starts we wont be far off what most people would consider a decent team.... if we dont at the very least match last season then its a failure,and as such the coaching team would have to be looked at,regardless of if we all think shez is the man to lead us to victory how much more of an incentive do you need...get promoted get a pay rise,have the total backing of the fans and the probability that paul scholes would sign.....its there for the taking,they just have to beleive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeslover Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 You can sign another 100 players, but if they aren't in the positions you need then you still have a problem. If we had 8 round pegs in square holes then yes, but Lee or Lomax at left back doesn't mean we are doomed. How many teams will have 11 players ideally suited to their spot on opening day? And the cover we have means we will rarely have to use people in their second best position during the season, which is a position very few clubs are in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeylandLatic Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 I actually saw Carlisle play Preston in a friendly last week and I didn't see anything special. Some neat passing, but no real cutting edge apart Dobie down the right who had the beating of the Preston left back for the first 20. They will be about 9th or 10th in my opinion by the end of the season purely on the basis they looked fairly solid. I think regarding us, we need to be looking at 6th place as a minimum if we aren't hit by a mass injury epidemic again. Anything below that would be a failure as we have brought in some real quality but even so a top 10 finish wouldn't be a sackable offence for me. We still have a lot of youngsters who are continually improving. I'm not a fan of chopping and changing manager and I think we should really have some faith in shez unless we have a 'disaster' which would be mid table obscurity with no challenge for the play offs at all. I'm optomistic we can really push for it this season though, there are plenty of goals in this team and to be fair, Gregan, Hazell and Stam are 3 very good centre backs at this level so defensively we should be fairly sound as well. Always have to rely on a bit of luck as well though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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