14 Jul 2019 09:10:37
Fulham will be the team to beat next year . Always tricky after a relegation but they look strong . Have kept the core of the team that won promotion despite some poor buys last Summer . Those buys whilst poor in the prem may find their feet in the Champ . Mitrovic is a beast and is good for 25 to 30 goals in the champ . Cavaliero from Wolves a terrific acquisition and they still have Tom Cairney . Apparently buying Besic for £5 m also . Will probably lose Sessegnon however . Hopefully Scot Parker's inexperience will hold them back . If we can get in the Pontus replacement and hold on to KP and Roofe, hopefully getting in a new keeper and some more creativity in midfield, we will challenge them for automatic . I would also love a more prolific striker than what we have but it ain't going to happen .
14 Jul 2019 11:27:30
Think the division is a bit stronger this season. All teams that have come down are used to the championship and know how to get out of it. Hull and Stoke will have learned from last season and we still have Brom, Middlesborough, Derby who were all challenging and teams like Preston who are slowly progressing. Looking forward to it but do not expect it to be a two horse race. We are capable of finishing in top two if luck is with us but so are about ten other teams. I do know its going to be another rollercoaster season and reckon it will be tight until the end. Onwards and upwards. MOT.
14 Jul 2019 11:55:21
I think all of the potential top teams have question marks against due to player and or manager changes. Difficult to predict. Honestly think it’s about us, preventing more departures or replacing them with better players, dealing with Pontus going and working out the best team and bench from the two teams currently playing. No doubt Bielsa is a talent and I’m really looking forward to see how he plays it. Key players for me, Harrison, Clarke and Costa, all got a lot to prove this year for different reasons. At there best they can create and score whilst taking the pressure of papa Hernandez! If those three have stonking years we will be up there.
14 Jul 2019 12:26:10
Agree Spanish Harrison and Costa will have a big part to play as too will White. Hopefully Ayling and Douglas steer clear of any serious injuries this season and hit the form they showed two years ago. On paper it looks a good first team if some one starts putting ball int back of net. Sadly the written word does not always translate to the stage, cue BW, but i reckon we will be in top 6 all season.
14 Jul 2019 12:33:41
Think all the relegated sides will be up there this year . Don’t fancy Derby without their loanees from last year, Brom ( two top scorers gone ) or Stoke . Preston, Hull also nah . Think Brizzle and the buzzy bees will be in the play off mix .
14 Jul 2019 12:38:39
Nice to see some positive posts this morning, where are the others, still sleeping in the pit of doom?
14 Jul 2019 12:28:03
Hate to say it but unless we add to the current group we will struggle for automatic. Our frailties from last season still remain. I hope reports are wrong that we will only bring players in if others move on. Time will tell.
14 Jul 2019 13:08:49
Notts in complete agreement if anything I think at the moment we are weaker than we were last season.
14 Jul 2019 16:17:09
Phew that’s better, normal service resumed!
14 Jul 2019 17:23:18
Spanishleeds, there you go again, just because someone opinion is not the same as yours, pit of doom really, please just except that others have there opinions and lever the digs out. Stick to your day job reporting.
14 Jul 2019 18:20:50
Whoa i kind of like the sound of the pit of doom, got to be better than the hot tub of hope with a group of old men in speedos.
14 Jul 2019 19:40:07
Only my opinion Spanish but I feel I should explain. The only difference to our supposed starting 11 is Costa, who is a good signing but puts pressure on him to perform. Warnock (don't like the fella) summed us up last season when he said we are weak (physically) , this has not changed and was demonstrated last season against the more physical teams. The squad size was an issue last season as we ran out of players and steam, lack of rotation cost us. There may be a greater influx from the U23s but there is no guarantee Bielsa will use them. Let's not forget Bielsa's limited use of Shackleton last season.
Last season we suffered from injuries, some will say we were unlucky, I would say in part we were however we have players who prior to Bielsa coming were injury prone, Roofe, Cooper, Hernandez, Forshaw, Ayling, Berardi and Roberts (injured again) are the players this squad will need to rely on but have never given us a full season. In addition, Hernandez is another year older and Jansson has been sold. My final point is that we lack height with only Bamford (I believe) over 6ft in height leaves us at greater risk to set plays.
14 Jul 2019 20:12:48
Biesla
How very dare you
We are 'mature' not old
And Speedos are definitely not allowed. Mankinis or nowt
Anyway, back to Notts
I take issue with your statement that we are weaker this season.
Correct me if I am wrong but so far we have sold/ released
Clarke
Jansson
O'Connor
Diaz
Correct me also if I am wrong, but we have re-signed Clarke.
Also, Jannsson didn't improve our defensive statistics over his replacements Beradi, Halme and Ayling and it is being reported he wasnt a team player
Then we have signed Costa, who seems to have universal agreement as being too good for this division
And we have re-signed Harrison, who many observers are reporting is looking better than last year
On top of this we have Shackleton with James under his belt now.
So, can you explain how we are worse than last year?
14 Jul 2019 20:58:59
I'm with you axe, may I remind some of those who feel we are weaker. (Looking at you wex) , that last season at this stage you had us down for a relegation fight or at least lower half of the league.
I think we look OK, and I reckon we will bring in another loan or 2 yet too.
Yes, we all have an opinion, and I for one respect that, but I don't need to respect those opinions do I!
MOT.
14 Jul 2019 21:14:47
think to be honest truth is we are the same as last year
we are stronger in attack with costa who is class. we are weaker in defence without PJ
still think we are too weak in the middle and soft touch to go up but i think we will play good football.
its not about weaker or stronger it is have we addressed last years issues. i don't think we have
white looks good the replacement for cooper yes the answer to our defensive problems. no
and as always we are slow and weak in middle of the park.
14 Jul 2019 21:28:13
Shutt, I respect your opinion I won’t insult you for having then it’s the way you see, but don’t insult others because they see it completely different, that’s the point my friend, we should respect each other or is that to little to ask some on here. Simple.
14 Jul 2019 21:21:30
I will correct you Axe as I never stated we are weaker than last season, I stated that the frailties of last season have not been addressed.
14 Jul 2019 23:17:30
Whiteman, it’s a banter site! It’s banter! I think the negative nellies in here can have ago at those of us who always see the world through Yorkshire issued blue tinted glasses. As bermo quite rightly says, if you don’t want to be offended don’t read my posts! I think I’ve taken my fair share of personal criticism and I didn't see you jumping to my defence. But it’s a banter site feel free!
15 Jul 2019 06:26:59
Spanishleeds I have agreed with many things that you have posted, even said that your the poster of the year, so I don’t see you can say that my friend, banter is one thing, if the our away fans give it some to Banban it’s criticism of bad taste, so there is no difference on this site, as I said there is no negative post only opinions on how we see it, I don’t have any blue tinted glasses but maybe I will by some to see if I can she’s what you see, I believe that we are in for a rough season, but please don’t say that’s negative. Just my opinion.
15 Jul 2019 06:50:21
Whiteman, what do you mean when you say “rough season†and why do you feel we will have one?
15 Jul 2019 07:09:32
Notts, fair explanation. Although we were all crushed by the end of the season, we have to remember that overall and in comparison with our recent history, we did actually have a good season. The only game in which we weren’t in contention for promotion, was the play off final! So it’s not going to be easy to beat that this year or any year. If we don’t go up this year because are players are too short and lacking in aggression, that will be clearly Bielsa, Orta and Radzs fault and we probably will start next year with all three of them a memory!
I think we have the ability to be stronger this year, Clarke and Harrison this year plus Costa should be better than Clarke, Harrison and Brown. Harrison has seemingly come back stronger, so perhaps that was something he was told to work on.
All of the under 23s will be closer to first team action and I’d like to see more of Pascal because he is 6ft 2 and aggressive in how he plays.
Finally The players have been holding secret training sessions piloting the new Nike platform football boot! No one can say Bielsa is never looking for that extra inch or 5!
15 Jul 2019 07:43:31
Notts
Cheers mucka
I agree with you about frailties. I read your post wrong, sorry.
15 Jul 2019 10:18:04
Spanishleeds Just not impressed with the out goings or the incoming, think teams will know how MB will set out this season, can’t see Bambam doing anything, other then fill a place, still you may be right and I may be wrong.
15 Jul 2019 10:46:04
whiteman, I think this season will be a big test of Bielsa, but I think he’s up for it. Costa, an exciting addition for me, potential to make a big difference, Harrison 2 a very clever loan for me, looks better this year, I think he will have a good year. Clarke’s departure in his own words was inevitable, I think 9 million plus him back for the year with something to prove ain’t bad. Pontus departure is an interesting one, and the key will be how the others react and the impact it has on morale. Has anyone seen any messages of love from Cooper to Pontus?
Under 23s, more of these can help, so to Shackleton, Leif Davis, Robbie Gotts, you can add, Pascal, Stevens, Mcalmont, Bogusz, And more.
I’ve still got a few question marks about how everything will click together but I’m more positive at the start of this season than I was last year.
Let’s both hope I’m right and your wrong!
15 Jul 2019 12:00:33
Axe - No problem fella,
Spanish - Totally agree that last season was very good and was almost fantastic. I am of the view that Clubs that don't have parachute payments burning a hole in their pocket can still challenge for promotion but have to build a squad over a number of windows. Clubs such as Watford and Leicester have proved this. They identify what their weaknesses are and attempt to rectify them.
So far we have brought in a player (Costa) who will improve the number 10 role with pace and guile, but at the moment this only addresses one of the issues we had last season. I think Bielsa is great, but at times, I think he undervalues the requirement of a solid defence to achieve attacking football. I believe it is possible to have both.
15 Jul 2019 13:33:21
Good post Notts, I guess you have to trust that Bielsa has a view of the issues he needed to resolve and is trying to do that. I agree that he sees defenders as extra attackers. It’s how we play the exciting football by committing people forward in numbers and why they have to be super fit to try and get back. It would probably have worked last year if we had put away more opportunities. Still looks like his answer is to try and create more and better and not worry too much about the defence! I hope Pascal gets a shot at CB this week possibly playing with White. He answers a few of the questions as to height, physicality and can still play with the ball, I’m hoping he has chances to show what he can do and gain experience this year.