Is this season like 14/15

If we don't go up we could really do with Southampton and Ipswich getting promoted and Leicester getting relegated to leave only 3 teams with parachute payments in the division. All we need then is for Rob Edwards to do his usual and take Wolves straight to League 1 and then that will open up the promotion places for non-parachute teams.
 
The thing is , other than the the strikers , have we really over performed v expectations ? Maybe pre season but It was not long at all into the season that we were generally saying that we had the best defence and midfield in the division and player for player there wasn’t many we would swap …. Brittain best left back , morris ans hackney best midfield pairing in the division , ayling still a class above etc .

I don’t think we have over performed in general .

Maybe pre season start yes but I think a lot of clubs will say that, as you just don’t know how the team will gel but that’s one point in time that we keep going back to …at the start ….but it’s just a time point of comparison .

How about January versus now as a comparison , if we simply looked then I would have said that now we have way underperformed versus then … we can all l pick a time point that we can can say under or over …..

This team should be good enough to challenge for auto and it is . I don’t think our position is telling a lie. Maybe Millwalls is and also you could argue Southampton who should be higher but I think we are about what I would have hoped after the first month or so.
 
Johnnyweetabix said:
The thing is , other than the the strikers , have we really over performed v expectations ? Maybe pre season but It was not long at all into the season that we were generally saying that we had the best defence and midfield in the division and player for player there wasn’t many we would swap …. Brittain best left back , morris ans hackney best midfield pairing in the division , ayling still a class above etc .

I don’t think we have over performed in general .

Maybe pre season start yes but I think a lot of clubs will say that, as you just don’t know how the team will gel but that’s one point in time that we keep going back to …at the start ….but it’s just a time point of comparison .

How about January versus now as a comparison , if we simply looked then I would have said that now we have way underperformed versus then … we can all l pick a time point that we can can say under or over …..

This team should be good enough to challenge for auto and it is . I don’t think our position is telling a lie. Maybe Millwalls is and also you could argue Southampton who should be higher but I think we are about what I would have hoped after the first month or so.
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Not currently, our xPos is 3rd (as is our actual) but for large chunks of the season (when we were 2nd) it was hovering around 5-6th
 
I just don’t share the optimism that next season will be any different.

Regardless of what people say, next season will be very difficult when you look at who’s coming down. Wolves (not sure), Burnley (always find a way) and Spurs or West Ham who will be very well resourced.

Then it depends who goes up this season. If it’s Southampton and Ipswich that’s two less to worry about, but then Wrexham and Birmingham will invest heavily again, Norwich and Sheffield United won’t employ idiots again.

After 14/15 we were able to take what we had and build on those foundations going into next season. We only sold Tomlin of significance, and brought in Kalas, Downing, Nugent and Stuani. We got over the line (just) vs Brighton who were able to do the same thing we had done, take a squad that just missed out and build on it to get promotion the following year.

We won’t be able to do that as easily next season. Our best player has 12 months on his contract and will almost certainly be leaving the club. Browne and Targett’s loan deals come to an end, and we’re left with some good defensive players but an attack that needs a lot of work but several players that just aren’t good enough who we’ll struggle to shift. The manager clearly doesn’t rate several of them.

Will the club invest? Don’t know, but if we didn’t in January when we were in a great position to finally do it then I don’t know why we would in the summer. I suspect it’ll mostly be sell to buy.

I hope these concerns are all for nothing because we somehow turned it round and got Top 2 or we had an incredible weekend in London seeing us get promoted via the play-offs.

But after spending 14 of the last 15 years in the Championship and to watch us consistently toss it away at this late stage in recent seasons, anyone who’s not full of optimism for next season if we don’t up is just being realistic at this point.

Though we’ll still be there, hoping it’ll be different this time.
 
Andy_W said:
Yup. Could look at any match we've not won when we've created 20-30 chances, and come the final whistle the majority of posters are saying "we're *****", "we played *****", "no plan B" and words to that effect.

It's like they're watching a different game, but the funny thing is if we had won the same game (with the same chances either end) then they wouldn't be saying a peep about "being *****", and would probably be waxing lyrical about us playing well or our new league position. Some people just cannot look beyond the results or our table position.

It's the same people whinging about "no plan B" when we don't win, who are also whinging about the quality of our players, and who largely also acknowledge our subs are even worse, it's mad.
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The matchday threads are terrible for this.

Plenty of people only judge us on the result rather than the performance.
 
Johnnyweetabix said:
Based on what ? Hellberg seems like a decent manager but is he so incrementally better than the rest he can get a weaker (on paper) team playing better than the rest who will have way more cash and likely much more premier league strength in depth ?
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Based on the stats we have under hellberg and his ability to have his teams punching, much like this one
 
You don’t have to go back to 14/15, just look at Coventry last season.

They feel like they’ve been slowly building towards the crescendo that was this season, they lost Hamer and Gyokeres a few seasons back but invested wisely in Simms, Wright, Sakamoto, Torp, Mason-Clark, Rudoni, Grimes, Thomas-Asante.

We just don’t seem to have that slow build feeling to me, the recruitment team have demonstrated they can identify young talent that we can develop and sell for a profit, which is great for the club financially, but their squad building leaves a lot to be desired. Every summer feels like another rebuild, not tweaking what we’ve already got.
 
BoroChris said:
You don’t have to go back to 14/15, just look at Coventry last season.

They feel like they’ve been slowly building towards the crescendo that was this season, they lost Hamer and Gyokeres a few seasons back but invested wisely in Simms, Wright, Sakamoto, Torp, Mason-Clark, Rudoni, Grimes, Thomas-Asante.

We just don’t seem to have that slow build feeling to me, the recruitment team have demonstrated they can identify young talent that we can develop and sell for a profit, which is great for the club financially, but their squad building leaves a lot to be desired. Every summer feels like another rebuild, not tweaking what we’ve already got.
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Nobody slow builds, everybody in this league churns squads. It’s whether you improve overall that matters.
Cov have lost successive best players, but have recruited well and Lampard has done very well.

This will be another churn this summer whether we go up or not, for different reasons.
Scott has to get the front of our squad in much better shape. Better quality, better options.
Hopefully same coaching staff, with input to that recruitment/retention.
 
indeedido said:
Nobody slow builds, everybody in this league churns squads. It’s whether you improve overall that matters.
Cov have lost successive best players, but have recruited well and Lampard has done very well.
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They haven’t since Gyokeres and Hamer went.

The only player they’ve lost who they wanted to keep since then was Callum O’Hare, but his contract expired and they couldn’t compete with Sheffield United’s offer.

Whether it be Wright, Simms or Rudoni they have kept their best players, where as we sold our best players in that time. Twice in January.

When I look at how Boro and Coventry lined up on the first day of last season, Coventry’s line-up / bench had: Van Ewijk, Bidwell, DaSilva, Thomas, Kitching, Eccles, Sakamoto, Rudoni, Thomas-Asante, Simms, Mason-Clark and Wright. All of which as are still there and either starting in their best team or key squad players.

When I do the same for Boro - Ayling, Morris, McGree, Gilbert and Hamilton. The amount of churn we go through is incredible.
 
BoroChris said:
They haven’t since Gyokeres and Hamer went.

The only player they’ve lost who they wanted to keep since then was Callum O’Hare, but his contract expired and they couldn’t compete with Sheffield United’s offer.

Whether it be Wright, Simms or Rudoni they have kept their best players, where as we sold our best players in that time. Twice in January.

When I look at how Boro and Coventry lined up on the first day of last season, Coventry’s line-up / bench had: Van Ewijk, Bidwell, DaSilva, Thomas, Kitching, Eccles, Sakamoto, Rudoni, Thomas-Asante, Simms, Mason-Clark and Wright. All of which as are still there and either starting in their best team or key squad players.

When I do the same for Boro - Ayling, Morris, McGree, Gilbert and Hamilton. The amount of churn we go through is incredible.
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Partly it is about trusting the team to improve.

Simms, Thomas-asante and Wright were not as good last year.

Realistically Hackney will leave in the Summer. Targett and Browne are on loan (but probably achievable if we think they are the best options.)

We could start next season:

Brynn
Brittain Jones Malanda Munroe
Morris Gilbert
Whittaker McGree
Strelec Conway

And we would be competitive in my eyes. Although highly unlikely we add no one.

Vipotnik was worse than Strelec in his first season at Coventry.

Conway is 23 and should be no where near his peak - this year is his poorest finishing, and likely to pick up in my opinion.

I was ridiculed for being optimistic pre-season - but even without Hackney i think the team will be competitive.

We shall see.
 
Humpty said:
Take your pick..

1. We lose our prize assets and have to rebuild. Including the best player in the league.
2. Wolves, Burnley and Forest/West Ham/Spurs come down and blow us out the water in terms of spending. It's proven that wages expended correlates with league finish.
3. Teams like Wrexham and Birmingham will out spend us too. Sheff United will also be stronger.
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Think Norwich will be a force too.
 
viv_andersons_nana said:
The ‘low quality’ thing was used last season too, when we couldn’t get into the playoffs. It was used the season before as well. People use it to prove a point: if we are doing well then it’s a poor league this year so we should be doing well, if we’re not doing well then it’s damning on the manager, players, staff, recruitment, Gibson et al as it’s a poor year this year and we’ll never have a better chance, etc.

I don’t know whether to some it’s a defence mechanism, a coping strategy or what, but it’s all over the forum.
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The one thing you have done Viv is allow me to pause for just a moment.
I think I fell into the trap of
‘this season was a brilliant opportunity and next will, therefore, be a disaster.

The first bit still stands.

Looking at the team I now recognise we do have some good and decent players.
If I think about the performances without Hackney - we could (maybe should) have won every one - and we know where the problem lies.

On reflection, I don’t think it’s a major rebuild - it’s about getting the right quality in the right areas.
Millwall and Hull have shown you don’t have to big spenders.

You’ve made me more optimistic and, btw, I might hate you for ever for doing so.
 
We need churn because there is a lot that needs to improve.
Worth keeping
Brynn
Brittian
Fry
Ayling
Malanda
Jones
Morris
whittaker
Mcgree
Casteldine
Siverra
Munroe
Bangura
Browne to sign

Out
Sarmiento
Sene
Strelec
Conway
Hansen
Gilbert
Barlaser
Borges
Burgzorg
Edmundson
Lenihan
 
Ravshoutsatbeck said:
Partly it is about trusting the team to improve.

Simms, Thomas-asante and Wright were not as good last year.

Realistically Hackney will leave in the Summer. Targett and Browne are on loan (but probably achievable if we think they are the best options.)

We could start next season:

Brynn
Brittain Jones Malanda Munroe
Morris Gilbert
Whittaker McGree
Strelec Conway

And we would be competitive in my eyes. Although highly unlikely we add no one.

Vipotnik was worse than Strelec in his first season at Coventry.

Conway is 23 and should be no where near his peak - this year is his poorest finishing, and likely to pick up in my opinion.

I was ridiculed for being optimistic pre-season - but even without Hackney i think the team will be competitive.

We shall see.
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Was vipotnik having less half a dozen touches per game last season as well
 
RobboTheRed said:
Was vipotnik having less half a dozen touches per game last season as well
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Per 90toucches

Worse than Strelec

Vipotnik 24/25 - 20.41
Viponik 25/26 - 25.66
Strelec 25/26 - 28.03

He also significantly underperformed his xG vs being much better than his xG this year.

Our fans give up on any player that has a poor run of form - no guarantee it will turn around but significant chance.
 
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