deanoakaram4life

Just to make things clear very early, this isn't a post to say we're going to "piss the league" or win it easily, but looking at the sides we will be facing this coming season, it looks like the league is a lot lower in quality than usual. There's obviously still two unknown spots, but I think if we can get the recruitment right, and the kind of players that Warne wants, we really shouldn't be aiming for anything below the top 2.
The three relegated sides are very poor, I don't really see an awful lot of threat from any of them. Wigan are already on -4 and will probably have the suspended deduction applied too with the way they're going. Reading are just Reading, and Blackpool might be there or thereabouts but are hardly a frightening proposition.
I'm not exactly sure what our odds were by the first game of last season, but I think we were something like 4th or 5th favourites? We're currently the most likely with Sky Bet to win the league at 6/1 and they reckon that Posh and Bolton will be our nearest challengers, which is probably about right. Whoever loses out of Barnsley and Wednesday will also be strong next season, although I'd give us a much better chance if Wednesday did win the final.
Other than that, you look at the teams coming up and the teams who were also in the top half and I really didn't see much in Portsmouth, Charlton, Wycombe etc. to indicate that they're preparing themselves for a real challenge next year.
It may of course all change in the next couple of months, we might be overly confident of a title winning season, breaking the points record, or we might struggle to get the players we need and hope to make the top 6.
I think we're now in a position where we can put the troubles of our financial issues and administration behind us. We can recruit players with a bigger financial pull, better facilities, better fanbase and better history than pretty much every other club, and have a manager who will know what kind of characters can get out of this division. It's not guaranteed success, but I can't see there being much better an opportunity than this year. Last year showed me that there is a real divide between the better sides and the poor sides in this league. I think the division will get bigger, there's just fewer better sides than there were last season.

Hayden Roberts
Sonny Bradley
Lewis Wing
Jordan Thorniley
That’s where I would start. 

I don’t think a strikforce of May (29) and Winnal (32) is what I’d consider a threat

It’s not the end of the work if Didzy does leave in my eyes. He has 2 more years max in his career and it was Derby who took the chance on him last year. I definitely wouldn’t be held hostage to any ridiculous demands like we had done so often done under the Mel regime. 

It’s not the end of the work if Didzy does leave in my eyes. He has 2 more years max in his career and it was Derby who took the chance on him last year. I definitely wouldn’t be held hostage to any ridiculous demands like we had done so often done under the Mel regime. 

Sonny Bradley 

Nixon linking Hull and us on his Patreon page 

Nixon linking Hull and us on his Patreon page 

Nixon linking Hull and us on his Patreon page 

Cole Stockton is the type of player I hope we avoid, honestly. I fear he just plainly lacks technical ability and his market will be high, relatively, so you run the risk of overpaying for a player for a player because of a reasonable goal record at this level despite not having the ability to step it up. 
Don't get me wrong, we probably need two strikers coming in and perhaps he does a job for us but I'd like to see us pick someone up with a bit of technical ability who could improve. Stockton strikes me as a player who knows what he's about and knows what he can do. Let a Portsmouth take the chance on him, let's aim for a better standard of footballer. 

My view is we need to stick with PW for the long term, even if we miss out next year.  Chopping and changing got us in this mess and we’re still in the process of a complete rebuild.
My expectation at the start of the season was 7 - 10th but I didn’t expect to be this close to the play offs.  Partly because not many teams, regardless of how big, go straight back up and lots of examples have been given.  I also thought we were in a similar position to the last time we were at this level, arguably worse.  In both cases we’ve needed a completely new squad, and that takes time to gel.
Both LR and PW did a good job.  LR to get players to come, particularly late in the window and the financial restrictions.  We can bemoan the lack of a right back, quality of striker but he probably thought he had Nathan Byrne (who would have been a good RWB) and quality strikers for free are very rare.  PW did well to get them as close as he did, given the age profile and size of the squad.  I think the blip in Feb/Mar would have happened if it was LR, PW or, heaven forbid, any of us as manager.  Other teams were able to spend in Jan, we couldn’t and free’s them are free for a reason.  I think someone said Sheff Wed used 14 more players, like it or not that makes a difference.
And it’s not just about the first team.  We’ve had to rebuild behind the scenes, e.g. head of recruitment, and that will continue, particularly the academy.  Lets be patient, give PW the time he needs to build for the long term.

The truth is that all three have looked nothing more than steady League One players this season. None have stood out, to put it bluntly.
Jason Knight has shown that technically he can’t separate himself from players in this division. He’s got a big engine, can run a lot, but he just doesn’t have enough quality. I thought he could’ve been a difference maker in this league, I expected him to, but he’s not even been close. 
Bird has more quality but just hasn’t been able to put his stamp on games. He continues to be too passive too often - he’s still playing football like a 18 year old trying to make his way in the game. He hasn’t really developed much in terms of presence and impact on games.
Sibley, I fear, is going to become a cautionary tale. The best young player I’ve seen for Derby, watching him develop throughout the academy you would’ve thought there was absolutely no way this kid wasn’t going to be a star - he had everything. I’d like to see him move on to a good club who could develop him, because it isn’t going to happen for him here. 
All three can move on for me, providing the funds can be reinvested, but I wouldn’t expect good money based on their body of work this season. 

This club needs a manager at the helm for at least 3 years! Look at the Nigel Clough years. He built a club over time, and eventually, it was that team that took us to Wembley. We need to give Warne time. I’m sick of the Mel years of hire and fire! We need stability and Clowes and Warne are the men to take us forward! 

Can’t wait for Season tickets to come on sale! 
 
Up the mighty Rams! 🐏

This club needs a manager at the helm for at least 3 years! Look at the Nigel Clough years. He built a club over time, and eventually, it was that team that took us to Wembley. We need to give Warne time. I’m sick of the Mel years of hire and fire! We need stability and Clowes and Warne are the men to take us forward! 

Can’t wait for Season tickets to come on sale! 
 
Up the mighty Rams! 🐏

This club needs a manager at the helm for at least 3 years! Look at the Nigel Clough years. He built a club over time, and eventually, it was that team that took us to Wembley. We need to give Warne time. I’m sick of the Mel years of hire and fire! We need stability and Clowes and Warne are the men to take us forward! 

Can’t wait for Season tickets to come on sale! 
 
Up the mighty Rams! 🐏

This club needs a manager at the helm for at least 3 years! Look at the Nigel Clough years. He built a club over time, and eventually, it was that team that took us to Wembley. We need to give Warne time. I’m sick of the Mel years of hire and fire! We need stability and Clowes and Warne are the men to take us forward! 

Can’t wait for Season tickets to come on sale! 
 
Up the mighty Rams! 🐏

This club needs a manager at the helm for at least 3 years! Look at the Nigel Clough years. He built a club over time, and eventually, it was that team that took us to Wembley. We need to give Warne time. I’m sick of the Mel years of hire and fire! We need stability and Clowes and Warne are the men to take us forward! 

Can’t wait for Season tickets to come on sale! 
 
Up the mighty Rams! 🐏

This club needs a manager at the helm for at least 3 years! Look at the Nigel Clough years. He built a club over time, and eventually, it was that team that took us to Wembley. We need to give Warne time. I’m sick of the Mel years of hire and fire! We need stability and Clowes and Warne are the men to take us forward! 

Can’t wait for Season tickets to come on sale! 
 
Up the mighty Rams! 🐏

This club needs a manager at the helm for at least 3 years! Look at the Nigel Clough years. He built a club over time, and eventually, it was that team that took us to Wembley. We need to give Warne time. I’m sick of the Mel years of hire and fire! We need stability and Clowes and Warne are the men to take us forward! 

Can’t wait for Season tickets to come on sale! 
 
Up the mighty Rams! 🐏

I touched on part of this in the match thread, and I am gutted to miss out although I feel like I'm less disappointed because of the circumstances. It's strange, if we'd completely capitulated and looked gutless, then I'd be fuming, but because it was down to an individual error/officiating error (again), it almost feels like well what could we do... We actually played really well, given the circumstances, deserved at least a point and showed a lot of fight. For me it's a lot different to previous seasons where we've just missed out on the top 6. I don't think "bottling" it comes into play this year. We just couldn't finish our chances, we could've won a hell of a lot more points without playing any better or any worse, just by putting away our chances. I also don't care what people say about bad decisions evening themselves out over a season, I think if someone did a case study on our season, it would show that's very far from the truth...
But other reasons to be positive:
- We'll have our first season in a long time where we can go into the pre-season with a bit of stability and certainty. We can look to build on the squad we do have with a manager who has had long enough to decide what we need to go up a level. It's not going to be perfect because of the circumstances we find ourselves under, but I think we should be in a much stronger position come August than we were last year. At least we won't have to wait another 2 months to know if we're going to be taken over, and start from scratch then. We won't have to miss out on signings and we can get started right now.
- The circumstances... we'll still be under the business plan, but we'll be into our last year. There's talk it'll be 'relaxed', Nixon (yes I know) has linked us to actually spending Great British Pound Sterling on a player, whether we will or not, when was the last time we even could?
- We're still a bigger fish in a smaller pond. I know we can't take anything for granted and big teams get 'stuck' down here. We have to take any opportunity we can to get out of this league BUT, we will be in a position where we are going to be a much bigger draw for players at this level than 90% of the opposition, and will be able to afford to pay them more too. In the Championship where we still have restrictions, I think we'd really struggle to build a squad and pick up results at the same time. I hope that just one more season at this level will set us up to have a much stronger future than a season of probably scrapping to stay up.
- Experience at this level. The novelty will have worn off a little, for us, and for the opposition, the first trips are mostly out of the way. We can learn from naivety, errors and mistakes made this season where we've dropped silly points. Wigan, Reading and Blackpool shouldn't pose as much of a challenge, the competition this year has been fierce. Wednesday getting 96 points and only finishing 3rd is crazy, the top 3 in League 1 are far stronger than the bottom 3 in the Championship this season in my opinion.
It's naturally disappointing to miss out however it happens, but I'm already looking forward to a busy summer and August rolling around again. It's been a long time since we've finished higher than 3rd in any division, wouldn't it be nice if this time next year that changes.

This club needs a manager at the helm for at least 3 years! Look at the Nigel Clough years. He built a club over time, and eventually, it was that team that took us to Wembley. We need to give Warne time. I’m sick of the Mel years of hire and fire! We need stability and Clowes and Warne are the men to take us forward! 

Can’t wait for Season tickets to come on sale! 
 
Up the mighty Rams! 🐏

Define talent! On our day we could beat anyone, but the relentless Tuesday, Sat, papa johns trophy, nature of the league has shafted us. We need legs to complement the quality in the squad! Look at Plymouth and Ipswich, all in theirs 20s with legs! That’s what we need in this league. As you go through the leagues, the intensity decreases. 

This club needs a manager at the helm for at least 3 years! Look at the Nigel Clough years. He built a club over time, and eventually, it was that team that took us to Wembley. We need to give Warne time. I’m sick of the Mel years of hire and fire! We need stability and Clowes and Warne are the men to take us forward! 

Can’t wait for Season tickets to come on sale! 
 
Up the mighty Rams! 🐏

This club needs a manager at the helm for at least 3 years! Look at the Nigel Clough years. He built a club over time, and eventually, it was that team that took us to Wembley. We need to give Warne time. I’m sick of the Mel years of hire and fire! We need stability and Clowes and Warne are the men to take us forward! 

Can’t wait for Season tickets to come on sale! 
 
Up the mighty Rams! 🐏

This club needs a manager at the helm for at least 3 years! Look at the Nigel Clough years. He built a club over time, and eventually, it was that team that took us to Wembley. We need to give Warne time. I’m sick of the Mel years of hire and fire! We need stability and Clowes and Warne are the men to take us forward! 

Can’t wait for Season tickets to come on sale! 
 
Up the mighty Rams! 🐏