Title contenders??

[Matt Carbon]

Feel like we are further away from being title contenders this year than we have been for the last 4/5 years. Too much change and uncertainty from the very top downwards.

Can see us having a bottom half finish.

You heard it hear first. 

[brady1993]

24 minutes ago, jono said:

In the end, unless your club is a hanging by the thread basket case then you'd have ambition beyond survival or even mid table mediocrity 

we are a stable club, one of the big ones in the championship, we have pedigree. So it isn't unrealistic to think of being title contenders.

That realism also tempers things but if things go well then, yes we could be contenders

Playoffs has to go down as an achievable expectation.

not getting to the play offs would be disappointing.

finishing worse than last year would be failure in my book. 

I largely agree but I'd actually consider not making the top 6 a failure this year and Rowett should be asked serious questions if we don't.  

The squad going into the summer was more than good enough to make a playoff position particularly with Thorne, Martin and Forsyth returning. Therefore by deciding to sell off Hughes and Ince with the view of improving the squad, I feel the minimum requirement should by higher of Rowett.

[ramsbottom]

Too early to say really.  Until we've played a few friendlies and seen the shape GR is wanting to employ, you can't make an accurate assessment.  However, on paper, with this squad as it is, you'd expect us to be at least knocking around the play off places...

[Rample]

We should be knocking around play offs all season but I don't think there's much chance of a top 2 finish this year, I echo the above that Villa and Boro are likely to claim those spots.

For all his input and freedom with the squad GR has to prove he/we can at least mix it with the chasing pack. Less than 6th will be disappointing but isn't the be all and end all, if we were to progress to the point where we're thinking we're certs for the top 6 the following season that would be acceptable to me. The signings/targets don't indicate transitional season though so outside the top 10 would be a failure.

 

[Rab a dab doo]

Being pragmatic at best we are serious playoff contenders and nothing more at present.

[Premier ram]

Dont understand this Villa nailed on for top 2 spot talk , , they were a team of individuals last season and they looked a mess at times , wouldnt swap any of their players for any of ours , yes Terry included , a couple more quality signings by us and the Play offs at least are calling us , in GR we trust

[Edinburgh ram]

I'm going to go ahead and say relegation for us this season in the hope that if it goes with my predictions from the last few seasons should mean that we run away with the title! 

COYR!

realistically though, if we get a few really good players up top ie, jota hopefully, Lawrence or Richie I think we could go far and maybe even look too 2 if it clicks 

[TibshelfRam]

Can I ask a question... Where has this Ritchie link come from? I have seen countless users saying we're in for him but no evidence. Jota and Lawrence are clearly targets but Ritchie? He's clearly an exceptional player but I don't think for one minute that he'll drop down again. And with Newcastle seemingly unable to attract anyone I can see him being first choice. Even if he isn't. I really can't see that one being realistic - I hope I'm wrong.

Season wise: I'm worried. I have been into the last few seasons excited. Last season less so because of Pearson - but I still believed we had good players. This year I'm skeptical: I am not confident about Rowett, I think we've lost the two players we ought to have built the team around, I think we may well play very ordinary football and I don't know if we're good enough. I don't buy the argument that Thorne and Forsyth are new signings: they are but we have that conversation every season - what convinced you that they'll stay fit?

Perhaps it's just me and perhaps I'm basing it on very little. But the pre-season under McClaren and Clement and then mid season under McClaren last year I was excited. This year, I'm not. I feel I've gone back to the days of Clough: and I think the results will see that out. I'd expect us to be mid-table with some poor football. We may have spells of looking good (a-la the Cywka, Bueno, Commons and Kuqi spell) but we may also have times of looking in trouble.

11th.

[The_Sheriff]

We are mid table right now. 2 or 3 key signings would change that. But it's an extremely difficult task to lose two of your best players and progress.

so get the talent in or expect mid table 

[Tombo]

Titles are decided on the pitch, not on paper. Which suits us I suppose, because on paper we have no chance of winning the title. 

[Van der MoodHoover]

I'm expecting 11th.

Gary rowett can't make enough headway with clearing out the squad until 2018 when a number of contracts are up.

So his team and shape will be "unfinished business " at the end of this window and the lack of outgoings will constrain incomings. 

Just a prediction obvs - could be wrong,  but at present it's my view and I haven't shifted much for months. 

[Coneheadjohn]

On 10/07/2017 at 17:43, Stephen said:

Does anyone agree with me.... If we signed Richie from toon, and now with the back 4 sorted, we could start looking beyond this seasons playoffs?? Money still to spend as well!?

Great first post.Ridiculously positive.

Prepare to be hung,drawn and quartered.

Don't you know we're crap?

Welcome on board mate?.

[G STAR RAM]

2 minutes ago, coneheadjohn said:

Great first post.Ridiculously positive.

Prepare to be hung,drawn and quartered.

Don't you know we're crap?

Welcome on board mate?.

Being positive isn't just about blindly saying we will win the league.

For me, I would gladly go back to the stage we were at for the start of NCs final season and see that as a huge positive.

For me, flirting with the play offs while trimming the squad and the wage budget this year would be a positive, as long as we get some excitement along the way.

If selling off players comes at the expense of abandoning playing some decent attacking football on a Saturday afternoon, then the league position will be irrelevant to me.

[Rev]

23 minutes ago, HantsRam said:

I'm expecting 11th.

Gary rowett can't make enough headway with clearing out the squad until 2018 when a number of contracts are up.

So his team and shape will be "unfinished business " at the end of this window and the lack of outgoings will constrain incomings. 

Just a prediction obvs - could be wrong,  but at present it's my view and I haven't shifted much for months. 

You're probably not wrong.

I'm a fool, one Blackman turn in training and Martin finish is enough to get me dreaming of a 100+ points season!

If you can't be optimistic before a balls been kicked, when can you be?

I just hope this season sees a return to me really looking forward to games, rather than just turning up because I've already paid for my ticket.

Thats not result dependent, though that helps obviously, I just want to see signs we've got a plan, and have the desire to follow it through properly.

The only way I could see Gary surviving an 11th place finish is if we start poorly, he turns to the kids when desperate, and they perform well enough to lift us up the table and give us hope of more to come. 

If we start average, continue as such and finish the season a totally average 11th, Mel would pull the trigger, probably well before March.

Performing above expectations for a spell did for Mac2 in the end, I can't see why he'd be more patient with Rowett.

[Van der MoodHoover]

Just now, reveldevil said:

You're probably not wrong.

I'm a fool, one Blackman turn in training and Martin finish is enough to get me dreaming of a 100+ points season!

If you can't be optimistic before a balls been kicked, when can you be?

I just hope this season sees a return to me really looking forward to games, rather than just turning up because I've already paid for my ticket.

Thats not result dependent, though that helps obviously, I just want to see signs we've got a plan, and have the desire to follow it through properly.

The only way I could see Gary surviving an 11th place finish is if we start poorly, he turns to the kids when desperate, and they perform well enough to lift us up the table and give us hope of more to come. 

If we start average, continue as such and finish the season a totally average 11th, Mel would pull the trigger, probably well before March.

Performing above expectations for a spell did for Mac2 in the end, I can't see why he'd be more patient with Rowett.

My assumptions are based on Gary not being able to achieve all that he wants in this transfer window. This then frustrates the plans he has. 

He should be sharing all his thinking with Mel regularly. Mels already stated that he needs to generate funds for purchases and general thinking is he has to  trim wages for ffp.

Hence he may have considerable constraints in the next season which should be mitigation for Mel. As long as Mel buys the plan and sees sufficient green shoots. 

I think longer term we'll be fine with rowett. 

 

[RodleyRam]

Realistically you'd have to say we're playoffs at best at the moment. Our track record of late points towards a lack of cohesion and consistency. We've just sold two of our best players and it feels we are lacking in a couple of key areas. However, we have some talent, and some of the squad have shown themselves to be fighters. If Rowett can get some gel and add one or two genuine winners to the mix then who knows.

The champ is so unpredictable any one of 15 teams could challenge. The money has made the top two slightly easier to predict but you have to have a manager that can make things work. We won't know until 10 games in regarding the title contenders and playoffs always goes down to the wire. I would be happy enough with a season of consolidation, squad alignment and a clear vision coming through.

Title contenders? Unlikely but it's so unpredictable anything could happen.