The Morning After, The Morning After...

[ramsbottom]

1 hour ago, Ambitious said:

It's important to avoid a relegation battle, ensure there are teams below us and keep our heads above water. A Bristol City, Preston North End-type season. 

I think we'll ultimately know our aspirations and what kind of season we're in for based on two signings: Korey Smith & James Collins. 

Both have more than played their part in our return to the Championship but anyone with eyes can see that they don't stand much of any chance to be impactful players at the next level. It's a big jump and if we are going to give them contracts to stay on for next season then we will need to buckle in. 

We need to improve substantially to keep our head above water as you see the types of teams down there - who all have better players than Smith & Collins. These are essentially players who have been released by these types of teams. 

There will be potentially 12-14 players through the door this summer - without huge investment we're going to need to showcase a level of creativity in the transfermarket we haven't seen since the days of George Burley. 

I'd agree with letting Collins go cus League 1 looks to be his natural level at this stage in his career.  But I'd certainly give Smith another 12 months as he gave some fresh impetuous down the stretch, played some good stuff and it's important to have some senior pros in and around the squad.

Plus I don't think the jump to the Championship is that big.  You look at the table now and with some astute signings I'd fancy our chances against anyone from Brizzle downwards, especially at home.

[Nuwtfly]

Comfortably safe with an improvement in the quality of the football - too much to ask or realistic?

[Dean (hick) Saunders]

What’s the magic juice for doing well in our scenario? (Looking back over past promoted teams in recent years).

Copy what they did..

[DE56Ram]

10 minutes ago, ramsbottom said:

Plus I don't think the jump to the Championship is that big.  You look at the table now and with some astute signings I'd fancy our chances against anyone from Brizzle downwards, especially at home.

Exactly this!

our defence and keepers can live with the step up as can half a dozen others in middle and wide areas.Plymouth were loanees and lost the manager, as did Sheff Wed weirdly! Ipswich prove it’s not a massive step up.

the quality of the new signings will give us indications. 
 

I’m going for top ten but must finish above Bristol City! Sorry Birdie 😊

[i-Ram]

Too early to say before we have even assembled our squad, but I think it unrealistic to think anything better than bottom half of the table.

My guess is we will buy some solid performers, and have a competitive, fighting, spirit which might stand us in good stead particularly if we we were to be scrapping for points at the end of the season. I can’t see us having too much flair though, nor therefore be a good watch. Proper fans though will accept that I am sure.

Edited April 29 by i-Ram

[rammieib]

So the realistic feeling for me is that I just want to survive. I'll be slated but even against Carlisle, bottom of the league, party atmosphere, we had 7 shots, 3 OT and less than 50% possession. 7 shots in 90 minutes of football at home to bottom of the league!!!

I just don't think shutting up shop defensively, which we are very good at, will allow us to survive in the Championship. Teams are far better than us and will find ways around it.

I want two things to happen, one of which is obvious:

- The need to inject better offensive players into this football club. This is very hard, players will look at our style and not want to be part of it

- A coaching philosophy change from Warne. Don't be scared to have the ball, retain possession and trust players more.

What do I think will happen. We will be near the bottom and the pressure on the manager/chairman will build leading up to Christmas.

[Alty_Ram]

Without knowing our budget and how far that will stretch and looking at necessary parting of the ways with some players, I'd consider a good season to be somewhere mid-table, hopefully without ever really feeling like we might get dragged into the relegation mire.

I watched a few games at the top of the Championship and tbh, most of them (unsurprisingly) looked absolutely streets ahead of where we are. Get up, stay out of trouble and get established. Any thoughts of getting promoted are pure fantasy I'd say. It's important to be realistic or the moaning will start just because we are suddenly chasing shadows against the better sides with high quality squads bloated by parachute money. We've stepped up a level now and we're going to need to rebuild a Championship quality squad and that will be no small task. I think we're a lot closer to Sheff Wednesday than Ipswich so lets not over-react to the inevitable games where we just are well short of the level of the opposition.

After starting from a position of near oblivion a couple of years back, this was always going to be evolution not revolution as we rebuild and hopefully push on in a responsible way. The general perception was that the crowd was going to be important in the season just gone, and I think it was, particularly away. I think that goes double next season though. We'll need a levelling factor to compete with the better opposition and the crowd could be that if we stay positive but perhaps temper expectation a little.

[Justa]

For me avoiding relegation is the main target next season.

The Championship has improved recently and the football is way better than L1.

There will be some very good teams !

[Gee SCREAMER !!]

1 hour ago, ramsbottom said:

I'd agree with letting Collins go cus League 1 looks to be his natural level at this stage in his career.  But I'd certainly give Smith another 12 months as he gave some fresh impetuous down the stretch, played some good stuff and it's important to have some senior pros in and around the squad.

Plus I don't think the jump to the Championship is that big.  You look at the table now and with some astute signings I'd fancy our chances against anyone from Brizzle downwards, especially at home.

To be honest I'd keep Collins for a year as we'll need some angry people next season off the bench.  He's the only centre forward i'd renew though.  I'd have kept Gayle instead as he's got great positional sense but he's also made  of worn out elastic bands and his wage is best used elsewhere.

I think Smith will be going,  We'll need a lot more pace in midfield next season.

[Crewton]

57 minutes ago, rammieib said:

So the realistic feeling for me is that I just want to survive. I'll be slated but even against Carlisle, bottom of the league, party atmosphere, we had 7 shots, 3 OT and less than 50% possession. 7 shots in 90 minutes of football at home to bottom of the league!!!

I just don't think shutting up shop defensively, which we are very good at, will allow us to survive in the Championship. Teams are far better than us and will find ways around it.

I want two things to happen, one of which is obvious:

- The need to inject better offensive players into this football club. This is very hard, players will look at our style and not want to be part of it

- A coaching philosophy change from Warne. Don't be scared to have the ball, retain possession and trust players more.

What do I think will happen. We will be near the bottom and the pressure on the manager/chairman will build leading up to Christmas.

On the other hand, we had the lowest shots/goal ratio in the division, 5th highest goalscorers and largest goal difference. Against Carlisle, our shots to goal ratio was good. Banging in 30 shots per game and scoring once is a lame statistic.

We'll need more creativity and variety in the Championship and that's where I expect the majority of transfer activity to be once we get Ebou on board.

 

[RoyMac5]

24 minutes ago, Gee SCREAMER !! said:

To be honest I'd keep Collins for a year as we'll need some angry people next season off the bench.  He's the only centre forward i'd renew though.  I'd have kept Gayle instead as he's got great positional sense but he's also made  of worn out elastic bands and his wage is best used elsewhere.

I think Smith will be going,  We'll need a lot more pace in midfield next season.

I'm not his biggest fan but Collo has looked a better player when we play more football. So the extra aggression will come in handy too.

[MadAmster]

Going on what Rotherham fans were saying in September 2022, Warne had learned from his 2 relegations with the Millers and had them 8th, albeit after just 9 games with a game in hand on all those above them. Win the GIH and they were 5th. He left they ended up 19th last season and got relegated this season. I think the 2 relegations say more about RUFC than they do about PW. 3rd time round he'd got some players who were capable of top half play and results. My hope is that he does that with us and plays all football has to offer. Decent keeper, solid defence, both steel and skill in MF, wide players who can go both down the outside and put in a decent cross to a #9 who's where you want your #9 to be and also cut inside and shoot. Strikers who can put a good header in, be in the 6 yard box to pick up the pieces, create goals himself, run the channels at the right time, shoot from distance and hit the 20 goal mark through the season.

All of the above must be able to control the ball and have a good first touch. I do realise this particular demand would mean we wouldn't take Haaland on as his 1st touch is awful (atrocious v Real Madrid) but he does have a great eye for a goal...

L1? Thanks but no thanks. Too many dark arts teams. Too many awful referees, their assistants and 4th officials. Too many cloggers who get away with it. If I were to referee a L1 game, I might end up having to abandon the game as at least one side would not have enough players left on the park. Refereeing guidelines call for yellow cards for timewasting. They get given very occasionally. Idem ditto for diving, feigning injury, preventing the quick taking of a freekick, corner or throw. All designed to reduce the chances of an opponent creating chances and possibly scoring. These are all things many fans hate, refs have been told to take action but they seldom do.

When I played, I did commit fouls but I never purposely took down a player who had "done" me. I am a firm believer that, if you get beaten by speed and/or skill you should accept it and stop the player next time, legally, by being better positioned and "doing" him. I'm convinced that a return to "sporting behaviour" and cutting out the so called professional foul would see more attractive games and more goals scored. Isn't the game all about scoring goals and also not conceding them within the Laws of the game?

Football is probably the one profession where deliberately breaking the Laws is seen as a professional act rather than the act of cheating that it actually is.

[FKANorwichExile]

4 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

I'm not his biggest fan but Collo has looked a better player when we play more football. So the extra aggression will come in handy too.

He'd been an excellent squad player for next season, but it might come down to wether he's happy to settle for the bench or be guaranteed starts elsewhere. I can't imagine us going in to the new season without having made a marquee striker signing.

[RoyMac5]

10 minutes ago, FKANorwichExile said:

He'd been an excellent squad player for next season, but it might come down to wether he's happy to settle for the bench or be guaranteed starts elsewhere. I can't imagine us going in to the new season without having made a marquee striker signing.

Lol, how many of the past seasons have we said that?

[JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta]

2 hours ago, Nuwtfly said:

Comfortably safe with an improvement in the quality of the football - too much to ask or realistic?

Anything less and I reckon Warne will be under massive pressure. The caveat to that is how much Clowes gives him to spend. If Clowes perceives his investment this summer to be substantial I don't think he is going to tolerate the risk of us going back down to L1.

[Leeds Ram]

Anything above relegation and I'll take it. Despite all the records and the points performance wise we're not particularly convincing against teams who can knock it around well. I think the championship will be a struggle and our signings need to be creative given the limitations on the budget side. Then again the 3 teams coming down are all terrible and if Bolton don't come up in the playoffs that'll be 1 team who'll more than likely be back down too. 

 

If Warne can get us to 52-65 points I'll say that's a very solid performance which we can build on.

[Foreveram]

Silverware would be nice, Brian Clough trophy 🤷🏻‍♂️

[Chopper]

Expectations for me, in the cold light of the day after, the day after, the lunchtime before; is mid-table.

See us establish as a competitive Championship team, with definitive signs that we can improve further. A reshaped squad gelling over the first few months unfortunatley sees us lose pace from the leaders, but they come good later on and optimism for 25-26 with a few additions is abound.

Highlight of the season, winning at Notts last game of the season to make them finish 7th, capping off a miserable turn of the year for them after they were top at Christmas. Controversial goal for 1-0, ref S. Atwell.

Hmm not sure I've sobered up yet.

[Carl Sagan]

I'm surprised by the downbeat nature of this thread so far. Football is so much about momentum, and we currently have it. It will be interesting to see who stays and who goes, and then who comes in.

But the point of the playoffs was to maintain interest in the division for a much longer period, and tease many more clubs and their fans as the season nears its close. I'd like us to challenge for the playoffs for most of the season. Maybe a 5-15 range of final position, and a points total between 60-80.

What Warne has done is given the players more backbone and a proper understanding of the consistency required to compete. 

[Van der MoodHoover]

6 hours ago, i-Ram said:

I can’t see us having too much flair though, nor therefore be a good watch. Proper fans though will accept that I am sure.

Well that's me and thee sorted.....😉