Realistic expectations for this season.

[Anag Ram]

2 minutes ago, Thierry Ennui said:

We're going down, I think. Warne sacked in November. New manager bounce but not enough.

 

[Ramplinho]

I'm assuming our aims are something like stay up this season, consolidate next, then top half and so on. I don't think that's unreasonable. 

As it stands I expect a) a couple more key signings, and b) a slow start given both the fixtures and squad revolution. I imagine things will eventually come together and we will start picking up points. Im anticipating a lot more draws this season. Somewhat resilient but finding it harder to score too. Hopefully there will be the odd game where NML or someone grabs us 3 points pretty much on his own. 

There's always one or two shocking teams so I don't think we'll be deep in it. More likely fluctuating between 16th-22nd. 

[angieram]

I voted for lower half of table in the poll earlier. (Did I dream that?) I think that's realistic.

I'm just reading the excellent "Life During Warnetime" by Ollie Wright*, which is a look back over last season as it happened. 

It instantly recalls the panic many of us felt early season, looking at injuries, time it took the team to gel, fan reactions, thoughts on "Warneball" etc. 

I KNOW it will be harder this season, but it does help to keep things in perspective, and not to hit that panic button too early (as Ross Kemp would tell you!) 

* Not a plug, but it's on Amazon as both an e-book and a paperback.

[Jimbo Ram]

I will be happy if we stay up on goals scored…..

[DerbyAleMan]

Can see us finishing anywhere between 18th and 12th, think we will have enough, and will be a hard team to beat, time will tell, but I for one can not wait till the season begins. Once A Ram Always A Ram. 

Edited July 30 by DerbyAleMan

[Chopper]

I can't remember what I said in the immediate post promotion euphoria, but now?

Survival, both as a hope and expectation. There will be teams that couldnt buy a win but stayed up last year and they will be dragged into it this year too. There may be a team that comes from nowhere and just implodes, there may be a team that the EFL have just seen enough of, I'll take a 21 point deduction, transfer embargo and maybe a random cancelling of contracts punishment for Middlesborough this year please.

We may have lost the promotion bounce as fans a little bit, but has the team? Decent amount of players are the same and these guys are winners.

There may be a rough start, I can't shake the feeling that we will lose an early game badly 4 or 5 - 0, but there is a lot of potential for growth with Derby I've seen too many times, with different managers, owners, and players that leads us to be greater than the sum of our parts. Apologies if that's the old romantic in me but I see it. How quickly our signings get up to speed will be key though in the speed that this hidden potential comes to fruition.

Let's get safe, let's put ourselves in a position where Championship football is a given and then we can build for more. 

[Terry Hennessy]

I dont claim to be ITK...but I do know that the club are hoping / expecting mid table this season.  UTR

[Steve Buckley’s Dog]

My realistic expectation is for more than six 3pm Saturday kick offs. I am missing League One already. 

[jimbobram]

I think if we end up playing the 532 formation warne is obsessed with our chances are slim. 

[Foreveram]

11 minutes ago, Terry Hennessy said:

I dont claim to be ITK...but I do know that the club are hoping / expecting mid table this season.  UTR

Hope they won’t be too upset if we finish top 🙄

[EtoileSportiveDeDerby]

Unbeaten all season. 

Failing that, beat the drop.

[hintonsboots]

I am going with a quote from TBE, “The aim is to finish top of the bottom 6”. 😁

 

 

[hydraulic ram]

 I think we will have enough to stay up, I know it won't be a simple job but I think 15th - 20th is do-able.

Getting goals from all positions will be important as I doubt we'll have a big scoring striker in this season.

 

 

[Tyler Durden]

We'll have a poor start to the season due to ongoing integration of new arrivals into the playing squad by which time the cacophony on here will have reached a crescendo 

[i-Ram]

7 minutes ago, Tyler Durden said:

We'll have a poor start to the season due to ongoing integration of new arrivals into the playing squad by which time the cacophony on here will have reached a crescendo 

Bloody hell, when did we get audio options on here? Must be one of them exclusive member perks.

[Bris Vegas]

Paul Warne's pre-season message to the fans.

[LeedsCityRam]

I'm extremely apprehensive about the new season & would be surprised if we weren't in the bottom 6 most of the season.

Its been posted on another thread but there was a very good assessment of our current situation by Gabriel Sutton of BetVictor - link at bottom. In short, the current squad was primarily built to escape League One with little capability to adapt to a higher division. A large part of this was of course due to the EFL restrictions but the largely results now recruitment of our management team has also left us in a position where we have a lot of catching up to do with last summer's marque signings Bradley, Washington & Vickers already looking like squad passengers until their contracts expire. In short, there was little contingency built in the promotion team for the step up & it's starting to show more with us than with other promoted League One sides in recent seasons.

Whilst I've liked most of this summer's signings (particularly in midfield), I still think we're short of quality in both boxes & I think teams will suss that out very quickly. We desperately need a target number 9, some flair at number 10, a CB with pace and of course a number 1 goalkeeper - if that doesn't get sorted before the window, we're in trouble & I think we may need to look at being a bit bolder financially to get deals concluded. The alternative of hedging our bets & then having to play catch up in January doesn't bear thinking about plus we're likely to have to pay a much higher premium in desperation.

My biggest concern remains the manager though & the fact he is a proven failure at this level - we can argue context about the stats but the cold hard facts of his second tier record across a near 130 game sample are extremely concerning given the current vulnerable state of the squad. His tactics which aren't likely to deviate much from the low block, surrender of possession & set piece specialism of last season are also unlikely to yield much joy against teams with far more quality than we have.

I'm still hopeful there will be a flurry of late activity but I also believe that Warne will leave the club in the autumn as the twin issues of poor results & poor football start to bite - we've already seen discontent at Shrewsbury already this pre-season & I think that might be a theme until Warne leaves & we get in a manager more appropriate for a club of this stature at this level.

https://www.betvictor.com/blog/gab-suttons-championship-24-25-season-preview/

[Srg]

Didn’t that guy think Sunderland have 6 or 7 players best in their position and tip them for the title? That’s crazy talk. 

[MaltRam]

A battling, fit, hard working team that scraps for every point and finishes where it finishes.

[Ambitious]

5 minutes ago, Srg said:

Didn’t that guy think Sunderland have 6 or 7 players best in their position and tip them for the title? That’s crazy talk. 

Yeah, I really struggled with that one. 

Jack Clarke has an argument for LM/LW but I can't see any other players that would be in consideration at other positions. Jobe Bellingham obviously has a lot of potential, but other than that I'm struggling. I think their keeper is meant to be highly rated too, but honestly don't know - they finished 16th last season and added Browne & Poveda. I suspect they're more likely to be midtable.