Albert Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 So, we're finally mathematically safe. Along with this we have a good young squad, something some people would have killed for 3-4 years back when we had the spritely Eddie Lewis "flying" down the left wing. We have a manager who is being given time to build and develope the squad, another thing people wanted. The season was at least no boring and we were at one point looking like a side that could challenge for promotion. Would you call this season a success, at least in terms of stability and building a foundation? Considering of course the fact that the team has been a bit fragile at times, as one would expect. This issue of losing 10 games in the last 10 minutes of matches and such is something that may actually be fixed by adding some experience to the defense (and maybe a left back - novel concept that) and the midfield. Maybe I'm kidding myself, by despite how the season turned out, the fact that this side were in the top 4 a few weeks out for Christmas and the fact that the side hasn't changed all that much says to me that we have the base to make a serious crack at promotion, we just need the experience. I don't know... Maybe another question actually, if we spent well in the summer and got to the playoffs this time next year, would this season (the current one, not next year) be a success in the context that we built well for it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boycie Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 We sold our best 2 players and never replaced them, flirted with the top 4 until getting a nose bleed. Nearly got relegated and had to endure being "doubled" by Lesta and Forest. Forest thrashed us at the City Ground. Crap season. Next season has the promise of better things, lets wait and see. They will be ran out of town if they don't deliver the goods this close season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smalley Ram Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 Don't sugar coat it Boycie - tell us what you really think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnClement Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 Surely all optimism is based upon us spending well during the summer. Of the starting X1 over Easter 4 are on loan & 1 is retiring. Thus doesnt seem to indicate very effective building to me. a lot of people cite financial stability as a big plus, something I agree with, but can we maintain this and assemble a team capable of challenging for the top 6? We need at least 6 signings just to put out a team, as I dont think there is much in reserve at the moment. We have had 3 consecutive seasons of being near the bottom, and only just getting clear of relegation with a few games to go. What scouting and vetting have the club done to identify these new players who are going to put us in the top half of the league? Do we have an idea of targets, or even the type of player we want? -We shall see I think the fans will be dissappointed if all we sign is another batch of lower division & ex non leaguers unless there is any real evuidence that they can be a success at this level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jagerbob Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 I personally think its laughable that the pessimistic rams fans(and theres a lot of them) actually thought we were going down till yesterday. I wonder if they have noticed that the two teams below us who have been below us for weeks, might I add, are near enough mathematically safe too. Personally I thought we were safe after the Swansea and Palace games, and definately after the leeds game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duracell Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 Whether you agree with some of the decisions this club has made this season, staying up has been a fine achievement. Having lost pretty much every significant player in our October/November run bar Brayford by the end of January, either through injury, illness or the end of a loan, the club was in shock and you could see it in the body languages of the players. Surprised we turned it around. The issue may have been Clough's fault in the first place, but whether it was or not, he deserves credit for keeping us up and diving pretty quickly in to the loan market and getting in some key figures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastKentRam Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 Whether you agree with some of the decisions this club has made this season, staying up has been a fine achievement. Having lost pretty much every significant player in our October/November run bar Brayford by the end of January, either through injury, illness or the end of a loan, the club was in shock and you could see it in the body languages of the players. Surprised we turned it around. The issue may have been Clough's fault in the first place, but whether it was or not, he deserves credit for keeping us up and diving pretty quickly in to the loan market and getting in some key figures. Was it really Clough who kept us up though? The sh*teness of the teams below us and the fortunate win against Swansea which seemed to install a bit of belief played more of a part imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duracell Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 Was it really Clough who kept us up though? The sh*teness of the teams below us and the fortunate win against Swansea which seemed to install a bit of belief played more of a part imo. Undoubtedly that helped, but I don't think that could have kept us up alone. Without the Swansea and Leeds victories and the point at QPR I think we'd be in serious trouble, and two of those results were won because we got our tactics spot on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SillyBilly Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 Swansea seemed very jammy to me. Not exactly a tactics masterclass. I thought Swansea were good value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duracell Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 Swansea seemed very jammy to me. Not exactly a tactics masterclass. I thought Swansea were good value. That's why I said two of those results Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james_ram Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 So, we're finally mathematically safe. Along with this we have a good young squad, something some people would have killed for 3-4 years back when we had the spritely Eddie Lewis "flying" down the left wing. We have a manager who is being given time to build and develope the squad, another thing people wanted. The season was at least no boring and we were at one point looking like a side that could challenge for promotion. Would you call this season a success, at least in terms of stability and building a foundation? Considering of course the fact that the team has been a bit fragile at times, as one would expect. This issue of losing 10 games in the last 10 minutes of matches and such is something that may actually be fixed by adding some experience to the defense (and maybe a left back - novel concept that) and the midfield. Maybe I'm kidding myself, by despite how the season turned out, the fact that this side were in the top 4 a few weeks out for Christmas and the fact that the side hasn't changed all that much says to me that we have the base to make a serious crack at promotion, we just need the experience. I don't know... Maybe another question actually, if we spent well in the summer and got to the playoffs this time next year, would this season (the current one, not next year) be a success in the context that we built well for it? No, I wouldn't call this season a success. Clough's stubbornness is his downfall and until he realizes that we're going nowhere. We don't need to spend big, we just need to find a few gems, a left back and a striker who is going to score in at least half the games he plays in. All of this can be achieved with a decent scouting network which has the ability to pick up the players without other teams 'gazumping' us with their larger and more loose purse strings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SillyBilly Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 That's why I said two of those results Owned! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayram Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 Whether you agree with some of the decisions this club has made this season, staying up has been a fine achievement. Having lost pretty much every significant player in our October/November run bar Brayford by the end of January, either through injury, illness or the end of a loan, the club was in shock and you could see it in the body languages of the players. Surprised we turned it around. The issue may have been Clough's fault in the first place, but whether it was or not, he deserves credit for keeping us up and diving pretty quickly in to the loan market and getting in some key figures. In no way can anything that has happened at this club this season be described a fine achievement Duracell. We have had a dismal season whichever way you look at it and we have gone backwards. Clough will only deserve credit if he spends wisely in the summer and actually puts a side together that is capable of more than just lower table mediocrity - lets hope he does just that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted April 27, 2011 Author Share Posted April 27, 2011 All good points. However, as I asked originally, if what was done this season made a good base to build on with good investment and we ended up in the top six, would this season have been "good" on in that sense? The reason I ask stems to a club in Australia, Brisbane Roar. In early 2009-10 Brisbane were one of the teams that were favorites to go to the "Finals" (Australia's way of deciding the winner of the League), however it had a few issues. It was loaded with aging talent on high wages (and as Australia has a salary cap, this is a big issue). The season started okay, with new signing Bob Malcolm (yes, the Bob Malcolm... ugh!) settling in early and rugby tackling those who stood in his way. However this quickly fell apart and after a run of 3 defeats and a drink driving incident the then coach Frank Farina was sacked. He was then replaced by the now coach Ange Postecoglu, a manager who no man would touch with a 50' barge pole for the last 8 years. The fans understandably reacted like self rightous ***** and declared this a rediculous choice, they wanted someone with a good pedigree! Ange quickly decided that the defensive midfielder Bob Malcolm was a problem and proceeded to release him. Ange went on to fall out with captain Craig Moore, a man so legendary at the club that within a week of having a nut removed he was back playing for the club this leading to key players Liam Reddy and Charlie Miller jumping ship to other A-league clubs after demanding transfers. Danny Tiatto, would then retire and Craig Moore would eventually move Kavala in Greece. Well... This is a series of losses bringing Brisbane to their worst finish in their history didn't sit well with the club and Ange was labelled a rediculous choice, with a small minded attitude and no understanding of the players. They blamed his man management skills, tactics and his "abbrasive personality" for what had occured. Brisbane Roar were in tatters, our best players had legged it as they couldn't stand Ange, the club was doomed to the worst years in his history unless he was sacked now was the essential message from many fans. A friend of mine even told me: "Who does Postecoglu thing he is?! What is he trying to play the ball along the ground, that won't work in Australia! The players aren't that good!" So, what happened next? Well, over a long off season Ange began his rebuild. He signed: Thomas Broich - A German attacking midfielder, the pick of the lot Jean Carlo-Solozano - A Costa-Rican striker Kosta Barbarouses - Young Kiwi Striker, was a reserve player at his former New Zealand based club Erik Paartalu - was at a lower Scotish Club Michael Theoklitos - former A-league keeper of the year, however his spell at Norwich was dreadful (think of their opening day last season) Shane Steffanutto - A good leftback, had been injured for over a year Matt Smith - A lower Australian league defender, had been with the North Queensland Fury for a year though Rocky Visconte - Former Hearts youth player (Australian Born) Milan Susak - Another Aussie coming home James Mayer - Australian lower leagues So, apart from Broich, Steffanutto and Theo there wasn't too much to get exited about, especially with some of the other signings in the league. So, what happened now? Brisbane started well, lacked a few goals though. They were then trashed 3-0 by Melbourne Victory. Brisbane would from here on become an unstoppable juggernaught! They went unbeaten for the rest of the league season. They would thrash teams left right and centre and would in the process destroy every record on offer in the history of Australian football. One day in Wellington in particular sticks out from this time. Brisbane went to Wellington unbeaten in 7 whilst Wellington were unbeaten at home in 20 odd games. Brisbane would romp home 4-1 in a night to remember. The brand of football more than anything else was what stood out, Brisbane passed teams to death, something never before seen in the A-league. Then came the finals, coming into them 25 games unbeaten and having won the league by 8 points in a 30 match season as considerable favorites. The Finals system is odd, essentially the top 2 play eachother in a 2 legged match, the winner getting to host the grand final. As for the other 4 teams (that's right, 6 of 11 qualify!), 3 plays 6 at 3's home and 4 plays 5 at 4's home. The winner plays off at the home of the highest rank team (I think) and the winner of this plays off against the loser of 1v2. The winner of this one off match faces the winner of 1v2 in the Grand Final. That cleared up Brisbane beat the central coast 2-0 in Gosford (The Central Coast) in a convincing display. At home however it was a different story. Brisbane would look on top until out of nothing the central coast scored 2 in about 5 minutes. Brisbane would however score on early in the second half and finish it off late in the game to win 4-2 on aggregated. The central coast would go on to win that other weird match and to face them again in the Grand Final. I could explain the grand final, but it's better to watch it: Brisbane v Central Coast, A-league 2010-11 Grandfinal The reason I mention this is that if because of the last few seasons Derby do have the base to build on and move up from, then these seasons would still in a sense have been a success, even if it didn't seem like one at the time. Terrible season I know at the moment, but... Hey, let's see what comes out of it, sometimes you are surprised. Also, Brisbane were before the season started the bookies favourites for last! Additional, Ange is now the hottest property in Australian Football (not that weird game where they stole a rugby ball and a cricket pitch) and all the "big clubs" have made offers for him... He also achieved this on 2/3rds of the salary cap with no Marquee player (a player outside the salary cap, you're allowed 2). You never quite know how things will turn out. Additional, additional: GET A LEFTBACK NIGEL! 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Albert Posted April 27, 2011 Author Share Posted April 27, 2011 Another version of that match that is slightly longer: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramexpat Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 We sold our best 2 players and never replaced them, flirted with the top 4 until getting a nose bleed. Nearly got relegated and had to endure being "doubled" by Lesta and Forest. Forest thrashed us at the City Ground. Crap season. Next season has the promise of better things, lets wait and see. They will be ran out of town if they don't deliver the goods this close season. *cough* You forgot about Crawley *cough* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted April 27, 2011 Author Share Posted April 27, 2011 *cough* You forgot about Crawley *cough* Probably a good thing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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