Is anyone else getting the feeling that last season

[BadFish]

. My main concern is the fickle and success hungry noisy minority on here who are going to have their knives sharpened for the new manager if he doesn't sign the caliber of players we have become used to signing under Poyet.

Will the naysayers start saying nay if we are out of the playoff places around Christmas?

The lean times of which you talk are a direct result of over spending and over reaching for the big time last time we tried it. I would rather a slow a steady approach of building the club up on firm foundations without risking it all and learning the lessons of last time and the other clubs who have gambled on getting to the big time. I am afraid i am still just happy to have a club at all that i don't want it risked on chasing the Premier League.

each to their own and I hope you get your wish.

Bloody right I'm success hungry. I don't know what age you are Badfish but I've got 45+ years under the belt supporting BHA and boy have I seen some lean times. I want it all and now! I'm not getting any younger and I want a dose of the big-time again. We had the opportunity and blew it and I was as angry as f..k.
Yes, I'm also fickle and yes I want to see us up there again. I am, however realistic enough to know that a new manager may need a bit of time. So, if we are not in the top two by October, I will want him gone. Simple![/QUOTE]

 

[Albumen]

We'll get there but I'm worried this business with the management has set us back a little. Time will tell but I'm a worrier.

 

[Acker79]

Not yet. It will depend on how the manager situation is resolved and summer transfers before I start thinking that way.

I believe tony wants premier league, and would like to get their sooner rather than later, but it wasn't this past season or bust. Yes, it would have been nice to go up and be guaranteed the 60m parachute payment as a minimum, but that minimum will be there if we go up next season, too.

If we get rid of gus and bring in one of those managerial journey men, and let our top stars go without replacing them, then I will worry.

 

[Deleted member 2719]

We had a very good squad last season. The back four with Bridcutt in front was the best in the Championship. It was a squad capable of automatic promotion. If Gus is honest with himself, he knows he blew it. TB gave him every support to push for the Prem.
If a lot of BHA fans are honest with themselves, they will know that this sort of opportunity doesn't come round that often. The division was competitive but pretty ordinary. With the class in our squad, we had the edge on a lot of teams.
I have no doubt that some other managers would have got us promoted. Either through the regular season or through the play-offs. The talkative and charasmatic Poyet has attracted some very good players to this club but has he extracted the most out of them? Top managers are reknown for getting that little bit extra out of players and that makes the difference.
We were superb at times last season but on too many other times we were frustratingly predictable. Our superb defence made us very hard to beat but the manager's innate caution resulted in too many draws.
I was gutted to lose in the play-offs as I felt we had a wonderful opportunity. A lot of neutrals thought we were going to make it. We had the best squad and the best form going into them. The rest is history. Promotion would have set us up for years. We would probably have signed Bridge and Upson.
What beckons now is uncertainty. This may have been our best chance for years to get out of the Championship. Next season the bottom club in the Prem will get £63mill, followed by significant parachute payments. The ' league within a league ' will become ever more obvious, with relegated clubs having the resources to bounce straight back.
A good solid club like Derby are treading mid-table water in the Championship as they haven't got the resources to compete with others at the same level. Eventually, they are forced to sell their young talent and they are back to square one.
How can you compete when Palace are getting over £100mill in four seasons? ( if they come back down ) Brighton ,Derby and others will get about a tenth of that.
I have a horrible feeling it may be ' after the Lord Mayors Show ' next season. I desperately hope that I am wrong.

Exactly how i see it and i am sure Bloom and Barber saw it like that too (speculation alert!).
The long and short of it is the Gus was never the Messiah, Bloom is and always will be and it could well be s**t or bust next year.
But still i trust in Bloom, but i do wonder whether he should have sacked Gus early in the season when he persisted on using CMS as the lone man at home.

I respect that the board have too be professional but every day seems like a month at the moment.

 

[Twizzle]

Some will have short term views of football and our aspirations, but I doubt the board were putting most of the eggs in one basket
Ironing out the wrinkles in running a spanking new stadium while consolidating our Championship status would be the main job of work. Tony Bloom isn't silly or desperate in ambition - our player budget has been modest enough actually.
If we went up, we then need to spend on staying there.

The steps taken in 2 seasons have been enormous - building the top level on the East, filling in the corners - while not having to close large areas during the season?!

Filling seats and selling season tickets, successfully done.

On the field we had to listen to the manager losing his perspective by keep holding his service to ransom.
He ought to be humble and grateful for running a team and employed in such a respectful position - his record is somewhat modest, & he had all he needed in order to succeed. I say that because the points dropped in all those drawn games signify the possibilities as much as did the points won.
We could have won at palace too, but failed to exploit their nervous state.

No manager is 'the club', no player is the team, and importantly - we should expect to be pushing our ambitions but not insisting to achieve everything all to happen at once necessarily....because football is not predictable and opponents are also full of ambition too.

Some said they would be happy to compete in this division - I prefer their attitudes to ones who say they require succes and make rash statements like "we have already won" v palace.

 

[backson]

How do you concentrate on staying in a league? Lose a few deliberately if you're playing too well?

 

[Psychobilly freakout]

Wolves, Peterborough, Palace, Hull, Cardiff & Bristol City replaced by Yeovil, Doncaster, Reading (Bridge), QPR (Redknapp mess), Wigan (Roberto gone) & Bournemouth.

Will be a an interesting division, but I feel slightly weaker.

good point

 

[salty seagull]

Don't Panic!!! This season we've got Leo from the start. Okay we've lost Bridge, but the appointment of a savvy manager and a couple of decent signings and we'll be even stronger this year.

 

[stripeyshark]

How do you concentrate on staying in a league? Lose a few deliberately if you're playing too well?

Win a few if you're not doing well...

 

[Weststander]

I would tend to agree with the OP but I think the key is in who becomes manager. Someone with good contacts will easily be able to replace those that leave with better loan signings which will make the squad stronger with very little outlay. So the answer about how we will fare next season will be known as soon as we are told who will be at the helm

And a positive character who does not talk about budgets through the media. Who coaches with what he has, and appreciates what a fantastic job he has.

There are plenty of them ... look at Holloway, Jackett, Chris Powell ... just 3 examples.

 

[Mo Gosfield]

And a positive character who does not talk about budgets through the media. Who coaches with what he has, and appreciates what a fantastic job he has.

There are plenty of them ... look at Holloway, Jackett, Chris Powell ... just 3 examples.

Would be happy with any of them. Look what Powell is achieving at Charlton with nothing like our strength of squad.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

I think Gus knew that we would not keep the squad together and things would be harder next season - that was the basis for his ill times interview after Palace.

Hard to say what our future is until we get a manager and start to get a squad together. Not going to be easy to keep existing players or get new ones until we have some clarity

That's how I think.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Was our big push for promotion and now we are going to concentrate on staying in this league rather than trying to get out of it?

Could have been the high spot for a few years?

Hopefully I am wrong and once the manager situation is sorted we'll be signing players who can take us to the next step.

Just get the feeling that after three years of a bit of glory we could be taking a backward step.

Convince me I'm wrong

I love this division but was half expecting that we'd be one of the big teams but accept that maybe I was getting carried away. Can't really moan if TB is looking to rein in spending and consolidate rather than pushing hard.

Would really like some good news soon..

this

 

[GoldWithFalmer]

Establishment for a very long time at this level is what it is all about for me,we must not see league 1 again anytime soon,that said i was thinking the same thing last night in a brief moment of despair..

 

[Aquilaugh]

Wolves, Peterborough, Palace, Hull, Cardiff & Bristol City replaced by Yeovil, Doncaster, Reading (Bridge), QPR (Redknapp mess), Wigan (Roberto gone) & Bournemouth.

Will be a an interesting division, but I feel slightly weaker.

Wolves and Bristol were awful, but I'd say that Reading, QPR and especially Wigan will be stronger than Cardiff, Hull and Palace, and I'm a Palace fan. If anything I think the league will be even tougher but fancy 2 of the relegated 3 to run away with it, for so many clubs it's all about the play-offs.

 

[Mutts Nuts]

Was our big push for promotion and now we are going to concentrate on staying in this league rather than trying to get out of it?

Could have been the high spot for a few years?

Hopefully I am wrong and once the manager situation is sorted we'll be signing players who can take us to the next step.

Just get the feeling that after three years of a bit of glory we could be taking a backward step.

Convince me I'm wrong

I love this division but was half expecting that we'd be one of the big teams but accept that maybe I was getting carried away. Can't really moan if TB is looking to rein in spending and consolidate rather than pushing hard.

Would really like some good news soon..

Been mentioning it on here for 18 months, we very obviously needed strikers ,Tony Bottled it on the River.We now have another 30 years of 2nd and 3rd division football.

 

[Mackenzie]

Reading should be alright, they have signed one of the best players in the league in Bridge. I'm expecting QPR to do a Wolves (they have a squad full of players whose ego exceeds their ability), Wigan could be alright if their relegation/loss of manager doesn't trigger an exodus. I'd expect Bournemouth to be the best of the promoted teams.

Its no stronger than last year.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

A much harder championship my arse.

This

 

[elbowpatches]

Wolves, Peterborough, Palace, Hull, Cardiff & Bristol City replaced by Yeovil, Doncaster, Reading (Bridge), QPR (Redknapp mess), Wigan (Roberto gone) & Bournemouth.

Will be a an interesting division, but I feel slightly weaker.

Spot on.

 

[Silk]

I'm hoping that our strategy is to sign players with a bit more longevity than Bridge and Upson, who could do a short term job but, let's face it, are no spring chickens. I think it will be hard to assemble as strong a squad next season, and our development squad currently doesn't look like producing much. Slightly worrying times.