Realistic Expectations For Next Season?

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So, we have a change of manager. Some seem to be disappointed although the majority, including me, are happy with CW. The timing is as good as it can be so soon after this woeful season and CW has more time to sort his retained list and search for players to bring in.

We know that the budget will be very limited and that we need to get rid of more crap and bring in better.

Given the current shambolic state of affairs at BDTBL, what are people's realistic expectations for the coming season? Are you expecting automatic promotion, a play off spot or would you be happy to see a marked improvement in effort and commitment and style of play, which we can build on for the following season and look to go up from there?

My view is that it will be a tough ask to expect automatic promotion next season given how low we have reached and the fact that no significant investment will be available. It goes without saying that hopefully CW can bring in the right players, which are likely to be from the lower leagues where he will have seen first hand the best and most promising. Assuming that the right players come in, the most important factor for me is that CW creates a hard working, committed team environment where the squad give nothing less than 100% in training and matches, which seemed to be woefully lacking under NA.

6 seasons in the shit league has really taken its toll and without bags of cash I can't see a quick fix so realistically I'm hoping for a play off spot. If we don't achieve that, as long as there is a clear sign that the team is improving and heading in the right direction in terms of style of play and effort, I would grudgingly accept that and expect promotion the season after.
 



We'll no more come the first game of the season but depends on who he brings in. I expect cheap and cheerful, but to be quite frank that's not necessarily a bad thing.

If we're bringing in hard working, quick, 100% players with something about them it can only be a good thing. The key to getting out of this league is consistency. If we have 6 or 7 playing well, week in, week out, then we'll do well. We've had 1 or 2 at best this season.

Regardless of what happens, I expect us to at least finish in a play-off spot.
 
Its pretty simple....

Lets stop fucking about now and get storming this league.

I like how the first comment he said is to make BL a fortress once again.

Weve got someone who wont be bigging up the likes of Crewe and Rochdale in press conferences.

Or sitting back and defending at home when 1-0 up after 15 mins.
 
We're not going up this season. Our squad's a complete mess, we're short about 8-10 players and we're not going to back the manager. We're going to chuck the kids in, many of which don't seem ready. We're expecting Wilder to come in and do a bit of a Warnock by injecting some spirit, getting the best out of bad players and operating on a shoestring. But unfortunately he's never managed at this level so the task is mammoth. Until I see evidence of backing to the contrary, then I can't see us finishing much higher than we did this season, but I hope that doesn't mean Wilder's head... it will though.
 
Kevin Gage said on RS that he has lowered his expectations and doesn't expect great things now, however, i'm the opposite.

My mood following Adkins' appointment and Wilder's are poles apart.

Last season i really questioned the sanity in replacing Clough with Adkins as Clough hadn't done that bad, results wise. The move to sack Clough was done without there being a candidate ready to replace him, it was done without a plan.

Don't get me wrong, it was never about Adkins, it wasn't like i didn't want him, but I felt Clough was the right man to sort the issues, a new man coming in was going to give 'Clean slates' whereas what we really needed was a huge clear out. I felt and still feel that Adkins was the right manager at the wrong time.

The clear out by Adkins was more about getting players away from the club, not getting rid, so its a partial clear out, the loanees will soon return to the lane and we're back to square one with many of them. Adkins will have made up his retained list and no doubt this won't get passed to Wilder.

In many ways, Wilder now has an uphill task, like Adkins and Clough before him. He has to clear out players from 3-4 managers ago and make his own judgements. Quickly. No doubt he will get some wrong, its natural.

There is though, less pressure on Wilder than Adkins, he's not the Knight in shining armour riding in on his white horse, he's the Bloke from the village with a big fucking axe. He's not expected to take a side which got to two semi's straight to promotion, he's expected to clean up the mess left behind.

The pretty bar maid that you thought you were in with all night whilst she convinced you that you needed to buy a round of shots has gone. There's no more time for one more drink, the landlord has cashed up and is here to close up and kick you out.

So what does Wilder do? Simple, probably bring 3 players in, big characters, tonnes of heart. Two centre halves, a central midfielder. Putting a spine back in where the backbone has lacked.

You'll see the change in the players we have already. They'll be in fight or flight. No place for gobshites and smart arsed kids.

This division has got worse in 5 years, if we're not fighting for promotion by October, we need a big JTW. But i think we will be. Wilder knows the lower divisions
 
Genuinely believe it will be a similar season to the one we've just had. Sounds like wilder will do an adkins and take time to assess the squad, giving the out of contract players another chance.

I couldn't be less inspired. McCabe is basically trying to find another warnock, like he did with Blackwell, Adams & Morgan, when he would have been better just swallowing his pride, admitting he was wrong, and asking him to return.
 
We could finish anywhere between 5th and 15th.

Don't think we will trouble the top two or bottom four.
 



Superblades said:
Top 6.

From interviews posted on here it seems we have got a manager who the players can't hide behind (see the John-Joe O'Toole interview). I was up for giving Adkins another year but I seem to be looking forward to the new season more with Wilder.
Click to expand...

It's a cracker. What a breath of fresh air.

 
We won't make the Play-offs. There isn't enough quality in the squad at present and not nearly enough scope to change that.
 
I'd guess that 95% of Blades think that based on the personnel available to Adkns we UNDERPERFORMED last season.

So logic says that even with no signing or sales we should perform much better next season.

I expect us to be in and aroud the playoffs, at least.
I'm genuinely postive and I'm hoping that when Wilder talks about Blades having an important role in making BL a fortress again we trust him and we make progress. I'm feeling postive.
 
SwissBlade said:
Kevin Gage said on RS that he has lowered his expectations and doesn't expect great things now, however, i'm the opposite.

My mood following Adkins' appointment and Wilder's are poles apart.

Last season i really questioned the sanity in replacing Clough with Adkins as Clough hadn't done that bad, results wise. The move to sack Clough was done without there being a candidate ready to replace him, it was done without a plan.

Don't get me wrong, it was never about Adkins, it wasn't like i didn't want him, but I felt Clough was the right man to sort the issues, a new man coming in was going to give 'Clean slates' whereas what we really needed was a huge clear out. I felt and still feel that Adkins was the right manager at the wrong time.

The clear out by Adkins was more about getting players away from the club, not getting rid, so its a partial clear out, the loanees will soon return to the lane and we're back to square one with many of them. Adkins will have made up his retained list and no doubt this won't get passed to Wilder.

In many ways, Wilder now has an uphill task, like Adkins and Clough before him. He has to clear out players from 3-4 managers ago and make his own judgements. Quickly. No doubt he will get some wrong, its natural.

There is though, less pressure on Wilder than Adkins, he's not the Knight in shining armour riding in on his white horse, he's the Bloke from the village with a big fucking axe. He's not expected to take a side which got to two semi's straight to promotion, he's expected to clean up the mess left behind.

The pretty bar maid that you thought you were in with all night whilst she convinced you that you needed to buy a round of shots has gone. There's no more time for one more drink, the landlord has cashed up and is here to close up and kick you out.

So what does Wilder do? Simple, probably bring 3 players in, big characters, tonnes of heart. Two centre halves, a central midfielder. Putting a spine back in where the backbone has lacked.

You'll see the change in the players we have already. They'll be in fight or flight. No place for gobshites and smart arsed kids.

This division has got worse in 5 years, if we're not fighting for promotion by October, we need a big JTW. But i think we will be. Wilder knows the lower divisions
Click to expand...

One of the huge issues we face again is that we're playing catch-up. If reports are to be believed, Clough had a couple lined up before he left and Adkins had 8 or 9. We're back to stage 1 again. Whether the players Wilder has been looking at for the Cobblers will fit into how we're going to play is another matter. He's currently not got the players to play the way he did at Northampton.
 
SwissBlade said:
Kevin Gage said on RS that he has lowered his expectations and doesn't expect great things now, however, i'm the opposite.

My mood following Adkins' appointment and Wilder's are poles apart.

Last season i really questioned the sanity in replacing Clough with Adkins as Clough hadn't done that bad, results wise. The move to sack Clough was done without there being a candidate ready to replace him, it was done without a plan.

Don't get me wrong, it was never about Adkins, it wasn't like i didn't want him, but I felt Clough was the right man to sort the issues, a new man coming in was going to give 'Clean slates' whereas what we really needed was a huge clear out. I felt and still feel that Adkins was the right manager at the wrong time.

The clear out by Adkins was more about getting players away from the club, not getting rid, so its a partial clear out, the loanees will soon return to the lane and we're back to square one with many of them. Adkins will have made up his retained list and no doubt this won't get passed to Wilder.

In many ways, Wilder now has an uphill task, like Adkins and Clough before him. He has to clear out players from 3-4 managers ago and make his own judgements. Quickly. No doubt he will get some wrong, its natural.

There is though, less pressure on Wilder than Adkins, he's not the Knight in shining armour riding in on his white horse, he's the Bloke from the village with a big fucking axe. He's not expected to take a side which got to two semi's straight to promotion, he's expected to clean up the mess left behind.

The pretty bar maid that you thought you were in with all night whilst she convinced you that you needed to buy a round of shots has gone. There's no more time for one more drink, the landlord has cashed up and is here to close up and kick you out.

So what does Wilder do? Simple, probably bring 3 players in, big characters, tonnes of heart. Two centre halves, a central midfielder. Putting a spine back in where the backbone has lacked.

You'll see the change in the players we have already. They'll be in fight or flight. No place for gobshites and smart arsed kids.

This division has got worse in 5 years, if we're not fighting for promotion by October, we need a big JTW. But i think we will be. Wilder knows the lower divisions
Click to expand...
Good post

A point about the clearout that Adlins should have done last season - I think it might miss the point.

The clearout was not really possible. Clough's signings are so poor and as we are continually seeing, they go on to far lower destinations. Given the size of the contracts and the quality if the players, it just wasn't possible.

Adkins Mr Positive persona is clear, and it's far more likely that "giving players a clean slate" was his positive spin for "they are shite and I'm stuck with them".

UTB
 
robbiez666 said:
We'll no more come the first game of the season but depends on who he brings in. I expect cheap and cheerful, but to be quite frank that's not necessarily a bad thing.

If we're bringing in hard working, quick, 100% players with something about them it can only be a good thing. The key to getting out of this league is consistency. If we have 6 or 7 playing well, week in, week out, then we'll do well. We've had 1 or 2 at best this season.

Regardless of what happens, I expect us to at least finish in a play-off spot.
Click to expand...
Totally agree with the players we need to bring in. I am fed up with us bringing in ex championship players, paying more wages than any other club in the Division and still failing to get promotion. Clubs with a fraction of our budget come and play us off the park because they are young, fit, well organised and highly motivated. Even in the Premier League teams like Leicester and Bournemouth have shown that you can compete with teams with a massively bigger budget. What was Burton Albion's wage budget this season?
What we should be looking for is recruiting the best players from L1 clubs - there are plenty around, probably some up and coming from L2 and use the loan market cleverly. Just throwing money at it is not the answer (it certainly hasn't worked for us in the last 5 seasons). The most important appointment is the manager. Get the right man and everything else will fall into place. He will recruit the right players and also, as importantly, get the best out of the players we have, something I certainly don't think NA did. Is CW the right man for the job? I hope so but he must be given at least 2 seasons.
 
alcoblade said:
Good post

A point about the clearout that Adlins should have done last season - I think it slightly kisses the point.

The clearout was not really possible. Clough's signings are so poor and as we are continually seeing, they go on to far lower destinations. Given the size of the contracts and the quality if the players, it just wasn't possible.

Adkins Mr Positive persona is clear, and it's far more likely that "giving players a clean slate" was his positive spin for "they are shite and I'm stuck with them".

UTB
Click to expand...

It was intentional as i didn't really see the point in dragging over old ground on this thread too much on the quality of some players. There were so many in the club that just weren't performing.

I think the key was that the board and fans thought that Adkins when he came in would work miracles, but I don't think he was ever going to do that, hence 'right manager, wrong time'. The expectations on Adkins were much higher than with Wilder.

You can see already on other threads that people are analysing Wilder's previous job and being surprised that he wasn't the long ball merchant that they thought.

What Wilder brings is a no nonsense approach, from what i can make out. There will be no place for hiding.
 
Yewsman said:
Totally agree with the players we need to bring in. I am fed up with us bringing in ex championship players, paying more wages than any other club in the Division and still failing to get promotion. Clubs with a fraction of our budget come and play us off the park because they are young, fit, well organised and highly motivated. Even in the Premier League teams like Leicester and Bournemouth have shown that you can compete with teams with a massively bigger budget. What was Burton Albion's wage budget this season?
What we should be looking for is recruiting the best players from L1 clubs - there are plenty around, probably some up and coming from L2 and use the loan market cleverly. Just throwing money at it is not the answer (it certainly hasn't worked for us in the last 5 seasons). The most important appointment is the manager. Get the right man and everything else will fall into place. He will recruit the right players and also, as importantly, get the best out of the players we have, something I certainly don't think NA did. Is CW the right man for the job? I hope so but he must be given at least 2 seasons.
Click to expand...

I think the most important thing the club needs to do is sort the scouting out. This is where we need to spend the money. Get good networks set-up across the UK and some links to Europe. That and the Academy. We need to have a situation that when we sell a player we can replace them quickly.
 
SwissBlade said:
It was intentional as i didn't really see the point in dragging over old ground on this thread too much on the quality of some players. There were so many in the club that just weren't performing.

I think the key was that the board and fans thought that Adkins when he came in would work miracles, but I don't think he was ever going to do that, hence 'right manager, wrong time'. The expectations on Adkins were much higher than with Wilder.

You can see already on other threads that people are analysing Wilder's previous job and being surprised that he wasn't the long ball merchant that they thought.

What Wilder brings is a no nonsense approach, from what i can make out. There will be no place for hiding.
Click to expand...
Agreed. Expectations are lower now, and good look to him. He'll still get shit, and the sack, if we don't get promotion.

In terms of personal expectation and care for the club itself, I've never felt lower.

At this point in time, I think of the club as a drinking vessel, looking forward to any night after far more than the show itself.

UTB
 
It will be Weir revisited.

We'll be in the bottom half.

Where we finish depends on who comes in after we fire Wilder and whether we spend anything then.

Nothing has changed. Only the guy on the chopping block.
 
Revolution said:
It will be Weir revisited.

We'll be in the bottom half.

Where we finish depends on who comes in after we fire Wilder and whether we spend anything then.

Nothing has changed. Only the guy on the chopping block.
Click to expand...

Think we got to at least see who is retained/released/signed before tipping where we finish?
 



LS26BLADE said:
Think we got to at least see who is retained/released/signed before tipping where we finish?
Click to expand...
Yes, I'm waiting for that. I've got a horrible feeling about the "few surprises", and "pathway for youth" right now though.

The thought of the likes of DCL, Louis Reed and Ryan "he could do a job" Fylnn being regulars literally fills me with dread.

UTB
 
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