Ok, my definition of setting the ball rolling.
Hoofy watch:
Season 1 Feb-May 2008. Games 14 Points 27 Pts per game = 1.929
Season 2 2008-2009 Games 46 Points 80 Pts per game = 1.739 (approx .2 per game less)
Season 3 2009-2010 Games 46 Points 65 Pts per game = 1.413 (approx .3 per game less)
Season 4 2010 Games 2 Points 1 Pts per game = 0.5 (approx .9 per game less)
Given that Season 4 was somewhat curtailed and is, therefore, unfair, even without it we are going in only one direction at an increasing rate (i.e. the ball is starting to roll).
I won't even go into the selling of any wingers, pace and the turning the squad into being completely unwatchable as it makes me vomit just thinking about it.
Well done Houso for putting into words how i felt about the initial tone of this thread.
If were doing maths, during KB's tenure we declined by an average of 2.5 points per season. If that continued, we would have averaged roughly 1.15 points per game in 2010-11 = 53 points for the season, which would have given us 19th place and survival.
Or if you want to do it on the basis that he progressively declined but halved the increase rate each season (.2 in 09-09, .3 in 09-10, thus .35 in 2010-11, that gives roughly 1.06 points per game in 2010-11 = 49 points and (narrow) survival.
---------- Post added at 01:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:12 PM ----------
We were a worse team in 2010-11 than we were in 2009-10, but not that much worse and absolutely no-one as far as I am aware predicted relegation at the start of that season
I think you're wrong about that. My father was saying it at the time, and he and dozens of others who attended the Hartlepool game were saying it even louder a mere 2 games in while Blackwell was manager. As Grecian shows, things were slowly slipping back, and they reached a point of critical mass at the start of that season.
Well, we have had the Hartlepool discussion before and I really don't think you could sensibly read anything into a first round league cup game featuring two debutants (Chappell and James) who clearly were not good enough. By all account the team had played well in the previous 1-1 draw at Cardiff, being unlucky not win despite playing most of the game with 10 men.
Anyway, no-one can be proved right in this argument and neither of us is going to change his view!