Let's be realistic about the new season.

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Can't believe people are worrying about our opening games, there should be next to none difficult games in this mediocre division.

Bristol City (H): Thought they were shocking last season and yes they picked up towards the end but finished around 14th. What makes people think they'll suddenly be better than us after pre-season? I'm not too sure they have the financial backing we have either. Not saying they won't be good this season and I think they'll do well but not sure why people think they'll be any better than us.

Coventry (A): A club still in bad financial dismay and not even playing at their own ground. Yes they did well in the first half of the season but had a bad end to the season and finished near to the relegation zone. They no longer have Leon Clarke.

Peterborough (A): Another side who weren't all they were made to be last year, yes they finished 6th but I thought they were average too. Unless they've signed decent players since who I'm unaware of then I can't see why they'd finish much higher than last season.

Crawley (H): Doesn't require much explanation. A mid table team at home should not be anything to worry about.

Preston (A): Probably one of the trickiest games of last season and although we defended well, it's arguable we were lucky to come away 0-0. A tough one to call and it all depends how we play on the day I suppose but can't see why we can't come away with 3 points.
 



Rossb123 said:
One player I am worried about that Clough has recruited is James Wallace, not because of his ability. He seems to be very injury prone, with the midfielders Clough has signed it seems to me if Wallace was fit then he would start in the middle alongside Basham (with Basham being the engine). If he was to get injured would that mean Basham and Doyle would partner in the middle? I don't mind Doyle at all but from the sounds of it him and Basham are very similar.
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I'd expect Scougall to play alongside a more defensive CM like last year either from the start or if Wallace is injured, although at the minute it looks as though we may play a midfield 5 due to lack of recruiting a first choice striker.
 
Small Mendonca said:
Can't believe people are worrying about our opening games, there should be next to none difficult games in this mediocre division.

Bristol City (H): Thought they were shocking last season and yes they picked up towards the end but finished around 14th. What makes people think they'll suddenly be better than us after pre-season? I'm not too sure they have the financial backing we have either. Not saying they won't be good this season and I think they'll do well but not sure why people think they'll be any better than us.

Coventry (A): A club still in bad financial dismay and not even playing at their own ground. Yes they did well in the first half of the season but had a bad end to the season and finished near to the relegation zone. They no longer have Leon Clarke.

Peterborough (A): Another side who weren't all they were made to be last year, yes they finished 6th but I thought they were average too. Unless they've signed decent players since who I'm unaware of then I can't see why they'd finish much higher than last season.

Crawley (H): Doesn't require much explanation. A mid table team at home should not be anything to worry about.

Preston (A): Probably one of the trickiest games of last season and although we defended well, it's arguable we were lucky to come away 0-0. A tough one to call and it all depends how we play on the day I suppose but can't see why we can't come away with 3 points.
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It is one of the many unique features of the typical SUFC fan. Opposition teams are to be feared and their players all superstars. Every player they sign is one we've 'missed out on' even if we had no interest whatsoever in said player.

It's the Bladesfans' Way.
 
This season will be a battle between the genius of Nigel Clough and the propensity of this football to fuck up every single time.

The latter will also have the Footballing Gods in it's corner.

The odds aren't in Nige's favour.
 
I'll let the opposition worry , about there opening '' hard game '' against us , rather than the other way around , if they thought it was tough to beat us last season wait till this one '
A word on Harry , last season we all felt the loss of KM , and bemoaned the fact we had nobody to replace him , Mr Clough saw the danger in advance and got in people to fill the void if neededf , if not we've got a stronger squad .
Another striker than we'll fuck this league good and hard .
 
MBoreman said:
I'd expect Scougall to play alongside a more defensive CM like last year either from the start or if Wallace is injured, although at the minute it looks as though we may play a midfield 5 due to lack of recruiting a first choice striker.
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Agree, I think if we don't bring in a striker between now and the start of the season I would expect Baxter to start upfront with Scougall behind him. If Wallace is injured maybe it will be Scougall and Basham in the middle Baxter in the hole and McNulty/ Porter upfront?
 
shorehamview said:
I thought offence may be taken more at the "go fuck itself" bit rather than "arse" or "bottom".:D
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Well as you weren't bothered about offending, you should just let it all out, let it out, let it all out...

Oh and I also couldn't care about realism, I'm sweating my nuts off here in Cyprus having just had a great two weeks in the British summer, scuba diving again this afternoon. Realism doesn't exist until a week on Monday when I'm back to work properly
 
Rossb123 said:
Agree, I think if we don't bring in a striker between now and the start of the season I would expect Baxter to start upfront with Scougall behind him. If Wallace is injured maybe it will be Scougall and Basham in the middle Baxter in the hole and McNulty/ Porter upfront?
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Ross123,cloughy has said we are in for a striker and we will get one simple as that,he's not going to rush it or pay over the odds either,lets just wait and see what happens,i think we will be pleasantly suprised at who else we sign and i can also see a couple of outgoings aswell.
 
wizadry said:
Ross123,cloughy has said we are in for a striker and we will get one simple as that,he's not going to rush it or pay over the odds either,lets just wait and see what happens,i think we will be pleasantly suprised at who else we sign and i can also see a couple of outgoings aswell.
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Can't help reiterating that, if we bought Britt Assombalonga we'd kill two birds with one stone - neutralise Posh and get our much-needed striker. Him & Ched (and I think we all know he'll figure before Christmas) would be too much for this division.
 
Some Blades are so dreary and negative. Agreed no one knows where we will finish for sure, football is too unpredictable. We could finish top, could finish bottom. But with this group of players no one can say we don't have quality.

Most teams in our division would take Jose Baxter, Stefan Scougall, Jamie Murphy, James Wallace, Chris Basham etc. If they gel and work hard they have as much chance of automatic promotion as any other team.

I'm hoping for top two and would be satisfied with top six.
 
grafikhaus said:
Can't help reiterating that, if we bought Britt Assombalonga we'd kill two birds with one stone - neutralise Posh and get our much-needed striker. Him & Ched (and I think we all know he'll figure before Christmas) would be too much for this division.
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I agree about Ched. At the risk of repetition (we all do it, don't we?) I think COG will be the ideal partner for him.
 
This thread was an attempt to take a reading on the barometer of optimism and it has done just that.

For some the pressure reading is off scale and for others it is balanced but would be far higher once we have signed a talisman striker.

We will all know that football is so unpredictable, indeed just look at the Predictions League on here for the World Cup ( congratulations to Grumpy Blade who was a clear winner with just 59% correct results forecast)

All sorts of things can go wrong in early season and then it can be an uphill struggle, but in no way will we win evry game of course.. We will have a good idea by the end of October and let's hope we are all in good heart. I reckon we will concede few goals home and away but we may struggle to score, as it seems clear that the opposition will get men behind the ball against the clear favourites for the Championship. Our formation and style does depend on quick breaks, more so than close football against a mass defence and I'm not confident we have the forwards for a Plan B.

The situation I fear is a modest start and disillusionment amongst our fans. Let's hope that loyalty to Clough is unflinching if things don't go quite right early on. Rome was not built in a day and it might take a little time. After all this is only phase 2 of the Clough Revolution.
 
travellingblade said:
Sorry, but I completely disagree with this.

Any team, whichever League, is at a distinct disadvantage the following season because they've lost a significant part of the "closed season", by being involved in the playoffs.

There is less time for players to "re-charge their batteries" / get over niggling injuries, and less time for the manager to bring in new players.

Nigel has done a really good job this closed season by bringing in new players very early, giving them time to gell with their new team mates, which I believe will bring rewards in the first few, very tough games.
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feel free to disagree with me fella, no probs.

There will be less time, but not a lot less, what a couple of weeks? the first thing we need to do is get out of this shocking div by hook or by crook. i would like us to be worrying about lesser problems like having slightly less time to sign players in the higher div than being stuck here for another painful season.
 
Blades have got to nail the home form Maybe the players feel more nervous at t'Lane, due to our fans expectations. Plus Sheffield Utd away is a huge game for our opponents.

In the away games,if Blades can pick up a half a dozen victories & several draws then... switching off and conceding silly away goals has done for us in the past. We are a better squad than most teams in League 1,promotion is ours for the taking.(Even without 'Arry)

Automatic promotion or bust! Remember,Play off games are not really United's strong point:eek:
 



Back to reality with a bump. That,s football and the OP applies today no less or more than last week.

Maybe today will be the best thing that could have happened. Only time will tell but there are no gimmees anywhere.
 
Woodwardfan said:
I agree Bristol City, plus Orient, Preston,and surely Robinson at MKD will come good one day. Bristol had nearly as good a second half season as us and have spent wisely and have strikers! Barnsley and Donny are always going to be strong at this level, though I don't know what's going on at Donny ( 11 out none in).
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MKD now have Grigg to join Green, McFadzean and Hitchcock.
 
Orient have now signed Shane Lowry some 3 years after he was with us, a good signing at this level to add to Ledzkins, Pritchard and Wood. Orient are now a big money club after the recent take over. They lost Odubaji but they are going to be strong.

Within a week of this O.P. there is a different mood but I honestly think this is a healthy thing to go through at this early stage. Many fans were far too optimistic a week ago, as though we only had to turn up. Everyone has to hold their nerve early season.
 
I don't think we'll just turn up and win the league. Luckily in Clough we have manager that wont let complacency set in I know from last season we have the players this season we just have to finally play to consistently to our potential.
 
If you've got a spare half hour, have a read of this thread. Tells you a lot about football fans and confidence.

OP was written on 16th July, not very long ago at all.
 
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