This season and beyond

[BiggerBladeThanThou]

Woke up feeling like we took a major step to promotion last night, unconvincing at times but we’ve been like that in a few games and bagged the all important 3points - not a bad habit to form in this league/any league.

Looking ahead, I’m worried. Our squad (minus the two City boys) is ageing and quite surprisingly still consisting of some of the original Wilder boys in the starting 11. It’s surprising to me we are where we are as I tipped us to scrape Playoffs this season.

If we go up…let’s face it…we’re fucked. We don’t have the momentum and underdog gung-ho spirit of the previous promotion campaign. We need a proper clear out and an owner who’s willing to spend a decent chunk of the circa £200m promotion pot we’re likely to receive in all.

Out the door:

Basham
Fleck
Norwood
Lowe
McBurnie
Sharp (unless he stays as staff)
Jebbison
Clark or Robbo
Baldock or Bogle
Davies becomes 3rd choice

Keep:
Berge (better suited to Prem and a season in champ will have done him good)
Ndiaye
Anel
Wes
RND (can see him becoming a Robertson type player)
Mcatee (loan extension)
Doyle (sign him up)
Egan (just)
Robinson (just)
Osula (loan out Champ)
Arblaster (loan out Champ)
Brooks (loan out Champ)

We need:

2 decent, proven strikers who can get double figures whilst being able to play with and compliment Ndiaye / not talking about MGW either, we need an out an out goal scorer.

A back up keeper to Wes.

A decent RB with Baldock / Bogle as back up.

A decent proven playmaker MF if we can’t get the city boys back.

Another LCB to play in the 3.

I’m sure there’s more….

 

[BiggerBladeThanThou]

Woke up feeling like we took a major step to promotion last night, unconvincing at times but we’ve been like that in a few games and bagged the all important 3points - not a bad habit to form in this league/any league.

Looking ahead, I’m worried. Our squad (minus the two City boys) is ageing and quite surprisingly still consisting of some of the original Wilder boys in the starting 11. It’s surprising to me we are where we are as I tipped us to scrape Playoffs this season.

If we go up…let’s face it…we’re fucked. We don’t have the momentum and underdog gung-ho spirit of the previous promotion campaign. We need a proper clear out and an owner who’s willing to spend a decent chunk of the circa £200m promotion pot we’re likely to receive in all.

Out the door:

Basham
Fleck
Norwood
Lowe
McBurnie
Sharp (unless he stays as staff)
Jebbison
Clark or Robbo
Baldock or Bogle
Davies becomes 3rd choice

Keep:
Berge (better suited to Prem and a season in champ will have done him good)
Ndiaye
Anel
Wes
RND (can see him becoming a Robertson type player)
Mcatee (loan extension)
Doyle (sign him up)
Egan (just)
Robinson (just)
Osula (loan out Champ)
Arblaster (loan out Champ)
Brooks (loan out Champ)

We need:

2 decent, proven strikers who can get double figures whilst being able to play with and compliment Ndiaye / not talking about MGW either, we need an out an out goal scorer.

A back up keeper to Wes.

A decent RB with Baldock / Bogle as back up.

A decent proven playmaker MF if we can’t get the city boys back.

Another LCB to play in the 3.

I’m sure there’s more….

Added to this, Brighton’s recruitment has been the template for me….South American market ought to be somewhere we explore for once.

 

[Yellarbellyblade]

Altogether now “we ain’t got a barrel of money ……….”

 

[WeareBlades]

We're not going to sell Baldock or Bogle, Bogle is still only 22 ffs. We need an extra midfielder as well as Mcatee and Doyle, also we need another LB. Egan just? still one of the best championship centre backs and wont look out of place in premier league.

 

[Bookers Mullet]

Baldock out? Seriously? I mean most of the others maybe (I personally disagree with Jebbo and Bogle as I think both will develop into great players) but furious has been our most consistent player this year and I can't remember a truly bad performance. Never let us down in the prem either

 

[Berkshire Blade]

I remember thinking when we went up with wilder we had too many league one players to hope to give it a real go.

We are a well organised side with some individual quality as is. I am confident we could come 17th with a few smart additions.

 

[Yogi]

I wouldn’t be shipping Jebbo out unless either we get a very good offer for him or there’s a clear indication we can’t get him to sign a long term deal.

 

[IdLiketoRogerMoore]

With a back line containing young players who should only get better: Bogle, RND, Anel, Lowe; Ndiaye, Jebbison, Brewster up front - we're a midfield away from being a fresh, young, vibrant force...

Fingers crossed we can bring in 3 or 4 young bucks in there, and I'm feeling more positive!

 

[Stevo]

The balancing act here for me is if we are in the prem, we will be odds on coming back down again, hecky and the owners will be fully aware of this and will be thinking that we need to retain some payers who can do it in the championship if this happens, for me fleck, basham, enda to go and Billy as a coach

 

[South Sea Blade]

We only have to finish above Bournemouth, Burnley and the Championship Play-off winner..........not an impossible ask even with just a few additions.

 

[Westran]

Out the door:

Fleck
Norwood
Sharp (unless he stays as staff)
Clark

Keep:
Basham
Lowe
McBurnie
Berge
Ndiaye
Anel
Wes
RND
Baldock
Bogle
Mcatee (loan extension)
Doyle (sign)
Davies
Egan
Robinson
Jebbison (loan out to champ)
Osula (loan out Champ)
Arblaster (loan out Champ)
Brooks (loan out Champ)

Sign:

GK
LWB
LCB
CM
CF

All signings need to be first team players, the players that get displaced become backup

 

[LondonBlade89]

For me the biggest needs if we go up are:

• Big upgrades on the left hand side - new players to potentially start at LWB and LCB
• Two new midfielders to potentially start - one for the Doyle/Norwood role, one to cover the left side (as Fleck has done)
• A number ten / attacking midfielder
• A goalkeeper to challenge Wes

Other positions are sort of manageable and interest depends on money available. If there was another spot you’d probably want to add a striker.

 

[PaulHalfway]

Massive change required this summer, all the old players need to go them it’s all down the skill of the recruitment team, free transfers, loan players, looking abroad, who are the best Championship players available
We need pace, physicality in midfield, going to be very interesting
Just hope we don’t have any sentimental or loyalty by giving contracts to the players who are now nowhere near Premier league level, that would be a massive mistake and wasted millions

 

[cahill]

Woke up feeling like we took a major step to promotion last night, unconvincing at times but we’ve been like that in a few games and bagged the all important 3points - not a bad habit to form in this league/any league.

Looking ahead, I’m worried. Our squad (minus the two City boys) is ageing and quite surprisingly still consisting of some of the original Wilder boys in the starting 11. It’s surprising to me we are where we are as I tipped us to scrape Playoffs this season.

If we go up…let’s face it…we’re fucked. We don’t have the momentum and underdog gung-ho spirit of the previous promotion campaign. We need a proper clear out and an owner who’s willing to spend a decent chunk of the circa £200m promotion pot we’re likely to receive in all.

Out the door:

Basham
Fleck
Norwood
Lowe
McBurnie
Sharp (unless he stays as staff)
Jebbison
Clark or Robbo
Baldock or Bogle
Davies becomes 3rd choice

Keep:
Berge (better suited to Prem and a season in champ will have done him good)
Ndiaye
Anel
Wes
RND (can see him becoming a Robertson type player)
Mcatee (loan extension)
Doyle (sign him up)
Egan (just)
Robinson (just)
Osula (loan out Champ)
Arblaster (loan out Champ)
Brooks (loan out Champ)

We need:

2 decent, proven strikers who can get double figures whilst being able to play with and compliment Ndiaye / not talking about MGW either, we need an out an out goal scorer.

A back up keeper to Wes.

A decent RB with Baldock / Bogle as back up.

A decent proven playmaker MF if we can’t get the city boys back.

Another LCB to play in the 3.

I’m sure there’s more….

Rhian Brewster baby ?

 

[Brian Deane]

For me the biggest needs if we go up are:

• Big upgrades on the left hand side - new players to potentially start at LWB and LCB
• Two new midfielders to potentially start - one for the Doyle/Norwood role, one to cover the left side (as Fleck has done)
• A number ten / attacking midfielder
• A goalkeeper to challenge Wes

Other positions are sort of manageable and interest depends on money available. If there was another spot you’d probably want to add a striker.

Almost correct, need to upgrade on the GK, Wes as back up at most if we have to keep him.

 

[3Cheers4Ramirez]

We're not fucked at all, as long as we can spend at a bare minimum level on recruitment

We have the other 2 promoted clubs and maybe Leeds and Bournemouth to aim to finish above, for example. It's not hopeless at all

We have Ndiaye. What like that did we have last time? Get one high quality CF to go with him, and we could cause anyone problems

We'll get Doyle and McAtee back, who will both be big signings, more so than they've been this season

Then we'll surely use the loan market for at least 2 others

So that's probably the minimum

The biggest limiting factor will be the manager but it wouldn't be prudent to change anything there at this point, sentiment aside

We'll get more points than last time, surely learn the lessons from last time, and be set for years. Our fans should all be delighted and also somewhat optimistic

 

[CrookesBlade]

I don’t see how we are “fucked”. We’ll probably lose more than we win. We might even get relegated but every promoted team accepts that as a possibility. That’s just football. Even in that god awful “ghost season” we still managed 20 points.

Berge, Anel and Ndiaye all have the potential to be effective Premier League players. Baldock and Egan did well at that level last time. Bogle despite being out of form currently was a real handful for many teams. Even the much maligned McBurnie bagged a few in the 1st season.

We just need to recruit smartly to have a chance of competing. Given the players we’ve added this season I’m confident in Hecky’s ability to do that. Don’t have the board and management pulling in completely separate directions this time with regards to who we recruit.

 

[sufcboy95]

Out-
Sharp
Fleck
Stevens

In-
GK
CB
LWB
CM x2
Attacking midfielder
STx2

 

[Brownieblade]

Unless we have a new owner then I think it’s take the money and run, the yo yo approach whilst trying to build a team through the young kids

I would say tactically we are fucked unless Hecky changes the game plan, you can get away with playing ok for most games and grinding out 1-0 wins, in the prem you likely are going to get punished every week with chances created

 

[3Cheers4Ramirez]

This sort of thing is surely reasonable to achieve and would leave us competitive

Loan/Free
Baldock - Anel - Egan - RND/JLT - Loan
Free/Loan/8m - Doyle 8m - McAtee loan
Ndiaye - 15m

Bench: Wes, RND/JLT, Bogle, Norwood, Free/Loan, McBurnie, Jebbison

 

[IdLiketoRogerMoore]

This sort of thing is surely reasonable to achieve and would leave us competitive

Loan/Free
Baldock - Anel - Egan - RND/JLT - Loan
Free/Loan/8m - Doyle 8m - McAtee loan
Ndiaye - 15m

Bench: Wes, RND/JLT, Bogle, Norwood, Free/Loan, McBurnie, Jebbison

Pretty sure Doyle will be setting his sights a bit higher than a £8m transfer to a yo-yo club...

For me it's more about the mentality and attitude. Last time we were successful it was because we had a squad of players with something to prove (didn't we have something like 7 players who had been dropped from top 5 academies). Our biggest issue was, once they'd proved it we didn't either move them on, or bring in others with something to prove...

If you look at Brentford and Brighton, they don't mind flipping players/managers as their entire culture is based on bringing in people with a point to prove.

If Hecky does one thing this summer, it's bringing that type of mentality to the club.

 

[Dkc]

I've said before I'd consider giving Billy another year if only for his ability to come on on 75-80 minutes and see out games when we are ahead. But if this is his final season it would be a good way to bow out.

Overall I think we are fucked without 7-8 quality additions.

 

[Yewsman]

As I have said before we should invest some of the Prem money in infrastructure. Sort kop pillars and spectator facilities and build new academy to get Cat one status plus upgrade firstvteam training facilities. Last time we were promoted we had to spend £20 mill just to comply with sky media requirements. Wont need to spend that this time so use it on infrastructure. Yes recruitment is key but if we also have infrastructure then we have a much better chance of bouncing back should we get relegated.

 

[Kev Gee]

I can see very few out goings tbh.
We will keep Norwood and Fleck for example as squad players. Hopefully we can sign some younger players as first choice.
So I expect lots of new contracts (1 and 2 Years) and hopefully building with the like of Jebbo, Osula, and quality young additions.

The main thing we need sorting out ASAP is the ownership and embargo issue so we can get a clear plan in place.

 

[blade too long]

If we go up…let’s face it…we’re fucked. We don’t have the momentum and underdog gung-ho spirit of the previous promotion campaign

we dont have the momentum
only game weve lost in the last stretch dash was due to a sending off and we are in a cup semi final on saturdaty

if thats not momentum what is


aint half some crap spouted on here


think its fair to say Hecky didnt do too bad getting in anel doyle and mcatee why all this panic crap

 

[Dkc]

As I have said before we should invest some of the Prem money in infrastructure. Sort kop pillars and spectator facilities and build new academy to get Cat one status plus upgrade firstvteam training facilities. Last time we were promoted we had to spend £20 mill just to comply with sky media requirements. Wont need to spend that this time so use it on infrastructure. Yes recruitment is key but if we also have infrastructure then we have a much better chance of bouncing back should we get relegated.

Most would agree with you but it won't happen without a mega-rich owner who is in it for the long term.

If we can survive the first season it would be fantastic if we could get the kop sorted out in the summer. But removing the pillars would mean replacing the roof, I imagine. Then you have the need for safe standing and a covered concourse. It is a big job.

 

[PaulHalfway]

I can see very few out goings tbh.
We will keep Norwood and Fleck for example as squad players. Hopefully we can sign some younger players as first choice.
So I expect lots of new contracts (1 and 2 Years) and hopefully building with the like of Jebbo, Osula, and quality young additions.

The main thing we need sorting out ASAP is the ownership and embargo issue so we can get a clear plan in place.

No for Fleck and Norwood, we need to spend our money wisely these are not PL quality anymore by a country mile

 

[PaulHalfway]

The hotel needs opening as well, it’s embarrassing to see that place shut and non operational

 

[Beans]

Woke up feeling like we took a major step to promotion last night, unconvincing at times but we’ve been like that in a few games and bagged the all important 3points - not a bad habit to form in this league/any league.

Looking ahead, I’m worried. Our squad (minus the two City boys) is ageing and quite surprisingly still consisting of some of the original Wilder boys in the starting 11. It’s surprising to me we are where we are as I tipped us to scrape Playoffs this season.

If we go up…let’s face it…we’re fucked. We don’t have the momentum and underdog gung-ho spirit of the previous promotion campaign. We need a proper clear out and an owner who’s willing to spend a decent chunk of the circa £200m promotion pot we’re likely to receive in all.

Out the door:

Basham
Fleck
Norwood
Lowe
McBurnie
Sharp (unless he stays as staff)
Jebbison
Clark or Robbo
Baldock or Bogle
Davies becomes 3rd choice

Keep:
Berge (better suited to Prem and a season in champ will have done him good)
Ndiaye
Anel
Wes
RND (can see him becoming a Robertson type player)
Mcatee (loan extension)
Doyle (sign him up)
Egan (just)
Robinson (just)
Osula (loan out Champ)
Arblaster (loan out Champ)
Brooks (loan out Champ)

We need:

2 decent, proven strikers who can get double figures whilst being able to play with and compliment Ndiaye / not talking about MGW either, we need an out an out goal scorer.

A back up keeper to Wes.

A decent RB with Baldock / Bogle as back up.

A decent proven playmaker MF if we can’t get the city boys back.

Another LCB to play in the 3.

I’m sure there’s more….

Cheer up OP, imagine what it'd be like if we weren't going up.

 

[blade too long]

no momentum ,,,, my arse

Championship Form Table

The 2024-2025 Championship Form Table showing a mini table of the latest football results for every team in the division

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