Forget Blackpool….. 07:28 - Aug 26 with 10730 views | itfcjoe | …..nearly 2/3s of team with 10 points after 4 games will finish in the top 6 at the end of the season. 1 in 4 of them will finish in the top 2. It’s vital we start winning soon, we have a much tougher September ahead of us. Interestingly in the last 22 seasons, the team in 20th place (i.e. us this year) have finished in the top 2 twice, top 6 just once and relegated 3 times [Post edited 26 Aug 2021 7:32]
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Forget Blackpool….. on 07:33 - Aug 26 with 4392 views | Bluefish | For some bizarre reason a freak season like Blackpool is seen as the norm. It is almost like others posters think having just 2 points isna benefit so we can be like Blackpool. All very odd and doesn't seem to grasp how hard it is to overturn the defect against so many teams. It is easy against a few teams but not most of the league | |
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Forget Blackpool….. on 07:38 - Aug 26 with 4373 views | textbackup | We’ll probably absolutely storm Septembers fixtures, just to completely throw everyone’s minds | |
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Forget Blackpool….. on 07:44 - Aug 26 with 4317 views | chrismakin | It's only vital for those who fell into the auto expectation of immediate success. What's vital is we start to see an improvement in the individual concentration and we start to win games with the purpose of having a good season. Still believe it's the fans who are expecting promotion this season rather than the owners. A nice to have of course. But o leary wouldn't sit there and say it may take a couple of years if they're only expectation was promotion this season. | |
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Forget Blackpool….. on 07:50 - Aug 26 with 4306 views | textbackup |
Forget Blackpool….. on 07:44 - Aug 26 by chrismakin | It's only vital for those who fell into the auto expectation of immediate success. What's vital is we start to see an improvement in the individual concentration and we start to win games with the purpose of having a good season. Still believe it's the fans who are expecting promotion this season rather than the owners. A nice to have of course. But o leary wouldn't sit there and say it may take a couple of years if they're only expectation was promotion this season. |
When it comes to ITFC I expect nothing but miserable failure year on year, however, this season I must say I had a bit of hope (and still do) that we’ll be up there come May. Agree though, far too many thought we’d be top all season winning 4-0 weekly... either massively naive, thick, or just haven’t followed town long enough | |
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Thank You on 07:54 - Aug 26 with 4265 views | unstableblue | Saturday is a MUST win... we have to get momentum and confidence into the project immediately | |
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Forget Blackpool….. on 07:55 - Aug 26 with 4262 views | itfcjoe |
Forget Blackpool….. on 07:38 - Aug 26 by textbackup | We’ll probably absolutely storm Septembers fixtures, just to completely throw everyone’s minds |
Hopefully it’ll help as a combination of playing better teams, and having built a bit more confidence with a couple of wins under our belt - a run of 3-4 wins makes a massive difference at any stage of the season, especially early on | |
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Forget Blackpool….. on 08:38 - Aug 26 with 4028 views | tractorboy1978 |
Forget Blackpool….. on 07:44 - Aug 26 by chrismakin | It's only vital for those who fell into the auto expectation of immediate success. What's vital is we start to see an improvement in the individual concentration and we start to win games with the purpose of having a good season. Still believe it's the fans who are expecting promotion this season rather than the owners. A nice to have of course. But o leary wouldn't sit there and say it may take a couple of years if they're only expectation was promotion this season. |
Come off it. Promotion is very much the expectation of everyone this season - owners and Cook included. All of these players will have been sold this project on only spending 1 season in this division. | | | |
Forget Blackpool….. on 08:40 - Aug 26 with 3987 views | Bluefish |
Forget Blackpool….. on 08:38 - Aug 26 by tractorboy1978 | Come off it. Promotion is very much the expectation of everyone this season - owners and Cook included. All of these players will have been sold this project on only spending 1 season in this division. |
We are going to worry about that in the 2nd half of the season and pick up 4 points per game average | |
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Forget Blackpool….. on 08:41 - Aug 26 with 4005 views | Churchman | Teams can recover from poor starts, just as teams can fall down the league after good ones. I can think of more than one occasion where Town have done it both ways. With regard to a tough September, we should be building a team that doesn’t worry who it plays, but we are a long way off that at the moment. Are the players we have good enough to get to that level? Cook has done this before with a group of strangers; can he do it again? We will have a good idea by the end of September and if the answer is no, he’ll be kicked out by the end of October. The pressure is on. | | | |
Forget Blackpool….. on 08:42 - Aug 26 with 3999 views | tractorboy1978 | We have the best squad in the division but there are so many decent teams this season. It has to be a bit of a concern that the likes of Wycombe, Sheff Wed, Pompey and Sunderland already have a 7/8 point lead on us. I see top 6 as a certainty but top 2 (which we should be on paper) is going to be a struggle if we don't pull our finger out shortly. | | | |
Forget Blackpool….. on 08:43 - Aug 26 with 3990 views | Herbivore |
Forget Blackpool….. on 08:41 - Aug 26 by Churchman | Teams can recover from poor starts, just as teams can fall down the league after good ones. I can think of more than one occasion where Town have done it both ways. With regard to a tough September, we should be building a team that doesn’t worry who it plays, but we are a long way off that at the moment. Are the players we have good enough to get to that level? Cook has done this before with a group of strangers; can he do it again? We will have a good idea by the end of September and if the answer is no, he’ll be kicked out by the end of October. The pressure is on. |
Teams can recover from poor starts but Joe's point, which is demonstrably correct, is that those sides tend to be the exception rather than the norm. The aim has to be not to try to be like one of those exceptions and to instead do what most promotion contenders do and get off to a decent start and be well in the mix at halfway. Edit - for clarity, a decent start doesn't mean tonking everyone 4-0 playing champagne football, it just means picking up some wins and not falling too far away from those at the top. [Post edited 26 Aug 2021 8:49]
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Forget Blackpool….. on 08:56 - Aug 26 with 3882 views | Steve_M |
Forget Blackpool….. on 07:44 - Aug 26 by chrismakin | It's only vital for those who fell into the auto expectation of immediate success. What's vital is we start to see an improvement in the individual concentration and we start to win games with the purpose of having a good season. Still believe it's the fans who are expecting promotion this season rather than the owners. A nice to have of course. But o leary wouldn't sit there and say it may take a couple of years if they're only expectation was promotion this season. |
Nope, the goal is promotion this year. We have an expensive squad that is more than capable of achieving that. Up to the manager to get that out of them and improve in his abysmal record here. The owners will have far less patience with Cook than your seemingly inexhaustible supply. | |
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Forget Blackpool….. on 09:03 - Aug 26 with 3825 views | Herbivore |
Forget Blackpool….. on 08:56 - Aug 26 by Steve_M | Nope, the goal is promotion this year. We have an expensive squad that is more than capable of achieving that. Up to the manager to get that out of them and improve in his abysmal record here. The owners will have far less patience with Cook than your seemingly inexhaustible supply. |
Indeed. This creeping notion that promotion isn't the goal this year is really odd and represents a shameful lowering of expectations. The likes of Harper, Edwards, Chaplin, Edmundson etc. haven't come here expecting to spend at least 2 years in League 1. Ashton hasn't worked his arse off to bring those players in to spend 2 years in League 1. The owners haven't put the money in to sign those players to spend 2 years in League 1 either. The fans downplaying expectations is bizarre, especially when some of those fans are those who bemoaned a culture of accepting mediocrity at the club prior to this season. | |
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Forget Blackpool….. on 09:10 - Aug 26 with 3739 views | chrismakin |
Forget Blackpool….. on 09:03 - Aug 26 by Herbivore | Indeed. This creeping notion that promotion isn't the goal this year is really odd and represents a shameful lowering of expectations. The likes of Harper, Edwards, Chaplin, Edmundson etc. haven't come here expecting to spend at least 2 years in League 1. Ashton hasn't worked his arse off to bring those players in to spend 2 years in League 1. The owners haven't put the money in to sign those players to spend 2 years in League 1 either. The fans downplaying expectations is bizarre, especially when some of those fans are those who bemoaned a culture of accepting mediocrity at the club prior to this season. |
No one has said it's not the goal. Do I think the owners will go all panicky if it doesn't happen. No. | |
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Forget Blackpool….. on 09:13 - Aug 26 with 3702 views | hype313 | Yep, for all the attractive football we are witnessing compared with years gone by, it means absolutely nothing if we don't start winning games. We need to start winning games ASAP. And my one concern is that we have a plethora of talented footballers, but I still think we need a couple of nasty, hard hitting, no nonsense players to be able to take the game by the scruff of the neck. | |
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Forget Blackpool….. on 09:14 - Aug 26 with 3695 views | HighgateBlue |
Forget Blackpool….. on 07:44 - Aug 26 by chrismakin | It's only vital for those who fell into the auto expectation of immediate success. What's vital is we start to see an improvement in the individual concentration and we start to win games with the purpose of having a good season. Still believe it's the fans who are expecting promotion this season rather than the owners. A nice to have of course. But o leary wouldn't sit there and say it may take a couple of years if they're only expectation was promotion this season. |
For me, a failure to finish in the top quarter of the division, with the resources we've spent, would be a shameful failure. If we get to the playoffs and lose, I can totally handle that. | | | |
Forget Blackpool….. on 09:16 - Aug 26 with 3680 views | Beckets |
Forget Blackpool….. on 09:10 - Aug 26 by chrismakin | No one has said it's not the goal. Do I think the owners will go all panicky if it doesn't happen. No. |
The owners will take advice from O’Leary and Ashton who will have a view on what is the minimum achievement this season given the resources available to the manager. Top 6 minimum I would suggest and if Cook doesn’t look like he’s going to achieve that they’ll get somebody who they think can. | | | |
Forget Blackpool….. on 09:16 - Aug 26 with 3670 views | hype313 |
Forget Blackpool….. on 07:44 - Aug 26 by chrismakin | It's only vital for those who fell into the auto expectation of immediate success. What's vital is we start to see an improvement in the individual concentration and we start to win games with the purpose of having a good season. Still believe it's the fans who are expecting promotion this season rather than the owners. A nice to have of course. But o leary wouldn't sit there and say it may take a couple of years if they're only expectation was promotion this season. |
Think your being a little naïve here Chris, given the investment and the standard of players brought in, I very much doubt the ownership and the Players will see being competitive and a bedding in season as a positive. | |
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Forget Blackpool….. on 09:19 - Aug 26 with 3628 views | unstableblue |
Forget Blackpool….. on 08:43 - Aug 26 by Herbivore | Teams can recover from poor starts but Joe's point, which is demonstrably correct, is that those sides tend to be the exception rather than the norm. The aim has to be not to try to be like one of those exceptions and to instead do what most promotion contenders do and get off to a decent start and be well in the mix at halfway. Edit - for clarity, a decent start doesn't mean tonking everyone 4-0 playing champagne football, it just means picking up some wins and not falling too far away from those at the top. [Post edited 26 Aug 2021 8:49]
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Make your mind up: "I really don't see any game at this stage of the season as being must win. It's a game we should win and if we don't win it that will be massively disappointing but I don't think this one game is season defining and I'm not sure putting that much on it is very helpful." | |
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Forget Blackpool….. on 09:19 - Aug 26 with 3619 views | BiGDonnie |
Forget Blackpool….. on 07:44 - Aug 26 by chrismakin | It's only vital for those who fell into the auto expectation of immediate success. What's vital is we start to see an improvement in the individual concentration and we start to win games with the purpose of having a good season. Still believe it's the fans who are expecting promotion this season rather than the owners. A nice to have of course. But o leary wouldn't sit there and say it may take a couple of years if they're only expectation was promotion this season. |
Anyone who spends what we have will expect promotion. Anything less is failure. | |
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Forget Blackpool….. on 09:19 - Aug 26 with 3610 views | chrismakin |
Forget Blackpool….. on 09:16 - Aug 26 by hype313 | Think your being a little naïve here Chris, given the investment and the standard of players brought in, I very much doubt the ownership and the Players will see being competitive and a bedding in season as a positive. |
I wouldn't see it as a bedding in season, more of a finish as high as you can and do as well as you can and hopefully either get top 2 or win play offs. However I think finishing top 6 but losing playoffs... would be enough to keep PC in the seat. Anything less then no I don't think it would be accepted. | |
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Forget Blackpool….. on 09:21 - Aug 26 with 3595 views | itfcjoe |
Forget Blackpool….. on 09:03 - Aug 26 by Herbivore | Indeed. This creeping notion that promotion isn't the goal this year is really odd and represents a shameful lowering of expectations. The likes of Harper, Edwards, Chaplin, Edmundson etc. haven't come here expecting to spend at least 2 years in League 1. Ashton hasn't worked his arse off to bring those players in to spend 2 years in League 1. The owners haven't put the money in to sign those players to spend 2 years in League 1 either. The fans downplaying expectations is bizarre, especially when some of those fans are those who bemoaned a culture of accepting mediocrity at the club prior to this season. |
If we don’t go up this year we’ll need to raise a couple of million in player sales for the turnover calculations - so our best players this year will be gone and we have to go again. | |
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Forget Blackpool….. on 09:25 - Aug 26 with 3555 views | Herbivore |
Forget Blackpool….. on 09:19 - Aug 26 by unstableblue | Make your mind up: "I really don't see any game at this stage of the season as being must win. It's a game we should win and if we don't win it that will be massively disappointing but I don't think this one game is season defining and I'm not sure putting that much on it is very helpful." |
I think it's only in your head that those 2 statements aren't compatible, mate. We need to not lose touch, but at 5 games in I wouldn't describe any side as having lost touch. | |
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Forget Blackpool….. on 09:26 - Aug 26 with 3547 views | Keaneish | Lots of glass half empty posts at the moment. Checkout my other post about Cook at Southport - there’s an interesting interview there. In every job Cook has had or club he’s been involved with, he’s improved them, leaving them in a better place than we joined; Southport an exception who sacked him after only 6-months. The moral of the story is, patience. | |
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Forget Blackpool….. on 09:26 - Aug 26 with 3545 views | SitfcB |
Forget Blackpool….. on 08:56 - Aug 26 by Steve_M | Nope, the goal is promotion this year. We have an expensive squad that is more than capable of achieving that. Up to the manager to get that out of them and improve in his abysmal record here. The owners will have far less patience with Cook than your seemingly inexhaustible supply. |
...and bedsides, if we don’t go up this season it’s going to be a pain to have us play whilst the World Cup is on next year, another reason why we need to go up! | |
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