| With every new signing 08:09 - Aug 23 with 1464 views | Asa |
It really hammers home how incredible last season was and why none of the players who are being replaced, on paper, should be written off.
We may well end the window with a £30m rated Chelsea striker, England's player of the season from a few years back who was a £50m player, a Napoli and Sweden midfielder.
Add to that Greaves, Clarke, Hutchison, Muric, Ahmedhodzic, Szmodics - all players that were as good in their positions as anyone in the Championship last season or the year before.
It's essentially a Championship dream team, with some outstanding signings, players like Delap who are highly rated, solid PL players like Johnson and you could make a case for maybe only Davis now being the best permanent player from last year in his position.
However, 96 points.
This side now looks like a team you'd expect to stay up. Given McKenna alone might be worth several league places it's exciting times. But we've seen teams this good on paper get relegated and then not come flying back up.
If you dropped this side into the Championship would it go up? I'd say very, very likely. With McKenna, almost certainly.
But would it achieve 96 points? That's a quite incredible tally to match. There's a real argument that as good as this team now will be and excited as we should be for this season, it would be some going to match the points tally from last year if we had this side in the division below.
Which is exactly why, as much as I think we've upgraded pretty much all over the pitch by the end of the window, there will be a hell of a lot of competition for places and a lot of players from last year that really might be very capable PL players in waiting.
What a squad and I couldn't trust McKenna more to keep the dressing room as incredible as it's been in terms of the characters they know they are bringing in.
I don't think we could have asked a lot more from the window in terms of players who can make a difference now, players who can grow and become better, players whose value will increase, the ambition or the ability of this group to stay up and improve or to come straight back up in the face of the worst.
10/10 for the ownership group really. |  | | |  |
| With every new signing on 08:28 - Aug 23 with 1306 views | Churchman |
It’s fair to say that the owners have backed McKenna. I hope they’ve done it correctly, both from the financial angle and integration of the players. The last two years says they probably have.
Yes, last season was off the scale, as was the achievement. I still can’t believe it. That team stands alongside Burley’s 2000 side and Lyall’s 92 team. In fact you could argue that it is better and the scale of the achievement greater.
How will we do? No idea. But the existing team on its own would not have been strong enough to survive and McKenna would probably have gone a few months ago. We still may not be good enough, but we have a chance and as you point out, should we return to the Championship, we will in theory be stronger than when we left it.
I’d much rather we tried and failed than do a Norwich and not try at all.
Unless I’m missing something and the club is bankrupting itself, 10/10 for the owners, management, staff, team and coaches - everyone. |  | | |
| With every new signing on 08:37 - Aug 23 with 1195 views | BloomBlue |
And is why you shouldn't right off the players from last season. You're quoting players we've purchased who were good in the championship but not good enough to get their clubs even into a playoff position. Our players also we're good enough for a playoff place, they were TOO good and got us into automatic.
We got there on ability but also on team spirit and we must not lose that. Teams like Brentford, B'mouth, Wolves have proved retaining that team spirit is important to staying in the Prem. |  | | |
| With every new signing on 08:47 - Aug 23 with 1135 views | Vic |
| With every new signing on 08:37 - Aug 23 by BloomBlue |
And is why you shouldn't right off the players from last season. You're quoting players we've purchased who were good in the championship but not good enough to get their clubs even into a playoff position. Our players also we're good enough for a playoff place, they were TOO good and got us into automatic.
We got there on ability but also on team spirit and we must not lose that. Teams like Brentford, B'mouth, Wolves have proved retaining that team spirit is important to staying in the Prem. |
I’m not sure anyone is really writing off last seasons players are they? But we did need to uplift the overall quality and strength in depth of the squad. Like others have said, the new signing come in alongside the best 15 of last season and make this seasons squad. They’ll all fright for the first team and the best players will play - like I said in another thread - it’s a win/win for the team. |  |
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| Aye, an excellent transfer window on 08:49 - Aug 23 with 1119 views | Dyland |
My one nagging doubt is it's too much upheaval to manage quickly enough to get going this season, and we may struggle playing catch-up. But that's the natural pessimist in me. McKenna's comments about Delap are especailly encouraging in this regard, and if the coaching team can keep everyone on board, that there are sixteen first teamers all of equal importance, and that a handful will be backup for injuries i.e. important squad players, then we will be alright.
None of us know what's going through each players' heads. It seems just as likely to me that Burgess e.g. may be thinking a squad option is still an amazing achievement, and do his coaching badges at the same time and look at that as a future career whilst still having a part to play on the pitch. Same with Luongo. Other younger players may want more football (Al Hamadi e.g.) and hopefully be managed accordingly.
Morsy will of course start when he can, but over the season... meh, maybe he also thinks I've had an amazing run and been absolutely integral to our success, and accept there will be better options sooner rather than later. For him and the team. Yeh, I know that's blasphemy but I'm a blasphemer so eat me. is that what the kids still say?
Exciting indeed, and anyway I'm still buzzing from last season so whatever really. [Post edited 23 Aug 2024 8:50]
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| Aye, an excellent transfer window on 08:56 - Aug 23 with 1072 views | Dubtractor |
| Aye, an excellent transfer window on 08:49 - Aug 23 by Dyland |
My one nagging doubt is it's too much upheaval to manage quickly enough to get going this season, and we may struggle playing catch-up. But that's the natural pessimist in me. McKenna's comments about Delap are especailly encouraging in this regard, and if the coaching team can keep everyone on board, that there are sixteen first teamers all of equal importance, and that a handful will be backup for injuries i.e. important squad players, then we will be alright.
None of us know what's going through each players' heads. It seems just as likely to me that Burgess e.g. may be thinking a squad option is still an amazing achievement, and do his coaching badges at the same time and look at that as a future career whilst still having a part to play on the pitch. Same with Luongo. Other younger players may want more football (Al Hamadi e.g.) and hopefully be managed accordingly.
Morsy will of course start when he can, but over the season... meh, maybe he also thinks I've had an amazing run and been absolutely integral to our success, and accept there will be better options sooner rather than later. For him and the team. Yeh, I know that's blasphemy but I'm a blasphemer so eat me. is that what the kids still say?
Exciting indeed, and anyway I'm still buzzing from last season so whatever really. [Post edited 23 Aug 2024 8:50]
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You can be pretty sure that McKenna will manage all of those situations with the calm and considerate approach that he's use throughout his time here - our fringe players have all remained fully part of the team since he started, and fully motivated to do their bit when called upon.
But you're right that managing the transition to those new players is a huge task, that has to be done with absolute care |  |
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| Aye, an excellent transfer window on 09:11 - Aug 23 with 947 views | pointofblue |
| Aye, an excellent transfer window on 08:49 - Aug 23 by Dyland |
My one nagging doubt is it's too much upheaval to manage quickly enough to get going this season, and we may struggle playing catch-up. But that's the natural pessimist in me. McKenna's comments about Delap are especailly encouraging in this regard, and if the coaching team can keep everyone on board, that there are sixteen first teamers all of equal importance, and that a handful will be backup for injuries i.e. important squad players, then we will be alright.
None of us know what's going through each players' heads. It seems just as likely to me that Burgess e.g. may be thinking a squad option is still an amazing achievement, and do his coaching badges at the same time and look at that as a future career whilst still having a part to play on the pitch. Same with Luongo. Other younger players may want more football (Al Hamadi e.g.) and hopefully be managed accordingly.
Morsy will of course start when he can, but over the season... meh, maybe he also thinks I've had an amazing run and been absolutely integral to our success, and accept there will be better options sooner rather than later. For him and the team. Yeh, I know that's blasphemy but I'm a blasphemer so eat me. is that what the kids still say?
Exciting indeed, and anyway I'm still buzzing from last season so whatever really. [Post edited 23 Aug 2024 8:50]
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Delap’s improvement from Düsseldorf to Nice was astounding. Against the former, he didn’t see to have a clue how to work the press and wasn’t part of the team. He tried, but was out of sync with everyone else to a dramatic degree. Come Nice, he was part of a well oiled machine - he knew exactly what he was supposed to do and when his teammates would be doing the same, and he built on that further against Liverpool. | |
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| Aye, an excellent transfer window on 09:14 - Aug 23 with 902 views | BloomBlue |
| Aye, an excellent transfer window on 08:49 - Aug 23 by Dyland |
My one nagging doubt is it's too much upheaval to manage quickly enough to get going this season, and we may struggle playing catch-up. But that's the natural pessimist in me. McKenna's comments about Delap are especailly encouraging in this regard, and if the coaching team can keep everyone on board, that there are sixteen first teamers all of equal importance, and that a handful will be backup for injuries i.e. important squad players, then we will be alright.
None of us know what's going through each players' heads. It seems just as likely to me that Burgess e.g. may be thinking a squad option is still an amazing achievement, and do his coaching badges at the same time and look at that as a future career whilst still having a part to play on the pitch. Same with Luongo. Other younger players may want more football (Al Hamadi e.g.) and hopefully be managed accordingly.
Morsy will of course start when he can, but over the season... meh, maybe he also thinks I've had an amazing run and been absolutely integral to our success, and accept there will be better options sooner rather than later. For him and the team. Yeh, I know that's blasphemy but I'm a blasphemer so eat me. is that what the kids still say?
Exciting indeed, and anyway I'm still buzzing from last season so whatever really. [Post edited 23 Aug 2024 8:50]
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Totally correct.
If you listen to nearly every opposite manager last season their point was Ipswich has togetherness and you can tell they've played together for a long time and know where everyone is. That with the players' ability was the main reason why we achieved promotion, and we can not lose that.
I know KM will never let it happen, but we can not wait until Feb, Mar for the team to start to build an understanding.
Ok Forest did just avoid relegation that season when they completely changed the team, but it was close. | | | |
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