| Back from holiday to see the WBA game 07:42 - Apr 26 with 811 views | muccletonjoe |
Nothing changes a great deal. We rode our luck first half and thanks to Walton , were given a chance of winning or perhaps winging it would be a better phrase , in the second half, which they didn't take in any case.
In my opinion , this team will make the last Premier league campaign seem successful, major, major investment needed on the correct players, and by that, I mean experienced premier league players, not the Walle-egeli potential punts. Maybe half a dozen of our current squad would have some sort of shot at premier league football , but I am not deluded enough to think that this squad is any way better than the last promoted one, two seasons ago.
They can now get away with losing to Southampton on Tuesday, it would be nice to think they have enough about them to beat a demoralised team from the FA cup semi-final , and restore some sort of hope to the season ahead of us, but our above par performances have been few and far between to date. |  | | |  |
| Back from holiday to see the WBA game on 08:27 - Apr 26 with 707 views | Blue_Heath |
Agree, if we get over the line we need quick, strong, experienced players and also the right players for the way we play and characters for the team so not easy.
How the hell Sunderland did what they did in terms of recruitment I don't know but Xhaka was a master stroke. |  |
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| Back from holiday to see the WBA game on 08:33 - Apr 26 with 692 views | The_Flashing_Smile |
I think you need to give them a bit of a break today.
Couple of things I didn't realise that add mitigating circumstances by The_Flashing_Smile 26 Apr 8:17to yesterday's performance. It was the hottest day of the year and the pitch was bobbly. Re the former, it's not surprising we were a bit lacklustre, given the busy schedule on top of that heat. And West Brom massively tired, too, from the hour mark onwards.
And re the latter, thinking about it there were a couple of weird moments that could've been down to the pitch, such as Burns totally misjudging a couple of balls (one that went out of play) and Clarke's air kick. Could've even been a factor in Azon's misses. A fair bit of our play was disjointed and a hot, bobbly pitch won't help that.
Maybe we should be a bit more generous with our assessment. Away at the form team of the division, with all of the above taken into consideration (I haven't even mentioned the pressure), then actually it's a much better performance, and an incredible result all told.
Also, thinking this squad is better than the last one promoted isn't deluded, just a different opinion. I think it is, albeit it certainly needs help. A couple of decent strikers and a Hackney type alongside Matusiwa and this team would be transformed. |  |
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| Back from holiday to see the WBA game on 08:33 - Apr 26 with 695 views | Nutkins_Return |
I agree we need some major investment but this squad has a lot more talent and a higher ceiling then the squad that went up last time.
If we can add some dynamic and I still think crucially some very quick players to this squad we will have a better chance.
I do think McKenna has maybe got the team playing too pragmatic and to respectful of the opposition post that season in the prem. Can understand why. And I think the balance isn't quite right I the side still. But we still have better players. | |
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| Back from holiday to see the WBA game on 08:38 - Apr 26 with 670 views | FrimleyBlue |
| Back from holiday to see the WBA game on 08:33 - Apr 26 by The_Flashing_Smile |
I think you need to give them a bit of a break today.
Couple of things I didn't realise that add mitigating circumstances by The_Flashing_Smile 26 Apr 8:17to yesterday's performance. It was the hottest day of the year and the pitch was bobbly. Re the former, it's not surprising we were a bit lacklustre, given the busy schedule on top of that heat. And West Brom massively tired, too, from the hour mark onwards.
And re the latter, thinking about it there were a couple of weird moments that could've been down to the pitch, such as Burns totally misjudging a couple of balls (one that went out of play) and Clarke's air kick. Could've even been a factor in Azon's misses. A fair bit of our play was disjointed and a hot, bobbly pitch won't help that.
Maybe we should be a bit more generous with our assessment. Away at the form team of the division, with all of the above taken into consideration (I haven't even mentioned the pressure), then actually it's a much better performance, and an incredible result all told.
Also, thinking this squad is better than the last one promoted isn't deluded, just a different opinion. I think it is, albeit it certainly needs help. A couple of decent strikers and a Hackney type alongside Matusiwa and this team would be transformed. |
Flash. Dont know if you know how to link heat maps. But just saw some on x and it imo shows how different we went about the game in comparison to other fixtures. When you look at the heat maps of taylor. Azor Clarke etc. Incredibly different.
Defo one of those games of get through it. Get something but be calm and reduce the intensity. |  |
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| Back from holiday to see the WBA game on 08:54 - Apr 26 with 617 views | The_Flashing_Smile |
| Back from holiday to see the WBA game on 08:38 - Apr 26 by FrimleyBlue |
Flash. Dont know if you know how to link heat maps. But just saw some on x and it imo shows how different we went about the game in comparison to other fixtures. When you look at the heat maps of taylor. Azor Clarke etc. Incredibly different.
Defo one of those games of get through it. Get something but be calm and reduce the intensity. |
I could link them if I could find them, but I can't! | |
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| Back from holiday to see the WBA game on 09:57 - Apr 26 with 531 views | Guthrum |
I don't agree.
This team is defensively much stronger than the 2023-24 one. This season so far we have conceded 45 goals as compared with 56 at the same stage of the last promotion campaign. Weakness at the back was what cost us in the Prem - we drew ten games and lost eight others by a single goal margin. Frequently conceding crucial goals late in games.
The overall standard of the Champ is higher this season than two years ago. In 2023-24, the gap between 4th and 5th (the notable step) was 12 points and the gap between 4th and 12th was 25 points. This season, the gap between 4th and 5th is 3 points and the 4th to 12th is 19. With a couple of exceptions, the middle and lower teams are much closer in standard to the leading group than back then. |  |
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| Back from holiday to see the WBA game on 10:01 - Apr 26 with 507 views | SuffolkPunchFC |
| Back from holiday to see the WBA game on 08:33 - Apr 26 by Nutkins_Return |
I agree we need some major investment but this squad has a lot more talent and a higher ceiling then the squad that went up last time.
If we can add some dynamic and I still think crucially some very quick players to this squad we will have a better chance.
I do think McKenna has maybe got the team playing too pragmatic and to respectful of the opposition post that season in the prem. Can understand why. And I think the balance isn't quite right I the side still. But we still have better players. |
Just said much the same in another thread.
Reality Check by SuffolkPunchFC 26 Apr 9:58If you look at what we finished the 23/24 season with, and compare that with now, imo we clearly have a better nucleus of players. Agree we need wholesale recruits for the PL, but we will start with a stronger foundation (looking as all aspects for the individuals - performance, potential and age; plus off-field infrastructure).
If we do get prompted, next year's KPI is easy to identify - finish higher in the league, and avoid relegation. Hopefully we're discussing that in 12 months time, and can continue to build from there.
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| Back from holiday to see the WBA game on 10:13 - Apr 26 with 428 views | HighgateBlue |
| Back from holiday to see the WBA game on 09:57 - Apr 26 by Guthrum |
I don't agree.
This team is defensively much stronger than the 2023-24 one. This season so far we have conceded 45 goals as compared with 56 at the same stage of the last promotion campaign. Weakness at the back was what cost us in the Prem - we drew ten games and lost eight others by a single goal margin. Frequently conceding crucial goals late in games.
The overall standard of the Champ is higher this season than two years ago. In 2023-24, the gap between 4th and 5th (the notable step) was 12 points and the gap between 4th and 12th was 25 points. This season, the gap between 4th and 5th is 3 points and the 4th to 12th is 19. With a couple of exceptions, the middle and lower teams are much closer in standard to the leading group than back then. |
Totally agree as regards defensive strength. I think we'd need major reinforcements at CM, as this was as much a part of our defensive weakness in the Prem as anything else (there were a lot of 'knife through butter' goals against us). But throwing defensive babies out with bathwater wouldn't necessarily be a good move.
We'll need a quality striker or two. We had Delap last time round of course, who was a revelation, and we still fell very short. Plainly what we have in that department now is short of Prem quality.
Not sure what to think of the standard of the Championship. I'm a little bit on the fence. I think the gap between the sides is material closer. When teams have changed managers or otherwise got their act together, their results have changed markedly (Norwich, Saints, WBA, Sheff U). That's clearly a function of the old regime and the new regime to some extent, but the fact that the upturn has been so pronounced in certain cases probably reinforces the idea that this is a really tight league - the margin between success and failure not being terribly large.
What that means for quality overall is less clear. |  | | |
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| Back from holiday to see the WBA game on 10:37 - Apr 26 with 367 views | Axeldalai_lama |
Which half dozen of our last promoted squad would have had a chance at being in a premier League squad? Omari, Davis.......
In many ways this squad is opposite to that one. It was playing 'better' more flowing or what ever you call it, but was hugely worse depth wise. Just looking back, and absolutely no disrespect to a wonderful season, but harry Clarke, George Edmundson, marcus Harness, Dom ball, kayden jackson and Freddie ladapo all played at least 15 times, many in the high 30s for appearances. Equivalents this year are maybe Burns, egeli, young, Johnson, mcateer, azon, akpom.
And that's obviously before transfers over the summer, which will have moved on, and in truth, can't be worse than last time. |  | | |
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