When Phillips was fit and at his best, he was a very talented player, who showed true PL ability. I still think his best game for us was against Leicester. Before he was wrongfully sent off, he literally ran the show from midfield, they couldn’t get near him.

Such a shame that injuries prevented him from establishing himself as a regular starter. There were times when we saw glimpses of the player that made his name at Leeds. Hope that he can regain that elsewhere and perhaps even go on to establish himself in the national squad again.
Yet another player that speaks so highly of our manager.

I must be the only one who wished we'd signed someone else instead. Complete waste of a signing.

He’s still got the ability, obvious injury issues didn’t help, but why are we pretending it was anything other than a disappointment, he didn’t perform, our management failed to get anywhere near the best from him.

When did him feeling good about the situation (which is important) become more primary than results, performances, and league tables.

We really are so far from elite in our mentality. We’ll be reporting that Cheltenham, Forest Green, Morecambe, and Fleetwood are fine teams and difficult to beat (again) soon.

Kalvin is a genuinely likeable guy, actually a really nice guy, but he’s been a bitter disappointment.

Not all his fault, he’ll probably end up at Leeds, and wouldn’t be shocked to see him thrive,

What does that say about the culture and environment we have, which looks after players really well, clearly, but doesn’t get the best out of them.

That’s Greaves, Muric, Hutchinson, Clarke, Philogene, Johnson, Broadhead, Leif, Szmodics that have played well below their levels this season. All season too. Not for spells.

And the majority of them have never kicked a ball in League One, in spite of being told we are a tinpot league one club on a journey.

McKenna is very young, and that alone is mitigation, but we need so much more from what is a talented squad. Platitudes don’t translate to players wanting to run through brick walls for KM…, that’s a problem, maybe he’s too nice, because he certainly is a very hard working, softly spoken, nice guy.

Not all players respond to a carrot, measurably.

Darkhorse, agree with the rest, unfair on NB though, he should’ve got more game time in my opinion and when he did play, as always, he played well

I wish Kalvin all the best wherever he plays next. I was impressed with his tenacity and effort on the teams behalf and he seems to have genuinely loved his time at Town. Shame about the injuries as he didn't really get a good run of games, but none the less he is a quality player.

I am still annoyed by the Leicester game and the absolutely blatant penalty that wasn't given, and not just for the win it cost us. KP is then sent off and banned for three games at a time when he was really starting to perform. We were still very much in the mix in the table at the time and I believe this disruption, on top of all the other injuries, had a significant detrimental impact on our season.

Either that or I'm just still annoyed with the that penalty decision and will use any excuse to rant about it! :)

He sadly didn't light the fires that we needed - but he put his heart into it. A good player.

Class

Had we had a fully fit Philips and Cajuste, true Premier League quality players, playing most of our games this season, relegation may well have been avoided.

Cloddyseedbed: in some ways I agree either way you. Town paid through the nose to bring him here, and whilst McKenna / club have helped the lad personally, the player hasn’t to my mind repaid the huge financial outlay. We really needed him, but he was rarely available to play. This club can’t afford to be a rehab centre for other clubs struggling players. He’s not so invested in our club thst he wants to stay is he, that would have been “repayment” to Town, even if it was just one season. Instead another club is going to benefit from our outlay in every sense.

A fit Kalvin Phillips would be one player who I would have in my team every week

If we hadn't signed him though, doubtless the same people on here would have said we didn't sign enough experienced PL players blah blah. That he did undoubtedly underperform was down to bad luck with injuries and injustice as said above. KmK's transfer failures lay more with say Muric and JP, and perhaps, as others have said, a lack of imagination and not looking overseas enough. We shall see to what extent we reap the rewards of last seasons signings in the Championship.

He had a decent little spell in the middle of the season. Unfortunately for him — and for us — those niggling injury problems kept him out too often. It was a gamble that didn’t pay off. If we’re being honest, we probably wouldn’t have been able to recruit him if it hadn’t been a gamble.

Lots of nice comments about KP and his performances but at the end of the day we didn't get value for money

Cloddybraindead would be more appropiate.

Cloddyseedbed - you wished we'd signed someone else? Guessing hindsight has given you this platform. Quietly confident that we signed him to be a much more active player, but it didn't work out. Not sure anyone is at fault for that.

Darkhorse - whilst well written, an astonishing level of criticism. What's the relevance of new signings having not played in League One? One naff season out of three and suddenly we're doomed to the lower echelons? Don't waste your time following the club if you can't see the journey we're on - we're building sustainably and for the long-term, with the right cultural and ensuring we create our identity. To not compromise those elements is essential to the plan, this season was too much too soon for where we'd come from but we're far better for it.

Stunned at the negativity around this place sometimes... we've just had Premier League football for the first time in 22 years, in a competition renowned for monopolistic attributes yet 'fans' see failure...

Not sure whether this was bad lack or a gamble that went wrong, but signing two midfielders was an absolute necessity and we signed two that seemed to be dreadfully unfit at the start which we should have known.
With the greatest respect to Sam and Mass, they're way past their best at PL level and Jack Taylor was rarely a starter at Championship level.
I don't think you can pin relegation simply on the midfield though, we conceded daft goals from defensive blunders, Muric (a signing that really backfired) and a vulnerability through the LB channel because we seemed intent on Lief being a creative left sided player rather than a defender first and foremost.
Add the huge PL quality gap that existed and untimely injuries to Szmodics, Burns, Ogbone, Hirst and then Phillips again just as he WAS getting fit, and it's a recipe for disaster.
No excuses, we got key things wrong and rather than investing or borrowing in a midfield, we bought more and more wingers.
Had we been successful in getting Flynn Downes back in January it would have eased the vulnerability a little, but there is no doubt Central midfield is the weakest area and I expect us to go and get Downes, plus at least one more even in Cajuste stays.
We will need a replacement for Liam but if we don't spend at least £30m on the midfield, all those other vulnerabilities will bite us again next season

The reason players didn't perform at their best was because they were not allowed to at a level that was above them unless you think the Premier league is no different to any other league some do on here. Phillips was very unfortunate but he didn't perform at West Ham either that makes me think he brought his injuries problems with him. Anyone who signs him should put him through a rigorous fitness test otherwise it could be a expensive mistake.

Darkhorse. Di philogdne gasnt played well all season? Realky. Only signed st thd end of January. And played very few games in a position hexbot used to. Then got injured. Johnson started poorly get, but was vastly improved in 2nd half of the season.As for Phillips, when fit, hes been much better than Morsy, who always slows the pkay down

City. Slows the play down. Phillips and Cajuste been far our best pairing. Just a shame Phillips has had injury problems.

City. Slows the play down. Phillips and Cajuste been far our best pairing. Just a shame Phillips has had injury problems.

Says the man with NO goals and NO assists...he's been a mixed bag to be honest when he does play.

Dark horse- think that is a very interesting and astute analysis and closer to the mark than most people think.

Must have cost the club £ 3-4 million !
Never be worth it , signed to give some PL experience , just did not happen .