Mid Table Mediocrity .

[Ponte_Steve24]

Despite all the euphoria of the final day when all our ducks fell in a row right up to the last seconds I am not blinded to the fact we gorra way wi it big time in staying up. That Struber must ev been ovva to Ireland to kiss the Blarney Stone. In the end it relied on the Wigan owner not being willing to wait three or four weeks until the season ended before purrin them into administration for us to stay up because, on the field, we finished in the bottom three.
That nine game spirit after lockdarn is impossible to maintain over a Championship season. If Struber does stay I predict the same old carry on of a sacking in November after a poor start trying to gel new youngsters. This talk of mid table security or even flirting with the Play Offs is pure fantasy fo me. Another season of struggle on the cards in my opinion.

Sheff Wed -12, Rotherham never make a fist of it and Wycombe will be down there. I'm not making any wild predictions but it's a good chance to consolidate.

[animallittle3]

There's definitely more than a hint of the championship coming more towards us than we've experienced over the last three or four seasons .

My target is 56 to 60 points , which basically equates to gaining around 3 more wins than we managed last season .

That in my opinion would be progress and a reasonable target to achieve .

My concerns are that the club and especially within recruitment have a mindset of " we've cracked the championship nut " , they most certainly haven't .

Always a dangerous time is coming off the back of achievement , complacency kicks in and a mindset of basking in the glory .

We've been here before and were comfortably relegated the following campaign .

[SBRed48]

Struber's Boys will need to crack the historical pattern if we are to finish mid table (12th/13th ) in the Championship. The closest we have got was Season 16/17 under Heckingbottom-

Season--Position--Points

19/20--21st--49 pts
18/19-------------
17/18--22nd--41 pts
16/17--14th--56 pts
15/16-------------
14/15-------------
13/14--23rd--39 pts
12/13--21st--55 pts
11/12--21st--48 pts
10/11--17th--56 pts
09/10--18th--54 pts
08/09--20th--52 pts
07/08--19th--54 pts
06/07--20th--50 pts

Now is the moment to change history Herr Struber (if he is still Head Coach )

[Ponte_Steve24]

Struber's Boys will need to crack the historical pattern if we are to finish mid table (12th/13th ) in the Championship. The closest we have got was Season 16/17 under Heckingbottom-

Season--Position--Points

19/20--21st--49 pts
18/19-------------
17/18--22nd--41 pts
16/17--14th--56 pts
15/16-------------
14/15-------------
13/14--23rd--39 pts
12/13--21st--55 pts
11/12--21st--48 pts
10/11--17th--56 pts
09/10--18th--54 pts
08/09--20th--52 pts
07/08--19th--54 pts
06/07--20th--50 pts

Now is the moment to change history Herr Struber (if he is still Head Coach )

The players have proven they can apply themselves. We now operate a system whereby if we turn up we don't get beat regularly. The next target has to be a top half finish and that is where the recruitment should bare in mind. We need a seasoned full back, midfield enforcer and a big lad up front.

Then we will be able to push up the table. I don't look to the past too much.

[SBRed48]

The players have proven they can apply themselves. We now operate a system whereby if we turn up we don't get beat regularly. The next target has to be a top half finish and that is where the recruitment should bare in mind. We need a seasoned full back, midfield enforcer and a big lad up front.

Then we will be able to push up the table. I don't look to the past too much.

This present team is not a patch on the Hourihane/Winnall/Hammill team of 16/17 until it was broken up in Jan 17, which was the only team in the last eleven years to get near mid table over a season, nor is it a patch on some earlier teams in the last eleven years. We need to look at the recent past to put the abilities of the present team in context/comparison to realise the hopes of achieving mid table is not as easy as some think. We are nowhere near the likes of traditional mid table teams such as Preston over a season.
As i said a day or two back the worrying thing for me is that Dane and Billy think the present roster is a "good Championship team" and Paul might wish to go again with recruiting more youngsters like last summer.