Thetownend.com

So the season kicks off in a little over 20 days and Swindon's squad is now taking shape. So how does League 1 look this season?

Of the teams that have been relegated, Bristol City look the most ambitious to go up with some money spent. Wolves and Peterborough have lost some players, but I expect Posh to strengthen in the coming month with £6 million coming in for the sale of Gayle.

Brentford have made some shrewd signings with Alan McCormack and Will Grigg being added to an already decent side. Davie Weir has come in at Sheff Utd and they have brought in some half decent players.

Of the teams coming into the league, Rotherham look to be spending a fair amount on player recruitment and the Gills made a decent signing of Cody Macdonald yesterday.

Teams that I think might struggle, Shrewsbury and Walsall who have had players leave, and haven't yet replaced them.

As for us? Could be anything really, the squad is very young and it remains to be seen how good the Spurs players are. If we can somehow afford to keep Caddis and Ward, I am quietly confident that we can finish top 10, and perhaps look towards another play-off spot.

Starting to get a little excited about the new season now that pre-season matches have started.

Brentford, City and Wolves will walk it

Much stronger division than last season. Don't fancy us at all. Staying up will be a pleasant surprise.

We'll be upper mid table I reckon. Maybe finish about 10th.

Gonna wait another month before making any solid predictions but as of now the three teams relegated from the Championship plus Sheffield Utd and Brentford will all be up there.

I'd be happy with a mid-table finish.. 12th would do.

This for me too.

Think we'll have a dodgy start and improve as the season goes on to finish around midtable. Fancy Oldham as dark horses but it's hard to see past City & Wolves. Brentford will obviously be up there but I can see a bigger team coming in for Rossler which may destabilise them. Quite fancy Preston to do well this year too, and one of the promoted teams. Probably Rotherham, unfortunately, as they seem to have built some momentum since the new stadium opened.

If we stay up I will be happy.

Been a while since we have had a boring mid table season, think we will now get one.

The 10th-12th spot is about right, nowhere near the bottom 4 but never really getting a real sniff of the playoffs

Peterborough to win it

Preston and Oldham have made some decent signings as well, I had forgotten about them. It could be a tough league this season to predict who is going to do well and not so well.

17th

This.

City and Brentford look like the teams to beat.

15th. If we have a poor start, I'm not convinced a team of untried youths and loan signings can turn it around,  so it's imperative that we get some decent results in August and September.

Based on the squad we have now, lower mid.

If we lose some more experienced players, ward in particular, then I see a relegation battle looming.

When have we ever started a season well?  :sherlock:

Dennis wise team.

So once every 10 years or so?

I think we will be average until around Xmas, at which point the team will suddenly come to life and we will just miss out on the play offs.

I have yet to see any of the Spurs lads (other than the ones we had last season) or Tijane play. I'm going to wait till I've seen them a couple of times before I jump to conclusions.

At a push though, I'd say top 12 somewhere. Because I'm an optimist.  

If some of our new players are as good as they're supposed to be, I reckon the play-offs could be calling again, weirdly.

Depends on the start, if we have a good start with the youngsters, the confidence will grow, if we have a dodgy start, heads will drop and we could struggle. Keeping Ward and Caddis will be the key.

Sounds an obvious point, I know, but the longer we keep Caddis, the greater the chance we have of keeping him for the season.  Ferry's experience of the last few months goes to show that being highly regarded at one club doesn't necessarily guarantee that you'll be snapped up elsewhere.  The pool of clubs who might come in for PC might not actually be that great.  The chances of his having a second spell with us are starting to rise, I'd say.

Anything other than relegation will be a bonus. I'll also be happy to have a club to support.

So you're saying that if we keep Caddis till the end of the season, we'll keep him till the end of the season?  :sherlock:

I see the current manager and recruitment policy as a bit of a long term investment. Finish about 14th this season with the odd glimpse of brilliance, and push on next season to glory.

Badly worded maybe.  What I was trying to say is that the closer we get to the start of the season, the more remote the possibility of another club coming in for Caddis becomes.  We're not the only club out there (far from it, in fact) that is tightening its belt and placing a greater reliance on youth...which comes a lot cheaper, obviously.  And one consequence of that is that the market for proven players such as Ferry and Caddis takes a bit of a knock.  You never know...we might just be the best offer that PC has to consider.

Did my usual run through of where we will get points and where we are unlikely to and came up with a grand total of 63 for the season which might be a tad optimistic! Last season I was one point out but nowhere near in the previous couple of seasons so what do I know?

Truth to say I cannot get really excited at the moment and as said elsewhere will obviously have a better idea of where will be having seen the "new" players in real action. The Tottenham and Birmingham games I guess will be the real litmus tests but as I thought that Palace and Brighton would do nothing in the Championship based on last years early season friendly and cup games, once again it does not necessarily point to the season as a whole.

I would love to see us in the promotion mix come next May but mid-table could well be the place.

 :hmmm:

 

We may have just about enough quality to avoid relegation. That's the best we can hope for in my opinion.

This is my 43rd season (needed a calculator to work that one out)  :(

Sadly, my glass is half empty................

Does that put me in the 'Reg Camp'?  :doh:

No, Reg uses an abacus.

Ignoring the obvious threats (Wolves, Portsmouth, Bristol City, Sheffield United), I fancy Preston to do well, and at 14/1 look like a cracking bet to win the league.
Simon Grayson will do well there and they've just signed Kevin Davies, who is a great signing for them.

I will give you 10,000 to 1 that Portsmouth won't be challenging for the League 1 title this season ;)

Pompey?

Apart from Alan mac, none of the other players who have left are particularly good or irreplaceable.

De Vita, Miller, Navarro (hopefully), Devera, even Ferry, etc. are hardly world beaters.

Give me enthusiastic and skillful young players against experienced stodge every time.

Sure, the new boys may be a bit lightweight but they will play without fear.

I can see a good start with a dip when winter comes around and an above average finish.

There will be games when we will look world beaters and others where we may get bullied and stuffed.

But we have known for a long time now what sort of squad we would likely have this season and I reckon the players that have come in are above what we expected/

Ha, where did I get Pompey from?!

Your arse clearly! :)

I meant Peterborough :)

On the basis that every season where the fans have been enormously optimistic and predicting promotion we seem to get relegated - on the basis of the negative comments on here we would appear to be likley to win the league.

I have no idea, but I have a team to support that looks like it may now be sustainable long term and for me thats a positive going forward.

Tough this prediction lark, I have no idea whether we'll finish top or bottom this season, but one thing is certain - the Adver comments section will be packed to the rafters with moaning fuckers regardless of how we're doing.

The chairman has set his stall out - he expects a title challenge and anything less would be a disappointment for me.

(http://i.imgur.com/Xj6SKKB.jpg)

And if we're 18th come March are you going to launch into the full "storm-the-pitch-and-hurl-season-ticket-in-the-vague-direction-of-the-directors-box" mode...?  ;)

Playoffs for me.  Think KMac will prove his worth and we'll surprise a lot of teams.

Probably do a last-day-of-the-season-burning-the-empty-season-ticket-holder too.

I suppose in this day and age of plastic card season tickets, he should trot on to the pitch with a pair of scissors and cut it into small squares whilst acting all disgruntled...

Still want to see what the final squad looks like, and whether TAH and JMac are likely to be fit at least in say October.

Both were reported back in light training with the team end of last week so hopefully
Having TAH back will be like a new signing

If the squad and manager are shit enough we will go down. If they are good enough we will go up and if they are average, we will be mid-table.

What do I win?

What happens if the manager, squad and Board change mid season again?

Then our fortunes may get worse, or they may improve!

Don't worry. Some of us understood what you meant.

I did too, I was just being an arse.

We'll get off to a wobbly start and the moaners will be on the young kids backs, immediately crushing their confidence and any hope of turning it around.

I'm cautiously optimistic, keeping Ward and Caddis/replacing them with equally experienced players is the key at this time.

Lets be honest with many of our supporters even if we get off to a fantastic start the moaners will be on the young kids backs, immediately crushing their confidence and any hope of turning it around.

I reckon' we'll have a similar season to the one under Wilson a few years back.. An average start with too many draws, then we'll explode into life over Christmas with a few shrewd loan signings before tailing off again at the end of the season (but still making the playoffs)

We won't be in the promotion picture. Mid table.

Same for me

I think we'll finish 12th with a poor start a strong middle and a weak finish in the season

I have been pleasantly surprised by the off field goings on, seems the board now have a handle on things and know where they want to go and they have a path to get there. The Business Presentation/Q&A thing seemed to go very well.

One thing I didnt get from I think it was Si Pies paraphrasing was that our wage bill was still too hight but there were funds available or something like that - what are those funds for, to make up the short fall? a just in case back up fund - or a 'if we're doing well in January' fund - maybe I miss interoperated the point.

As for one the pitch, ok - so we all know we had to cut back and go in a slightly different direction and getting youngsters from Spurs is a decent way to go, however it leaves us with a squad which is a very unknown quantity. However, I personally think the vital part of our squad is the experienced players the on and off pitch leaders to help these young players. Currently Darren Ward is still here which is fantastic news considering it looked like he was on his way. The type of centre half that brings the best out of his partner whose value to the team is worth more than any transfer fee we'd receive for him (see G.Greer)

Ward isnt going to be able to play 'daddy' to everyone all game, every game. After him we have McEveley and Navarro who have both suffered alot with injuries over the last few years. Would definitely help is they stay fit plus Navarro would add experience to the midfield and works pretty well as the holding player in a 5 man midfield, if we go with this formation - although I think his legs are gone.

After those 3 its alot of young players. Bedwell, Oakley, Ferguson, Walden, Jackson, Francis, Jones, Barthram, Hall, Pritchard, Smith, Reis - never seen any of them play and certainly the ones who have come through our youth ranks have never been hyped up or talked about as potential first team players.

In truth I think we will really feel the losses of Devera, Flint, McCormack and Ferry - as we havent replaced them like for like.

I dont see anyone (at the moment, again alot of our players are unknown quantities) with the technical ability of Ferry to control the game, no one with the driven and determination of McCormack. Whilst we've signed a big tall young centre back in Hall, he doesnt have the same experience Flint and Devera had.

Of course there is a chance our young players could be brilliant but in truth - I think our squad is weaker than it was last season so cant see a promotion charge as a possibility at all. We've got the best keeper in the division, two very reliable defenders in Ward and Thompson, a completely unknown midfield, goals in Collins and goals in a confident(!) Williams.

I think we will struggle at times due to the youth and inexperience in the squad. At times their heads will drop. There is also the possibility that because we have alot of loan players, they wont give a shit either way.

I dont think we'll be in trouble of relegation but dont think we will crack the top half. If I had to call it now I'd say 14th.

However, this is still time for ins and outs (I've not mentioned Caddis, Rooney or Benson because I expect them to go or if not, be sat in the stands) I would feel alot more positive if we bought in a very McCormack like player to go in alongside Luongo in midfield.

I also never really rated Byrne when I saw him to be honest, clearly not a left back and thought he was very weak defensively at right back. Dont think he cracks out starting 11 - if everyone was/is fit and able.

Foderingham

Thompson
Ward
TAH
McEveley

Reis
Luongo
Navarro
Pritchard

Collins
Williams

If I have remembered it correctly a question was asked on the wage bill, and the answer was that the budget was £2.4m but the current projection as it stands was £2.9m.  When pushed further on it, Steve Murrall stated that the lower figure was the ideal budget figure and this was based on gates of 7.5k, he also stated that if it did come in at the higher figure for the season there would be a contingency to meet it comfortably.  Also stated that at the higher figure we are just under the FL 60% rule so it stands to reason that until the wage bill is brought down further there will not be many more incomers before some outgoers - although anybody prepared to loan us player(s) and pick up their wages will not dent our budgets.

Thinking about my answer above, I just wonder whether the Byrne fee to Spurs is really a fee not only for him but the loan fees for the other loanees.

Cheers Ronnie.

I think it's safe to say that the Byrne fee is very much a pay off for the arrangement rather than Byrne. Also stops the whole tribunal route.

That's where the 60% of turnover rule is shit. Rich owners can get around it.

It would be better to 'tax' the teams who go over budget and give to the teams within budget.

Ok so it seems that we now have a hotch potch of spurs loanees, a few experienced players who we are seemingly trying to shift to get off the payroll, our Captain likely to be sold to Blackpool and now no manager, and even more uncertainty than before.

I take back my excitement about the season about to start, I'm dreading it now!

Perhaps, maybe, they might be considering finding a new manager?

Just a thought like!

My optimism for the season ahead rests almost entirely who the replacement for KMac is. The right manager, who picks the right players makes all the difference, regardless of finances, board room goings on ect

Indeed

Clearly thats a very strong possibility, but having to do it 3 weeks before the season is pretty woeful timing. By now most teams will have some idea of what they are doing. At the moment, you can't be too optimistic that we do.

It's one of the football cliches, about how important the pre-season is...sorting out the squad, working on pattern of play, getting fitness up etc. To the best of my knowledge, we've never lost a manager in pre-season before, so the new man/woman, won't have had full input here...it wouldn't exactly be a surprise if we start the season slowly.

I think it would be a surprise if we didn't.

We really do seem to have gone out of our way this year to give the other 91 sides a bit of a boost.

It's all a smokescreen and we'll have the league sewn up by Christmas.

You are forgetting Coventry's decline into farce that makes us look like a forward thinking example of a club right now.

But at least it answers the long standing question of where the people of Coventry are sent to when exiled.

Hoddle ? And we certainly started the following season slowly !

Play offs

 :clap:

Looks like some more fun and games are just around the corner... Or just old news rearing its ugly head once again.

 :sherlock:

Think Sam is being spun a yarn by someone, somewhere. He seems OK with Jed so ??

Paolo still suing?

Admittedly this was my first thought.

We shall find out soon enough.

stability, where art thou?

Got to admit my optimism has taken a bit of a whack after the weekend.

Was Bodin suing? I've forgotten.


I still have some left, but I think I'm going to lock it up for a rainy day. I'm going to see who we get in as manager before I lose it all.

I think thats about right for me too.

Count me in.

It's always been like this, that's why I don't get worked up anymore.

You're on your 3rd getting worked up in four months by my reckoning :)

 :no: second.

Some of the best times I've had following Swindon have been when we were absolute shite, this is probably why I'm still looking forward to the coming season as much as any other.

You know it makes you go blind.....

(https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/s720x720/253052_10151116130418786_857389576_n.jpg)

:-D

(http://i.imgur.com/nuHhTM7.jpg)

 Something that's not had much comment yet....is the trip to Portugal. This has sprung from left field a bit, and not quite in keeping with the austerity theme. Asssuming we've a new man/woman in charge by then, it could give them a chance to sort a few things out...I can't really see its purpose without.

Are we playing games out there or is it just a training trip?  If there are no games sounds a bit of a waste to me.

Two friendlies lined up apparently

Maybe we will sign some more Ibón Arrieta type players while we are out there?

Would hazard a guess it might have been organised to let the squad prepare for the season away from the distraction of press and fans.

On the subject of Portugal whats happened with this winger we signed? Has he actually played yet or been seen?

I think we're awaiting international clearance, not sure on that yet though!

You could have something there. It was stated last week Tijane was awaiting International clearance. No idea how long this takes but the rule say -

It must be understood that the registration of the player who has previously played abroad will not be
accepted until The Football Association is in receipt of an International Registration Transfer Certificate
issued in his/her behalf by the former Association. The player must not register or play in England for any
Club at any level until his/her clearance has been received”

So I guess he could play in any friendly matches abroad? Or have I read that wrongly.

Hence the last minute trip to Portugal! It all makes sense now :)

The Portugal trip was being planned 6 weeks ago.

Hopefully they've decided to go ahead and confirm the Portugal trip with the intention of having a new manager in place by the 21st and allowing them to go sort out pre-season from there, which will hopefully mean that we won't have the slow start to the season that we are anticipating.

Usually you will get the 'we are going to Portiugal for x days while there we will stay in x area and will play x games against x and y which will be good for the lads and give them a chance to get ot know each other'......

But we have had nothing so I wonder if they are secretly going to Margate and want the public to think they are in Portugal

I'm a little surprised that we've been allowed to sign anyone given the ongoing dispute with Adam Rooney and the pfa's involvement 

Season kicks off on Saturday and we still have no manager and probably not a settled first XI either.

Harley signing provides a little bit of experience but the squad is very young and inexperienced. Looking at the fixtures this month, apart from possibly the hardest opening fixture we could have been given, the rest of the games on paper look 'easier'.

Torquay at home in the League cup, then Stevenage at home, Shrewsbury away, Gills at home and Crewe at home. This time last year you would be looking at 10 points from those matches, who knows what we'll pick up this season, a shame things are so disorganised currently.

The start under Di Canio was poor,the new manager need at least ten matches so we can judge then...a good start will help everyone's cause but i have watched enough football over the years to know that the first few matches do not really give us a true picture.

Anyone slagging the new manager after a few matches need look at themselfs,course a performance can be slated and ideas thrown about but i for one will be giving the new manager whoever it is time.
The matches on paper look relatively easy...the last six or seven last season did to.
History has shown us Town fans that the easy matches seem the hardest :D

September is a nightmare on paper!

We will win every match in September then.

The job seems to be Cooper's to throw away...if he can get 3 or 4 respectable performances and a even a win or 2, then he'll get it.  Should we have a Bob Smith 1980 type start, then even McCrory might not be able to spin it.

What might a team look like......Foderingham: Thompson, Hall, Ward, Byrne:  Pritchard, Luongo, Harley, Mason, Tijane: Williams

Strikes me as too lightweight and inexperienced, but they're kids, mighty play with enthusiasm, so deserve to be given a chance, before the people get on their backs.

Bang on Reg....remember Bert's Babes,no one gave them a chance 8)

Had a feeling for a while now That Jed won't be around for any longer than he has to and the least he has to financialy find the better. That's not to say I think he is stripping the club just that he took on more than he bargained for. I'm grateful to anyone who are trying to do the best for STFC but think Jed is struggling with running a professional club the size of Swindon.
After the turmoil of what's happened at the club mid table would IMO be an achievement, it's just that we don't often do mid table finishes!

Looking at that team I think we need one more experienced centre back and a good solid target man up front who can hold the ball up and get on the end of the crosses that Tijane/Pritchard are hoping to get in, otherwise it doesn't look too bad a side just a bit inexperienced, but I would rather have an eager Luongo/Pritchard/Tijane/Mason etc than a has been journeyman type player looking for an easy ride and a large pay packet like Thorpe/Cureton/Whalley/Nalis.

In the midfield ideally you want a bit of both...when we got 09/10 Jonny Douglas, I think most right minded fans were highly delighted, saying he was the sort of thing we'd needed for a while...but by 10/11 it turned to shit, so who knows. I did like the look of Luongo, last season, hopefully he'll develop further.

Agreed re: Luongo. One of the concerns with young Prem players is how they'll adapt to the physicality of lower league football. Luongo for one certainly seemed happy getting stuck in and showed strength on the ball in his few appearances towards the end of the season.

Certainly important to have experience alongside the youth, but if they can get the balance right it could work out alright.

Guys like Caddis came in as youngsters from a higher level but quickly took on responsibility to become senior members of the team, all depends on the individual I guess.

Our squad is extremely light and I think we still need a centre back, left back (Byrne is not a left back) winger, central midfielder and two strikers*

I can't see us looking particularly solid and I really struggle to see where our goals are going to from? Williams is really our only senior striker*


*unless as they as still here the likes of LRooney, Cox, Caddis and Benson get included.

My view remains the same. Fancy us for relegation. Can only hope there are some awful sides in the division this year. Looks stronger to me though

Would be happy with lower mid table. Can't at the moment see who is going to score goals. Think that was our issue some of the time last year. We seemed to huff and puff lots but, for me, it was always a blessed relief rather than an expectation when we scored.

I'm reasonably confident that we will do OK for the simple fact that whenever we think we are great pre-season we tend to do rubbish and vice versa.

I think Luongo will be an excellent acquisition for us but we will be let down elsewhere on the pitch

I am looking forward to the build up this week before the inevitable slide begins around 3pm on Saturday.

Slide? We start in 21st on alphabetical order, we should do better than that!

It's difficult because the spurs lot on the face of it seem handy and have some league experience.

But you just don't know how that'll work out with so many of them in the same team at the same time, if that's what happens of course.

Have to agree we look a bit short of goals. A confident and on form Williams doesn't worry me. It's if his head drops that does. But as importantly, in my opinion, is he's going to find it hard up top on his own, again assuming that is what we do.

I reckon we'll see more goals from midfield with this side. Looking for Pritchard, Luongo and Mason to chip in with their fare share. Ferry scored 5 goals last season, but with 'proper' attacking midfielders i'd hope the 3 mentioned all score more than SF did.

I'm looking forward to the day out on the train to Posh with my mates, but not the game at all. Although it is all a bit 'unknown', I don't feel even slightly confident. The build up has not been ideal (no manager), the squad doesn't look finished, and the signings we have made just seem a little bit too risky.

If nothing else, the season should be interesting, even if for all the wrong reasons.

Might have a better idea of the team tomorrow night at Cirencester, but then again we may rest the players before the weekend.

Im disapointed another pre season has passed and still we have no Indian in our ranks!

No but we do have a few cowboys in charge ;)

What about Sangita Shah? ;)

Have we had it confirmed she is Indian? Shah .... Could well be Pakistani!

I have no idea, I did a brief google search but couldn't find anything.
What have you got against pakistani's anyway, racist bastard! :)

Its not racist .... I am Indian therefore I have a clause in the contract to gently jostle our neighbours, similar to what you English have with the Scottish, Welsh and Irish! :-) 

I have little confidence for the season ahead at the moment.

Posh away is a difficult first game even if we were ready but the fact we've got an incomplete squad and no manager i fear for the result at this one.

I don't understand why there is no urgency to appoint a new manager ahead of the season and think we'll be playing catch up for the rest of the year.

I know, I was taking the piss.

I'll have you know I don't discriminate against sweaties, paddies or the taffs.

One thing we should have this season is pace all over the pitch.

I can imagine some games where we piss all over some teams and then some where we get bullied and get stuffed.

Crewe have been fielding young sides for ages - we may become something similar

I think there is a good chance we will be bottom at the end of play Saturday.

And a good chance that we'll be battling relegation for most of the season.

I might feel more confident when we have a manager.

Oh, and I won't be surprised if we get knocked out the cup by Torquay.

Still, the footy season is almost with us, so hooray for that.

 :yay:

Fucking hell.

Personally, though I'm a little concerned about the time it's taking to fill either of these positions, my feelings are we're a good striker and managerial appointment away from having a relatively decent first team and season.

I agree with you. I was encouraged by out performance V Spurs...now, I know Spurs were probably asked not to give 100% due to fitness etc, but they'd have comfortably beaten A LOT of other teams with the line-ups they had out both first and second half. I'm amazed that people can tip us for relegation before a ball is even kicked, I'm assuming they have full sense as to what ALL the other teams are going to do in the division?

OK, some teams MAY have made some decent signings...but do we know they're going to work well together? Take our relegation season, for example, we looked like we had a decent(ish) team, look at how that turned out...the season started with a manager who had got us to within reach of a Championship place the season before...put that with players like Austin, Sheehan, Caddis, JPM, Douglas, Prutton, Cuthbert, Ferry, Ritchie....with those players in the squad we shouldn't have been relegated (on paper, anyway)...Now, we were all pretty excited by some of the players mentioned, they just didn't gel as a team...

Who's to say that the teams in our league don't end up the same as we did that season?

Posh away is a tricky one, but lets face it if we have no idea of the team and tactics we are going to use nor have they.

Perhaps we can catch them out, look on the bright side peeps!

 :hmmm:

Think that's what actually happens on the opening day of the season, always a couple of high scoring freak or at least shock results somewhere in the divisions, for some the 1st league game will be the first time their team has played a competitive match together. I'll take a point away anytime during this season.

Still remember the Norwich 0 Colchester 7 result like yesterday...and where are they now!

Was trying to think of that opening day score as an example  :)

I really don't know what to expect this season,  I was pleasantly surprised by our performance v spurs, but have a feeling that we may get found out once the season starts in earnest. I'd be happy with survival, and overjoyed if we make a push for the  play offs,  a decent manager and a sustainable 3rd division team with the odd push for for promotion would be bloody great, even if we do borrow half our side from Spurs. Not long now, another roller coaster ride awaits, fucking love it  :)

Think it was Bob who earlier said he thought our midfield may chip in with a few more goals this season and that's the way I see it, Williams goal against spurs albeit a bit of a fluke could make the difference of how quickly he gets of the mark & if he does bag a few goals in the 1st few weeks it could set the tone for a rewarding season for him/us. I actually don't mind first division football and think its probably our level anyway, obviously don't want a season of constant struggle at the bottom but if we can hold our own this season I'll class that as acceptable.

Yeah, but Norwich nicked ColU's boss as a consequence....perhaps if we stuff PBoro, they'll go for Cooper...oh

At the end of play on the first Saturday of 93/94, we were above Arsenal....and look where we are now.

Perhaps if we really, really stuff them, they'll forget.

Cunning plan, Sir, but how do a bunch of kids stuff Posh?

[Nothing rude please]

Of course I don't have a full sense of what other teams are going to do, nor do I have any ideas as to whether other teams have had better or worse pre-seasons than ours (not that pre-season results or performances give a great indication of how the season will work out - if it did, then I would be even more concerned about the season ahead). My pessimism is based on my lack of knowledge of what our current first XI can achieve, and the current lack of permanence (manager, loan players, injured players, contracted fit players not even under consideration, still a possibility that more players will be sold).

My lack of knowledge of what they can achieve makes me confident we are going up.....

Do you think the above sentence make any sense?

As ever, I go into the season optimistic. Why? We have a young side who are hopefully hungry to prove a point. We have skill on the wings and pace and throughout the side. We have guile albeit in the young frames of Luongo and L. Thompson. We are missing an out and out goal scorer and a little more experience but we'll have to see what happens over the next couple of weeks. We could do with some more cover but on paper we have what would appear to be a talented and competent first 16.

I don't think things are as bad as they seem.

I'm probably wrong but I'd rather be wrong than miserable all summer.

Like it!

Was just reading Sky's top 125 players in the league and read Carayol's name. Why did we ever let the lad go?

He's at Middlesboro I believe.

Yeah got that.

Must say something about how we judged young players in the past for someone to have left and then done better than we have. Who was in charge then? Paul Sturrock?

I think he had attitude issues, rather than a talent thing. I'm not exactly ITK though so may be wrong

Not sure how I read why as where! I always liked him due to being called Mustapha. What a name for a player. I think we let him go to Franchise way back when.

I believe you are correct, I saw him a few times for the ressies and he looked handy but nothing special just a solid reserve/youth player.

Paul Ince took him to Macc when he took over so he must have seen something that Sturrock didn't.

(http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g171/jjedmunds/PICT2349_zps06d1982f.jpg)

I found this pic of him for the reserves at Weymouth back in August 2006.

As far as my expectations go, I expect us to be fairly tight at the back again, set pieces will be a worry to defend against and maybe if we get overrun in the middle against bigger sides then the pressure will probably tell on the defense at some point.

It seems on paper that we should be quite good at ball retention in the middle and that we'll be very quick with a few goals coming from this area.

Main issue is up top, I get the feeling we'll create a good few chances - like last term - but struggle to be clinical enough to take them - like last season.  This may lead to more disappointing 1-0 home defeats from similar teams again.

At this stage I don't really give a monkeys who our manager is going into the season, if Cooper does end up getting the job I'll give him my support - he might surprise everyone.

I agree Re Cooper and like you he will have my full support!

However a vast majority of our supports are Mongs to say the least and a defeat at Posh on Saturday will be more than enough to send most on a twitter war and texting in to the BEEB.

Are you suggesting that anybody who doesn't want Cooper installed as manager is a "Mong"..?

Why does it always have to be either/or?

Surely everybody is entitled to their own opinion based upon whatever they wish.

It's a fucking forum

No. In truth I dont really want Cooper but we have left it so late he is now the best option having seen what exists of a squad through pre season.  As STFC manager even if it may be for an interim period he will have my support.

However most fans are not so cheery and as he wont be the popular choice will get a good salapping at the first sign of a slip.

Someone could put this better than me but hope that makes sense!

Fair comment

I'd be far more confident if we kept Collins, or had an out and out striker. A 4-3-3 system with Williams as the focal point of it will be interesting.

Think Pritchard will prove to be our key player.

I can see enough points picked up at home and a few thrashings on the road and we will end up in midtable. Acceptable? Well it would fall far below the chairman's expectation for the season...

Guess tonights line up is the plan for Sat as well given Byrne suspension

Town side to face Cirencester -Foderingham, Thompson N, Ward, Hall, Smith; Luongo, Mason, Harley, Reis, Williams, Pritchard

By interesting, I presume you mean disastrous. One can only hope that one of the Spurs midfielders might have a bit of class/composure in front of goal and could be converted into a striker if Williams continues where he left off...

Apologies if my sentence did not make any sense to you, Flash.

What I mean is that I'm not confident about the season because I've no idea how good or bad a lot of our players are, especially when it comes to competitive league football. In previous years I've had a reasonable idea of what our first team players are like, either from seeing them play for Town, or if new signings, having seen them play for other teams.

Of tonight's starting XI, I've only got knowledge of Wes, Nathan, Ward, Luongo (a few games only) and Williams. If the others turn out to be as good as these, then great, the season could be ok, especially if the manager is competent.

Hope that clarifies things for you.

I'm looking forward to the season, honest.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23407072

Think Shaun Hodgetts has summed it up quite nicely.

"Brentford played some pretty football last year but they need to add a little steel to performances to compete and improve on third place."

Loved this about Brentford

Has anyone heard when squad numbers are being released for the coming season.  I thought they were usually communicated a good 2-3 weeks before kick-off but have heard nothing this year.

We're waiting for Spurs to announce their numbers and we'll just fill in the gaps.

I really think that the fans can forget everything  thats gone on latley and start afresh on saturday get behind the team get behind the board and push this team on. A young squad will need encouragement not punishment, theres no doubt this squad has talent lets hope they all click and kick off with afew wins. COYR  im getting excited

Agreed.  Whether or not we like how the club is being run, it isn't the fault of the players on the pitch.  Get behind them.  A resounding 4-0 at London Road and everything will feel a lot, lot better.

Anyone know if the Queenstown club, behind burger king is still open? Was in there before the spurs game and the landlady said they were leaving and was unsure if the club would remain open. I've got a membership and aswell as cheap beer it's ideal for match day parking.