So what would you do if you were Dick Knight?

[cjd]

As many have pointed out there is no way that we justified 7th it was just that the general standard last season was far inferior to this.

NO..NO...NO...NO.......

Why do so many people think the standard of League 1 has miraculously improved this season.............?

It's the same standard this year as last year........and the year before that.....and the year before that.........

We are so poor this season, we,re just making other teams "look" better. Last night, we made MKDons look like a Premiership team..............BUT THEY ARE NOT..........they are just a good LEAGUE 1 side.

 

[Black Country Seagull]

NO..NO...NO...NO.......

It's the same standard this year as last year........and the year before that.....and the year before that.........


Agreed, so this year we lost forest and swansea - forest replaced by leicester, no difference there really. Swansea I think are very similar to Peterborough this year, so not really that different either, so I just don't understand people saying it is much harder this year?

 

[Don Quixote]

NO..NO...NO...NO.......

Why do so many people think the standard of League 1 has miraculously improved this season.............?

It's the same standard this year as last year........and the year before that.....and the year before that.........

We are so poor this season, we,re just making other teams "look" better. Last night, we made MKDons look like a Premiership team..............BUT THEY ARE NOT..........they are just a good LEAGUE 1 side.

you are correct, people are saying leicester and leeds are amazing... leeds were better last season, Leicester have just replaced Forrest or Swansea... If anything i think this league is easier this season!

 

[dougdeep]

It will be a hell of a league to get out of next year, if Forest and Charlton come down. Hopefully we'll still be in it.

 

[portlock seagull]

Confidence is a managment issue, isn't it?

Ultimately it's a personal issue e.g. the player's responsibility. But on the management front, it must be hard trying to build someone's confidence up all week to see it undermined by fans groaning from the 2nd minute onwards. So maybe it's those in the stands that need to look at themselves and their 'contribution' towards the 'team' effort?

 

[Hoops Seagull]

That is a bonus then and one positive thought.

What and Dean and Ian did a bad job then?

 

[Theatre of Trees]

I feel the division has better teams in it this year than last year, the fact that of last years promoted teams, two of them currently occupy relegation spots in the Championship, may point to that weakness. Of the teams relegated Leicester and Scunthorpe have remained quite strong whilst Colchester have struggled. Of the teams that came up, two, Peterborough and MK Dons have hefty financial backing behind them. Not surprisingly those teams are four of the top five with a rejuvenated Millwall the only team from this division up there challenging at the moment. Leeds should have the capacity to join them whilst Oldham finished strongly last year and up there too. The only real surprise in the top 8 are Stockport.

I thought 7th flattered us a little last year, a couple of defeats instead of victories would have had us finishing in 11th. I felt we just nudged ourselves ahead of the pack but not enough to trouble the leaders. Remember in late January we were 18th and although we finished well we were never really challenging for the play-offs just hoping either a team would pull up or Leeds get points deducted. We weren't consistent enough and I remember the howling of rage against Wilkins on here after the 3-2 home defeat against Port Vale which near enough ended any hopes.

I personally think the team needs a spine, it doesn't have one at the moment. We need an experienced centre back who can organise and take responsibility when needed, someone in the mould of Guy Butters or Simon Morgan. We also need somebody to drive the midfield, something Thomson has not really done. I don't think Thornton is the answer, good player as he is I cannot see where you play him, he's too flakey for central midfield and drifts in when played wide causing all problems to our shape.

 

[NMH]

I have just read your post and my opinion it is a case of touche you live in a dream world picking out isolated games when in the vast majority we were either outplayed or unable to hold a lead. The division last season was very poor and if those same sides were in it thios season none of them would be promoted or in the running for promotion.

Last season we under-achieved to finish a slightly disappointing 7th and miss the playoffs. That is a fact. Isolated games I picked out, were ones where we SHOULD have picked up points. That's not the matches where we lost points and deserved to lose, it's the matches where we deserved to win but ended up drawing. They cost us a playoff place, and saw some people actually upset at Wilkins, e.g. for us losing to a lower side (when a late goal of ours was disallowed, which could have got an undeserved draw).
There were also occasional games like Walsall, where a player scored a blinding goal from distance - that were deserved and understandable points lost.

I'm ONLY talking about the matches where we were silly not to win - and if we had, we'd have been in the playoffs (and Wilkins still would have been sacked, incidentally).

This season there have been none that I can recall, where we really dropped points we deserved to get. We have lost on merit!

Last night's game reminded me of Swansea at Withdean on the last day. They were efficient and had decent interplays, good general teamwork. However, we did match Swansea quite well and might have scored a goal to level it.
We didn't match MKDons. They ran us, they owned us, and the 2 goals we did get flattered us slightly. They were not spectacular, fairly unspectacular in fact, but we didn't come close to getting a point from that match.

 

[British Bulldog]

As many have pointed out there is no way that we justified 7th it was just that the general standard last season was far inferior to this.

Is'nt it also fair to say that with all the signings Micky Adams has made our squad is now larger & stronger than we had last season as well? So realisticaly we should be able to cope with the so called improvement in league 1 standards this season?

 

[Gritt23]

Adams was the boards choice, he's had half a season with new players, so lets review things in May. What is the point of kneejerk reactions when things arn't going our way, it smack of panic and a lack of class. Nobody likes the position we are in at the moment (except the Palarse 'fans' reading this), but changing the manager mid season is not the answer.

"a lack of class". That horse bolted last summer.

The way we treated Dean Wilkins showed such a complete lack of class, that we cannot have that feather back in our cap for a while yet.

 

[Gritt23]

That is the whole point we wern't a decent side last season

So, you must believe we massively OVER-ACHIEVED last season.

Where do you believe this current squad is capable of finishing? I'd assume you believe it's certainly higher than our current position, hence we are now under-achieving.

The first bit has to be to the credit of Wilkins, while the current season is a bad reflection on Adams.

 

[Chesney Christ]

As many have pointed out there is no way that we justified 7th it was just that the general standard last season was far inferior to this.

Utter utter claptrap.

 

[Chesney Christ]

NO..NO...NO...NO.......

Why do so many people think the standard of League 1 has miraculously improved this season.............?

It's the same standard this year as last year........and the year before that.....and the year before that.........

We are so poor this season, we,re just making other teams "look" better. Last night, we made MKDons look like a Premiership team..............BUT THEY ARE NOT..........they are just a good LEAGUE 1 side.

Didn't we get rid of European Cup Winners last season? This idea that the league is so much stronger than last season is just silly.

 

[Questions]

Didn't we get rid of European Cup Winners last season? This idea that the league is so much stronger than last season is just silly.

Correct and dont forget we have next years excuses at the ready NOW....

Charlton, Forest and the might of one of the greats of the Yorkshire dynasties.......................... DONCASTER.

 

[Horney]

I have followed BHA for a long time and never before have I heard fans saying that we didn't deserve to finish in a certain position...,I have heard complaints in the past that we should have finished higher but never lower !!!
Surely 46 games is a long enough season to ' iron out ' lucky results.
Are there fans at Oldham, Northampton, Huddersfield,Tranmere and Walsall all going on their chatsites and complaining that they should have finished above Brighton last season...that we were spawny and didn't deserve to finish there.
It is a smokescreen put out by those who are still clinging to the faint hope that MA has something to offer this club.
Lets be honest folks...a lot of managers would already have bitten the dust after 2 wins in 17 and departures from 2 cup competitions ( might be 3 next tues )
Some fans talk about MA being given 12 months to turn things around....good managers take about 12 hours to put the basics in place...something that patently wasn't done at BHA in pre-season.....which is why I don't believe we have any basis for moving forward with this man.

 

[m20gull]

The way we treated Dean Wilkins showed such a complete lack of class, that we cannot have that feather back in our cap for a while yet.

But you don't know what Wilkins did to be sacked.

 

[Barnham Seagull]

But you don't know what Wilkins did to be sacked.

This what he did stuff is a load of bull, he was offered another job to stay in the companies employ if it was that terrible he would have been sacked.

 

[rongully]

This what he did stuff is a load of bull, he was offered another job to stay in the companies employ if it was that terrible he would have been sacked.

top post !! this smoke screen that Wilkins did something out of order is utter bullshit,someone in the know would have broken ranks by now anyway if there was anything in it.Truth is Dick saw pound signs when he employed Adams and its backfired on him.I fear for our club if somethings not done soon.We cannot afford to be relagated at this point in our clubs history .FACT

 

[withdeanwombat]

As many have pointed out there is no way that we justified 7th it was just that the general standard last season was far inferior to this.

Thanks gramps.Time to put last season into perspective.Two of the promoted teams are likely to be down again next season.Our team and standard of football was poor.It is the same this time around,but some of the teams in this division have made better changes,and at least two of the promoted teams have cash to splash,and have good sides anyway.The teams relegated from the Championship were mostly better than us anyway.

Have to say we started from a mediocre team and have not yet improved,and our Brazil performance at Crewe has to be tempered by the fact that the latter have been playing like St Dunstans all season.

We will finish sixteenth.Next season fifth.Bookmark this post!

 

[m20gull]

This what he did stuff is a load of bull, he was offered another job to stay in the companies employ if it was that terrible he would have been sacked.

So how do you know it's a "load of bull". What do you know that I don't?