Is the current team better than the one that got relegated?

[Icy Gull]

No Zamora - but he was playing with injuries or not at all and then lost interest when we really needed him.

Rodger, Blackwell both good journeymen but past their best

Brooker - One player we could really do with this season

Kerry and Watto were both dreadfull for the 1st part of the season but Kerry managed to up his game while Watto was awful throughout.

I haven't seen the last 6 games but it appears that this team is starting to gel and has potential which last season's team did not given the general age of the mainstays.

Could this team survive in Div 1 with a few experienced additions?

 

[Schrödinger's Toad]

I thought last season's team (in the second half) was the best we've had in a long, long time, the back three of Cullip, Ingimarsson and Blackwell were sheer class, Bozzie had found his level, Bobby was Bobby and Rodger was getting the best out of Chippy, we just needed better wing-backs

I also liked seeing us play 3-5-2

 

[Brighton Boy]

very harsh on the watson and mayo comments for me.

I was actually pleasantly suprised with watson last year as i though he would have been teared to pieces.

Brooker's comments are almost spot on......definetely a big big miss.

 

[Schrödinger's Toad]

So, no, basically, although we could have done with Knight and Harding last year

 

[Gary Nelson]

Watson was f***ing awful last year, completely out of his depth. I agree that the team looked very good with some class players. Dont think this team is there yet but Iv noticed that its changing quickly and improving. The best thing is now the age of the team.

 

[Brighton Boy]

watson was better last year than he was this year.

 

[Lammy]

Watson was f***ing awful last year, completely out of his depth. I agree that the team looked very good with some class players. Dont think this team is there yet but Iv noticed that its changing quickly and improving. The best thing is now the age of the team.

Absolutely. We've got a sound defence worthy of Div 1. We've got a sound strike force worthy of div one. With Piercy and Roger fit well have a reasonable middle four too. We just need some squad boosting and off load some hangeroners.

 

[CAFC Matt]

No because the team that got relegated won Div 2 and you won't win it this year

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

No because the team that got relegated won Div 2 and you won't win it this year

Not factually correct - we got in additional players in Division One, and not taking into account differences between divisions across seasons.

But thanks for your insight.

 

[Icy Gull]

No because the team that got relegated won Div 2 and you won't win it this year

Not logical reasoning otherwise Stoke would have got relegated last season, as they went up thru the playoffs which is probably the route we'd take this year.

 

[Albion Dan]

Think well need at least 2 new midfielders if we get promoted, a wide player and an attacking centre option. Rodger could well be finished after an injury like that and Oatway, Jones and Hart will struggle. We miss Brooker badly and hes definately Div 1 quality.

I know the kids are playing well in Defence but they havent been tested by the undoubted step up in class and Butters could get murdered by the pace of Div 1 attacks.

I think last years team was much better, dont forget how bad we have been for the majority of this season.

 

[Lammy]

No because the team that got relegated won Div 2 and you won't win it this year

Major differences for me.

Morgan left a huge hole in our defence.
Watson forgot how to play football.
Oh and no 'real' manager for the first 13 games!

That's why we went down.

We were top of the league when Coppell left. Now we've settled, we're heading back up there. This current team could win this division if it had had the same manager all season.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

Major differences for me.

Morgan left a huge hole in our defence.

Now he was a player. Absolute quality, who made other players look better. If only he had been starting his career with us.

 

[Soton Seagull]

We have a potentially better side. Give the youngsters a little more experience, hence making fewer errors, and we will be stronger. Not much in it at the moment. I do feel we have missed Rodger this season

 

[blue-shifted]

We were way better towards the end of last year. I don't remember ever being so proud of an Albion side. Mayo looked like an accomplished div1 defender, must have been a 6 month adrenaine rush. If he had achieved half that level this season he'd still be in the team.

 

[lincs seagull]

Oh and no 'real' manager for the first 13 games!

That's why we went down.

[/B]

The Manager thing is the difference. With an experinced manager at the helm which love him or hate him MM is that is the main thing which will keep us in div1

Oh and a couple of shrewed buys

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Come on - the team of

Beasant
Watson, Cullip, Blackwell, Ingarmarson, Mayo
Rodger, Sidwell (then Rougier), Carpenter, Brooker
Zamora

was class while it lasted and as Toad says, the best for a long long time

 

[Gary Nelson]

Major differences for me.

Morgan left a huge hole in our defence.
Watson forgot how to play football.
Oh and no 'real' manager for the first 13 games!

That's why we went down.

We were top of the league when Coppell left. Now we've settled, we're heading back up there. This current team could win this division if it had had the same manager all season.

And his column in the Argus was miles better than Nathan 'i'll talk about the Brazilians and Del Bosque every week in some context' Jones

 

[Hannibal smith]

. I do feel we have missed Rodger this season

I'm not sure we have missed Rodger that much this year. In most of the games I saw him he was pretty poor - not a patch on the player who arrived last year.

In answer to the question though, this team is nowhere near as good as the one which went down for the following reasons;

1. Zamora is better than Knight. Anyone who thinks otherwise should be certified.
2. Ingermarsson was better than anyone who is currently in defence. Indeed Butters has found his level this year but anyone who has run at him at pace this year has made him look average. Showumni for Luton is a prime example. Harewood, Zamora, Earnshaw would think it was Christmas up against Butters but they wouldn't be so cocky against ingy.
3 Mayo was really good last year - He has gone backwards this. Whilst Harding has impressed he has not performed at the level Mayo did last year.
4. Midfield : Oatway, Carpenter, Jones, Hart or Sidwell, Rodger, Brooker. I rest my case. Brooker's creativity is sorely missed. Jones for all his hard word isn't creative for 15 Minutes let alone 90.

I'll accept that I'd rather have Iwelumo than Graham 'Barn Door' Barrett and anyone who has started RB is better than Watson but that is about it. The performances away at Coventry and at Ipswich were light years better than anything I have witnessed so far this. Rushden away was as good as we have looked. Despite our good run under McGhee I think we have looked difficult to beat rather than a good side under his stewardship.

 

[The Large One]

We do tend to view Paul Brooker through rose-tinted specs. Granted he was superb for the second half of last season, but just how frustrated were we with him before that? He was far from an automatic first team choice before that.

I would much rather have had Sidwell than Brooker any day. Sidwell's all round game, especially for one so young was excellent. And there wasn't a great deal that Brooker could do than Sidwell couldn't. But there was plenty to Sidwell could do that Brooker couldn't.

In answer to the original question, the answer is no. We would have survived with Coppell if he was at the helm at the start (indeed, if anyone other than Hinshelwood was at the helm), but it was Coppell's fault that that wasn't the case.

We need a LOT more creativity from midfield to survive, let alone thrive if we make Div 1 next season. Our defence is fairly sound, and I believe will cope quite well. Our forward line is fairly strong also. However, I think all four midfield places need to be re-examined in the close season. Of any of the regulars in midfield, Chippy is the most consistent. Oatway just will not be able to survive in Div 1. Jones and Hart, it pains me to say, have had their best years, and I fear they will become squad members - albeit excellent ones.

We just cannot play the long ball game we are seeing at present. I also agree that 3-5-2 is our strongest formation.