[Albion] Marks out of 10 for this season

[Swansman]

The marks being given out seem incredibly generous to me and if you think that was a 7 or 8 out of 10 season, you're not expecting things to get any better at any point. It's like you've accepted this is probably as good as it can be but I don't agree. I don't think we should be content with 16th in the league.

Or maybe its possible to both be content/happy with the season and still hope/expect more for the next one? Those two thoughts dont rule eachother out.

 

[Insel affe]

Considering the constraints of covid, lack of a crowd, lack of a proven goal scorer, it has to be an eight.
Very happy with the progress we are showing, the attacking intent is there, exciting times next season....

Can not wait to get back to packed stadium.

 

[Perfidious Albion]

The marks being given out seem incredibly generous to me and if you think that was a 7 or 8 out of 10 season, you're not expecting things to get any better at any point. It's like you've accepted this is probably as good as it can be but I don't agree. I don't think we should be content with 16th in the league. Everyone spent the season laughing at Newcastle and Steve Bruce, and they've gone and achieved a higher finish than we've managed in the 4 years we've been in this league and with more points and wins than we've managed. For all the talk of how good we are and the selfcongratulation, we have improved but not in a measurable way.

I’d agree with that. I am not happy with the Albion bumping along the bottom of the Prem. , attracting condescending smiles from others as though we were a plucky little seaside club that the others have to put up with
My old school reports often said “ could do better” and that is true of our team , it is frustrating.
That’s why I gave low mark . NB the thread was to give marks on the season and,to me , that is wider than our team. My score reflected my frustrations with VAR , no fans (necessary I know) some terrible refereeing, frequent late evening kickoffs etc.

Roll on next season.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

Bollocks.

They could have been far better, and racked up 10 more points each, and we’d still have been more than safe.

In fact if they HAD got 10 more points each, where do you think those 30 points would have come from? They’d have come from Newcastle, Burnley, Palace, etc, and as a result we’d have finished HIGHER in the table.

We stayed up because WE were more then good enough to do so. We earned 41 points - other teams being shit had **** all to do with it.

We were unfortunate that there were six teams better than us, otherwise we would've been top 10

 

[Hotchilidog]

I was torn between 7 & 8 but as my glass is always half full I've gone for 8.

We have progressed as club and a team. The foundations for 2021/22 are far more solid than the ones we had for 20/21. We have been delivered hope and the promise of further excitement in the future. It really is a great time to be an Albion fan. Amongst all the hoo-ha about strikers, VAR, injuries etc if we had just buried all our penalties we'd be in the mid 40's points wise which would really have put the icing on the cake this season.

What has changed about this team is that we are finally beginning to belong in this league. We have a side that looks forward to games against the top six with excitement not fear. Given that we played most of the season with out Lamptey and March, had to manage the minutes for Welbeck and Lallana and we also lost Webster and Veltman for a time also.
We have coped well with disruption and displayed a strength in depth that was not there previously.

We have played the most entertaining football I have ever seen us play, and I saw it against top quality opposition.

When you look back at the timid team that hung on in the first two seasons we are completely transformed. So much more confident.

Of course there have been plenty of frustrations, way too many points left on the pitch because of profligate finishing. The inability to put away the teams at the bottom, and then the refs and VAR. So plenty of work left to do, but I think we are in a great position to push on next season. I cannot wait to see what we do next.

 

[Badger Boy]

Or maybe its possible to both be content/happy with the season and still hope/expect more for the next one? Those two thoughts dont rule eachother out.

I didn't enjoy watching this team over the course of the season. Our passing around is lovely and we've developed the squad from the end of last season, but the team on the pitch hasn't done better than last season. I think we've had a good second half of the season after an awful first half where we couldn't beat an egg. Hopefully next season will justify a 7!

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

7 - some frustrating results, some incredibly memorable ones. Not kicked on in the league like I’d have liked but have in terms of performances - pretty happy overall.

6.5/ 7 for me.

That sums it up for me too.

Far too many draws (and defeats) against poor sides - 1/6 points from Sheffield Utd, 1/6 from West Brom and failing to beat Fulham too.

Some great results too - Liverpool, Spurs and City. Beating Leeds twice.

I really think we've missed Lamptey so much - our side lacks pace - he was outstanding early in the season - having him and Solly back will be like two new signings.

A top striker away from being a top 10 side IMO

 

[hans kraay fan club]

The marks being given out seem incredibly generous to me and if you think that was a 7 or 8 out of 10 season, you're not expecting things to get any better at any point. It's like you've accepted this is probably as good as it can be but I don't agree. I don't think we should be content with 16th in the league. Everyone spent the season laughing at Newcastle and Steve Bruce, and they've gone and achieved a higher finish than we've managed in the 4 years we've been in this league and with more points and wins than we've managed. For all the talk of how good we are and the selfcongratulation, we have improved but not in a measurable way.

The positives are that we've got a much better goalkeeper than we started the season with. The squad has another year of Premier League experience under their belts. We've had a very encouraging second half of the season and hopefully we can maintain this type of form over a full season so we don't spend all of next season in the bottom 6 (again).

Let's see what the summer transfer window brings, whether we can ship out a few who aren't in favour here and go into next season with a slightly less flabby squads in certain areas. It does nobody any favours to have a surplus of central midfielders with a real shortage of quality, readily available options in the wingback positions.

I'd agree with your comments about the required trimming / rebalancing of the squad.

I do not agree that the improvement in the team is in no way measurable. Apart from the simple fact that we equalled our record points tally, there is plenty of tangible / measurable evidence of our improvement.

- Our GOAL DIFFERENCE has improved, indicating that our balance of defence / attack has got better.
- Our GOALS CONCEDED has improved, showing that a more expansive playing style, has NOT come at a defensive cost. We are second only to Chelsea in GA, in 2021.
- It is much derided, but the xG statistics are measurable proof of the effectiveness of our system - bar the crucial final part.
- The AVERAGE age of our team has gone, in just two seasons, from among the highest in the division, to almost the lowest. A remarkable evolution, without negative impact.
- We are top of the entire PL, for minutes played by players brought through our ACADEMY. Tangible proof of another aspect of the club that is starting to blossom.


All very much measurable, and all positive.

 

[KeegansHairPiece]

There's no greater feeling for a football supporter than seeing your team score a winner and walking away from the stadium after a win with a 'Ready Brek glow' (not caused by alcholol ). It literally sets up your weekend/week.

That takes primacy.

I genuinely had never heard in my life, until NSC over the last 21 months, football supporters not minding a loss because our passing game had been exquisite.

[NOT meant as an anti-Potter barbed comment. I rate him}.

I think it is quite rare to be in the situation of playing well, and at times very well, but results are significantly behind what we as fans are seeing, hence frustration was extra high as was acceptance of performance over results. Not often it happens like this hence we are an anomaly in the league table when you look at GD and no. of defeats (before you even get into xg, xpts etc.)

 

[Iggle Piggle]

I'd agree with your comments about the required trimming / rebalancing of the squad.

I do not agree that the improvement in the team is in no way measurable. Apart from the simple fact that we equalled our record points tally, there is plenty of tangible / measurable evidence of our improvement.

- Our GOAL DIFFERENCE has improved, indicating that our balance of defence / attack has got better.
- Our GOALS CONCEDED has improved, showing that a more expansive playing style, has NOT come at a defensive cost. We are second only to Chelsea in GA, in 2021.
- It is much derided, but the xG statistics are measurable proof of the effectiveness of our system - bar the crucial final part.
- The AVERAGE age of our team has gone, in just two seasons, from among the highest in the division, to almost the lowest. A remarkable evolution, without negative impact.
- We are top of the entire PL, for minutes played by players brought through our ACADEMY. Tangible proof of another aspect of the club that is starting to blossom.


All very much measurable, and all positive.

I am very conflicted marking this.

There is a lot to like about this season which is perfectly put in the post above. On the negative front, It's just been that the frustrating levels of our barn door strikers and midfielders who are perfectly capable of an inch perfect pass over 40 yards who suddenly find Row Z of the stand when in front of goal mark the season down. Then you remember games like Bournemouth and Cardiff and realise the difference in just over 2 years and think how far we have come. There are then massive discrepancies in the team :

Defensively in the 2nd half of the season we are probably a 9/10 bit more like a 5 in the first part when we kept conceding soft goals.

Our finishing over the season is more like 2/10 but our play to get us there could be an 8.

Overall? 7 as an arbitrary number. The main thing from here on is who stays and who goes.

 

[vagabond]

It depends how one is scoring. If based on points, then we matched last season, so probably a 6/10.

However that doesn’t tell the whole story.

I’m one of those who think we’ve made huge strides as a team and a club this season. People used to complain that we couldn’t win away at big teams. Or that we never got “huge results” against the top 4. This season, it genuinely feels like we’ve come of age with this team. We are now a bonafide PL team capable of playing anyone in this league and winning.

We are no longer a cliched bottom half side, we show genuine signs of progression. Our superb defence and GD. The number of winning points we’ve thrown away. Nearly all of our draws were the result of us battering teams but not able to finish them off.

The signs are there for all to see. We are improving. Outplaying most teams we play. Sanchez is the final piece of the backline. And with Solly and Lamptey coming back we will have one of the best backlines in the league IMO. One or two forwards away from being a genuine top 10 team.

So points this season: 6/10
Progression as a club: 7.5/10

 

[Kosh]

A solid 5, it's been a season of one or two brilliant ups but more downs... I remain disappointed with our game management, our soft underbelly, our tendency to concede late or indeed early - around HT and FT that is, and our habit of conceding immediately after scoring... when combined with our staggering inability to convert gilt edged chances, well, it's worrying.

Don't get me wrong, our style can be sublime and I believe GP has improved the team - albeit in a division where standing still would spell certain relegation.

Intelligent and low budget investment will be key as will the continued improvement of players like Maupay et al.

If we stand still then 16th is literally the best we can hope for, if we can iron out all of those creases then perhaps 12th is realistic. However, it's a BIG ask to eradicate the above issues, a task that will be made even harder if we lose Biss, White .... Lamptey ?

If I may compare this season to the Deep Purple back catalogue, this has been our Who Do We Think We Are? moment... for every Rat Bat Blue, there's been one too many Super Trouper's...

That said, the very next album was Burn - one new front man and the band was re-born... hmmmmmm.

 

[Chicken Run]

6/10

Delighted with another season in the Prem, not so delighted with our results against teams in the lower half!




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[cjd]

Or maybe its possible to both be content/happy with the season and still hope/expect more for the next one? Those two thoughts dont rule eachother out.

Quite sure the poll asks for marks out of 10 for THIS season and not about "hope/expect more for the next one ?".

 

[Hugo Rune]

A solid 5, it's been a season of one or two brilliant ups but more downs... I remain disappointed

One or two brilliant ‘ups’?

This seems a great example of glass half full. Totally forgetting the brilliant bits for the sake of being bloody miserable. I take it that you were only dancing around your house with glee at one or two of these brilliant ‘ups’?

- Beating Spurs at home.
- Double against Leeds
- Double against Newcastle
- Wiping the smile off Grealish’s face at Villa park.
- Beating Liverpool at Anfield
- Beating EPL and probably CL champions at the Amex last week.
- Joint record EPL points total.
- Development of top class young players like Lamptey, White & Sanchez.
- Yves Bissouma

 

[CP 0 3 BHA]

Despite all the frustrations along the way, it's difficult to give less than a 7 having been at the Amex last Tuesday.

Lots of other highlights too and not racing up the table has at least lessened the focus on us, and perhaps the chances of losing the manager and some key players.

 

[Diablo]

5 because we should be doing better. despite the good football we struggled to get to 40 pts, inconsistent except in front of goal where consistently inaccurate and wasteful, soft mentally.

With you all the way. No way do we warrant 7/10 for finishing 16th.

 

[Diablo]

Despite all the frustrations along the way, it's difficult to give less than a 7 having been at the Amex last Tuesday.

Lots of other highlights too and not racing up the table has at least lessened the focus on us, and perhaps the chances of losing the manager and some key players.

If you score games individually that game would have to be a 10. And over the whole season we have won against some of the better teams(City,Liverpool,Spurs) but can not consistently beat poorer opposition.

 

[Badger Boy]

I'd agree with your comments about the required trimming / rebalancing of the squad.

I do not agree that the improvement in the team is in no way measurable. Apart from the simple fact that we equalled our record points tally, there is plenty of tangible / measurable evidence of our improvement.

- Our GOAL DIFFERENCE has improved, indicating that our balance of defence / attack has got better.
- Our GOALS CONCEDED has improved, showing that a more expansive playing style, has NOT come at a defensive cost. We are second only to Chelsea in GA, in 2021.
- It is much derided, but the xG statistics are measurable proof of the effectiveness of our system - bar the crucial final part.
- The AVERAGE age of our team has gone, in just two seasons, from among the highest in the division, to almost the lowest. A remarkable evolution, without negative impact.
- We are top of the entire PL, for minutes played by players brought through our ACADEMY. Tangible proof of another aspect of the club that is starting to blossom.


All very much measurable, and all positive.

That's an excellent post and all very positive.

 

[Swansman]

Quite sure the poll asks for marks out of 10 for THIS season and not about "hope/expect more for the next one ?".

Yes?

7/10 this season for me and still hoping for more/better next season. Badger Boy seemed to think you cant both enjoy the past season and still hope for more, which is what I replied to. I