Izzy muzzit Posted 26 May 2012 Share Posted 26 May 2012 It is again looking like we are favorites to win the league for a second term, the only difference is that we seem to be outright favorites this time! Last season the weight of expectation from us supporters was IMO rediculous. Last season we got on the players backs (myself included) at any opportunity and it took a couple of games towards the end of last season for me to realise how negative and disruptive it clearly was! Players looked terrified to put a foot wrong! It must be an awful atmosphere for the players at times (we are supposed to be supporters after all). Yes they get paid huge wages etc but they are still human. I think realistically this year we will make the playoffs at best! I believe last year we valued ourselves to be a much better team than we actually were and with the enevitable continued improvement of the squad by NP i think we will be eventually good enough for a promotion spot but it will be the expectation and pressure that will most likely effects us again. I obviously hope i am wrong about just hitting the playoffs but as someone who spent most of last season coming away from games negative even when we had won at times, I cant see much changing! Does anyone feel that we will live up to the 'favorites' tag this season as we have been given this again after spending a bit of money? Or does anyone agree that we expect too much from a team that looked impressive at times last season, but enevitably do not have the desired quality or cohesion we have come to expect and therefore continued top 10 championship status? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark_w Posted 26 May 2012 Share Posted 26 May 2012 I think Nigel will have us in and around the top six for the majority of next season, but after last year, making us favourites for the title is just insane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Webbo Posted 26 May 2012 Share Posted 26 May 2012 Any players who can't cope with expectation are not good enough for a promotion team anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BlueBrett Posted 26 May 2012 Share Posted 26 May 2012 We'll lead from pillar to post. No bother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col city fan Posted 26 May 2012 Share Posted 26 May 2012 Any players who can't cope with expectation are not good enough for a promotion team anyway. I agree with you 100% Webbo With the players signed and the money spent at the start of last season it's not surprising that ourselves and West Ham were joint favourites. And the level of expectation of us fans was warranted IMO. We have no God Given right to promotion but we do have a right to expect some success given the circumstances we were in. This season I'm actually expecting less, not because we have a worse squad, we don't... But I think that the 'competition' will be fiercer this coming season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Fox Posted 26 May 2012 Share Posted 26 May 2012 I think we will definitely do better this season the type of players and mentality is different they may not have the supposed quality but that attitude will see us winning more games than loosing, we will be tough to beat I am sure, any weakness last season away from home against the lesser sides will be corrected I hope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stourbridgefox Posted 26 May 2012 Share Posted 26 May 2012 Last year expectations were ramped up by the club and most fell for it hook, line and sinker...myself included. There have been three seasons recently where before the season started I was convinced we would get into the Premier League. The first of these, we were relegated to League One, the second, bottom after 10 games, the third season...is next season. Obviously my previous errors mean I am trying to keep some kind of check on my own expectations this time around. But...I think we are carrying over quite a lot of quality from Sven's spending spree into next season. Some of it turned out to be waste, such as Mills and the loanees, but we still have the likes of Konchesky, Schmeichel, Nugent, Beckford and Danns to make the basis of a strong, fairly experienced squad. In January, Pearson began adding his own ingredients into the mix with the purchase of steady centre-back Wes Morgan and two up and coming players in Danny Drinkwater and Ben Marshall. He stated that he wanted the team to play with more energy and dynamism next season and so far his signings seem to back up this ambition. So, a well marshalled and steady Pearson defence allied with a dynamic and pacey attack? Seems like the kind of recipe for success in the Championship if you ask me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davieG Posted 26 May 2012 Share Posted 26 May 2012 With new faces and potentially more comings and goings it'll need some very fast gelling for us to make an immediate impact. Unless Pearson can work some magic at getting the individual players old and new to work as a cohesive team I really can't see us progressing much maybe just into the play-offs, but miracles do happen. My expectations are limited to being entertained by a committed, cohesive team playing a decent standard of football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Webbo Posted 26 May 2012 Share Posted 26 May 2012 Any players who can't cope with expectation are not good enough for a promotion team anyway. Btw I'm not saying we will definitely be successful this season, just if we're not. a high level of expectation shouldn't be used as an excuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BlueBrett Posted 26 May 2012 Share Posted 26 May 2012 My expectations are limited to being entertained by a committed, cohesive team playing a decent standard of football. Think most of us would settle for that. With the players we have signed and retained I am pretty much convinced we will see a greater level of commitment from the team next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fox92 Posted 26 May 2012 Share Posted 26 May 2012 If I'm honest, I think a little expectation is justified. We have spent a fair amount of money again (not as much as last year I know), some of our players earn big wages and our squad, in my opinion, has the ability to challenge for promotion. I'm not saying, I expect us to finish within the automatic places, but I do expect us to make a challenge for the play offs, and I think Nigel will lead us into the top 6. Any players who can't cope with expectation are not good enough for a promotion team anyway. Was going to post the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted 26 May 2012 Share Posted 26 May 2012 My expectations are the same as last year, Playoffs, whether it be 3rd or 6th, i'm not fussed but the minimum expectation will be playoffs, if we got automatic great, even better, but the money we spent last season, the players we had at our dispossal we should have atleast made the playoffs, this summer I don't think we'll spend as much, I don't think we'll have as 'higher' profile players sign, Although we have signed the most players so far I think we'll go about our business quietly, correctly, in the Nigel Pearson way and whether we make the playoffs will be another question but i'm confident Nigel Pearson will get better results. However all the said about not spending as much money, going about buisness quietly because of our owners, last season expectation, last season failure I think the expectation will be hightened and I really think we need to do it this season because all this talk about the owners being in it for the long term...I fear if we don't go up, if we go up I do think the owners will be here for a long time but they need to see something back on their investment and I think it needs to come this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tielemans63 Posted 26 May 2012 Share Posted 26 May 2012 As I've said in another thread - i think we'll be in the playoffs and that would be alright. Cant see why we're considered favourites, I don't see us being auto promo contenders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted 26 May 2012 Share Posted 26 May 2012 The only explanation I can come up with for the bookies making us favourites is that (as far as I know) we have signed the most players out of all the clubs in the league so far, obviously those signings have to be the right signings and that remains to be seen but based on Pearson's past signings, most of them being spot on and the fact we are doing business early suggests we are working hard behind the scenes, planning early and getting things in place ready ahead of pre season rather than doing it during pre-season and using the excuse of the players need to gel. That is the only reason I could see the bookies making us favourites at this stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stillwater Posted 26 May 2012 Share Posted 26 May 2012 Was full of optimism last year not so much this year, Think NP will need to be given time to get his new unproven players playing well together. Think we will finish lower than last year maybe 11th/12th. Would love to be proven wrong though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MooseBreath Posted 26 May 2012 Share Posted 26 May 2012 In hindsight, it wasn't justified last season because our players and manager were nowhere near good enough. But that's only in hindsight. It doesn't mean we shouldn't be expecting promotion again this year, because if we aren't, then why would we accept it? Our goal is promotion, expecting promotion is justifed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluetintedspecs Posted 26 May 2012 Share Posted 26 May 2012 The bookies odds will change when punters start wading in on Wolves, Birmingham, Blackburn and Bolton at a far more realistic/appealing price! Regarding us I believe NP is very clear about what he wants this season and I firmly believe he will get it from HIS choice of players!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danno Posted 26 May 2012 Share Posted 26 May 2012 11th Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl the Llama Posted 26 May 2012 Share Posted 26 May 2012 I actually think we have a better chance than we did at this point last year. I'm confident we can really compete for the top 6 as long as our squad doesn't change too drastically between now and the start of the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxfanazer Posted 27 May 2012 Share Posted 27 May 2012 Pearson won't let the players think we're favourites. The only way we're going up is through hard work and the team gelling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legend_in_blue Posted 27 May 2012 Share Posted 27 May 2012 Good players don't need time to gel. They just get on with it. Hopefully this will be the case this season. We weren't a team early on last season, we weren't good enough either and in the end it showed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickelbyfox Posted 27 May 2012 Share Posted 27 May 2012 Unusual topic, whether realistic or not the owners are expecting premier league football by the end of this year and they have justified this by backing this and all managers financially, so are the expectations justified? In my opinion yes. Can we do it is another question. The owners have said they want to go to the PL, have backed the manager and I don't see it far fetched to think of us as favourites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxfanazer Posted 27 May 2012 Share Posted 27 May 2012 Good players do need time to gel but I agree with u that our start and finish to the season was massively disappointing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davieG Posted 27 May 2012 Share Posted 27 May 2012 Good players don't need time to gel. They just get on with it. Hopefully this will be the case this season. We weren't a team early on last season, we weren't good enough either and in the end it showed. I think it depends on how many good players you're talking about, if it's one or two and they've been bought to complement an existing established system then yes but if you bring in a whole team playing a totally different style of football that it is new to the few current players then you need a lot more time to achieve a cohesive team. If you then bring in a new manager that adopts the style familiar with the established players but totally different to the system the bulk of the team where put together to play then you need even more time. This is what we did and a major cause of our failure. We now it would seem are going to have to endure another raft of wholesale changes to suit the latest style of football plus for financial reasons. The day this club adopts an overall football philosophy and a strategic approach to this is the day we might eventually achieve some sustainable success built organic growth supplemented by a few acquisitions I shan't hold my breath though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxes2011 Posted 27 May 2012 Share Posted 27 May 2012 I hope the expectation can be lived up to we didnt get close last season and tbh not alots changed yet but im still optomistic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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