10 games in, how do you feel?

[AFCB_Mark]

Speaking with my couple of Brighton mates, they've been pretty damn surprised by their start, and didn't expect anything like it after what they saw as an underwhelming summer. Compared with Derby's more overwhelming summer, perhaps there's a lot to be said for continuity and only having to bed in a couple of new players?

I have the dubious pleasure of working in Reading next week. Perhaps I'll have a chance to find out more about whats going on there. I might ask them to teach me some of this song I keep hearing about...

 

[Walkley_Owl]

Speaking with my couple of Brighton mates, they've been pretty damn surprised by their start, and didn't expect anything like it after what they saw as an underwhelming summer. Compared with Derby's more overwhelming summer, perhaps there's a lot to be said for continuity and only having to bed in a couple of new players?

I have the dubious pleasure of working in Reading next week. Perhaps I'll have a chance to find out more about whats going on there. I might ask them to teach me some of this song I keep hearing about...

Poor bastard, by contrast i'll be in Malta!

 

[HertsWolf]

I have the dubious pleasure of working in Reading next week. Perhaps I'll have a chance to find out more about whats going on there. I might ask them to teach me some of this song I keep hearing about...

Make sure you defend the glory of Reading. It is important. And tell us about the smell of the fame.

 

[City169]

Disappointed, but nowhere near as deflated as most city fans seem to be. The teams confidence definitely seems to have taken a knock, last year if we were a goal up we'd be pushing for a bigger lead, but in our last 2 games we have sat back on it and both times it has ended up with a late goal denying the win.

 

[Madejski]

Speaking with my couple of Brighton mates, they've been pretty damn surprised by their start, and didn't expect anything like it after what they saw as an underwhelming summer. Compared with Derby's more overwhelming summer, perhaps there's a lot to be said for continuity and only having to bed in a couple of new players?

I have the dubious pleasure of working in Reading next week. Perhaps I'll have a chance to find out more about whats going on there. I might ask them to teach me some of this song I keep hearing about...

Didn't Brighton spend a lot this Summer, like 7 or 8 million? They should be up there given their expenditure, same with Derby. So I don't see why they should be shocked, unless they thought they were spending millions on duds.

As for us, we had a manager who took six months to work out the problems with the team, and then he went out and solved those problems in the Summer, cheaply and effectively. All coming together on deadline day, which is why we've won 4/5 since.

 

[QPR_Matt]

Confused.

Started off the season thinking that we need to rebuild this year. We signed some promising players, such as Gladwin, Chery, Hall and Luongo. We then shipped out players that we do not want around any more, like SWP, Barton (to an extent) and Taarabt. We started off the season promisingly, with some decent away wins against Wolves and Huddersfield.

Then the window closed and we had held onto the likes of Fer, Austin and Sandro. This meant that our expectations had gone from mid table, to wanting promotion again. But after losing to Forest at home, followed by drawing to Blackburn and then getting thrashed by Fulham it is all doom and gloom at QPR again, with fans calling for Ramseys head.

 

[Costello]

Didn't Brighton spend a lot this Summer, like 7 or 8 million? They should be up there given their expenditure, same with Derby. So I don't see why they should be shocked, unless they thought they were spending millions on duds.

Yeah, we spent a fair amount in the end. Think a few of our deals towards the end of the window went quite under the radar: nearly £5 combined on Murphy, Hunemeier and Manu.

So whilst our fans were generally a lot more encouraged by our activity this summer, the starting XI hasn't actually changed dramatically so I think you could reasonably suggest we've benefited from having a fully bedded-in manager (like yourselves) and settled core of players, as Mark mentioned.

Admittedly though there are examples of other clubs (Watford, Southampton) in seasons gone by that fly in the face of that line of thinking..

 

[Turkey]

Didn't Brighton spend a lot this Summer, like 7 or 8 million? They should be up there given their expenditure, same with Derby. So I don't see why they should be shocked, unless they thought they were spending millions on duds.

As for us, we had a manager who took six months to work out the problems with the team, and then he went out and solved those problems in the Summer, cheaply and effectively. All coming together on deadline day, which is why we've won 4/5 since.

Hemed 1m, Hunemeier 1.75m, Murphy 1.5m, Manu 1.5m plus a few smaller fees for Goldson, Harper and Hambo so about 6m. Funny thing is Hunemeier, Murphy and Manu aren't even guaranteed starters.

 

[Madejski]

Similar thing to us (minus the money). We made 12 (?) transfers over the Summer, yet with our wins over Burnley and Middlesbrough, seven of the eleven players who started were with us when we finished 19th last season, and out of the five substitutions we made, 3 of them were also here. Some of the players we brought in are weaker than the team we had last year too (Federici >>>>>>> Bond/Al-Habsi)

Little bit of competition to stir everything up, along with the right system and it's working a treat. We look a completely different side to last season, even though the personnel isn't that much different. Always the same thing with league though, 2 or 3 good signings and that's you on the other side of the league table.

 

[Gerry Gow]

Feels like I've gone back to a birds house after a night out. In the nightclub I thought she was world class but I only realised until the next morning she wasn't....

 

[HertsWolf]

Feels like I've gone back to a birds house after a night out. In the nightclub I thought she was world class but I only realised until the next morning she wasn't....

You're lucky, mate. Sunderland fans have got her home and discovered that she's a man. Worse, Newcastle fans didn't find that out until the morning.

 

[HertsWolf]

Similar thing to us (minus the money). We made 12 (?) transfers over the Summer, yet with our wins over Burnley and Middlesbrough, seven of the eleven players who started were with us when we finished 19th last season, and out of the five substitutions we made, 3 of them were also here. Some of the players we brought in are weaker than the team we had last year too (Federici >>>>>>> Bond/Al-Habsi)

Little bit of competition to stir everything up, along with the right system and it's working a treat. We look a completely different side to last season, even though the personnel isn't that much different. Always the same thing with league though, 2 or 3 good signings and that's you on the other side of the league table.

But on the same score, 2 or 3 wins or losses and you can be at the other end of the table.

 

[T.A]

We'll be going down with two others.

After a great first few games, I've never seen such a toothless bunch of players and we have a goalkeeper who gives away a goal every single game.

We can't seriously expect to stay up with a defence as poor as ours and fucking Nick Pope in goal.

Has he really been that bad? He's been excellent all be it at league 2 level. Is he just not good enough and not experienced enough?

 

[Bobbin']

Has he really been that bad? He's been excellent all be it at league 2 level. Is he just not good enough and not experienced enough?

Probably a mixture of both but he has twice this season fumbled a shot in the centre of the goal into the path of an on rushing attacker, both of which ended in goals. He was lucky with another one against Fulham on Sunday actually.

Should have done much better for both goals we conceded against Huddersfield.

Just basic mistakes and they're not one-offs.

 

[T.A]

Probably a mixture of both but he has twice this season fumbled a shot in the centre of the goal into the path of an on rushing attacker, both of which ended in goals. He was lucky with another one against Fulham on Sunday actually.

Should have done much better for both goals we conceded against Huddersfield.

Just basic mistakes and they're not one-offs.

I know we were very interested to take him on a season long loan again at the start but due to your number 1 getting injured there was no chance of it. I still think it'd be worth him having some experience at league 1. He's still a young lad after all.

 

[Bobbin']

I know we were very interested to take him on a season long loan again at the start but due to your number 1 getting injured there was no chance of it. I still think it'd be worth him having some experience at league 1. He's still a young lad after all.

I do agree, my original post was after a day on the booze and after one of his stupid mistakes.

The only thing his, the howlers he is making would be a howler at any level.

 

[T.A]

Could be the pressure of jumping from league 2 to the Championship. I'm confident he'll be a decent keeper at this level in the future. Maybe he's not ready for the Championship quite yet.

 

[Bobbin']

Hope you're right but it's just proving costly keeping him in the side and waiting for that to happen.

 

[WhiteRussian]

I wouldn't be so worried if we had a decent striker to come back like Preston have but we don't and goals are going to be our problem. It all depends if we can loan someone it as we can't afford to buy.
As for the other promoted teams I think Preston will be OK.
I really don't understand why Bristol C are in the same dilemma as us though, they have money and should have bought in the window. The only thing I can think of is Cotterill was too loyal to his league one team and thought they would have been OK in the championship.

 

[Aaron-Bcfc]

I wouldn't be so worried if we had a decent striker to come back like Preston have but we don't and goals are going to be our problem. It all depends if we can loan someone it as we can't afford to buy.
As for the other promoted teams I think Preston will be OK.
I really don't understand why Bristol C are in the same dilemma as us though, they have money and should have bought in the window. The only thing I can think of is Cotterill was too loyal to his league one team and thought they would have been OK in the championship.

You clearly missed the £6 million and £9 million bids then...

 

[Bobbin']

I was going to say it wasn't so much Bristol City not splashing the cash, just no-one wanted to join them.

 

[Hezookaka]

That's an interesting way of looking at that actually, and I think you could be right.

MK looked a bit fragile if memory serves. Strange thing to say after the 4-1 result but it was a weird result given the how the game panned out. MK seemed to be carrying on with the neat short passing, but there was a lack of bite. There's some physically strong players in this league. More so than L1, that's one of the things that I noticed with the Millers in our first season. Certain players were easily brushed aside. this season, well we have been finding our way really, after yet another complete overhaul of the squad and only just starting find it.

 

[KevinMcallister]

rubbish but we are used to it