League 1 25/26

[Davidimp]

Good to have Bradford in the third tier, 40 years on from the terrible tragedy involving both clubs.
Hence one stand at our place carrying the names of the two Lincoln fans who died that day, Bill Stacey and Jim West.

 

[AdamStag]

Good to have Bradford in the third tier, 40 years on from the terrible tragedy involving both clubs.
Hence one stand carrying the names of the two Lincoln fans who died that day, Bill Stacey and Jim West.

Nice touch, i didn’t know the reason for the stand names.

 

[Davidimp]

Nice touch, i didn’t know the reason for the stand names.

Yeah , most visiting fans think it's named after a former player or someone like that.
Pretty sure there's a plaque in there, entrance/ toilet area

 

[Throbber_for_Dunk]

Stansfield was never a Exeter player. Many players as good if not better than Stansfield who have played in lge 1/2 in recent times......We even had two play for us valued at more than Stansfield but at no stage were they Bolton players.

He was an Exeter player, they sold him to Fulham and had him back on a loan.

And yeah, the likes of Ollie Watkins and Ethan Ampadu for example, and neither of them would suffer the indignity of half a season at Exeter!

 

[masi51]

He was an Exeter player, they sold him to Fulham and had him back on a loan.

And yeah, the likes of Ollie Watkins and Ethan Ampadu for example, and neither of them would suffer the indignity of half a season at Exeter!

Stansfield has never played for Exeter as a Exeter player......only on loan
Not in anyway having a go at Exeter they have produced many good players.........I am saying Luton will not double their money on a player who is his mid 20s and has had one season split between Exeter and Relegated Luton

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

The point may end up being irrelevant as would not at all surprise me if Alli and Aasgaard have release clauses for if we were relegated and therefore we might not have any bargaining power therefore.

Particularly in the case of Aasgaard it’s the only reason I can think that he actually signed for us with the situation we were in as he is clearly a championship quality player.

 

[denzel ecfc]

Stansfield has never played for Exeter as a Exeter player......only on loan
Not in anyway having a go at Exeter they have produced many good players.........I am saying Luton will not double their money on a player who is his mid 20s and has had one season split between Exeter and Relegated Luton

He's a late developer, which is allowed. Look at Jamie Vardy, Teddy Sheringham, Stanley Matthews!

Anyway, he has improved immensely since we first signed him, he was useless in his first few games, but clearly relishes playing at a higher level. If he's playing well for a relegated side isn't that better than playing poorly for a promoted one?

 

[masi51]

The point may end up being irrelevant as would not at all surprise me if Alli and Aasgaard have release clauses for if we were relegated and therefore we might not have any bargaining power therefore.

Particularly in the case of Aasgaard it’s the only reason I can think that he actually signed for us with the situation we were in as he is clearly a championship quality player.

I think you have more than enough to bounce straight back up......Ali and Aasgard will be on decent lge1 salaries but they are not your problem. That lies with your former premier league players who are on crazy wages for league 1

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

I think you have more than enough to bounce straight back up......Ali and Aasgard will be on decent lge1 salaries but they are not your problem. That lies with your former premier league players who are on crazy wages for league 1

We have no idea about any of that to be fair as the club is extremely secretive on contracts.

Indeed no one even knows anything about who is out of contract this summer and therefore likely to be out the door, let alone what clauses there were for relegation etc that might reduce salaries in line with it.

It is probably a contributing factor to the relegation as the likes of Mengi clearly did not want to be here and alongside the prestige element you would reasonably assume he took a decent hit in salary with the relegation

 

[masi51]

He's a late developer, which is allowed. Look at Jamie Vardy, Teddy Sheringham, Stanley Matthews!

Anyway, he has improved immensely since we first signed him, he was useless in his first few games, but clearly relishes playing at a higher level. If he's playing well for a relegated side isn't that better than playing poorly for a promoted one?

I think you are missing my point along with one or two more.....He may well be improving year on year, you are going a bit ott with the three players above
99.9% certain he will get nowhere near any of those.
My point is clubs will simply not pay what a player is worth never mind double when they know a firesale is coming.

You can go back to when Leeds were skint 25 years ago and had to sell the likes of Ferdinand, Viduka and Robbie Keane for way under market value.......Wigan and Reading have also done this in the last couple of years and before that Bolton, Derby and a host of clubs.......Once parachute money stops your club is vulnerable

 

[masi51]

We have no idea about any of that to be fair as the club is extremely secretive on contracts.

Indeed no one even knows anything about who is out of contract this summer and therefore likely to be out the door, let alone what clauses there were for relegation etc that might reduce salaries in line with it.

It is probably a contributing factor to the relegation as the likes of Mengi clearly did not want to be here and alongside the prestige element you would reasonably assume he took a decent hit in salary with the relegation

This season is not your problem.......That starts next season when the parachute money stops.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

This season is not your problem.......That starts next season when the parachute money stops.

Sure but my point is, pointless to speculate how much trouble that may or may not cause as you have no idea what the contracts of these players look like.

 

[masi51]

Sure but my point is, pointless to speculate how much trouble that may or may not cause as you have no idea what the contracts of these players look like.

Very true, for what its worth you are a long way ahead of Cardiff.......Can see you re-building this season with the last of your parachute money........All your high earners will be released you cannot afford new contracts on current wages.
Interesting pre-season and 12 months ahead

 

[Albru17]

Good to have Bradford in the third tier, 40 years on from the terrible tragedy involving both clubs.
Hence one stand at our place carrying the names of the two Lincoln fans who died that day, Bill Stacey and Jim West.

Always look out for Lincoln results and wish them well after way they conducted themselves after the Fire. Usual raucous away day no doubt, but nice banter afterwards.

 

[Davidimp]

Always look out for Lincoln results and wish them well after way they conducted themselves after the Fire. Usual raucous away day no doubt, but nice banter afterwards.

Same here buddy, always look out for your results too.
There's a match at our place on Saturday between Lincoln and Bradford legends to raise funds for burns unit.
Then it'll be the big service in Bradford Sunday to mark exactly 40 years since the fire.
Our home shirt this season carried the names of the victims.

 

[LeonTheGreen]

Well we’re back in L1 again. If we keep Miron then I think we stand a good chance of bouncing straight back.

We have a lot of players under contract. It’ll be interesting to see if we shift many. We spent big money (in Argyle terms) on Michael Baidoo and he has offered nothing so hopefully he can show us why he was worth £2 million quid to us.

Also will be massive for us if Bundu signs a new contract, was in brilliant form at the back end of the season.

 

[masi51]

I do not think anyone stands out as clear fav this season......Anyone of 15 teams will fancy promotion
At the bottom again it will be close .
Interesting pre-season ahead

 

[kieran_vale]

I do not think anyone stands out as clear fav this season......Anyone of 15 teams will fancy promotion
At the bottom again it will be close .
Interesting pre-season ahead

Disagree to a point, while nobody will run away with it like Blues did this season just gone I fully expect Luton and Cardiff to occupy the top two spots. Now they’re not bound by the same FFP rules teams in the Championship are they’ll spend what’s needed to bounce back. May well be wrong as indeed I am often but thats how I see it today.

 

[AdamStag]

Disagree to a point, while nobody will run away with it like Blues did this season just gone I fully expect Luton and Cardiff to occupy the top two spots. Now they’re not bound by the same FFP rules teams in the Championship are they’ll spend what’s needed to bounce back. May well be wrong as indeed I am often but thats how I see it today.

Yeah i’d agree with that, there’s no side in league 1 next season like them, none of the 3 relegated sides are anything close to birmingham for me.

One thing you do notice more is that the spillover from money in the PL has flooded the championship and is then spilling down here.

 

[masi51]

Disagree to a point, while nobody will run away with it like Blues did this season just gone I fully expect Luton and Cardiff to occupy the top two spots. Now they’re not bound by the same FFP rules teams in the Championship are they’ll spend what’s needed to bounce back. May well be wrong as indeed I am often but thats how I see it today.

If both Cardiff and Luton start with their same squad i would agree.........Cardiff are this years basket case and Luton will most certainly clear all major earners out of the club.
I expect major cutbacks from both teams though i expect Luton to still be strong.
Plymouth should be looking at the play-offs min.

Will you be stronger than two seasons back or is it just a case of staying up?

 

[kieran_vale]

If both Cardiff and Luton start with their same squad i would agree.........Cardiff are this years basket case and Luton will most certainly clear all major earners out of the club.
I expect major cutbacks from both teams though i expect Luton to still be strong.
Plymouth should be looking at the play-offs min.

Will you be stronger than two seasons back or is it just a case of staying up?

To me this is just about making sure we stay up, hopefully without some late season jitters but there’s a lot of work to do. I’m waiting on what our retained list will look like (due next week) but one area of our team which we didn’t really do any surgery on after relegation was the defence which to be fair was alright in L2. It is however the same personnel that conceded over 70 goals both of the two seasons we were last here and so I’m hoping we don’t go the sentimental route and keep that unit together as it’s asking for trouble and likely relegation.

To me any of the four promoted teams I certainly don’t see being a Wrexham or Stockport, more say what Mansfield have done.

 

[masi51]

To me this is just about making sure we stay up, hopefully without some late season jitters but there’s a lot of work to do. I’m waiting on what our retained list will look like (due next week) but one area of our team which we didn’t really do any surgery on after relegation was the defence which to be fair was alright in L2. It is however the same personnel that conceded over 70 goals both of the two seasons we were last here and so I’m hoping we don’t go the sentimental route and keep that unit together as it’s asking for trouble and likely relegation.

To me any of the four promoted teams I certainly don’t see being a Wrexham or Stockport, more say what Mansfield have done.

Wrexham are turgid and will be so again next season yet Parkinson gets a tune, Stockport did the double over us and to be fair hammered us both games, i hope they go up.
Mansfield started well, but once they had a couple of injuries especially up front struggled......Rinse and repeat expected next season.
Still maintain it will be closer though i expect Bolton, Barnsley, Rotherham and Huddersfield to improve next season.......Peterborough are my dark horses for relegation

 

[LeonTheGreen]

Not looking forward to the many hours on the train next season, it’s going to be a very northern league.

 

[valefan16]

If both Cardiff and Luton start with their same squad i would agree.........Cardiff are this years basket case and Luton will most certainly clear all major earners out of the club.
I expect major cutbacks from both teams though i expect Luton to still be strong.
Plymouth should be looking at the play-offs min.

Will you be stronger than two seasons back or is it just a case of staying up?

We have a stronger squad now than the one which went down in L1 largely due to us splashing the cash to put it right (and Carol selling her business for a rumoured 180 million quid), the likes of George Byers, Jaheim Headley, Ronan Curtis, Ben Garrity all decent at this level, Tolaj will be an interesting one as we spent good money signing him and he has been a revelation, but are now asking him to step up two leagues in two seasons but him and Stockley alone is light years ahead of Loft and Uche from two years back

As mentioned above though the defence is one which will need work in the summer and expect it will, Nathan Smith excellent in L2 again but was poor in our relegation season, all be it removing the captaincy may have helped there, Connor Hall we resigned but he didn't exactly step up in L1 as well as we hoped in 22/23, Jesse Debrah has improved and is young but jury out there and Ben Heneghan is proven at this level and is a great "defender" but not the best on the deck. I do expect Moore will go looking at Sheff Wednesday probably to do some surgery there.

Its difficult to say what the clubs aims are at this point, we spent big for L2 level last summer and made some eye catching signings which surprised our own fans and imagine Moore will want money to spend and will get it but spending 750k on fees and rumoured 6-7k a week in L2 is one thing but doesn't make you a massive spender at this level so unless Carol goes really mad with it I think we will make one or two eyebrow raising signings in terms of surprise Port Vale have signed x or y like last season but mostly look to consolidate into mid table this season I expect.

We had to put it right after relegation immediately and did that so will be an interesting summer ahead, the club does feel in a much better place for the relegation and bounce back though.

 

[AdamStag]

Not looking forward to the many hours on the train next season, it’s going to be a very northern league.

I know, 12 (and possibly 14) trips within 2 hours, happy days!

 

[Kenneth E End]

If both Cardiff and Luton start with their same squad i would agree.........Cardiff are this years basket case and Luton will most certainly clear all major earners out of the club.
I expect major cutbacks from both teams though i expect Luton to still be strong.
Plymouth should be looking at the play-offs min.

Will you be stronger than two seasons back or is it just a case of staying up?

I think if Plymouth finished outside of the top 6, they'd be very disappointed. Since Wayne Rooney got sacked, they've been a different side. They seem to be organised off the pitch too.

 

[denzel ecfc]

Disagree to a point, while nobody will run away with it like Blues did this season just gone I fully expect Luton and Cardiff to occupy the top two spots. Now they’re not bound by the same FFP rules teams in the Championship are they’ll spend what’s needed to bounce back. May well be wrong as indeed I am often but thats how I see it today.

Pains me to say it, but I think Arg... are more likely to straight back up than Cardiff, and maybe even Luton, given how they finished the season and their manager (unless he get snapped up somewhere else...)

 

[leedsvaliant]

I think the aim has to be consolidation next season. We weren't prepared at all last time we got promoted....didn't have enough league 1 standard players and came back down.

We have a better base this time but we need some serious improvements on our defence. From being probably in the top 3 budgets in league 2, we'll probably be about 16th in league 1 unless Carol really decides to go for it. There's not many 'small' clubs at this level any more...lots of we'll established league 1/championship clubs who will likely have bigger gbudgets.

Luton, Bolton, Plymouth, Cardiff, Barnsley to name but a few will all be targeting automatic promotion. Feel like it's a tougher league than the one we were promoted into 3 years ago.

 

[masi51]

I think the aim has to be consolidation next season. We weren't prepared at all last time we got promoted....didn't have enough league 1 standard players and came back down.

We have a better base this time but we need some serious improvements on our defence. From being probably in the top 3 budgets in league 2, we'll probably be about 16th in league 1 unless Carol really decides to go for it. There's not many 'small' clubs at this level any more...lots of we'll established league 1/championship clubs who will likely have bigger gbudgets.

Luton, Bolton, Plymouth, Cardiff, Barnsley to name but a few will all be targeting automatic promotion. Feel like it's a tougher league than the one we were promoted into 3 years ago.

Not sure it is a tougher league.....The last time you was here you had two leagues, 8 going for promotion and 16 watching out for the drop. I think that is still the case but with it flipped 16 with eyes of going up and 8 happy to stay up. The teams that came Down will be strong if they keep most of their squads.
Teams who you will be competing to stay up alongside are Masters of the dark arts.....Refereeing has gone downhill and they do not seem how to officiate against these type of teams

 

[leedsvaliant]

Not sure it is a tougher league.....The last time you was here you had two leagues, 8 going for promotion and 16 watching out for the drop. I think that is still the case but with it flipped 16 with eyes of going up and 8 happy to stay up. The teams that came Down will be strong if they keep most of their squads.
Teams who you will be competing to stay up alongside are Masters of the dark arts.....Refereeing has gone downhill and they do not seem how to officiate against these type of teams

We've had probably 8 to 10 wrong game defining decisions against us in this last season. Probably about 3 the other way. So God help us if the refs are worse. The level of shithousery is horrendous in league 2, so we're used to that.