League 1 25/26

[valefan16]

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

Think the ref's in L1 and L2 usually are the same pool, its been poor this season, look at the Orient goal, it was miles off!

Away at Bromley we scored a "late winner" which was about 3 foot over the line, the defender clearing it is stood inside the goal and wasn't given... not to mention in clearing said goal he handled it twice! The standard hasn't been great.

 

[masi51]

When the goalkeeper goes down between the 20th and 30min mark is the most cringe worthy thing i have seen ever., and yes we have done it on numerous occasions. The term crying wolf is very apt on that.
Sooner or later a keeper will get seriously hurt the Physio will get waved on and he will slowly amble up to the keeper with his instructions and energy drink and he will need urgent medical attention.
50% of throwings are foul throws. Players who go down as though they have been shot,,,,,Again guilty
We have had referees making rules up as they have been going along
To the point a clear sending off was overlooked as long as the player was substituted.........clown thought it was a July Pre -season game in the middle of January

 

[valefan16]

When the goalkeeper goes down between the 20th and 30min mark is the most cringe worthy thing i have seen ever., and yes we have done it on numerous occasions. The term crying wolf is very apt on that.
Sooner or later a keeper will get seriously hurt the Physio will get waved on and he will slowly amble up to the keeper with his instructions and energy drink and he will need urgent medical attention.
50% of throwings are foul throws. Players who go down as though they have been shot,,,,,Again guilty
We have had referees making rules up as they have been going along
To the point a clear sending off was overlooked as long as the player was substituted.........clown thought it was a July Pre -season game in the middle of January

That is irritating and yes we've done it as well, they should change the rule that if the keeper goes down the outfield captain has to go off for 30 seconds to try and discourage it. Think Stevenage when they came up from non league did similar initially and now everyone does it.

 

[Davidimp]

I've been watching the big match revisited from 1984/85 season.
The level of shithousery is far lower, no holding at corners for a start.
The quality of the pitches though, just awful, even at the top clubs

 

[Davidimp]

It is the same pool of referees, including the fast tracked ones, who are the worst of the bunch!

 

[valefan16]

It is the same pool of referees, including the fast tracked ones, who are the worst of the bunch!

I think VAR meant more are used in the Premier League so obviously L1 and 2 get ones lower down the list than you'd have maybe got a few years ago possibly being an issue?

Best one we had was a referee against Bromley at home, Abigail Bryne she is mainly National League but done 3-4 L2 games and took no rubbish, dealt with anyone with a yellow if they threw their dummy out and let the game flow. Also thought Ruebyn Ricardo was decent, they interviewed him after the game on Sky Sports and he went through 2-3 contentious decisions, why he gave them and felt fair play can see where he is coming from there. Should do that more often as agree or not you can at least get an explanation and understand what they felt they saw and how they interpret it.

The Orient v Stockport one was Ben Speedie who we've had history with. Awful. His performance for us against Accrington a couple of years back was one of the worst I have seen!

 

[kieran_vale]

If I had to bet I think the team coming up from the L2 playoffs will be the one who comes through the game between Walsall and Chesterfield tonight. Walsall have the advantage but if Chesterfield get the first goal then a lot of scars Walsall will have from the second half of the season will reappear I reckon. I’m thinking Wimbledon will come through the other tie now McGoldrick is done for the season for Notts but their style of play really isn’t suited to that big Wembley pitch so Walsall or Chesterfield to win that.

 

[leedsvaliant]

If I had to bet I think the team coming up from the L2 playoffs will be the one who comes through the game between Walsall and Chesterfield tonight. Walsall have the advantage but if Chesterfield get the first goal then a lot of scars Walsall will have from the second half of the season will reappear I reckon. I’m thinking Wimbledon will come through the other tie now McGoldrick is done for the season for Notts but their style of play really isn’t suited to that big Wembley pitch so Walsall or Chesterfield to win that.

I'd agree. If Chesterfield turn this around then they love passing it around which will be good on a big pitch. Wimbledon's pitch is tight and they keep it tight at the back and play percentage stuff...hence their good home record.

 

[AdamStag]

Well 25/26 league 1 won’t have chesterfield in it.

Oh dear

 

[kieran_vale]

Wimbledon or Walsall it is then. Would have liked Notts as it’s one of the best away days in the bottom two divisions but knew better than to think they’d beat a team in the top half of the table. My money would be on Walsall in the final.

 

[AdamStag]

Wimbledon or Walsall it is then. Would have liked Notts as it’s one of the best away days in the bottom two divisions but knew better than to think they’d beat a team in the top half of the table. My money would be on Walsall in the final.

All 4 teams and all 4 games have been of a very poor standard. Walsall looked marginally the best though wimbledon look great defensively.

 

[kieran_vale]

All 4 teams and all 4 games have been of a very poor standard. Walsall looked marginally the best though wimbledon look great defensively.

Yeah Wimbledon had the best keeper in the league in Goodman and Lewis at the back is immense despite being the oldest looking 25 year old have ever seen.

To be honest apart from the Orient-Stockport and to a lesser extent the Sunderland game the playoffs in general have felt like a bit of a letdown in one form or another.

 

[AdamStag]

Yeah Wimbledon had the best keeper in the league in Goodman and Lewis at the back is immense despite being the oldest looking 25 year old have ever seen.

To be honest apart from the Orient-Stockport and to a lesser extent the Sunderland game the playoffs in general have felt like a bit of a letdown in one form or another.

We had a prem keeper on loan a few seasons ago in Nathan Bishop from man utd who was a great keeper - clough has admitted he needs to make better use of the loan market next season and after pym leaving we might be interested.

Goodman would be playing in L1 minimum next season, and presumably so with wimbledon if they beat walsall - if they didn’t they’d be a few interested, though it’d be rather fanciful he’d entertain sides much out of london.

 

[leedsvaliant]

We had a prem keeper on loan a few seasons ago in Nathan Bishop from man utd who was a great keeper - clough has admitted he needs to make better use of the loan market next season and after pym leaving we might be interested.

Goodman would be playing in L1 minimum next season, and presumably so with wimbledon if they beat walsall - if they didn’t they’d be a few interested, though it’d be rather fanciful he’d entertain sides much out of london.

I'd be very wary of using the loan market too much. It basically relegated us as we relied on the brilliance of 2 loan players in Ollie Arblaster and Alfie Devine...they got recalled and we went to shit. Same happened to Walsall in the past 2 seasons.

I've liked what we've done this year...the main team being our players and then the loans making impacts here and there. They were all mainly used as substitutes which meant there wasn't a reliance on them but they did contribute.

 

[AdamStag]

I'd be very wary of using the loan market too much. It basically relegated us as we relied on the brilliance of 2 loan players in Ollie Arblaster and Alfie Devine...they got recalled and we went to shit. Same happened to Walsall in the past 2 seasons.

I've liked what we've done this year...the main team being our players and then the loans making impacts here and there. They were all mainly used as substitutes which meant there wasn't a reliance on them but they did contribute.

He won’t fall for that it’s not his thing / but having 2/3 players on loan isn’t going to upset the apple cart and it’ll provide extra bodies during the season when you’ve sat/tues in a regular basis.

 

[masi51]

I'd be very wary of using the loan market too much. It basically relegated us as we relied on the brilliance of 2 loan players in Ollie Arblaster and Alfie Devine...they got recalled and we went to shit. Same happened to Walsall in the past 2 seasons.

I've liked what we've done this year...the main team being our players and then the loans making impacts here and there. They were all mainly used as substitutes which meant there wasn't a reliance on them but they did contribute.

kind of contradicting yourself.....You was shit from August, they carried you until January
Kelman has turned Orient from Average Joes to Play off Finalists minimum
Lincoln have used the loan system to stay top half for the last few seasons
Stockport had the best player in the league until January this season...And we have certainly benefitted from the loan System for the last 30 years

 

[YEO YEO YEO]

We've actually relied on the loan market far less this past season, with just Cadamarteri (injuried since January) and Gardner (came in in January), however its served us great with loan keepers, then Joe Taylor and Alex Mitchell last season playing big parts, Brennan Johnson and Morgan Rogers previously since moving up.

 

[leedsvaliant]

kind of contradicting yourself.....You was shit from August, they carried you until January
Kelman has turned Orient from Average Joes to Play off Finalists minimum
Lincoln have used the loan system to stay top half for the last few seasons
Stockport had the best player in the league until January this season...And we have certainly benefitted from the loan System for the last 30 years

We were actually playing a game to go top in October and were midtable at Christmas. Yes, the rest of our squad wasn't the best but my point remains that you don't want to rely on loan players as the 1st name on the teamsheet. If they're good, they'll get recalled in January. If we'd have kept them we would have remained midtable. I'm not sure how that's contradicting.

 

[masi51]

We were actually playing a game to go top in October and were midtable at Christmas. Yes, the rest of our squad wasn't the best but my point remains that you don't want to rely on loan players as the 1st name on the teamsheet. If they're good, they'll get recalled in January. If we'd have kept them we would have remained midtable. I'm not sure how that's contradicting.

The standard of loan player that lge1 teams are getting can be head and shoulders superior to what you have. Would be fairer if loans were not allowed

 

[denzel ecfc]

Wimbledon or Walsall it is then. Would have liked Notts as it’s one of the best away days in the bottom two divisions but knew better than to think they’d beat a team in the top half of the table. My money would be on Walsall in the final.

Well Wimbledon would be a new ground at least, and would give us another London trip to replace Charlton or Orient.

I know reviews are mixed of the new ground, but the views cant be any worse than from the terrace at Kingsmeadow, where you had to ask someone ten yards ago what we were doing for the corner

 

[kieran_vale]

Well Wimbledon would be a new ground at least, and would give us another London trip to replace Charlton or Orient.

I know reviews are mixed of the new ground, but the views cant be any worse than from the terrace at Kingsmeadow, where you had to ask someone ten yards ago what we were doing for the corner

I really liked the ground, the view from behind the goal is spot on to be honest. Know the pubs in the general vicinity were all home fans only but basically had a couple round Victoria then made my way on the district line from there easy enough. Believe though their matchday prices next season are set to be at the extortionate level (over £30 from memory).

 

[leedsvaliant]

Well Wimbledon would be a new ground at least, and would give us another London trip to replace Charlton or Orient.

I know reviews are mixed of the new ground, but the views cant be any worse than from the terrace at Kingsmeadow, where you had to ask someone ten yards ago what we were doing for the corner

It's close to a place called Earlsfield, which is decent and 10 minutes from Waterloo. Tooting is also pretty good for a pre match beer. The ground itself is quite good for a new build but it could do with slightly larger stands on all sides. Wimbledon get pretty decent crowds and with success that will surely grow, so under 10k capacity seems a bit shortsighted.

 

[Throbber_for_Dunk]

May be imagining it, but I thought their ground was built able to be easily expanded.

As for Nathan Bishop, he was okay. Probably available to someone at this level next season.

 

[AdamStag]

May be imagining it, but I thought their ground was built able to be easily expanded.

As for Nathan Bishop, he was okay. Probably available to someone at this level next season.

Bishop was pretty decent when at mansfield 3/4 seasons ago, not sure how he’s gone since then but looked capable at league 2 standard at least

 

[AdamStag]

As for walsall/wimbledon - given they’ve knocked out chesterfield and county happy with either.

Location wise i guess more walsall for beers during the day in birmingham - the area around walsalls ground is er, not great but beers in birmingham make up for it.

 

[LeonTheGreen]

Well in the last week we’ve appointed David Fox as football operations director and also appointed Tom Randle, who was Miron Muslic head of scouting at Cercle Brugge.

Hull are apparently after Muslic but an English journalist who covers Belgian footy, who is mates with Miron or at least has contact with him, has said to ignore it all. He’ll stay.

We will be going for the play offs, dealt a bit of a blow with Bundu not renewing his contract, but we’ve got more money than we did 3 years ago and supposedly there’s considerable investment coming in (I saw an article quoting €180 million, how true that is I don’t know) but our chairman has been talking about this investment since just before Christmas.

It is a bit of a bummer being back in L1 once you’ve had a taste of the Championship, sold out away ends nearly every week at Home Park, better standard of football, and some good wins against some big clubs. Hopefully we won’t be down here for to long but I’m under no illusions how difficult a league it will be.

 

[leedsvaliant]

Well in the last week we’ve appointed David Fox as football operations director and also appointed Tom Randle, who was Miron Muslic head of scouting at Cercle Brugge.

Hull are apparently after Muslic but an English journalist who covers Belgian footy, who is mates with Miron or at least has contact with him, has said to ignore it all. He’ll stay.

We will be going for the play offs, dealt a bit of a blow with Bundu not renewing his contract, but we’ve got more money than we did 3 years ago and supposedly there’s considerable investment coming in (I saw an article quoting €180 million, how true that is I don’t know) but our chairman has been talking about this investment since just before Christmas.

It is a bit of a bummer being back in L1 once you’ve had a taste of the Championship, sold out away ends nearly every week at Home Park, better standard of football, and some good wins against some big clubs. Hopefully we won’t be down here for to long but I’m under no illusions how difficult a league it will be.

I think you'll be easily top 3. Home Park is a really horrible journey for most clubs, you'll still have a Championship squad and your budget will easily be top 3. Plymouth should be our blueprint of how to grow their fan base season on season, have a good set of fans and although you've taken a setback, I think it might make you stronger in the long run.