As predicted - nothing much has left, so are we 'strong'? (9 Viewers)

[Paxman II]

Keogh still here (though I expect there might be a late bid for him hence we just signed the French lad) but overall apart from the odd bit of deadwood we still have the same squad minus Cranie and Bigi unless I'm missing someone?

So we potentially have Hussey, Keogh, Wood and Clarke at the back and Murphy in goal. McSheffers, Bell, Baker, Deagan and Cody up top.
Add to that a few shrewed signings we have got in so far and frankly we have to be among the favourites don't we?

It certainly looks too strong for league 1. On paper we look the strongest. Time for our new coahing staff to show their metal...

No mass exoudus as was claimed by so many. I think we may even win the league at the first time of asking.

Positivity guys....the name of the game.

 

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[ccfcway]

5th favs on Betfair to win the league at 13/1

 

[Diehard Si]

4th fav on William hill at 10-1

 

[ccfcway]

4th fav on William hill at 10-1

justifies why I use Betfair then. Having said, I wont be betting on this.

REALLY HOPE that we do well, but to suggest a club who has a history of losing, to all of a sudden become League Winners is just something I cant comprehend.

A top 6 would represent a huge turnaround for us in terms of winning mentality

 

[ccfc92]

Bournemouth are strengthening the squad a lot more than us, and there are some "non-MASSIVE" clubs with good squads (i.e Stevenage and MK Dons

 

[skybluelee]

3rd favs on Ladbrokes, 10-1. If we keep going we'll be odds on champions before tea time.

 

[wingy]

justifies why I use Betfair then. Having said, I wont be betting on this.

REALLY HOPE that we do well, but to suggest a club who has a history of losing, to all of a sudden become League Winners is just something I cant comprehend.

A top 6 would represent a huge turnaround for us in terms of winning mentality

We're just about on balance re the exits ,so a significant number untainted by any previous here ,plus the backroom ,which could significantly alter the approach to it all from the squad.

 

[sky blue john]

Clingan international player
Cranie was england under 21
Bigi international team looking at him.

Have we really brought in the same level of quality ?

 

[ccfc92]

Clingan shouldnt count as an international player, NI havent got much to pick from to be fair

 

[Gray]

Clingan international player
Cranie was england under 21
Bigi international team looking at him.

Have we really brought in the same level of quality ?

Out of them 3 we'll only miss Craine, and we have signed players that will hopefully do well at our new level

 

[WillieStanley]

Of it wasn't for our underachieving history, we'd be favourites. When we were relegated from the Prem, we were 2/1 to return as champions. I like that the odds are not in our favour.

 

[CCFC_Charlie]

Clingan international player
Cranie was england under 21
Bigi international team looking at him.

Have we really brought in the same level of quality ?

Kevin Kilbane - International
Stephen Elliott - International
John Fleck - U21 International

 

[SkyBlue_Bear83]

Keogh still here (though I expect there might be a late bid for him hence we just signed the French lad) but overall apart from the odd bit of deadwood we still have the same squad minus Cranie and Bigi unless I'm missing someone?

So we potentially have Hussey, Keogh, Wood and Clarke at the back and Murphy in goal. McSheffers, Bell, Baker, Deagan and Cody up top.
Add to that a few shrewed signings we have got in so far and frankly we have to be among the favourites don't we?

It certainly looks too strong for league 1. On paper we look the strongest. Time for our new coahing staff to show their metal...

No mass exoudus as was claimed by so many. I think we may even win the league at the first time of asking.

Positivity guys....the name of the game.

Bit early to be predicting champions, we would have to sign some more quality players and hope that no one leave. However I am looking forward to hopefully having a successful campaign

 

[stupot07]

Don't forget we've lost Norwood, nimely and platt, and also McPake and Eastwood who weren't as involved last season.

I still don't see enough grit, strength, pace or goals.

 

[Hadenough]

your point is valid

Keogh still here (though I expect there might be a late bid for him hence we just signed the French lad) but overall apart from the odd bit of deadwood we still have the same squad minus Cranie and Bigi unless I'm missing someone?

So we potentially have Hussey, Keogh, Wood and Clarke at the back and Murphy in goal. McSheffers, Bell, Baker, Deagan and Cody up top.
Add to that a few shrewed signings we have got in so far and frankly we have to be among the favourites don't we?

It certainly looks too strong for league 1. On paper we look the strongest. Time for our new coahing staff to show their metal...

No mass exoudus as was claimed by so many. I think we may even win the league at the first time of asking.

Positivity guys....the name of the game.

how did we get on last season with all the above in the team??

 

[stupot07]

Actually it makes me laugh- everyone was saying we had a league one standard squad last season apart from clingan, cranie, and Juke.

Now people are proclaiming that our squad is too strong for league one.

 

[torchomatic]

Luckily nothing stays the same forever. Fulham, Blackburn and Wigan struggled in the lower leagues for years. Man city were shit for years and i remember. Man Utd being second division team.

Me, i'm not predicting anything. However, recent signings give me cause to be optimistic.

REALLY HOPE that we do well, but to suggest a club who has a history of losing, to all of a sudden become League Winners is just something I cant comprehend.

 

[Macca]

No excuses for lower than top 6

 

[Grendel]

Actually it makes me laugh- everyone was saying we had a league one standard squad last season apart from clingan, cranie, and Juke.

Now people are proclaiming that our squad is too strong for league one.

I do agree that we still look short of goals. None of our strikers are gaurenteed to be prolific and the midfield tends not to contribute much. If we sign a big target man and have a Nimeley style loan (I.e. raw pace) we would then look strong. Without them I still think that we will score too few goals.

 

[Grendel]

Don't forget we've lost Norwood, nimely and platt, and also McPake and Eastwood who weren't as involved last season.

I still don't see enough grit, strength, pace or goals.

Although on the previous post I have expressed reservations you have to look at some of the clubs that have made the play offs over the years and it does suggest anything less than top 6 would be hard to take. I cannot believe the likes of Stevenage have a bigger wage bill than us I really can't.

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

Don't forget we've lost Norwood, nimely and platt, and also McPake and Eastwood who weren't as involved last season.

I still don't see enough grit, strength, pace or goals.

Did Platt give us any of those things? Much overrated aside from his work rate I'd say.

 

[stupot07]

Did Platt give us any of those things? Much overrated aside from his work rate I'd say.

I never said he did Brighton, they were the same elements that we lacked last season, and the season before that, etc.

Just pointing out that we have lost more players than just cranie and bigi as was stated in the OP.

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

It was sort of implied Stu-no worries. I agree with you the squad is still short, but it is taking shape nicely.

 

[stupot07]

Although on the previous post I have expressed reservations you have to look at some of the clubs that have made the play offs over the years and it does suggest anything less than top 6 would be hard to take. I cannot believe the likes of Stevenage have a bigger wage bill than us I really can't.

I agree to an extent, however when you are relegated you are left with players on disproportionate wages compared the league average which bulk's up the wage bill without necessarily having the quality to justify it. You only have to look at some of PL teams that have been relegated (e.g the whole of the Portsmouth squad, jimmy Bullard, etc)

Fisher said that our wage bill would be closer to £4m than £1.5m so will be anything from £3m+. Half of that could be easily taken up by 4-5 players, who you would never have of employed on those terms. Now we can argue about you signed them, scouted them, agreed their contracts but the fact is they are still here.

I'm certain you could put together a much stronger squad from scratch than the one we currently/will have.

 

[covcity4life]

last seasons team NEARLY stayed up...if not for last min goals we may well have

you take that team into an inferior division(and it is that) and they will be mid table-top

you add signings like we have without letting any major players go(cranie the only one,clingan was shit last year) and you increase your chances of finishing higher

id say we r top 6 material

if we keep keogh then i agree paxman we can dream of the league

its not often a cov fans gets to do that so forgive me for enjoying it while i can

 

[stupot07]

Sheffield Utd, Preston and Scunthorpe all got relegated on 42 points in 2011, we got 40 points. Yes Sheffield Utd finished 3rd last season but Preston finished 15th and Scunthorpe 18th.

Getting relegated doesn't guarantee a top 6 finish.

 

[SkyBlue_Bear83]

Did Platt give us any of those things? Much overrated aside from his work rate I'd say.

His work rate wasn't even great, not a criticism as his fitness and age probably didn't allow him to chase balls for 90 minutes.

 

[covcity4life]

Sheffield Utd, Preston and Scunthorpe all got relegated on 42 points in 2011, we got 40 points. Yes Sheffield Utd finished 3rd last season but Preston finished 15th and Scunthorpe 18th.

Getting relegated doesn't guarantee a top 6 finish.

i never said it did, but it does happen more often than not if the team isnt taken apart

with all our financial problems were having a good pre season

there are no guarantees,just educated guesses.

your a smart guy,you back yourself up,i see your points and know there is a chance you may be right,im just respectfully disagreeing

 

[Sky Blue Sheepy]

Our team got relegated in the first half of last season, not second half. The players we've kept are stronger for last season. Im cautiously confident

 

[Nonleagueherewecome]

Our team got relegated in the first half of last season, not second half. The players we've kept are stronger for last season. Im cautiously confident

I'm confidently cautious.

 

[Paxman II]

There's the optimistic approach then there is the pessimistic approach.

We have both a plenty but Coventry seem to have more pessimist than optimist.

I said we 'may even' win the league - didn't say we would. Preston had a whole belly of problems and is why they have not done well.

Take a real hard look pessimist at every other squad in this league. If truly you think the Mcsheffrey's, Bells, Deagan's, Murphies and Keogh and Woods are a lot worse then I give up. We were relegated last year in the end by running out of steam at the finish. If the pressure of all that happened was not there we would not have gone down. They deserved to go down and as I said plenty of times I saw it as an 'opportunity' and so here we are. There has been no mass exodus of players because the money is not around. All clubs are feeling the pinch. We are somewhat lucky to have most of our players still with us.

One thing for sure this time and there can be no ambiguity to it....Thorn needs to produce and there are no excuses!

 

[Grendel]

From certain quarters there will be plenty of excuses if we are not top 6 that I gaurentee.

 

[craigSKYBLUE]

W were relegated last season because we didnt have the squad to stay up..this seasons potential starting 11 is shaping up maybe stronger than last seasons and we have an experienced bench.any less than top 6 with this team is catastrophic for me...ran correctly and coached right this league should be ours

 

[stupot07]

Our team got relegated in the first half of last season, not second half. The players we've kept are stronger for last season. Im cautiously confident

The main starting 11 play played in the majority of games in the second half of the season was.....

Murphy
Clarke
Keogh - probably going
Cranie - gone
Hussey
Clingan - gone
Norwood - gone
Mcsheffery
Thomas
Platt - gone
nimely - gone

 

[oakey]

I am pleased with the new signings and cautiously optimistic, but mainly because I feared we would be left with just dead wood and kids with no new signings, except more kids and deadwood.

Having said that I think it is wildly optimistic to proclaim that the squad is better than last year.
We have lost Juke, McPake, Cranie, Clingan, Bigi, Platt and Eastwood + we must expect Keogh to leave, probably on the eve of the new season.
We have gained Cody, Kilbane, Malaga, Elliott, Fleck + a few kids have gained experience.
Anyone who believes the squad is stronger must be on happy pills.
In my opinion we are still well short of the squad we had at Christmas. The kids were not ready (good enough?) for the championship. I doubt are ready for the Physicality of League One.
We still need a goalscorer desperately. Then I might think we can challenge for top 6.