It's nearly here: are we optimistic?

A balanced and pretty fair assessment. Personally, my glass is half full, but I'm sipping slowly.

Well put, you make some good comments for both sides.

I'm more optimistic than I was a couple of weeks ago, we sounded like we showed some real promise against Sunderland, however I remember saying that about us when we played Madrid, and in a few one-off games last season.

We've got something we haven't had in ages, two potentially exciting wingers. This is my main source of optimism, I've been calling for this for far too long and the lack of it has been a major weakness in recent seasons.

I'm less confident about the strikers, Beckford needs to pull his finger out early because he didn't have the best of seasons in 11/12. Futacs has been brought in to replace Howard which speaks for itself, and Vardy is an unknown quantity having made such a leap through the leagues in the space of a few months. Nugent ended last season out of sorts but will be one of our main men if he performs as he did for most of last campaign.

I'm still not totally convinced about the centre of midfield, the likes of Drinkwater, Danns and King need to be way more consistent at effecting games than they were last season - they just had far too many games when they didn't make a difference, especially in an attacking sense.

The defence will be better without Peltier and Mills, getting rid of these two was a necessity and we've done that so I an only be positive about our options at the back.

We can analyze the players but we also need to start passing the ball at a quicker tempo, and movement off the ball is key. We rarely make the most of good passers in our team because of this problem. We are way too slow in possession and that needs to change.

If we get into the play-offs I'll be pleasantly surprised, it's hard to have faith in us after the past few seasons. We were a long way from being good enough throughout last season and that means we need to improve significantly to be good enough this year because, as you say Joby, the league doesn't look weaker than last season (it was a very weak league last season and we still couldn't capitalise - has our big chance gone?)

The signs look good at the moment, but a good start is imperative.

Ask me after 6 games.

On the positive side, we have bought in a number of players with promise and have (so far) kept the ones we need to keep. I also think that it is a positive that the fans have lower expectations after last years debacle.

What will make life difficult for us is the quality of the squads from the relegated teams. They seem to have held on to many of their better players and in some cases (notably Blackburn) added to them.

I also worry about Pearson's grumpy approach. He needs his players totally on-side and we can't afford any more bust-ups.

So if I were putting money on it, I would go for somewhere between 7th and 10th, but that is largely clouded by the bitter experience of the last two seasons.

Give it 6 games and we will have a good idea.

* I say in an attacking sense, but another major problem with the midfield is that they didn't protect the back 4 well at all last season.

Personally I'd like to see a more defensive minded, tough tackling midfielder and another one who's main job it is to get betweren the lines and create, as Lallana did for Southampton. Sadly we don't have a player for either of these positions, IMO.

"Personally I'd like to see a more defensive minded, tough tackling midfielder and another one who's main job it is to get betweren the lines and create"

I'm pretty sure we brought it James and Drinkwater exactly for these types of roles and it's pretty much what they did between them all first half against Sunderland. As I mentioned on another thread, I think we probably have one of the most balanced selection of midfielders in the division, it's just whether we can improve on consistency.

Unfortunately it's quite difficult to have two sitting midfielders when playing a 4-4-2 with wingers on a regular basis; particularly if the other team plays 4-5-1. So I think it will more likely be a creative midfielder who can break up play (Drinkwater) and a box-to-box (Danns), possibly in some games with a winger sacrified for a third CM.

Some good points gents.

In terms of barriers to us doing well my main concern is the lack of defensive cover. We aren’t in a position to carry an inexperienced player and an unfit player until St. Ledger recovers from injury. The damage might be done by then. If NP is putting his faith in Moore (and you have to blood youngsters at some point) then I hope that his judgement is right and he’s ready.

In terms of the midfield, as others have stated, we weren’t effective either creatively or defensively last season. Whether we improve will not only depend on the new acquisitions, but also whether we can find the right formation both in midfield and attack. 4-4-2 allows us to play exciting wingers, but will it be defensively solid? 4-3-3 might give us more midfield rigidity, but do we sacrifice something in attack? Some attackers can play as a wide or central player in a front three, but others will not be suited to this approach. Beckford, in particular, looks like he plays better off a support striker rather than ploughing a lone furrow.

I assume that Nigel has worked his personnel in different formations during training and has some ideas of his best approach and what players best suit his system(s). If he’s done this and we sign another CB in the next few days I might even enter the realms of cautiously optimistic.

I am optimistic, but I'm sure that can change come 5pm on Saturday.

As with Joby, my main concern is defensive cover and who plays next to Morgan at centre back, particularly given the injuries. On the bright side we appear to have more choices available tactically now, both with the 7 subs rule back and different types of player available in midfield and attack.

If we're looking for a holding midfield player, that's what Matty James has been brought in for. How well he settles could be integral to our season. (No pressure.)

I think Pearson is doing a great job building a team.

My head says this is a season of building, growing and improving as it goes on.

My heart says Pearson has found some real gems and we'll get automatic promotion.

Standard pre season thoughts really!

I like what Pearson is doing though and he's brought in some very dynamic midfielders. I just hope they're ready.

I like the idea we play meaningful pre-season games, rather than the glamour games against top teams. Playing Real Madrid last season was a great spectacle, but we hardly touched the ball and therefore it did little to help build the team as a unit - we played several other top European sides and the same scenario occured. Look at this year's pre-season and the role is reversed - we're playing the lead role, having plenty of possession and gaining in team understanding. With a final game against better opposition to judge progress and give a good work out before the first league game. For that reason and from what I've seen, I'm quietly optimistic regarding the coming season.

Spot on MGLCFC! My thoughts exactly. We need a good win on Saturday against the Posh because we play away for about a month?!