The loss of Bowyer and ferguson are the ones to have the greatest impact.
I feel we should acquire a Robbie Savage type of terrier in the middle.
Someone in the mould of Jonathan Howson of Leeds. He tackles, harries, causes mistakes and can pass a ball.
That is the direction I would look.

No offence Banjo, but each of your posts seem to be identical.

We get it, you think we're good enough. But the majority don't. I personally think playoffs is achievable but considering the major overhaul of the squad I wouldn't be surprised to see us mid-table at the end of the season.

I was just by this post taking the topic to a new thread as it was a bit off topic/hijacked on the other but i am a serial thead hijacker

I was seeing who many think are good enough for the task of getting a side to finish 3rd-6th

I understand the point that it may take time for the players to gell due to the Turmoil and new players/Manager, thats maybe why Leicester have not got off to the Start many predicted they would.

I think that Carr, Davies, Ibanez, Ridgewell, Burke, Beausajour, King and Zigic are all good enough to be considered calibre that can get a Top 3-6 for sure.

I think Murphy, Fahey, Myhill, and Spector are all decent Championship players certainly not lower half players and good enough to get games for Play off Chassing sides.

I have not seen enough and we cant be sure that Rooney, Valles, Gomis and N'Daw are good enough.

Maybe Elliot and Caldwell could be past their best, maybe Carr could also fit that bill who knows.

And dont forget that Mutch and Redmond are hot prospects and i can see them being better than Championship players at some point in future.

So overall i dont think we have a side on paper that is the overall quality expected to only finish 10th or less.

I think the potential is there for a 5th-8th place, but that depends on players staying fit, comited and gelling.

If we get unrest, injuries and more turmoil from Peter Panus Pantomime and Carson "Crusty Clown" Circus then yes maybe midtable is all we can expect.

I think we will get 6th-8th place myself but its not going to be easy and the Domestic Cups could be a distraction for us.

The KiD

Hi Banjo,
Its not just about players on paper there are so many other factors at play that ultimately effect performance - leadership, team spirit and cohesion, injuries etc. At least most of the squad last time had played together for a while. I think the competition's tougher this year, too.

That said take any team not in the top 6 of the premiership and sell or release 9 of their first team and give them no cash to replace them with and they would struggle. Especially if the team is put together a couple of weeks before the season.

I think our goals for this season should be i) replace Carson. Even if completely innocent it has put a cloud over the club and he should step down to be reinstated if completely cleared. We'll never get the investment we need to stay in the premiership with him at the helm. He clearly never had the cash himself to bankroll a Premier team an no one is going to trust their cash to someone as "murky" as this. Nor are the best players going to sign with us when there are safer options.

If we are going to stay in the Premiership more than a season we will need significantly more cash.

ii) build a strong young core of a team - if not by the time we hit premiership again half of them will be too old and you have to start again, disrupts the team yet again, plus they have no resale value, no chance of actually making money on them and they have high wages and are more injury prone. Good young striker, attacking midfielder, defensive midfielder, central defender to partner Curtis and Stevie Carr replacement please.

iii) develop a style that is solid in defense, but has speed and flair going forward (unlike McNugget's offerings last year).

This would be the foundation for future success to get into the Premiership and have a chance of staying there.

For this season i) finish mid table anything above is a bonus. If we had no injuries, the team had been together longer and we'd brought in some really good loanees then I would say playoffs, but we still don't know our team, they don't know each other and we've already had a bunch of injuries with a ton of tough games to come and a relatively thin squad ii) don't get annihilated in cup and europe games. Don't want to lose by more than 3 ever. Hope Man City don't feel in the mood tomorrow as I'm sure we'll rest a few.

KRO

Agreed i think once the Carson situation has been sorted, things should settle more.

If we do fail to get promoted and right now i give us a 25% chance of Promotion because i think we have a decent chance to get Top 6 but then you have the Play Off Loto. I dont think we would get Top 2.

So there is indeed a great chance we would be in the Championship next season also, in which case i think come next summer Ridgewell and Foster would be sold and Carr would retire and i think we would also look to offload Zigic, Beausajour aswell.

Then its a case of maybe rebuild for the future and not the here and now.

The KiD

Sort out Carson and get someone with a bit of cash to invest (10 to 15 mill?), go for youth and I think CH is up to the job and we're a big enough club to get up and stay up for a while after a season of consolidation and some decent youngsters.

Based in the US I haven't been able to see many games this season, but sounds like Caldwell may be at the end of his career too and might make another season but probably not two. Be a shame if we lost Beausejour, but especially if cash is still tight he may have to go.

I agree with brummer.

Your posts are beginning to get a bit too repetitive Banjo. The squad we have now is the one which will be used till January at least.

A team that loses 4-1 to Southampton isn't a team who will get near the playoffs, let alone automatic promotion. The best we can hope for is a top 10 spot, with a good run in Europe.

Talking of europe is anyone of here making the trip next week?

Also, how funny is it to go over on the vile board and make jokes about Mcliesh to them.

I thought we had pretty much agreed, avoiding relegation will be a good result for us this term, and will (hopefully) then allow us to rebuild this club. Talk of promotion is setting everyone up for huge disappointment, and resultant antagonism towards the manager and players. Have we been there before?.........Only a few times.

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

SCT agreed.

If we win every home game, we will be up or there abouts.

"2 games played at home, 2 games won, agg score of 4-0"

Throw in the Euro games and its 4 games, 3 wins, 1 loss. 8 goals for, 3 against.

Hi Blues, I think you have a really good chance of staying up this year.

posted 1 hour, 11 minutes ago
Hi Blues, I think you have a really good chance of staying up this year.

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Thanks, shame can't say it about you guys.