Relegation thread

[WH_Stag]

Cheltenham really might go down with how poor their squad is, ill be surprised to see them stay up.

 

[Urban]

Cheltenham really might go down with how poor their squad is, ill be surprised to see them stay up.

But... but... they've got Gary Johnson and Dan Holman??? How could they possibly go down with that combination?

I thought we were all listening and believing them at the start of the season when they said they were getting promoted again?

 

[Roger Stone]

Apart from us worst I've seen this season is Yeovil and Cheltenham. Best is Doncaster. Rest much the same.
Doncaster and Portsmouth for autos, 2 other places could be from anyone. Can't see Plymouth and Carlisle lasting the pace.
Morecambe, Orient or Cheltenham to go down.
FGR and Tranmere to come up.

 

[Glasshalffullpools]

We went down with 54 I think in league one ...... but I'm sure 51 and 52 has happened in league 2 .....my point was , just assuming 50 is dangerous ......you need to find at 13 to 15 wins ...... when we were 10 points adrift at the bottom in the January of the 'great escape ' I was working out all the possible escape routes , I just couldn't see a way to 50 points , fortunately it wasn't needed .....

 

[AdamStag]

But... but... they've got Gary Johnson and Dan Holman??? How could they possibly go down with that combination?

I thought we were all listening and believing them at the start of the season when they said they were getting promoted again?

It's an odd one really -
Last season Cheltenham won it and are poor, Grimsby are doing well from winning the playoffs
The season before Barnet won it and were/are poor (sorry) whereas Bristol R went up after winning the playoffs the previous season

 

[AdamStag]

We went down with 54 I think in league one ...... but I'm sure 51 and 52 has happened in league 2 .....my point was , just assuming 50 is dangerous ......you need to find at 13 to 15 wins ...... when we were 10 points adrift at the bottom in the January of the 'great escape ' I was working out all the possible escape routes , I just couldn't see a way to 50 points , fortunately it wasn't needed .....

Bristol Rovers went down the other season with 50.

Am sure Peteroborough went down from the championship with about 53 or 54 though also

 

[dedwardp]

It's an odd one really -
Last season Cheltenham won it and are poor, Grimsby are doing well from winning the playoffs
The season before Barnet won it and were/are poor (sorry) whereas Bristol R went up after winning the playoffs the previous season

Grimsby overhauled their squad in the summer, whereas Cheltenham have pretty much got the same team - their complacency in the summer recruitment looks like holding them back at this stage. They signed James Jennings permanently who has already been shipped out, and brought in a few young loanees who haven't impressed (Suliman, Whitehead, Arthur etc).

I don't think it can be argued that Paul Hurst always had a decent eye for a player at Grimsby though and he's improved their squad for the step up.

 

[Gladders]

He could spot a player but both he and Fenty said from Jan onwards we wasn't good enough for a decent conference side and only scrapped into the play offs. The fans would agree too, it was a risk to ship out so many (some leaving of their own accord) but we certainly needed to have massive change to compete in lge 2

 

[AdamStag]

He could spot a player but both he and Fenty said from Jan onwards we wasn't good enough for a decent conference side and only scrapped into the play offs. The fans would agree too, it was a risk to ship out so many (some leaving of their own accord) but we certainly needed to have massive change to compete in lge 2

We really struggled on our first season.

In the top 3 after a 1-0 win at Chesterfield in September, and we didn't win again until January.

Like Cheltenham, we didn't sign many players and struggled once injuries/suspensions kicked in along with Cox being found out and having no plan B.

League 2 isn't a special league this year - most of the division could say they'd be within a decent shout of the playoffs

 

[Richard Cranium]

Didn't Brovers pretty much sign no one and went straight through this league?

 

[Si Robin]

We signed on the whole squad from last season (bar George McLennan) and then the players brought in to supplement them have been shocking. When coupled with the fact that we still haven't had our expected first 11 start a game this season then it's no surprise we've struggled. That being said, we've only lost 2 games in the last 11 (in all comps) and Tuesday was the first time we've actually been awful this season (at home anyway).

Defensively we look ok, but we look turgid up top. January will be massive for us, but I honestly don't think we'll go down. This is completely different to two years ago.

 

[dedwardp]

Big blow for us today in that Luke Prosser has been ruled out for the rest of the season. We have been sorely, sorely lacking an experienced centre half in recent seasons to lead the team and organise us at the back, and it's proved costly shipping goals left, right and centre - 99 league goals against last season.

Prosser has been excellent since his arrival in the summer, became the club captain and has been exactly what we've needed. Experienced, no-nonsense and vocal. Losing him is a bit of a nightmare really, with Tom Eastman and George Elokobi now our only experience at the back. Eastman has been pretty shocking for the past couple of seasons and is anything but a leader, and Elokobi was only hauled in from a loan spell at Braintree on Tuesday having been a bit of a calamity when he featured last season.

Further to that, we played three at the back on Tuesday and it seems a system we might be more suited to, but now with this news we only have four central defenders so perhaps a rethink will be needed again. Hopefully it's not too costly.

 

[Look Out There Are Llamas]

Didn't Brovers pretty much sign no one and went straight through this league?

Bristol Rovers were always going to do it though imo... (and I'm defo on record here saying as much)

 

[BeesKnees]

It's an odd one really -
Last season Cheltenham won it and are poor, Grimsby are doing well from winning the playoffs
The season before Barnet won it and were/are poor (sorry) whereas Bristol R went up after winning the playoffs the previous season

The writing was pretty much on the wall for what happened to us and Bristol. We started the conf season head and shoulders above the rest but by the end we were bang average, having lost 3 key players in Cook, Macdonald and Luisma. Summer signings were poor and never really played (Lisbie, Batt and Tomlinson).
Grimsby added depth to their squad whilst the Cheltenham squad appeared to be a bit thin at the start of the season

 

[PaulHaddock]

Our squad wasn't good enough to do well in League 2. We finished 4th, even behind Braintree (no disrespect) so Hurst pretty much revamped the whole squad, barring several places. We swapped our Conference players for a mixture of L2, L1 and lower league players whilst Cheltenham kept their Conference squad together.

I'm as suprised as anyone to see us doing pretty well. Having Bogle has probably saved us from being a lot lower down the table.

 

[CTFCfan99]

Just waiting for January so we can clear out the dross loanees (Arthur, Suliman, Whitehead, Smith) and get some experienced league players in to replace them. I believe most of the players we kept on from last season are good enough for this league at least as squad players, we just need a bit more quality in the starting eleven.

 

[Sestonpoolie]

Cheltenham were the worst side I've seen by a mile.Expected a tough game against them,but we won pretty easily & we are shit at home.Fecking massive side,but we just played round them.
We tought Pell would boss the midfield,but he was just a cart horse.

 

[dedwardp]

I thought most of the optimism from Cheltenham came from the comments over the summer that Johnson was being given an 'ambitious budget' because they wanted to keep going straight through and so on, which is fair enough. But as the budget wasn't spent on bringing anybody in then those expectations have to change.

Last season Cheltenham had an entirely new squad, built for the Conference. This season, they basically have exactly the same squad, most of which are unproven in the FL and players like Storer and Wright are arguably past their peak years having never been given a chance to play in the FL before - possibly for a reason. Old-timers like Downes and Parslow had found themselves exiting the FL towards the end of their careers.

Compare that to Grimsby who brought in a new squad of players like Davies, Summerfield, Berrett, Vernon, Collins, Chambers etc and it seems pretty clear to me why the two are doing so differently. They might not be players who will set the world alight, but they're solid League Two players. Cheltenham are using a squad they built for the Conference, whilst Grimsby are using a squad they have built for the FL.

 

[shoddycollins]

Apart from us worst I've seen this season is Yeovil and Cheltenham. Best is Doncaster. Rest much the same.
Doncaster and Portsmouth for autos, 2 other places could be from anyone. Can't see Plymouth and Carlisle lasting the pace.
Morecambe, Orient or Cheltenham to go down.
FGR and Tranmere to come up.

I think Portsmouth are going to need to spend in January if they're to go up automatically. Though you can't always draw firm conclusions from statistics, they do usually have a story to tell and Portsmouth are rated on e361 as far and away the most dominant team in the division. This is based on chance creation and prevention they're being let down by poor finishing and goalkeeping and such is their dominance of games, that if they still unable to win many, then I can't see what more they can do with current personnel, as they couldn't possibly create more chances or concede fewer. Basically they're being presented three points on a plate each and every week but not eating.

I wonder how much you can get on them signing John Akinde in January.

 

[Glasshalffullpools]

I thought most of the optimism from Cheltenham came from the comments over the summer that Johnson was being given an 'ambitious budget' because they wanted to keep going straight through and so on, which is fair enough. But as the budget wasn't spent on bringing anybody in then those expectations have to change.

Last season Cheltenham had an entirely new squad, built for the Conference. This season, they basically have exactly the same squad, most of which are unproven in the FL and players like Storer and Wright are arguably past their peak years having never been given a chance to play in the FL before - possibly for a reason. Old-timers like Downes and Parslow had found themselves exiting the FL towards the end of their careers.

Compare that to Grimsby who brought in a new squad of players like Davies, Summerfield, Berrett, Vernon, Collins, Chambers etc and it seems pretty clear to me why the two are doing so differently. They might not be players who will set the world alight, but they're solid League Two players. Cheltenham are using a squad they built for the Conference, whilst Grimsby are using a squad they have built for the FL.

It was an ambitious budget ..... ambitious in thinking you'd do so well on so little

 

[Luke Imp]

Just waiting for January so we can clear out the dross loanees (Arthur, Suliman, Whitehead, Smith) and get some experienced league players in to replace them. I believe most of the players we kept on from last season are good enough for this league at least as squad players, we just need a bit more quality in the starting eleven.

That Koby Arthur?

 

[CTFCfan99]

That Koby Arthur?

Yep. He was great for us when we had him two years ago but has offered nothing this season.

 

[Don Tonberry]

I think Portsmouth are going to need to spend in January if they're to go up automatically. Though you can't always draw firm conclusions from statistics, they do usually have a story to tell and Portsmouth are rated on e361 as far and away the most dominant team in the division. This is based on chance creation and prevention they're being let down by poor finishing and goalkeeping and such is their dominance of games, that if they still unable to win many, then I can't see what more they can do with current personnel, as they couldn't possibly create more chances or concede fewer. Basically they're being presented three points on a plate each and every week but not eating.

I wonder how much you can get on them signing John Akinde in January.

We won't touch Akinde. We've had him before and he was utter garbage, even by our standards.

We won't spend that much in January. We've bought Lowe from Hampton & Richmond as a goalscoring threat but if anything we need a leader at the back.

 

[Si Robin]

Yep. He was great for us when we had him two years ago but has offered nothing this season.

He was over-rated when he came to us two years ago. He looked good coming off the bench but in the only game he started he was awful.

I'm not sure where talk of a great budget came from. I know Johnson and Baker were talking up us going through the division, but this was done on the basis that our momentum would follow that of last season. By and large, when we've started with players from last season making up the 10 outfield players, we've looked decent (Tuesday aside). The only times other than then that we have looked poor is when we've had the summer loanees in.

I don't see any harm in thinking we should be aiming for the playoffs, on the opening day all teams in this division should be. We're only 8 points off them now (I'm not saying we'll get into them) and this division is so tight, a win tomorrow could take us up 6 places. Tomorrow is a big game for us, only because it's a chance to put right what went wrong on Tuesday.

 

[rudebwoyben]

We won't touch Akinde. We've had him before and he was utter garbage, even by our standards.

We won't spend that much in January. We've bought Lowe from Hampton & Richmond as a goalscoring threat but if anything we need a leader at the back.

It will be interesting to see how many opportunities he gets given at Pompey. Never really got many with us but people thought that he had that bit of quality to succeed at this level.

 

[barnet_pls]

Barnet went down with 52 - highest ever. And btw Portsmouth can't afford Akinde, and he'll be setting his sights much higher than that.

 

[Don Tonberry]

Barnet went down with 52 - highest ever. And btw Portsmouth can't afford Akinde, and he'll be setting his sights much higher than that.

Much higher than what exactly? He played for us in League One and was fucking dire. One of the worst strikers to ever play for us and that is saying A LOT!

 

[PaulHaddock]

Strikers can improve though. It's 3 years since he was with you.

 

[rudebwoyben]

Also, I can't imagine Portsmouth a good place to be at that time. It's also clear that Akinde suffered from making a big jump from the Conference to the Championship and it took him a few years to regain his confidence. Now he's settled and playing the best football of his career.

 

[BeesKnees]

Also, I can't imagine Portsmouth a good place to be at that time. It's also clear that Akinde suffered from making a big jump from the Conference to the Championship and it took him a few years to regain his confidence. Now he's settled and playing the best football of his career.

Akinde was given three starts in 3 months. I very much doubt pompey fans saw even the slightest hint of what he is capable of. 23 goals in 24 games isn't luck