Ups and Downs

[LordJord]

I think the top of L1 has improved since we were last here but the bottom of L1 has got worse (even though we easily finished bottom of it before).

Your lot should do alright as you are decent at both ends of the pitch. You might find out one or two players who did well in L2 dont step up very well though

Yeah the gap appears to be bigger than the last time we were here. We are defensively solid and have a lot of the squad under contract which in previous seasons has not been the case. We have been reliant on a lot of Hoskins worldies though so need to improve in forward areas without question.

The good news is that I cant see anyone coming in for Hoskins, as at the age of 30 and with one good scoring season under his belt he is going to be worth more to us than others. If he has a strong start to L1 then January could be a different matter, but for the moment cant see us losing anyone.

 

[BRFC_Gas]

Yeah the gap appears to be bigger than the last time we were here. We are defensively solid and have a lot of the squad under contract which in previous seasons has not been the case. We have been reliant on a lot of Hoskins worldies though so need to improve in forward areas without question.

The good news is that I cant see anyone coming in for Hoskins, as at the age of 30 and with one good scoring season under his belt he is going to be worth more to us than others. If he has a strong start to L1 then January could be a different matter, but for the moment cant see us losing anyone.

You would think so, then along come Wrexham....

 

[valefan16]

Consolidation will always be the name of the game. There’s just too big a gap to make up to realistically be thinking of the top ten or anything like that in the first season but the rest of the league you can compete with for sure. Key for any of the promoted sides is not to get raided for your best players which with Northampton I guess starts with Hoskins. That’s why FGR struggled like they did. Exeter I don’t think added more than a couple last summer from memory and did pretty well. Ourselves and Rovers it doesn’t look as good in the overall standings but neither ever looked in any huge danger.

Got to ride the wave of euphoria a bit and get off to a good start I would say, us three did, FGR didn't and that was terminal for them but allowed us three to blip second half and still have enough points in the bank to survive.

 

[LordJord]

You would think so, then along come Wrexham....

TBF if they come in with big money then the club has to consider it. They came in for Jon Guthrie last season and he turned them down. Hoskins has a young family, has been here 8 years so cant see him moving now he is so settled unless its for a side above us on big money, which i dont see happening.

 

[Si Robin]

It's the young family that makes players want to go to a Wrexham - it sets them up for life, and who can begrudge them.

It's certainly what piqued Ben Tozer's interest.

 

[BRFC_Gas]

It's the young family that makes players want to go to a Wrexham - it sets them up for life, and who can begrudge them.

It's certainly what piqued Ben Tozer's interest.

Yeah you cant blame them at all, they know they arent going any higher than L1 so its a good way to make decent money quickly and still be performing well.
I'm bored of all the Wrexham love-in though, took them a season longer than they should have done to get promoted. We did it first time spending very little, same in L2 the last 2 times.
I wouldnt be surprised to see Matty Taylor end up there

 

[Si Robin]

Yeah you cant blame them at all, they know they arent going any higher than L1 so its a good way to make decent money quickly and still be performing well.
I'm bored of all the Wrexham love-in though, took them a season longer than they should have done to get promoted. We did it first time spending very little, same in L2 the last 2 times.
I wouldnt be surprised to see Matty Taylor end up there

But did you do it as Champions

 

[E10rifle]

Yeah the gap appears to be bigger than the last time we were here.

It’s certainly more polarised with the top ten far and away better than the rest of the division. But at face value it looks easier to avoid relegation than in previous years (famous last words, probably). When we were here last we were one of the smallest three or four clubs in terms of gates/revenue year in and year out. Doesn’t appear to be the case this time, where we’re roughly comparable to half the clubs in the league.

 

[BRFC_Gas]

But did you do it as Champions

Probably would have done if we had a 2nd go at it. Should have done 1st time really but a goalkeeping cock up gifted it to Barnet.

 

[GTFCfish]

Probably would have done if we had a 2nd go at it. Should have done 1st time really but a goalkeeping cock up gifted it to Barnet.

Not to mention the refereeing cock up that helped win you the play off final.

 

[BRFC_Gas]

Not to mention the refereeing cock up that helped win you the play off final.

Don't know what you are on about lad

 

[GTFCfish]

Don't know what you are on about lad

 

[Si Robin]

Probably would have done if we had a 2nd go at it. Should have done 1st time really but a goalkeeping cock up gifted it to Barnet.

If if's and but's were candy and nuts, we'd all have a merry Christmas.

What Johnson achieved with us is nothing short of miraculous. 11 players making their debut on the opening day and gaining 100 plus points at around half the budget of the team in second place. We really should have got a lot more credit than we do to be fair.

I'm not bitter mind...

 

[GTFCfish]

If if's and but's were candy and nuts, we'd all have a merry Christmas.

What Johnson achieved with us is nothing short of miraculous. 11 players making their debut on the opening day and gaining 100 plus points at around half the budget of the team in second place. We really should have got a lot more credit than we do to be fair.

I'm not bitter mind...

That Cheltenham team were great at stamping their authority in games.

I’m not bitter mind…

 

[Gassy]

If if's and but's were candy and nuts, we'd all have a merry Christmas.

What Johnson achieved with us is nothing short of miraculous. 11 players making their debut on the opening day and gaining 100 plus points at around half the budget of the team in second place. We really should have got a lot more credit than we do to be fair.

I'm not bitter mind...

Tbf that’s not quite a miraculous story. Newly relegated team with 2nd biggest budget, comes first. Think we signed an entire new team as well, but I would agree that you deserve more credit in general. Probably because we just bounced back up and that was the first in quite a while?

I’d argue that Accy sustaining league 1 football or Yeovil/Burton making the championship is far more miraculous

 

[Si Robin]

We did not have the second biggest budget. Not a chance.

 

[Trapdoor]

Well Fleetwood are nailed on to go down next year. Criminal owner finally been found guilty of fraud.

 

[Luke Imp]

Stockport vs Carlisle at 1.30pm, can't say I have a preference really.

 

[Claret Forever]

At the end of the day, whoever wins will deserve to go up... but if you're thinking of your own self-interest, Stockport have deep pockets and last year lost around £5m, and will definitely be going again in League One, so more likely to trouble the top end of the table.

 

[denzel ecfc]

I'd like Carlisle to go up. They've been down there a long time and we had a few battles with them over the years. The fans were always good value.
Though I would be more likely to go to Stockport if they went up

 

[kieran_vale]

Congrats and welcome to L1 to Carlisle and will no doubt look forward to a season of hellogregory cheery optimism.

 

[leedsvaliant]

I would have liked to have renewed acquaintance with Stockport but you'd think they'd have more clout in this league than Carlisle. There seems to be a few more teams with the potential for the bottom 4 this time, which is good for us teams which might be in and around it if we have a shitter.

 

[Pompeyblueboy]

I'd like Carlisle to go up. They've been down there a long time and we had a few battles with them over the years. The fans were always good value.
Though I would be more likely to go to Stockport if they went up

What battles would that be Denzel

 

[Andy Proctor]

I'm pretty sure when Paul Simpson was managing carlise in league one in his first role as manager they were around the play off places. So it's not a guarantee that they will struggle.

 

[leedsvaliant]

I'm pretty sure when Paul Simpson was managing carlise in league one in his first role as manager they were around the play off places. So it's not a guarantee that they will struggle.

This is true, but the standard of teams coming up doesn't seem at the same level. Someone on our message board said that they know a Leyton Orient director and he couldn't believe how easy it was as the standard was so poor. The admittedly few games that I've seen seem to back that up. They'll all need a fair bit of work in the summer.

 

[Carver]

I hope Wigan have a lousy season in this league, absolute basket case of a club. Deserve more punishment than a pathetic 8 point deduction.