Season expectations 2017-18

[Drummond]

Automatic Promotion.

Expect nothing less.

[Hookeysmith]

My biggest complaint last season was that we had no discernible method or shape to our play. You could look at it and often wonder "WTF is he doing". Now he tried 442, 352, 4132 and one could argue that he did not have the personnel available to him to adopt to the style he wants. He claims he likes 442 and 352 then comes January and he has a spending spree but seemingly does not buy players that comfortably play in either way. He buys 2 of the highest rated attacking midfielders in the league and then plays them completely out of position, he uses Jedinak as an additional stopper and we see whatever striker combo put out completely isolated. Anyway once our own relegation fears were ended most were just glad to look to the future when he has had a pre season under his belt.

Roll forward.

The club have gave him:

The coaching team he wanted (Calderwood - contract paid up at Brighton / Clemence etc)
The preseason venue he wanted - and has used in all his previous promotions
The star player he wanted - John terry

We play a decent team on paper at Shrewsbury and do not create a single effort on goal - same old same old.

I know its pre season and results do not matter. But what I am looking for is a way he wants to play and players fitting into that - not having players and trying to accommodate them as best he can.
'
I just cannot see anything changing other than defensive, negative football based on "nicking" a goal here and there. I doubt tonight's team will be any different


Ye

[paul_e]

Spot on Hookeysmith but you missed the fact that having been told they needed a pre-season we're now told that pre-season doesn't matter.  I do wonder just how long he'll have us playing the same dull shit before these people start to think that it might just be what he wants.

The result against shrewsbury doesn't matter, we conceded goals with a makeshift defence, the issue is that for an hour before that we were comfortably held by a team who will be midtable in the league below us.  Yes Kodjia's missing along with a few others and yes some people played that probably won't start against Hull but the whole point of having tactics and a style is to make you less dependant on individuals and reduce the impact of international call ups, injuries, suspensions, etc.

We will, I'm sure, have phases in the season where things click and we don't concede many and we score a couple of goals every game and when we do I'm sure people who rate Bruce will use it as an example of how great he is and how he's guaranteed to get us promoted, we had 2 of them last season.  My worry is that we'll have a run where we can't score and we concede shitty goals and we ruin our chances , just as we did in January and again towards the end of the season.  He's had poor runs like that at pretty much every club he's managed so it's not like it's something unique to his time with us.

[Matt Collins]

We absolutely need the pre season

We can only judge whether the pre season has been effective once the real stuff starts

[paul_e]

We absolutely need the pre season

We can only judge whether the pre season has been effective once the real stuff starts

but if the same mistakes are there in pre-season that were there last season then why would anyone think that they're going to disappear in the next 2 weeks.

[Toronto Villa]

He's got promoted with far less talent. I think he'll get us promoted but like I said it might not always be pretty.

[Clampy]

Lets hope we get off to a good start this time. TV is right, it wont be pretty and it will be frustrating at times. We won't make it easy for ourselves, we never do.

[Three Spires Villa]

We won't go up with Bruce, I think it's a myth that scrappy 1-0 wins will work. Newcastle, Brighton, Huddersfield and Fulham (yes I know didn't make it) played good football.

[Boz]

We won't go up with Bruce, I think it's a myth that scrappy 1-0 wins will work. Newcastle, Brighton, Huddersfield and Fulham (yes I know didn't make it) played good football.

I agree with 3 Spires, our football will be dire and we might scrape some single goal wins but unless we get the strikers we have scoring regularly, it'll be the same old story

[PeterWithesShin]

We won't go up with Bruce, I think it's a myth that scrappy 1-0 wins will work. Newcastle, Brighton, Huddersfield and Fulham (yes I know didn't make it) played good football.

Huddersfield won 25 league games last season, 22 were by 1 goal. So 1 goal wins do work. I agree though that I don't think we'll go up with Bruce.

[Three Spires Villa]

Ok, fair point, but the football they played, from what I saw was better than anything under Bruce. By the way do you know what Huddersfield spent compared to what Bruce spent in January or what we spent combined last year?

Only my opinion but I think you need to play attacking, good football to get up

[Clampy]

Ok, fair point, but the football they played, from what I saw was better than anything under Bruce. By the way do you know what Huddersfield spent compared to what Bruce spent in January or what we spent combined last year?

Only my opinion but I think you need to play attacking, good football to get up

Bruce didnt spend a huge amount in January. His biggest buy was Hogan.

[paul_e]

Ok, fair point, but the football they played, from what I saw was better than anything under Bruce. By the way do you know what Huddersfield spent compared to what Bruce spent in January or what we spent combined last year?

Only my opinion but I think you need to play attacking, good football to get up

Bruce didnt spend a huge amount in January. His biggest buy was Hogan.

We spent the best part of £20m but offset it with sales.  The problem is that we probably can't repeat that in this window.

[PeterWithesShin]

Huddersfield are a bit of an anomaly. All those 1 goal wins, went up with a minus goal difference, and didn't win a play-off game. What they did do was have a fantastic team spirit and a system best suited to their limited resources. We spent more on Fat Ross than they spent on players in 2 or 3 years. And that's just what they paid for players, it doesn't take into account any money raised from player sales.

Meanwhile we just seem to hope someone will do a bit of individual magic and nick us a goal.

[Three Spires Villa]

What was his spend though? Hogan was 12, is that correct? How much were the others, around 15 to 18 million all in. I don't know as our transfers seem to be a mystery, but generally accepted more than anyone else in the league. I just think he's a poor manager.