Do we prepare now for League 1

[Tazemma]

Realistically we need another 26 points from the remaining 22 fixtures to get close to survival. 12 home games and 10 away games, roughly 1.2 points per game. This season at present we are averaging 0.8 points per game which is not enough to survive. Here are my reasons why we will struggle to survive:-

1. The impending sale of Billy Sharp for a club record fee which John Ryan cannot afford to reinvest in the club due to the losses being suffered at present.(not having a pop at JR as his financial muscle is also limited)
2. Lack of goals from anyone else other than Billy Sharp.
3. No continuity with the current playing staff. Too many coming and goings does not allow players to gel and form solid partnerships.
4. Resentment from current contracted players towards the new influx of players causing unrest within the playing squad.

This leads me top think does the club continue with its current transfer policy or do we start again. I fear if we continue with the current policy and get relegated we will be in crisis come the end of the season. How many contracted players will we actually have left?

We are at risk of upsetting long serving player like Stock, JOC, Copps, Friend etc who potentially given the correct atmosphere around the club might stay. Add the likes of Woods, Spurr, Bennett, Oster and Hird and you have the basis for a good side to mount a promotion battle next season. Throw a couple of new permanant signings into the mix and we could push for promotion.

I really fear if we continue as we are we will face a mass exodus of players in the summer. I am fully aware financial restraints will mean certain players will have to leave but we can keep the spine of the team if we change policy now. If there are too many coming and goings we could seriously be in a relegation battle again next season which really would be a disaster.

I thank John Ryan for all he has done for this club and understand the reasoning behind the policy but i do fear for the long term future of the club if it continues. JR has been badly let down by the clubs failure to attract more investment and by the Doncaster public who refuse to attend games. Remember John Ryan's financial position will only take us so far and we may have to accept the championship at present is a brdge too far.

[dickos1]

Actually under Saunders we are averaging around 1.06 points per game. Which would give us 42 points. Which isn't far off what we need and everyone's going mental at Saunders. All we need is a slight improvement.

[Sheepskin Stu]

I'd say 53 points would be a more realistic target to ensure survival. That works out at 1.5 points per game. The home games are hugely important.

[Wellred]

Realistically we need another 26 points from the remaining 22 fixtures to get close to survival. 12 home games and 10 away games, roughly 1.2 points per game. This season at present we are averaging 0.8 points per game which is not enough to survive. Here are my reasons why we will struggle to survive:-

1. The impending sale of Billy Sharp for a club record fee which John Ryan cannot afford to reinvest in the club due to the losses being suffered at present.(not having a pop at JR as his financial muscle is also limited)
2. Lack of goals from anyone else other than Billy Sharp.
3. No continuity with the current playing staff. Too many coming and goings does not allow players to gel and form solid partnerships.
4. Resentment from current contracted players towards the new influx of players causing unrest within the playing squad.

This leads me top think does the club continue with its current transfer policy or do we start again. I fear if we continue with the current policy and get relegated we will be in crisis come the end of the season. How many contracted players will we actually have left?

We are at risk of upsetting long serving player like Stock, JOC, Copps, Friend etc who potentially given the correct atmosphere around the club might stay. Add the likes of Woods, Spurr, Bennett, Oster and Hird and you have the basis for a good side to mount a promotion battle next season. Throw a couple of new permanant signings into the mix and we could push for promotion.

I really fear if we continue as we are we will face a mass exodus of players in the summer. I am fully aware financial restraints will mean certain players will have to leave but we can keep the spine of the team if we change policy now. If there are too many coming and goings we could seriously be in a relegation battle again next season which really would be a disaster.

I thank John Ryan for all he has done for this club and understand the reasoning behind the policy but i do fear for the long term future of the club if it continues. JR has been badly let down by the clubs failure to attract more investment and by the Doncaster public who refuse to attend games. Remember John Ryan's financial position will only take us so far and we may have to accept the championship at present is a brdge too far.

Where do get your information from that there is any kind of unrest within the playing staff? We have actually heard the opposite from the players. Can I ask where you have heard otherwise?

How do you think the players you mention could get us into a promotion position next season when they are the very players who got us in the mess we are in now?

[dickos1]

Last season we only got 48 points.  50 points will guarantee safety but I think we will get away with a similar points total as last year.

[VikingJames]

Why would we prepare for League One when there are still 22 Championship games to go?

[Tazemma]

Because at present we are clearly not good enough and will not acheive the points total required to survive. The impending sale of Billy Sharp will affect our goal return which will affect our points total.

I really do hope we survive but i just cannot see it happening. We have a poor defensive record and goals are hard to come by. If we continue as we are how many players do you think we will have left by the end of the season?

How many of the loanees that have come in have made a real impact?

Ikeme - top class but now injured and returned to Wolves
Diouf - Played well in a couple of games before injury but potentially could be massive for us
Goulon - Waste of space
Chimbonda - Always injured
Ilunga - Steady but no better than what we have
Beye - Played consistantly well but lacks cover from the midfield as do all the back 4


The constant chopping and changing of players must have an affect on the team and players take time to get to know each other and how they play. We do not have time to keep bringing in new players every week. Some as the 3 we have just signed are not match fit so it will take 4/6 weeks for us to see the best of them which is time we can ill afford. Not all the short term signings will prove a success. You have to ask the question why some of them don't play or have a current club?

[madmick50]

Realistically we need another 26 points from the remaining 22 fixtures to get close to survival. 12 home games and 10 away games, roughly 1.2 points per game. This season at present we are averaging 0.8 points per game which is not enough to survive. Here are my reasons why we will struggle to survive:-

1. The impending sale of Billy Sharp for a club record fee which John Ryan cannot afford to reinvest in the club due to the losses being suffered at present.(not having a pop at JR as his financial muscle is also limited)
2. Lack of goals from anyone else other than Billy Sharp.
3. No continuity with the current playing staff. Too many coming and goings does not allow players to gel and form solid partnerships.
4. Resentment from current contracted players towards the new influx of players causing unrest within the playing squad.

This leads me top think does the club continue with its current transfer policy or do we start again. I fear if we continue with the current policy and get relegated we will be in crisis come the end of the season. How many contracted players will we actually have left?

We are at risk of upsetting long serving player like Stock, JOC, Copps, Friend etc who potentially given the correct atmosphere around the club might stay. Add the likes of Woods, Spurr, Bennett, Oster and Hird and you have the basis for a good side to mount a promotion battle next season. Throw a couple of new permanant signings into the mix and we could push for promotion.

I really fear if we continue as we are we will face a mass exodus of players in the summer. I am fully aware financial restraints will mean certain players will have to leave but we can keep the spine of the team if we change policy now. If there are too many coming and goings we could seriously be in a relegation battle again next season which really would be a disaster.

I thank John Ryan for all he has done for this club and understand the reasoning behind the policy but i do fear for the long term future of the club if it continues. JR has been badly let down by the clubs failure to attract more investment and by the Doncaster public who refuse to attend games. Remember John Ryan's financial position will only take us so far and we may have to accept the championship at present is a brdge too far.

I could have written most of that myself. To be fair to JR I think we should wait until the end of January. If we are still seriously struggling then that would be the time to act. JR should tell Saunders he's got one month to prove himself. If he doesn't he gets the sack. We then ditch the McKay plan and return to being a 'normal' club and content ourselves with League One and rebuild from there.

[DonnyNoel]

I think the oft quoted 50 points has been more than enough over the last few seasons? I believe someone once went down with 52 pts recently but a lot of times mid 40's has been enough. I don't see that we're in much worse a situation than our first season up here. Improvement is needed, be it through new faces or betting coaching/tactics but as I've said a few times in the last 24 hours, a decent run of 3 or 4 wins in a month will pull others back into it. Anyone with up to 28 points should still be looking downwards IMO.

[Sheepskin Stu]

For the last eleven seasons at this level the average number of points needed to stay up was 49.90.

[philsky]

i want to see Copps, Stock, Oster and Bennett having a decent run.

also, Beye, Friend, Hird and JOC

Diouf and Sharp

with Hayter, Woods, Martis, Naylor and Chimbo right there