Looks like the lack of investment.........

[sha66y]

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but didn't our benefactors raise our ambitions by declaring an intention of Championship football in the next couple of years?

And what has changed ?

We are doing very well with the team as a whole, “ splashing the cash” may not be the answer at this stage, so the risk of destabilising what we have achieved thus far would seem a little risky...

If this is a transition year for the board to see what can be achieved with “ good player management” , I would think they are looking to next year
( which incidentally would be in line with their forecast)
To invest in the Right players to fill the short-comings identified by this seasons progress...or of course failures...

All in all it doesn’t matter what was said at chairman level regarding funds, we are doing very well with what has been spent so far..
and I’m sure they are in regular contact with the Manager with a view to how to push on , if not this season then next..!

[karlos]

It seems every year is a transitional year

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

It seems every year is a transitional year

I guess when you have a new manager it has to be - look at the first season under SOD, we didn't really kick onwards. 

Upwards progress from last year and a top 10 finish is a good season for us this year IMO.  The big problem is keeping Marquis and Wright in the summer if we don't get promoted.  Equally a sale of Marquis may allow investment through the squad.  But there is a long time to go yet.

We have more chance of giving the Championship a proper battle if we build a little more slowly.

[The Red Baron]

The last sentence is key, BFYP. When we won the play offs in 2008 we had a more or less Championship-ready squad. Hand on heart, could anyone say that about the current squad?

[sha66y]

It seems every year is a transitional year

At last!.....you get it

Every year since the beginning of time is in effect a year of transition, hence we evolve....these players we have are Evolving, this new manager is Evolving,

The only thing that remains the same is the latest jibe about the Budget and nameless players we should be buying in the next window.....

[NickDRFC]

The last sentence is key, BFYP. When we won the play offs in 2008 we had a more or less Championship-ready squad. Hand on heart, could anyone say that about the current squad?

Did we really? Or was it more a case that the players adapted, stepped up and proved they were good enough - it's not like we were a squad of players with Championship experience, in fact the vast majority had no experience at that level. The one thing I would say for that side/squad is that they had been playing together, under SOD and his systems, for almost two seasons which was no doubt beneficial.

2007-08 League One Squad:
Sullivan - yep, fair enough
Taylor - plenty of experience but would have been difficult to argue that at that stage of his career he was good enough to play at that level
Stock - not deemed good enough by Preston
Gareth Roberts - possibly played there with Tranmere
Greer - SPL experience

O'Connor, Hird, Lockwood, Stephen Roberts, McDaid, Green, Wellens, Coppinger, Price, McCammon, Guy, Heffernan, Hayter, Ben Smith, Wilson, Mills (except maybe the odd loan appearance for the last 2?) - no Championship experience

[scawsby steve]

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but didn't our benefactors raise our ambitions by declaring an intention of Championship football in the next couple of years?

And what has changed ?

We are doing very well with the team as a whole, “ splashing the cash” may not be the answer at this stage, so the risk of destabilising what we have achieved thus far would seem a little risky...

If this is a transition year for the board to see what can be achieved with “ good player management” , I would think they are looking to next year
( which incidentally would be in line with their forecast)
To invest in the Right players to fill the short-comings identified by this seasons progress...or of course failures...

All in all it doesn’t matter what was said at chairman level regarding funds, we are doing very well with what has been spent so far..
and I’m sure they are in regular contact with the Manager with a view to how to push on , if not this season then next..!

If they're looking to next season, then why have they given GM a remit of a top 6 finish this season?; if that's their expectations, then surely we're bound to expect the same.

[RoversAlias]

Can't wait for us to finish 9th and have everyone moan even though it'd be a marked improvement on last season.

[Campsall rover]

I wouldn’t say splash cash we haven’t got but we certainly do everything on the cheap... almost every player over the last 12 month as been injury prone or similar..... sometimes it needs a bit of quality but that costs and the owners certainly won’t go over 100k I reckon..

Whiteman cost over 150k didn’t he?

[mpc123]

Still top 6 finish for me always has been

[sha66y]

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but didn't our benefactors raise our ambitions by declaring an intention of Championship football in the next couple of years?

And what has changed ?

We are doing very well with the team as a whole, “ splashing the cash” may not be the answer at this stage, so the risk of destabilising what we have achieved thus far would seem a little risky...

If this is a transition year for the board to see what can be achieved with “ good player management” , I would think they are looking to next year
( which incidentally would be in line with their forecast)
To invest in the Right players to fill the short-comings identified by this seasons progress...or of course failures...

All in all it doesn’t matter what was said at chairman level regarding funds, we are doing very well with what has been spent so far..
and I’m sure they are in regular contact with the Manager with a view to how to push on , if not this season then next..!

If they're looking to next season, then why have they given GM a remit of a top 6 finish this season?; if that's their expectations, then surely we're bound to expect the same.

I would imagine that the board would like , perhaps desire a top six finish this year as would we all, ...however I think nearly every board says that to their managers...it wouldn’t be prudent to say “ a mid table finish is ok”

However to get back on track...

I think personally we are capable of a top six finish based upon how we are playing.... don’t forget this is still a fledgling system that is being tried out...and we will get better at it the more we play it....
Yes it has its flaws, all systems do...but this one I feel will be played better after Xmas, and hopefully we are still in a good position to make a strike for it.....

My opinion of course