The long list of things that have gone wrong this season has kept growing.
But what needs to go right next season? My thoughts below, most probably obvious, but keen for some positivity.
Bring in some experienced pro's (mid to late twenties) on short term deals who can set the standard of being a top professional. I'd also keep Ruddy and Juke in the squad, as others have mentioned.
Fully utilise our current young players and give them a solid basis to go an express themselves (Hall, Donovan etc.). Consider bringing others in on loan where appropriate, but only if we have a view to buy.
Keep on pushing the fortress St. Andrews mantra.
Negotiate hard at the start of the season for the biggest away allocations possible with all clubs i.e. more than the 10% they make provision for.
I would massively deprioritise the EFL Trophy and play a number of the U21s in those games for experience.
Settle on a way of playing, which we can align the U18s and U21s to (at this point it might be the first team aligning with the academy...).
Plan for the season after next and continue to build momentum in the fan base.
Oh, and FEA.
100% agree on every point. I'd argue that we probably don't even need to bring in that many experienced players, as we have players like Sunjic and Juke who work their socks off and would be great mentors. We just need some proper mentality monsters like them to whip people in to shape and get them fully on board.
As far as home attendances go, I think if Knighthead continue with the ticket schemes they've been doing towards the end of this season then attendance *shouldn't* be too much of an issue. We absolutely cannot be charging £35 a ticket in League 1!
I think our youth players have an absolutely massive chance to shine this season. Hall, Chang, Donovan, Dixon, Khela immediately spring to mind, and with the young lads this season who all got pro contracts I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a lot more of them, especially in the EFL Trophy as you said. I don't want to take it seriously at all, I'd honestly prefer just entering our U21 and U18 in there only and keep all senior players out of it period. It's a joke of a competition.
As far as signings go, I'd like to be bringing in primarily younger players to mid-20's who can grow with us over the next few seasons while we work our way to the Prem. We need some physical beasts, people who are rapid and can get in behind, defenders who can win everything in the air and be a menace on corners and free kicks. Combine them with the mentality monsters like Juke and Sunjic who will run through brick walls and we'd have a very difficult team to play against. More importantly we need players who are team players and get along well. I've seen a few times this season with Stansfield and Laird on the pitch egging each other on and laughing and joking and it's genuinely amazing to see. I'd love to see more of that and get a real comradery among all the players at the club.
I agree with your point on physicality.
Whilst we were middle of the pack for conceding goals from set pieces (11 this season), we scored only 8 all season - which is one of the worst in the league.
I know we are looking to change the way we play, which is fine. But this is a tool in our arsenal we need to use if we are going to make a challenge next season.
Jeff HallThe long list of things that have gone wrong this season has kept growing.
But what needs to go right next season? My thoughts below, most probably obvious, but keen for some positivity.
Bring in some experienced pro's (mid to late twenties) on short term deals who can set the standard of being a top professional. I'd also keep Ruddy and Juke in the squad, as others have mentioned.
Fully utilise our current young players and give them a solid basis to go an express themselves (Hall, Donovan etc.). Consider bringing others in on loan where appropriate, but only if we have a view to buy.
Keep on pushing the fortress St. Andrews mantra.
Negotiate hard at the start of the season for the biggest away allocations possible with all clubs i.e. more than the 10% they make provision for.
I would massively deprioritise the EFL Trophy and play a number of the U21s in those games for experience.
Settle on a way of playing, which we can align the U18s and U21s to (at this point it might be the first team aligning with the academy...).
Plan for the season after next and continue to build momentum in the fan base.
Oh, and FEA.
As much as I love Juke, keeping him on would be a mistake. There are other experienced strikers we could probably sign who not only offer experience to the squad, but also offer more on the pitch as well.
I would also go all out for the EFL trophy because I think winning games builds momentum and we should have a squad big enough to deal with the demands of multiple games. I also don't think our youth tes will gain much from playing against Man City's under 21s.
Our owners want to build a successful team competing in at the top, so we as a club (fans included) need to develop a mentality of winning everything.
I've seen lots of posts from people saying how tough League one is going to be, but we need to lose that mentality and believe we can storm the league. I've browsed forums for teams in League One' and they are worried about us, so as fans let's change our mindset and be prepared to be the top team for a change.
That’s exactly what Claude said when I asked him.
100% agree on every point. I'd argue that we probably don't even need to bring in that many experienced players, as we have players like Sunjic and Juke who work their socks off and would be great mentors. We just need some proper mentality monsters like them to whip people in to shape and get them fully on board.
As far as home attendances go, I think if Knighthead continue with the ticket schemes they've been doing towards the end of this season then attendance *shouldn't* be too much of an issue. We absolutely cannot be charging £35 a ticket in League 1!
I think our youth players have an absolutely massive chance to shine this season. Hall, Chang, Donovan, Dixon, Khela immediately spring to mind, and with the young lads this season who all got pro contracts I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a lot more of them, especially in the EFL Trophy as you said. I don't want to take it seriously at all, I'd honestly prefer just entering our U21 and U18 in there only and keep all senior players out of it period. It's a joke of a competition.
As far as signings go, I'd like to be bringing in primarily younger players to mid-20's who can grow with us over the next few seasons while we work our way to the Prem. We need some physical beasts, people who are rapid and can get in behind, defenders who can win everything in the air and be a menace on corners and free kicks. Combine them with the mentality monsters like Juke and Sunjic who will run through brick walls and we'd have a very difficult team to play against. More importantly we need players who are team players and get along well. I've seen a few times this season with Stansfield and Laird on the pitch egging each other on and laughing and joking and it's genuinely amazing to see. I'd love to see more of that and get a real comradery among all the players at the club.
I wouldn’t be surprised if prices are eye watering. some division 3 clubs prices were on a par with ours last season, and at least one was flogging tickets at 37 quid.
If you can afford it in div 2 you can afford it in div 3 and at least you’ll see a winning team
We must prioritise winning every game, the BSMT will be a great day out at Wembley for 50,000 die hard fans. We need to completely reset our mindset. Knight head are dancing to their own tune. We have had 10 years of losing, that stops now. We have 6 years to build the fan base as we strive for the Premier League.
I am renewing my season ticket a d with my daughter back from uni I hope to do some away games too. We are on the rise albeit from a lower starting point.
I'll be absolutely fuming if we keep any of the out of contract players. Why would you keep Ruddy? He's finished, can't even kick a ball.
RibeyeI'll be absolutely fuming if we keep any of the out of contract players. Why would you keep Ruddy? He's finished, can't even kick a ball.
We are out looking for two keepers that can play with the ball at their feet. And yet people want Ruddy to stick around despite the fact that he can’t play in that kind of setup. It’s silly.
I can’t believe the keep Juke brigade. He’s been a great servant to the club but he can’t run. You can’t have players that are knackered after 40 mins. Young, fit, quick, hungry players please.
Oh and how about winning a few away games.
A decent transfer window, focus on young hungry players with pace, athleticism and mobility, maybe the odd older player with some guile. This window I think we find out whether all the talk from Knighhead becomes reality
Recruitment is key. The financial shackles are essentially off and we will be the biggest team with the biggest budget by miles.
The worry for me is recruitment isn’t just about next season, it’s a chance to build the foundations of a team for the next 2/3 years that gets us to the Premier League.
We need to sign the best young, hungry players from the Championship and below, a couple of real leaders and litter that with just a loan or two from the Prem clubs.
Going to be dead interesting summer.
Also a huge chance for Donovan, Hall etc