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Expectations for Next Season


miserableoldgit

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I have recently renewed my ST for next season. I did it with, for the first time in a few years, some positivity because after all, we survived the relegation scare and have appointed a very exciting new manager who seems to have united the fans and given us something to look forward to. Then I made a stupid mistake....I started reading this forum again. All that I have seen is moaning and whinging......about the owner, the sponsorship deal, the shirt design (which turned out to be nothing like the one`s that the conspiracy theorists predicted) , the apparently non-existent transfer budget and almost everything else....apart from last nights result!! Jeez......I am now thinking about sending my ticket back! What are peoples genuine hopes/expectations for next season?? Are we positive or is the negativity justified??

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Positive about Ralph and the direction of the coaching staff. Positive about the youth teams and the ladies team. Worried about the first team, not because it won't be improved, it will, but there has been so much damage done in the past couple of years that it isn't easy to fix.

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I ummed and erred for a good few weeks, but I did renew yesterday.

 

The main reason is probably because of Ralph and that bit of positivity and higher expectation he brings. I can't see him standing for rubbish and I'm sure he believes he will be backed. The main issue will be who we can shift and how many of them to open the gap in finances, but I'd hope even without doing that there is a budget to make improvements.

 

He's pretty clear in what he wants and I think for the first time in years we are building with an identity, and not just the theme of 'passing the football' - so hopefully, our recruitment will be based around players who will suit the high press and high energy approach and not just signed because they can 'pass the football.'

 

Overall the value, compared to the match by match ticket prices, is pretty good this year.

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I'm really glad the transfer window closes before the season. We'll have to sell before we can buy this year, so everything's going to be pushed deeper into the window. I hate thinking of the atmosphere at the first home game if we've sold players and not yet brought many in to get excited about.

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Don't have any expectations until we know who we sign and who we keep.

 

We've seen with Ralph in charge, plus probably a full pre-season to work on the players more, we can probably expect like 45 ish points, maybe a little more, a little less. So mid table obscurity, probably a little skirt with relegation in the worst scenario.

 

With some key signings, top 10 or more is realistic, maybe even competing for that 7th spot.

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I have recently renewed my ST for next season. I did it with, for the first time in a few years, some positivity because after all, we survived the relegation scare and have appointed a very exciting new manager who seems to have united the fans and given us something to look forward to. Then I made a stupid mistake....I started reading this forum again. All that I have seen is moaning and whinging......about the owner, the sponsorship deal, the shirt design (which turned out to be nothing like the one`s that the conspiracy theorists predicted) , the apparently non-existent transfer budget and almost everything else....apart from last nights result!! Jeez......I am now thinking about sending my ticket back! What are peoples genuine hopes/expectations for next season?? Are we positive or is the negativity justified??

 

If we play decent football and we can bring in a few more players that are attuned to RH's style of play then we will be fine. 12th position, securing safety in mid to late March with a nice cup run would be good. There is a lot of deadwood that need to go - but they are always the trickiest to shift. We need pace pace pace in the team with a solid spine. Promotion of the kids will help. We will know pretty quickly where we will be. My prediction is that the following teams will be in and around the relegation zone all season:

 

Burnley; Brighton; Sheff Utd; Norwich; Bournemouth (expect their better players to be raided over the summer); Villa/Derby *(the latter in particular because of the number of loan players and the possibility that Lampard may end up going to Chelsea). Winning more home games is key.

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I think we have to look for a comfortable mid table finish next season, if nothing else to help stop the rot from the past few years.

 

This season the top 6 were way ahead of the rest. Leicester and W Ham finished 9th and 10th, and they only lost one more game than us. But we only scraped nine wins all season, which is pretty dire.

 

I would be happy with 12th or so next season, then hopefully we can build again and try and get near those Europa League spots. If City win the FA Cup then Wolves will get the last Europa League spot this season having finished 7th - that has to give encouragement to teams like us as I don't think 7th or 8th is completely beyond us, if we can get some momentum going. Big ask with the current squad though.

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something like Watfords season would be good, even if theirs did peter out a bit.

 

but tbh i cant make any expectations until we see our incomings and outcomings, because right now with this squad my expectation is no more than 13th/14th.

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something like Watfords season would be good, even if theirs did peter out a bit.

 

but tbh i cant make any expectations until we see our incomings and outcomings, because right now with this squad my expectation is no more than 13th/14th.

 

Petered out into a cup final?

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Petered out into a cup final?

 

their league form took a tumble (perhaps as a result of one eye being on the FA Cup final, who knows?)

 

they were on for 7th place for much of the season, finished 11th in the end

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A comfortable season at say 12th would be my realistic hope. If we can have a transition year of clearing the deadwood out but keeping ourselves well above danger, with a few decent results here and there, and a half decent FA Cup run, that'd do me.

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I think somewhere between 10th and 14th is a realistic goal and because I think Ralph will take the cups seriously at least one QF. This is assuming we don't lose (and not replace) any of our key players. IF we recruit well then I think we can aim for 7th -10th

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I have recently renewed my ST for next season. I did it with, for the first time in a few years, some positivity because after all, we survived the relegation scare and have appointed a very exciting new manager who seems to have united the fans and given us something to look forward to. Then I made a stupid mistake....I started reading this forum again. All that I have seen is moaning and whinging......about the owner, the sponsorship deal, the shirt design (which turned out to be nothing like the one`s that the conspiracy theorists predicted) , the apparently non-existent transfer budget and almost everything else....apart from last nights result!! Jeez......I am now thinking about sending my ticket back! What are peoples genuine hopes/expectations for next season?? Are we positive or is the negativity justified??
Ironic username to complaint post
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I think some of you have lost your heads.

2 years just about staying up, finishes of 17th and 16th....not breaching 40 points in each season.

 

To then go up to around 7th place.

 

Insane

 

As ever you seem to forget that in the first half of last season we only gathered 9 points. Unless we recruit Hughes again , I would think that we should do better next year - which makes your comparison with this season rather pointless.

 

I am not sure what you are reading on this thread. A couple of people have indicated that 7th is possible IF we recruit well. The overall consensus is lower mid table. I don't think that this is unreasonable. Do you ??

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Think we should be aiming for min 14th with anything else a bonus. Last 6 games were a more accurate representation of where we are - hard to beat but struggle to win. We have a way to go to catch Watford, Wolves, West Ham, Leicester, Everton who will again be in the mini league above us. We should aim to come top of our mini league and prime ourselves to be in the hunt for 7th with those teams the season after.

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As it stand we are one of about 7 clubs that could go down, but should we somehow manage to get rid of the increasingly large pile of dead wood, then we might just have the opportunity to bring in some alternatives that may be better, maybe. So, with that in mind 14th-17th then, maybe.

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Relatively optimistic with Ralph on board -welcome both his honesty about the squad’s deficiencies and sense of urgency to ring the changes. However, let’s see how this bumps up against financial reality - that we probably need to sell first to free up resources and that is unlikely to happen on the timescale that Ralph is hoping.

 

Btw are moggy and soggy related? Both have the same posting style that wouldn’t go amiss on mumsnet.

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Relatively optimistic with Ralph on board -welcome both his honesty about the squad’s deficiencies and sense of urgency to ring the changes. However, let’s see how this bumps up against financial reality - that we probably need to sell first to free up resources and that is unlikely to happen on the timescale that Ralph is hoping.

 

Btw are moggy and soggy related? Both have the same posting style that wouldn’t go amiss on mumsnet.

 

I'd probably go with this. The manager is the most important piece of the puzzle but there's only so much he can do.

 

There are a couple of other concerns with Hasenhuttl, not a criticism of his ability but rather how he is limited with this squad. His style is less cautious than previous managers, which is great, but when you play with more emphasis on attack and play a bit more open it's more important to have good defenders - ones who can bail you when you get caught on the break etc. We don't have that at the moment. The other thing is his preferred formation is 4-2-2-2. I'm not sure our players fit that - hopefully they CAN and it's just a case of working with them over the summer, but if not then are we a) forced to play a formation that the manager isn't as comfortable with? b) play less good players in favour of better ones to fir the formation? or c) do we need to sign even more players (which we won't)?

 

These are more hypothetical questions open for debate, rather than assertions!

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We do not have single player who has been able to rise to Ralph's challenging style of play for 90 minutes despite over a half season of coaching, every one of them has had more off days than on and none has eliminated costly errors of judgement from their game. At no time has this bunch of players been able to emulate the slick style that we saw from all those RB Leipzig videos at the time of Ralph's recruitment. Major surgery needs to happen this summer and I mean major to transform our performance and style of play into something akin to what Ralph purports to want.

 

I am not overly excited about what lies ahead because it is hard to see how financially or otherwise we can bring in two, three or four transformative players of the quality needed to form the core of a new dynamic Saints nor how Ralph can possible squeeze more performance or consistency out of his current players than he has already.

 

There is no magic pill and the odd new face will make only an incremental difference. 14th may be as good as we can hope for - bit like Palace - and yes, Ralph will leave at the end of the season.

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Expecting a much improved season, we can all see the issue with being stuck with certain highly-paid players that may restrict our recruitment but the signs are that Ralph will have the squad we end up with playing to the best of their ability.

 

I also expect our 'support' to be as sedate and boring as ever inside St Mary's and our gobbiest fans than never actually go to a game but sit in their bedrooms whining on messageboards will continue. Ralph will get frustrated with the lack of enthusiasm from the stands (and likely failed promises from the board) and will have no problem naffing off within the next 12 months

 

Mixed bag then.

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These key issues must be addressed IMO !

a) Clearout the deadwood !

b) Change the mentality (-29 points from winning positions) !

c) Improve home form !

If we can achieve at least 2 of these 3, we should be comfortable in mid table !

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I would like us to get points or at least not lose against the promoted teams, Brighton and Burnley, gaining a lot more points that we have given to opponents this last season.

 

A few more wins against the mid table sides and a couple of decent wins against top 6 sides.

 

Secondly learn how to manage a game from 85 minute on to secure whatever points we have got ( or get a winner).

 

Both of those would give us a foundation to go on a couple of cup runs.

 

10th-14th would be a big improvement with a team worth watching, which is generally what Ralph has shown us (exc West Ham away )

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Ralph amassed 5 points less than Spurs (for example), since he took over from Hughes. Under Ralph we were 1 point shy of being a top 10 side* (thanks a bunch Angus... ;) )... Ergo... Assuming we improve our decidedly average squad, logic would suggest finishing 10th or higher is achievable.

 

 

* "Yeah, but, Ralph said blah blah blah" © Batman 2019 ;)

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