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Where we will finish in 2012...


Guided Missile

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Just out of interest, here is the composite opinion of all the bookies, on where we will finish in the league, next season.

 

A season of consolidation, then...

  1. West Ham
  2. Birmingham
  3. Leicester
  4. Nottingham Forest
  5. Reading
  6. Middlesbrough
  7. Blackpool
  8. Cardiff
  9. Burnley
  10. Ipswich
  11. Leeds
  12. Southampton
  13. Brighton
  14. Hull City
  15. Millwall
  16. Bristol City
  17. Portsmouth
  18. Derby
  19. Peterborough
  20. Watford
  21. Coventry
  22. Barnsley
  23. Crystal Palace
  24. Doncaster

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Just out of interest, here is the composite opinion of all the bookies, on where we will finish in the league, next season.

 

A season of consolidation, then...

  1. West Ham
  2. Birmingham
  3. Leicester
  4. Nottingham Forest
  5. Reading
  6. Middlesbrough
  7. Blackpool
  8. Cardiff
  9. Burnley
  10. Ipswich
  11. Leeds
  12. Southampton
  13. Brighton
  14. Hull City
  15. Millwall
  16. Bristol City
  17. Portsmouth
  18. Derby
  19. Peterborough
  20. Watford
  21. Coventry
  22. Barnsley
  23. Crystal Palace
  24. Doncaster

 

With our current squad I think that's quite accurate. It's a much tougher league than a lot on here think. Hope the Skates struggle a lot more than that though! Out of interest, anyone have similar lists from bookies at this time last year?

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Just out of interest, here is the composite opinion of all the bookies, on where we will finish in the league, next season.

 

A season of consolidation, then...

  1. West Ham
  2. Birmingham
  3. Leicester
  4. Nottingham Forest
  5. Reading
  6. Middlesbrough
  7. Blackpool
  8. Cardiff
  9. Burnley
  10. Ipswich
  11. Leeds
  12. Southampton
  13. Brighton
  14. Hull City
  15. Millwall
  16. Bristol City
  17. Portsmouth
  18. Derby
  19. Peterborough
  20. Watford
  21. Coventry
  22. Barnsley
  23. Crystal Palace
  24. Doncaster

 

a lot still can change in transfer window and depending on manager appointments. West Ham are said to have already made two offers and are still without manager - at the moment can see them being bottom half. Cardiff may have Bellamy as manager??!!

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Even based on the current squad, I think thats just a touch pessimistic and would guess 8th or 9th.

The quality of the 2 or 3 additions hinted at by NA will be the biggest indicator IMO, of the likely finish.

 

Also based on those signings, I think will give us a good idea of the ambition (and possible Liebherr estate willingness to invest) for next season.

Even if we don't invest that much, I would not necessarily automatically assume it means there is no money or the family are disinterested in Markus' vision. It's possible from a business perspective they would want to give it a season to see if we have enough already and if this proves not to be the case, heavy team investment next summer.

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Anywhere between 7th and 14th is a good season, anything above is a bonus and anything below is disappointing.

 

It's difficult to predict at the moment though - any one of the teams in the league could improve a lot or sell a few of their key players and get weaker.

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I think we will do bloody well this year. Instead of playing on cow fields we will be playing on nice footballing surfaces which is more accommodating to our passing game. I genuinely think that with a couple of top rate signings we can be pushing for automatic at best, with playoffs as fall back. We've got the momentum and with a good NA preseason we will be on fire.

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I think we will do bloody well this year. Instead of playing on cow fields we will be playing on nice footballing surfaces which is more accommodating to our passing game. I genuinely think that with a couple of top rate signings we can be pushing for automatic at best, with playoffs as fall back. We've got the momentum and with a good NA preseason we will be on fire.

 

Agree with this. There's no reason why we shouldn't do well.

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Based on current squad I would say 12th is about right however with a few additions notably centre back, centre midfield, left winger and a striker then there is no reason why we cant aim for top six and beyond. going to be tough league for sure. probably about 12 teams with realistic shout of promotion. saints, leicester, forest, west ham, birmingham, hull, middlesborough, leeds, burnley, ipswich, reading and cardiff. derby, blackpool and bristol city could even be up there.

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I think it will be...

 

West Ham

Birmingham

Burnley

Blackpool

Leicester

Nottingham Forest

Reading

Leeds

Southampton

Hull City

Brighton

Ipswich

Middlesbrough

Cardiff

Peterborough

Millwall

Derby

Bristol City

Watford

Coventry

Crystal Palace

Barnsley

Doncaster

Portsmouth

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I think we'll be pretty average and the likes of Hammond, Harding and Chaplow will be exposed as not good enough for this league. I reckon we'll then invest in January and push towards the play offs ending up 5th or 6th.

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I think we'll be pretty average and the likes of Hammond, Harding and Chaplow will be exposed as not good enough for this league. I reckon we'll then invest in January and push towards the play offs ending up 5th or 6th.

 

Haven't Harding and Chaplow played there before? Chaplow played in the PL didn't he? I think the play offs are realistic.

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Were gonna win the league... if not we will consolidate and take 2nd or Playoff Champions instead.

 

If am off right now to place a days wages on Saints for promotion. 20/1 outright is the best ive seen so far, and im up for that... need to get some money down before we start signing all the top talent. Each way is pretty reasonable too, so will make a nice insurance policy should another Brighton overachievement happen again.

 

Im not normally a gambler, couple of events a year for me... but some of the better informed posters on here, NA's soundbites, Corteses vision, the Euro scout chief, and some loosely informed gossip away from here has pushed me to take a PUNT!

 

COYR

 

WAGU

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Haven't Harding and Chaplow played there before? Chaplow played in the PL didn't he? I think the play offs are realistic.

 

Yes Harding has but didnt exactly excel in the teams he played for. Chaplow was good for us in the Championship in 2006 but perhaps isnt as good now (dropped by relegated Preston)

 

I think the important thing is to give players a chance and to keep a winning team, but inevitably there will be weaknesses and we'll address that in January.

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reckon we will do alright. Flirt with the play offs from time to time, but i can maybe seeing us to a Leeds and falling away in the last few weeks ending up 8th or 9th. Which to be honest will be a bloody great and a fantastic springboard for the following season and a top 2 finish

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Were gonna win the league... if not we will consolidate and take 2nd or Playoff Champions instead.

 

If am off right now to place a days wages on Saints for promotion. 20/1 outright is the best ive seen so far, and im up for that... need to get some money down before we start signing all the top talent. Each way is pretty reasonable too, so will make a nice insurance policy should another Brighton overachievement happen again.

 

Im not normally a gambler, couple of events a year for me... but some of the better informed posters on here, NA's soundbites, Corteses vision, the Euro scout chief, and some loosely informed gossip away from here has pushed me to take a PUNT!

 

COYR

 

WAGU

 

 

Online bookies wont take more than a score, theyre ****teing themselves!

 

Thats the first and last time I (try) and gamble digitally, its ****ing ****e.... after work, im gonna lay down my cash on the counter, with my punt on scribbled on a little bit of paper!

 

WAGU

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I'd go along with somewhere around 10th to 14th with our current squad. With 6 or 7 good additions (which is what we need imho) then we could be challenging for the top 2. Cortese talks the talk, let's see if he delivers.

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I can't think of many who'd say 'well done, good season' after finishing 14th.

 

I think it depends on the goals of the management. If we keep the squad that we have at the moment and bring 1 or 2 players in that aren't much better than what we have, 14th wouldn't be a bad finish. We might just be looking to consolidate this season and build a team over time that's capable of playing comfortably in the Prem - that could mean bringing in a few younger players that don't yet have the quality to be playing week-in, week-out in a top 6 club in the NPC.

 

There's no rush to get back up to the Prem, we have to make sure that we're fully equipped to survive up there and not just become another yo-yo club.

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There's no rush to get back up to the Prem, we have to make sure that we're fully equipped to survive up there and not just become another yo-yo club.

 

With the money we suposedly have at our disposal there is no need to consolidate and build slowly. Whenever a team goes into the premiership they have to make big signings to survive (in the main). Therefore you can't equip yourself in the CCC for the Premiership and therefore we might as well go for it next season as oposed to wasting 12 months.

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There's no rush to get back up to the Prem.

 

Why do you think that? The longer it takes, the harder it will get.

 

- Next season will see 3 clubs with £32m worth of parachute payments left (maybe less with Pompey) and 3 clubs with £48m worth of parachute payments left. The season after another 3 clubs with £48m of parachute payments will join the league and so on. Yes, some of them may go straight up, but the recent increase in these payments and extension over 4 years instead of 2 means it will get harder and harder as the years go on for clubs without the payments to compete with those that do.

- If Saints get again promoted next season there is a reasonable chance players like Chamberlain could stay to play for the team in the Premier League. If Saints don't get promoted quickly the squad may be broken up and the club having to rebuild.

 

Saints will want to use the momentum they have to get up as quick as possible and that means a push for promotion in 2011/12. Cortese doesn't strike me as a man to be consolidating in the Championship when he doesn't need to.

Edited by Matthew Le God
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West Ham will attract loads of money for the bookies as they are the "big" team. They will be expected to bounce back but I cannot see them hanging onto many of their current squad. Large debts and Big Sam do not go hand in hand very easily and I can see their season ending in tears.

 

A lot of Cardiff's team last season were loans who have now returned to their parent clubs. They have released Boothroyd so their squad at the moment is not much bigger than Pompey's . I can see them having a disappointing year.

 

 

Hopefully the momentum with which we ended last season will carry over to the new season. If that does happen, I feel very confident about next season . A couple of decent signings and I see us finishing second to Brum

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current squad is interesting, as think if Ox-C signs th contract he is considering then we are already competitive.

 

we also shouldn't underestimate the part confidence will play - Adkins has built a good team spirit - winning 13 out of last 15 shows that. When we had the dutch duo we played some excellent football, were well on top in many games, but players expected to lose. I think we have totally the opposite mentality now.

 

We are coming up stronger than Norwich, Leeds and Millwall. If they can finish 2nd, 7th and 9th why on earth would we be aiming, or even expecting to finisg lower?

 

Can you imagine Cortese saying he will be aiming for anything less than top 2? I can't.

 

I expect he will talk to Adkins as ask where this club is short of being top 2 side and set tranfer targets accordingly.

 

I suspect that Adkins will see this season's squad as the basis for next with 3 or 4 signings.

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That's where we completely disagree, and the management would disagree with you. You and some others seem to think we need an overhaul. IMO, if we keep this squad then we'll do well. If we make a few decent signings, we'll do very well. I think a lot are underestimating how much quality we have, and how much the expectation took its toll, and the off the field changes last season.

 

If ever a club was in a good position to keep the momentum going, it's us next season. Lots of signings would be counterproductive. Personally I see Fonte, Schneiderlin, Chamberlain and Lallana playing in the top flight in the near future, and I'd like to see Lambert, Guly, Barnard, Hammond given a chance to shine at this level. They're unproven, but surely they've earned the chance? Beyond that, Butterfield, Davis, Jaidi and Harding have done it before at this level.

 

So I don't see where an overhaul comes in. Good new centre back, new central midfielder, more competition out wide, a new striker, great. But much more than that could be counter productive. 4 good signings IMO, not vital by any means, but they'd give us a great chance.

 

I'm looking forward to seeing a league where more teams attack us, less sitting back behind the ball and fewer dodgy grounds/pitches to deal with. I bet the players are too. Adkins didn't come here to sit in the bottom half of the Championship.

 

As for 'no rush' - this is our best chance. Yes, we need patience, but let's be honest, we now have momentum, we'll improve our squad, we'll have bigger attendences and more optimism. Next season, if not already gone, we lose Chamberlain. We probably lose Lallana, I can't imagine Fonte sticking it out, Jaidi will retire, Connolly probably too. It will get more difficult.

+1 Agree with what you said.We were playing a class above football at times last season, and i think we will get more time/space and not 11 men behind the ball mentality of most league 1 teams. We should aim for the title, i know NA will be. :D
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The fact that Gillet, Mills, Thomas etc.. have all done ok in the Championship since leaving us just reinforces the point that others have made; much of the Championship is ****e and there are very few players as good as KD, Fonte, Schneiderlin (potentially), Lallana, Chamberlain, Guly...

 

Remember when our team included Perry, Lancashire, Surman at LB, James at RB, Thomson, McGoldrick, Gillet, Holmes... even that lot didn't get relegated until near the end of the season and they weren't exactly given the best environment to play in.

 

Predicting bottom half is just silly. We will want to do better than that, we have a settled and happy team, we will probably invest, we will have some of the most talented players in the division.

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Agree with benjii and adriansfc, we have a decent squad now more than able of holding its own in the CCC. With 3 or 4 additions we will be in the top 2 at the end of the season. As said, we have the momentum, the winning mentality and a decent squad; get off to a good start and we'll be rolling towards the prem for the 12/13 season!!

 

Can't see Cortesse and NA setting their sights any lower than 2nd!!

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