[Archived] Expectations For The Coming Season

[tony gale's mic]

10th-12th next season I think. Anything more would be great, anything less would be poor. Much depends on this summer's additions.

Problem is, there's the top 4, Villa, Everton, Spurs and Man City who are very likely to finish ahead of us. Villa are perhaps our best bet with their recent decline and Barry looking to leave but even then theyve got cash to spend. After then you've got Fulham and West Ham too, so that's 10 teams already and considering the top 7 get into Europe it could be a long time before we see European football at Ewood again, no matter how well Sam does.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Hoping for upper mid-table 10th....'progressive improvement' on this season.

Anyone else feel this seasons relegation battle has done wonders for everyone concerned with our club,a sort of wake up call and a kick up the arse that was needed?.I do believe it has really galvanised the fans and will reap rewards next season.

[Hughesy]

I believe it will be tough to compete for 7th or 8th as there are several clubs who you would expect to be competing high up the league. Those clubs are Aston Villa, Everton, Tottenham, Man City and West Ham. We may be just below those clubs and be around 10th competing with the likes of Fulham for a top half finish.

10th-12th next season I think. Anything more would be great, anything less would be poor. Much depends on this summer's additions.

Problem is, there's the top 4, Villa, Everton, Spurs and Man City who are very likely to finish ahead of us. Villa are perhaps our best bet with their recent decline and Barry looking to leave but even then theyve got cash to spend. After then you've got Fulham and West Ham too, so that's 10 teams already and considering the top 7 get into Europe it could be a long time before we see European football at Ewood again, no matter how well Sam does.

I agree the above about it being tough, but 10th has to be our realistic target with 7th-8th seen as an excellent season. We cant just sit back and accept that those teams mentioned will finish above us. Next season we need to see the fight back into our blue n white hearts. Forget all these clubs like West Ham, Fulham etc we can beat them and finish above them. I expect Sam to make us a much stronger team and much improved and I expect us to finish 10th at least! BLUE N PROUD!

[Majiball]

Anyone else feel this seasons relegation battle has done wonders for everyone concerned with our club,a sort of wake up call and a kick up the arse that was needed?.I do believe it has really galvanised the fans and will reap rewards next season.

All its done for me is highlight problems within the club, that have to be sorted pronto. All its done for me is prove that our previous model for the running of the club is flawed and will ultimatly long term bring us some hard times. A new approach to the running of the club is needed hopefully Sam is the man to do it.

It will only be the kick up the arse we need if action is taken, I'm worried that the fact we stayed up may make the club think big changes are not needed.

[deryck guyler's spoon]

Hoping for upper mid-table 10th....'progressive improvement' on this season.

Anyone else feel this seasons relegation battle has done wonders for everyone concerned with our club,a sort of wake up call and a kick up the arse that was needed?.I do believe it has really galvanised the fans and will reap rewards next season.

All it's done for me is to highlight what happens to you in The Premiership if you dont maintain a realistic level of investment in your first team squad. What we have at the moment simply isn't good enough and will struggle to stay up again unless the alarm bells that have been clanging for a year are finally noticed.

West Brom on Sunday was a stark and very worrying portent of what will happen if the warning signs are ignored.

[roversmum]

I can't see the warning being taken. The take will be that 'if' Big Sam had been the Manager for the whole season, our tally of points since he came in would have at least doubled giving us a decent shot at a Europa place. Therefore not much tweaking needed - a very dangerous assumption

[trueblue]

This is how I expect next season.

Teams to struggle:

Wolves, Burnley, Brum, Bolton, Pompey, Hull, Stoke & Sunderland.

Our rival clubs

Blackburn, West Ham, Wigan, Fulham, Stoke, Everton, Spurs.

I think our target has to be 10th or better. Ideally 7th or 8th, but if so, that will represent a big improvement and an excellent season.

Hmm we're our own biggest rivals eh Hughsey ! ROFL!

[Majiball]

I can't see the warning being taken. The take will be that 'if' Big Sam had been the Manager for the whole season, our tally of points since he came in would have at least doubled giving us a decent shot at a Europa place. Therefore not much tweaking needed - a very dangerous assumption

My thoughts exactly, but we'll know in a couple of months. Some have said big changes are on the cards, but I'll believe it when I see it. Getting rid of people on contracts will cost a fortune and we don't have one.

[b12_simon]

All it's done for me is to highlight what happens to you in The Premiership if you dont maintain a realistic level of investment in your first team squad. What we have at the moment simply isn't good enough and will struggle to stay up again unless the alarm bells that have been clanging for a year are finally noticed.

I agree 100%. We're currently a club in decline (which was always going to happen post-Hughes) and we need to turn things around. The trustees can't be so blind to see the club needs investment to remain viable.

West Brom on Sunday was a stark and very worrying portent of what will happen if the warning signs are ignored.

You can't read too much into that. Unless you're playing for a title, Europe or survival it's natural to not give a monkey's. Yes it's unprofessional but better teams than us have gone to sleep at the end of the season (e.g. us beating Chelsea the game after they'd been crowned Champions).

[mhead]

All this talk of 10th at least is wild talk. With our level of investment PLUS no interest in youth/local development it will be a hard grind each season...with Sam having to keep going back to what he knows best if we have a series of defeats.

The prospect of another 3 or 4 mercenaries plus the removal of the 'no real chance' locals means that we only need 2 of 3 players injured(Samba, Nelson or Givet) to be back in the doo-doo. Also we have the Dingles to use a few well-timed fouls on us to gain a win of any kind. We need a process of rejuvenation over 3 years....starting with Midfield and the Academy....and more of a fight with the top 4 Clubs who made mincemeat of us this year.

[Hughesy]

Lack of Ambition mhead!

[super_arran]

I seriously doubt Sam will willingly get rid of any of our first team from this season.

He's said before that he wants to keep the key players together, build around them and play to our strengths.

Key players (imo)

Nelsen Club captain and had an amazing second half to the season. The rock of our defence. He'd head a brick if you asked him.

Samba Big man in the middle of defence. Can play the target man role upfront if needed. Certainly one of our best 3 players.

Pedersen I know most on here wont agree, but his work rate is second to none, he delivered the most assists this past season. and he seems to have got his confidence back. which is amazing really when you take in to account some of this clubs own "fans" shouting "f**k off Pedersen you queer norweigan b@5tard" at him.

Grella I think the summer break will help him get fitness. SA has said that Grella is one of the best passers of the ball he has seen. That coupled with his willingness to put in a few "man tackles" I see him being very influential in the middle of the field.

Givet ......well, he's just class isn't he.

I think that most of our first team from the season just gone has run its course and will be squad players given a couple of years.

I just hope that Big Sam can weave his magic, get rid of the deadwood and make us a top 10 side again.

Feel free to reply with your views on who our "key players" are

[RevidgeBlue]

Feel free to reply with your views on who our "key players" are

Robinson Emerton Warnock Givet Samba Santa Cruz.

[Mr. E]

Personally I would love 4th place.

[jim mk2]

Robinson Emerton Warnock Givet Samba Santa Cruz.

No Nelsen ?

Would add Diouf, because he gives the team shape and balance.

Santa Cruz cannot be a key player because he is perpetually injured and is not commited to the club.

[RevidgeBlue]

No Nelsen ?

Would add Diouf, because he gives the team shape and balance.

Santa Cruz cannot be a key player because he is perpetually injured and is not commited to the club.

Possibly Nelsen if he can maintain the form he showed in the second half of last season.

Perhaps with RSC I should have added the rider "If fit and committed."

I have this nasty feeling if he does go elsewhere, we will have cleared up all his injury worries for him and he will be sensational scoring 20 + goals again.

[Blue blood]

Expectations:

1) a balanced team that is more capable than some of the outfits we put out this season

2) a top 10 finish

3) a good cup run (quarters/semis)

4) to beat the dingles

5) to put up a better fight vs the big 4.

I'm pretty confident on 1 & 4 based on what I've seen from Sam this season, and I'm reasonably confident that we'll get top 10.

6th or higher is a big ask for us and is quite dependant on luck - injuries for us and teams around us, how well our rival clubs spend their extra finances, refereeing decisions, but even taking these into consideration. over the course of the season you generally pan out where you should be give or take a place or two, and we really as an established premiership club should be looking for top 10.

The cup run is always a bit more chancey down to on the day performances, but I reckon if we played the right team we'd have a pretty good chance at the League Cup, and with the big 4s eyes not fully focussed on the FA Cup it'd be remiss of Sam not to really push for these tropheys.

As for the big 4, we couldn't really do worse, and I reckon that without our horrible injury situation and criteria 1 being fulfilled we'd have a decent stab at this one too.

[tcj_jones]

Key players for me currently would be Robinson, Samba, Warnock, Dunn and Santa Cruz. Of course, nobody can be key if they are out of the team, so that is presuming they are fit and playing.

Nelsen, IMO, shouldn't be captain as he hasn't been performing especially well ever since he got that major injury a few seasons back. It's a shame because, when he first arrived, he looked one of the best defenders in the league.

My belief is that the team should revolve around centre midfield. However, Dunn is perenially injured and we have absolutely no quality otherwise or anybody who can dictate play. This badly needs addressing and should be out number one priority, even over bringing in a replacement for Roque. We need to spend big and bring in a top quality CM.

I'll wait to see how the summer pans out before predicting anything, but without money to spend I cannot see us breaking the top 10.

[Fylde Coast Fan]

If Sam can get Benni's weight down like he's done with Robbo's then he could easily find the form he's only shown in flashes for the last couple of years. McCarthy + 1 is looking like our best option up front and he seems to be developing a "chemistry" with Diouf.

I'd like to see us line up next season something like:

Robinson

New RB - Nelsen - Givet - Warnock

SA lad - Emerton - Grella - Pedersen

McCarthy - new striker

No room for Samba, which I expect to get flack for - he wears his heart on his sleeve but if we can get good money for him I'd take it in a heartbeat. Cash in now because I can't see him getting any better.

[tcj_jones]

Do you honestly think that a centre midfield of Emerton and Grella would give us the creativity required to go any better than another relegation scrap next season?

Also, I'd have Samba over Nelsen in a heartbeat.

[RevidgeBlue]

No room for Samba, which I expect to get flack for - he wears his heart on his sleeve but if we can get good money for him I'd take it in a heartbeat. Cash in now because I can't see him getting any better.

Just shows how much it's a game of opinions, I think all things considered Samba's our best player by a country mile.

Overall I hope we'll improve slightly but without significant investment in the first eleven I can't see there being huge improvement.

Midfield is absolutely key as others have pointed out. Can Reid and/or Dunn get fit and in decent form? If not we have real problems there.

[Fylde Coast Fan]

It seems to me like every time Samba is having a good game at the back, it's because Nelsen is screaming orders at him. Nelsen's brain in Samba's body would be a world class player...

[mode_m]

At this point predictions are difficult based on the squad that Rovers currently have -- there will be many changes to come and nobody is sure who will remain or who will join the club. Having said that, my expectations are always to fight for a spot in Europe, I believe Rovers belong top 10 and should fight for a 6th place every season.

[Fylde Coast Fan]

Do you honestly think that a centre midfield of Emerton and Grella would give us the creativity required to go any better than another relegation scrap next season?

There's no room for central creativity in a 4-4-2. That's a luxury we can't afford. Emerton has the pace to go forward but that team would rely on Benni to come deep and pick the ball up, spread it to the wings and cross it to his new target man partner.

[tcj_jones]

I'm not sure how you can say that. Every side needs creativity from the centre of the park, it's where games are dictated from. No team can be so one-dimensional as to rely on a second striker to feed wingers to put balls into the box. The wingers themselves need to be fed from all over the park.

Last season without Tugay and Dunn's range of passing, creativity and attacking intent, we struggled badly. It wasn't their ability to defend, break up play and make short simple passes that we missed, it was their ability to create chances, whether that be by a fine through-ball out of nowhere, or by starting a move deep in their own half.

In regards to Tugay, by 'missed' I'm referring more to the fact that he was coming to the end of his career and wasn't as capable as in previous years.