[Archived] Reasons for Optimism

[Neal]

In relation to all the negativity, i will post this:

I picked up a Mirror pull out on saturday that was a "guide" to the new season. It had Bolton tipped to finish something like mid-table and us as relegation contenders. I fear some of the posters on here are starting to be worn down into believing some of the gutter press being printed about our great (yes, great) club. In what way on god's green earth are we worse off than Bolton? To use them as an example, they've lost Sturridge, Elmander, Mears (broken leg), Lee (Broken leg) leaving Kevin Davies and Klasnic up front... Awful. Name one of their players you'd swap for Hoilett, Samba, Olsson, Robinson, Nzonzi? Perhaps Cahill? Holden ain't bad but... Like for like there are very few players who finished in that whole bottom 10 who i'd swap!

My point is there is a reason for optimism, many reasons in fact... The development of Formica, Rochina and Lowe, potential of Goodwillie and Petrovic (both Internationals) and the loan of Andrews...

In my opinion, one major contributing factor in struggling last season was our loss of balance due to injury e.g. Givet gets injured therefore Olsson reverts to LB leaving Junior to carry the attacking threat on his own. Then, once Givet returned Hoilett gets injured leaving Olsson to carry the attacking threat. The last time i can remember having the luxury of balance we beat Liverpool 3-1. So, some people don't like the manager, but most of us would have to admit that the player togetherness appears better than ever before and it showed at Wolves.

A good pre-season, new style of play, some new faces in, deadwood being shifted... All that's left is to get our number 9, replace Jonesy (impossible task) and get Junior signed up then... We're golden. Cheer up and let's get ready to defy the odds once again!

Mid-table here we come.

[Neal]

In relation to all the negativity, i will post this:

I picked up a Mirror pull out on saturday that was a "guide" to the new season. It had Bolton tipped to finish something like mid-table and us as relegation contenders. I fear some of the posters on here are starting to be worn down into believing some of the gutter press being printed about our great (yes, great) club. In what way on god's green earth worse off than Bolton to deserve such treatment? To use them as an example, they've lost Sturridge, Elmander, Mears (broken leg), Lee (Broken leg) leaving Kevin Davies and Klasnic up front... Awful. Name one of their players you'd swap for Hoilett, Samba, Olsson, Robinson, Nzonzi? Perhaps Cahill? Holden ain't bad but... Like for like there are very few players who finished in that whole bottom 10 who i'd swap!

My point is there is a reason for optimism, many reasons in fact... The development of Formica, Rochina and Lowe, potential of Goodwillie and Petrovic (both Internationals) and the loan of Andrews...

In my opinion, one major contributing factor in struggling last season was our loss of balance due to injury e.g. Givet gets injured therefore Olsson reverts to LB leaving Junior to carry the attacking threat on his own. Then, once Givet returned Hoilett gets injured leaving Olsson to carry the attacking threat. The last time i can remember having the luxury of balance we beat Liverpool 3-1. So, some people don't like the manager, but most of us would have to admit that the player togetherness appears better than ever before and it showed at Wolves.

A good pre-season, new style of play, some new faces in, deadwood being shifted... All that's left is to get our number 9, replace Jonesy (impossible task) and get Junior signed up then... We're golden. Cheer up and let's get ready to defy the odds once again!

Mid-table here we come.

[steo]

In relation to all the negativity, i will post this:

I picked up a Mirror pull out on saturday that was a "guide" to the new season. It had Bolton tipped to finish something like mid-table and us as relegation contenders. I fear some of the posters on here are starting to be worn down into believing some of the gutter press being printed about our great (yes, great) club. In what way on god's green earth are we worse off than Bolton? To use them as an example, they've lost Sturridge, Elmander, Mears (broken leg), Lee (Broken leg) leaving Kevin Davies and Klasnic up front... Awful. Name one of their players you'd swap for Hoilett, Samba, Olsson, Robinson, Nzonzi? Perhaps Cahill? Holden ain't bad but... Like for like there are very few players who finished in that whole bottom 10 who i'd swap!

My point is there is a reason for optimism, many reasons in fact... The development of Formica, Rochina and Lowe, potential of Goodwillie and Petrovic (both Internationals) and the loan of Andrews...

In my opinion, one major contributing factor in struggling last season was our loss of balance due to injury e.g. Givet gets injured therefore Olsson reverts to LB leaving Junior to carry the attacking threat on his own. Then, once Givet returned Hoilett gets injured leaving Olsson to carry the attacking threat. The last time i can remember having the luxury of balance we beat Liverpool 3-1. So, some people don't like the manager, but most of us would have to admit that the player togetherness appears better than ever before and it showed at Wolves.

A good pre-season, new style of play, some new faces in, deadwood being shifted... All that's left is to get our number 9, replace Jonesy (impossible task) and get Junior signed up then... We're golden. Cheer up and let's get ready to defy the odds once again!

Mid-table here we come.

Love the positivity but think it's misplaced,Jason Robers is nothing short of woeful,Goodwillie will take time to adapt as will Petrovic, leaving us with little or no options upfront or in midfield,venky's in my opinion are clowns and have been playing everyone for fools,where is the money that was promised?and why are supporters not more ###### off about Steve 'yes man' Kean still being in charge and still no replacement for Phil Jones or a proven striker,season kicks off on saturday and fear the players won't be ready especially Samba who clearly wants out.

[malk]

stokholm, you have only been on here 2 mins, if you dont like listening to people's views then go somewhere else. As for malk, no offence but your talking out of your bottom. theres every reason for pesimism, i know some of you think i am too pesimistic but thats the reality at the moment. We have seen TWO players come in before the start of the season and these are not proven premiership players either. We have had all summer to bring in some good quality players and kean and venkys have failed BIG TIME. We are weaker than last season, a season in which through most of it, we struggled to stay up. Noone on here can tell me that theres nothing to worry about or we shouldnt be pesimistic (some of you should be at least a little) We have been fed bull all summer by the 'manager' and the owners time after time. I for one, at this moment, am not optimistic at all. We lack a quality defender without samba's presense, a midfield devoid of creativty and we are toothless up front. Of course roberts is going to be a kissarse, he wants to start the season as the main striker, even though he is clearly devoid of any talent. Last season should have been a warning to the owners but they dont seem to have got the message, i am furious with whats gone on and at this moment cant see any light at the end of the tunnel.

The two players that have come in are both young and promising. Petrovic particularly (Serbia are a good side) and the odds on Goodwillie being better than what we have aren't long. I'd like him to be much better but the crux of this discussion is whether we are in a better position than last season (which I think I need to remind some people we finished 15th).

Saying we struggled to stay up is a nonsense statement. We struggled to win games for a period but you either stay up or you don't. We finished above five teams last year and stayed up.

Samba is still at the club.

The midfield creativity will probably come from Hoilett, Rochina and Formica (or some combination thereof) and will hopefully provide a few goals as well.

Now nothing is guaranteed but then bringing in big name or expense players doesn't guarantee anything either. If Shevchenko can fail at Chelsea then nothing is certain.

We've lost one good player and weren't able to bring a loanee (who only played half a season) in permanently. We've brought in a couple of new faces and hope to have a couple more in before all is said and done. This combined with a few other teams looking weaker (Newcastle, Bolton, Villa) and the fact that we stayed up last year (!) mean that there isn't any reason for black dog pessimism.

It hasn't been a great off season but it's not terrible!

[Neal]

Love the positivity but think it's misplaced,Jason Robers is nothing short of woeful,Goodwillie will take time to adapt as will Petrovic, leaving us with little or no options upfront or in midfield,venky's in my opinion are clowns and have been playing everyone for fools,where is the money that was promised?and why are supporters not more ###### off about Steve 'yes man' Kean still being in charge and still no replacement for Phil Jones or a proven striker,season kicks off on saturday and fear the players won't be ready especially Samba who clearly wants out.

It all depends on how you look at it. I don't wish to get technical, but from i've seen in pre-season Kean only seems to play with 1 out and out striker with either 2-3 Attacking mids just behind. A new, good quality number 9 as well as Goodwillie and Rochina and Roberts could be decent. The owners do have to show us the money but while there is time in the market i shall reserve judgement. For the minority, (such as myself) I for one am willing to give Kean a chance to show us FOOTBALL after enduring a shameful period of percentage tactics under his greatness... If he doesn't deliver then he deserves the consequences.

The number 9 shirt has been reserved by the club which is a statement of intent BUT no one of should expect to replace Jonesy... It's an impossible task. As for Samba, if you follow him on social networking sites you realise how much he respects the club and i can assure you, if the rumours of his current wages are correct... I don't think he'd be to upset about missing out on Spurs (who aren't in the Champs Lge) who apparently have a wage cap of 50k P/W.

[steo]

How are Newcastle weaker? they have signed a few top quallity players Yoann Cabaye and Marveaux are both classy players add to that Demba Ba and Obertan,Villa have lost Downing and Ashley Young but N'Zogbia can be explosive and is the main reason Wigan stayed up,i agree with you about Bolton they should struggle but so will we and we did just barely stay up,we may have finished 15th but it was slightly flattering considering it took us to the final game of the season to secure safety.

[roverandout]

malk, we stayed up on the last day of the season, so of course we struggled to stay up, what planet are you on? your relying on 2 unproven players in rochina and formica to be the creativity? how do you know they are up to the challenge? is hoilett fit enough to play at the moment? will samba be here next month? how do you know goodwillie will make it at this level? he is UNPROVEN, buying a finished article striker, like nicko said on radio lancashire, is the big difference between being in the bottom 3 and being in the top 10, sometimes you have to push the boat out, take a risk otherwise it will be same as last season. If we had a good, experienced manager to get the best out of a bad bunch, which is what our squad is then i would feel alot calmer but the fact is we have an unproven, numpty of a manager who doesnt know the difference between his arse and his elbow. This squad hasnt changed one bit hardly apart from an host of departures. We are weaker now than last season, you cant deny that. so if you want to keep your head in the sand and pretend all is well then thats your perogative but dont expect the majority of fans to share your misplaced optimism. Oh and malk it wasnt a terrible season, nearly getting relegated? i would be curious to know how you define terrible then.

[Black Burn]

Oh and malk it wasnt a terrible season, nearly getting relegated? i would be curious to know how you define terrible then.

I won't speak for Malk, but wouldn't a terrible season be one where we actually got relegated rather than nearly got relegated?

[Iceman]

pretty decent few games, that we will have at the start of the season. if ever there was a chance, where we could start with a bang, it would have been with a few quality additions. This time to judge business on 1st Sept is plain stupid. the season doesn't start on the 1st Sept, and players brought in later will need time to settle.

[Mattyblue]

A lot of the reasons for optimism is because players have 'potential', Kean could 'potentially' become a real manager.

A lot of unkowns on and off the pitch, here's hoping for a solid start.

[Mattyblue]

Neal, think you meant 'succesfull' not 'shameful'.

[Athlete]

I won't speak for Malk, but wouldn't a terrible season be one where we actually got relegated rather than nearly got relegated?

that would be disastrous season a terrible season was like one last season !

[tonyoz]

Imaginative Prince's Trust deal which shows that the owners don't feel the need to stuff their snouts into the sponsorship trough. Very refreshing I think.

[Gav]

Imaginative Prince's Trust deal which shows that the owners don't feel the need to stuff their snouts into the sponsorship trough. Very refreshing I think.

Let us not forget the release of the wages information also tonyz, which isn't exactly conventional practice, and still a little out of order for me, but maybe Venkys are looking at running the club in a completely different way to others, in a way that doesn’t conform to normal football club procedures.

Or maybe they’re just clueless

[John]

I think things have been a bit of a mess for a few months now, don't think many will disagree with that (in terms of structure and also internal/external communication).

However, as stated on this thread, Venkys ARE spending money trying to correct things and putting in place a solid structure moving forward. They are also aware of the negative PR with some fans.

I hope we don't end up paying the price on the field for the previous confusion behind the scenes, however at least there is a realisation now that things were not being done correctly or smoothly.

[roverandout]

john its ok being prepared to spend money in dribs and drabs on unproven players, ie goodwillie and petrovic but are they prepared to spend big on an area we desperately need to improve? a proven striker.

[John]

I would prefer we spend what we can afford so I am not going to complain on spending money. I also hope if we can’t land our favoured targets then we don’t just spend any money we have for the sake of it.

Goodwillie has potential and personally like a striker who works extremely hard - Petrovic seems like a decent signing from what I have read. More business will be done before the end of the window too (could be potential for a decent PL loan deal but will be a competitive marketplace).

I can see why some possibly are frustrated at the moment but it’s not all bad.

[LeChuck]

-----Bunn

Ramm-Hanley-ANOther-Ollson

--Petro--NZonzi

Rochina-------Hoilett

------Formica

-----Goodwillie

Full team (almost) of U23s to be positive about. Not many teams in the PL have such an elite group coming through. Rovers not getting credit in the media for taking this approach.

Bunn, Ramm, Hanley...elite?

Whilst we have a strong representation of younger players, let's not go overboard. Only Hoilett is close to be 'elite' for his ages, but he's only performed for six months and has a lot to prove.

[Roverite28]

Nice to see so many good young english players in there too...

[philipl]

Not one Sky preview is negative.

They have subscriptions to sell.

[BuckyRover]

Not one Sky preview is negative.

They have subscriptions to sell.

I think you've wandered into the wrong thread

[Neal]

Neal, think you meant 'succesfull' not 'shameful'.

Perhaps... But still shameful.

[philipl]

I think you've wandered into the wrong thread

Nope, there was a link to the Sky preview of Rovers' season saying it was more balanced than the other previews of Rovers when the reality is Sky's previews suggest all the clubs can survive and have a very good season.

[deftangel]

Nope, there was a link to the Sky preview of Rovers' season saying it was more balanced than the other previews of Rovers when the reality is Sky's previews suggest all the clubs can survive and have a very good season.

Still the wrong thread, this is for unabashed optimism don't you know

On the face of things, we've had a good week. (I've not been here so don't know what else has gone on) but we've shifted Keef (yay!), Nicko (only positive as we were never going to play him), sorted out Petkovic, Arsene looks to be looking elsewhere now he's got the readies and a good win in last Saturday. Plus, we've got a sponsor sorted. Which even if my view is it's more down to Venky's mismanagement a charity is a worthy substitute.

All things relative of course and will matter nowt if we don't perform tomorrow but it's hardly the worst week we've ever had.

[roverandout]

apart from the fact we have signed noone apart from a player we should have signed weeks ago and STILL no striker.