Your expectations for the coming Season...

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

For me personally it's very hard to see past another Season of mid-table stability unless major additions to the squad are made.I want to see improvement on all fronts but our stock has dropped so much under the Venkys tenure that we face an up hill battle from now on.

Have the impression we are just happy to bumble along and that is the vibe I'm getting from Mowbray...'middle of the food chain' in this league 

I feel frustrated at times that our owners don't appear to be willing to express their plans/expectations of what they require from Mowbray and the Squad....do they actually have a plan? is it more a case of Que serra serra? how do we move forward without positive direction from the very top?

We are not presently equipped as a club to make the move up all Rovers fans desire,Promotion does not appear on the Radar for some reason...we are potentially looking at decades of stagnation.

[deryck guyler's spoon]

9th for me. It will be a while before we trouble the Top Flight again.

[tomphil]

Well predictions may change depending on what surprises may lay in store during the rest of the window but as we are right now or even allowing for minor changes 15th to 11th.

Probably a slight improvement on last season but pretty similar overall, good runs, bad runs and probably a lot more draws.

Upper midtable budget, lower half crowds, little urgent ambition, middle of the road manager, tougher league year on year = we'll finish reflecting that every season whilst it's like that barring a one off miracle or disaster.

Edited June 30, 2019 by tomphil

[Darrenbot]

My expectations will depend on what the squad looks like at the end of the transfer window,at the moment i cant see anything more than another mid table finish after flirting with a relegation battle.

[m1st]

Exactly what Darrenbot's just said.

Word for word. And it pains me to even think it.

[arbitro]

With the current bunch I would say out of the bottom three is my expectation. A few decent signings could change that but given the players we have been linked with I honestly don't hold out too much hope.

I say this having fallen for Mowbrays 'top six' talk at the end of last season. 

[Oldgregg86]

I think we will flirt with relegation without actually losing any sleep over it. 

I would class a successful season as finishing with more than 60 points and having a reduced goals against column from last season. 

That is the height of my expectation and the minimum I expect Mowbray to achieve

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

25 minutes ago, Darrenbot said:

My expectations will depend on what the squad looks like at the end of the transfer window,at the moment i cant see anything more than another mid table finish after flirting with a relegation battle.

As of now I agree with you, basically a repeat of last season. Things could change if make a couple of astute signings.

[DE.]

We have a tough start to the season and we saw last season that we struggle to get out of ruts, so I fear if we start badly we could be looking at a very difficult season. If we get through that first month with a decent points haul then I think lower mid-table is most likely - assuming we have no significant squad improvements. Obviously if we make some great signings then that may change things.

[philipl]

Regardless of any further signings or departures, having such a young squad SHOULD mean we improve next season so par for course I'd put at 10th to 12th.

Keep coming back to August fixtures- we could easily be bottom 3 on 1 September and be facing a long hard slog- I expect there are at least three worse teams than us but those last three fixtures turn into six pointers and anything can happen.

On the other hand, if we are in the top ten on 1 September, we could be in for a very interesting and exciting season.  

[K-Hod]

41 minutes ago, Darrenbot said:

My expectations will depend on what the squad looks like at the end of the transfer window,at the moment i cant see anything more than another mid table finish after flirting with a relegation battle.

This. Also better defending. 

[JHRover]

When your manager is describing Middlesbrough and Stoke as huge clubs to try and compete against and presumably relaying that attitude back to the Indian idiots and we are keeping Leutwiler and Gladwin whilst selling Raya to Brentford it's hard not to have low expectations.

We'll do well to survive without significant improvements.

[Mattyblue]

Very realistic posts. Yet you know it will be the fans getting abuse on the LT ‘below the line’ for ‘too high expectations’, ‘the need to get real’, how can we compete with the likes of Middlesbrough?’ and so on.

It’s only the manager that keeps banging on about top 6.

Edited June 30, 2019 by Mattyblue

[RoverKyle]

The squad is capable of a top half finish, but we've lost Reed and probably Rodwell from that. I think the recruitment over the next month or so will determine whether we can aim for the playoffs as a stretch target, or ultimately miss out on a top half finish. 

[RV Blue]

I think we’ll do well to stay up.

[unsall]

Think around 10th this season, hope for top 6 but more likely play offs the season after.

[roversfan99]

The manager and players keep talking about top 6 so that has to be the objective.

Ultimately, as others have said it depends solely on our transfer business. If we dont significantly improve our defence, then I suspect similar to last year, miles away from the play off target.

We've got too much quality to be dragged into a dog fight I suspect though.

[AllRoverAsia]

My current expectation is a disappointing Window, can't see further than that yet.

[DeeCee]

Hopefully several clean sheets.

[Waggy76]

Let us see , what it looks like when the transfer window shuts !!

[Sparks Rover]

If we start with bennet, del, bell in the back 4 for the first game and no defensive signings,  then I fear relegation. 

[OldEwoodBlue]

I expect us to get in the playoffs.

To do that will require strengthing the first team (not squad) with better players. Therefore I expect that aswell.

 

Do I think either will happen ? No.

 

Season ticket wholly dependent on what happens during the next month.

[AspRover]

IF nothing changes whatsoever between now and the close of the transfer window...

The GK situation is the same, with the slight caveat that with a full championship season under his belt we should expect (I stress the should) Raya to have improved a bit. Verdict: the same

The defence is the same, again we should expect the likes of Nyambe to have improved a bit but conversely Mulgrew is in decline. Verdict: the same.

Midfield - Downing replaces conway, perhaps slight improvement (maybe), we've lost Reed (worse off), but hopefully Rothwell actually being in the first team from the start is a positive over last season and Davenport looked good at the end of last season, Chapman should be coming in. Expect Travis to have improved too. Verdict: similar but could genuinely be an improvement.

Strikers - Best striker in Graham is in decline, but had a decent season. Supporting strikers the same, we have no evidence to say whether they have improved or declined. Verdict: slightly worse.

So currently I'd hedge a similar finish to last season, possibly slightly worse as I think other teams are strengthening, but I don't think we are significantly weaker than last season.

Everything hinges on the transfer window. Sign even a couple of players that genuinely improve the starting 11 and it could be enough for a significantly better finish. Sell a couple of our better players (Dack, Lenihan, Raya who regardless of what you think of him is our best keeper) without good replacements and we could be going backwards FAST. This is a knife edge window.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Key word here : AMBITION

The fans want to see,hear and smell it from all in charge at Ewood but so far?...

[DE.]

1 hour ago, roversfan99 said:

We've got too much quality to be dragged into a dog fight I suspect though.

I'm not so sure to be honest. We went through long periods of relegation form last year and one of our best players in Reed is yet to be replaced, whilst we may soon be selling our No1 keeper. Graham is another year older, Mulgrew looks finished, Lenihan is injury prone and Dack's form is inconsistent. We will need the likes of Travis, Brereton, Nyambe, Bell, Chapman and Rothwell to step up which is far from guaranteed. We can't even be sure how many games Chapman can realistically manage before breaking down.

Granted this is a bit of a pessimistic perspective but I don't think we're anywhere close to being too good to go down. 

Edited June 30, 2019 by DE.