Your Expectations for this Season?

[Gav]

8 hours ago, 1864roverite said:

At this moment we are staring down the relegation gun barrel. Not because of the squad depth, it will be as a result of administration!

If it gets rid of Venkys I'd take that now.

[Andy]

9 hours ago, 1864roverite said:

At this moment we are staring down the relegation gun barrel. Not because of the squad depth, it will be as a result of administration!

Nowhere near, on both counts.

[Oldgregg86]

11 hours ago, 1864roverite said:

At this moment we are staring down the relegation gun barrel. Not because of the squad depth, it will be as a result of administration!

Or JDT WALKING

[1864roverite]

11 hours ago, Andy said:

Nowhere near, on both counts.

read JDT's comments, this years squad is even more stretched than last season. Rovers young ones are not experienced enough to last a full season especially in the Championship.

Cash flow issues, low crowds, minimal sponsorship deals whilst overall costs increase mean real monetary problems meaning administration is a reality looming.

[Upside Down]

40 minutes ago, 1864roverite said:

read JDT's comments, this years squad is even more stretched than last season. Rovers young ones are not experienced enough to last a full season especially in the Championship.

Cash flow issues, low crowds, minimal sponsorship deals whilst overall costs increase mean real monetary problems meaning administration is a reality looming.

Bring it on.

[47er]

My expectations were high for this season. We had some flops but produced some great performances , none better than to come back from 3-0 down at Millwall to win.

However the lack of money available not just to strengthen the squad but to make up for those players we have lost has quite dissipated my enthusiasm.

I think we've gone backwards. We will really struggle unless some big rabbits are pulled out of several hats before the window closes, yet the money isn't there.

A real lost opportunity.

[Mattyblue]

Fixture release day I was buzzing, really felt we were on the verge of putting together a very good side at this level, more than happy with the manager and DoF (obviously the commercial side was as shambolic as ever, but hey ho).

Look at it now, but then more fool me for thinking we can actually operate like a normal club with such a dysfunctional ownership. But I suppose it is VenkyWorld, so who the feck knows what will have happened by the start of September…

Edited August 2, 2023 by Mattyblue

[Gav]

55 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Fixture release day I was buzzing, really felt we were on the verge of putting together a very good side at this level, more than happy with the manager and DoF (obviously the commercial side was as shambolic as ever, but hey ho).

Look at it now, but then more fool me for thinking we can actually operate like a normal club with such a dysfunctional ownership. But I suppose it is VenkyWorld, so who the feck knows what will have happened by the start of September…

We are all fools Matty, for thinking they could ever turn the corner, its never going to happen.

Football and its fans are like no other industry, treat them like dirt, take them for granted and still they come back for more.

Its in the blood sadly and right now we are in a bad marriage with no way out, but eventually we will turn the corner and this lot will leave, I just hope I'm alive to see it. 

[Dreams of 1995]

I don’t think we will do too badly

I’m still calm over the transfer situation. Don’t really know what to believe, though I do expect a couple more signings 

Personally think we will finish roundabouts where we did this season. Top half at a minimum, challenging play offs at times 

Feels like a missed opportunity. We may come to rue it in a years or so time. Yet I reckon we are only a good striker away from a decent side and so I hold out some hope 

[Nuttall is lost]

Why would you buy a football club if you have no interest in investing in it?  Sell the club if you find it a burden!

[Upside Down]

15 hours ago, Gav said:

We are all fools Matty, for thinking they could ever turn the corner, its never going to happen.

Football and its fans are like no other industry, treat them like dirt, take them for granted and still they come back for more.

Its in the blood sadly and right now we are in a bad marriage with no way out, but eventually we will turn the corner and this lot will leave, I just hope I'm alive to see it. 

Our constantly declining attendance figures suggest otherwise.

[philipl]

My forecast four weeks ago was second.

 

I was being bullish and taking the GB and JDT project of achieving a sustainable premier league position literally, simply deduced that meant promotion this year.

 

JDT has now said that "the project" has changed. 

 

What does this mean practically absent any solid information?

 

I had assumed that like last summer, 4 million pounds would have been found for recruitment.  Now at best that figure will be net nil and probably a negative 4 million pounds.

 

I had also assumed that we would do (including the paperwork this time) a Lewis O'Brien type of deal in the January '24 window.

 

 

There are still strong fundamentals to expect this season to be better than last.

 

- the entire Club is now attuned to JDT's thinking and way of playing so the win one lose one first half of last season erratic performances should be improved on.

 

- we are a young squad so another year's experience should mean that on average every player should be improved. JRC and Carter are dramatic and unexpected bonuses compared with expectations twelve months ago and we should be able to get full seasons out of them this time.

 

- irrespective of results, we did play very well at the end of last season and that improvement in play seems to have been continued through the pre-season. The Girona game was very reassuring irrespective of the result.

 

 

Let's look at where there are changes in personnel

 

Goalkeeper- TK's save at Middlesbrough is one of the great saves of Rovers history and nobody's going to forget that. But let's not overlook TK making a number of mistakes when he was in goal and his distribution causing a lot of hearts in mouths moments we got away with. Pears surprised everybody by being an able deputy and if we get Leopold, it will appear we will have two top keepers vying for the number one shirt again.

 

Central Defense- were either Ash Phillips or Daniel Ayala going to be starting ahead of Carter and Hyam? Sam Barnes thankfully has recovered and he is very highly regarded while it has been commented that the one thing we're not short of is extremely talented promising central defenders coming through the Academy.

 

Midfield- I have seen enough to be completely convinced that Tronstad is a significant improvement over Tyler Morton of last season. Tronstad instinctively moves the ball quicker, is a more accurate passer, has a fearsome shot and is unlikely to have the sort of total brain farts Morton had at Wigan and Bramall Lane in the Cup. 

 

Up front- we hardly saw Dack last season and whilst his four goals were extremely helpful, he was overshadowed by Sammy Szmodics. Ben Brereton Diaz gave us half a season of Chilean International and half a season of clueless youngster signed from Forest Redux. We simply don't know what Sigurddson and Ennis bring to the party but would it be fanciful to suggest they could chip in with 15 goals and assists between them?

 

Markanday could be better than Dolan while Harry Leonard could be good enough to continue his prolific form shown throughout the age groups into the first team. 

 

 

Adam Wharton could be good enough to win Rovers promotion on his own.

 

 

We are extremely fortunate with our August fixtures to see us through until last week loan deals are done. And let me ask you this- if you are a young potential Premier League hot shot, are you going to opt for a club with no recognised forwards or go to one where there are strikers already well established?

 

My revised forecast is fourth.

 

 

[Mattyblue]

Pears is not a ‘top goalkeeper’.

A lot of speculation and ‘could be’’s , not sure how a couple of friendlies can make you ‘totally convinced’ of anything.

Fair play for your bullishness, but to see this squad with its unsettled manager significantly improve its position on last season is quite a prediction.

[DE.]

That's about as optimistic a take as you're going to see. Just need someone to come in and explain how we'll actually finish bottom without a win to our name so that we have a barometer on either side. 

[smiller14]

1 hour ago, philipl said:

My forecast four weeks ago was second.

 

I was being bullish and taking the GB and JDT project of achieving a sustainable premier league position literally, simply deduced that meant promotion this year.

 

JDT has now said that "the project" has changed. 

 

What does this mean practically absent any solid information?

 

I had assumed that like last summer, 4 million pounds would have been found for recruitment.  Now at best that figure will be net nil and probably a negative 4 million pounds.

 

I had also assumed that we would do (including the paperwork this time) a Lewis O'Brien type of deal in the January '24 window.

 

 

There are still strong fundamentals to expect this season to be better than last.

 

- the entire Club is now attuned to JDT's thinking and way of playing so the win one lose one first half of last season erratic performances should be improved on.

 

- we are a young squad so another year's experience should mean that on average every player should be improved. JRC and Carter are dramatic and unexpected bonuses compared with expectations twelve months ago and we should be able to get full seasons out of them this time.

 

- irrespective of results, we did play very well at the end of last season and that improvement in play seems to have been continued through the pre-season. The Girona game was very reassuring irrespective of the result.

 

 

Let's look at where there are changes in personnel

 

Goalkeeper- TK's save at Middlesbrough is one of the great saves of Rovers history and nobody's going to forget that. But let's not overlook TK making a number of mistakes when he was in goal and his distribution causing a lot of hearts in mouths moments we got away with. Pears surprised everybody by being an able deputy and if we get Leopold, it will appear we will have two top keepers vying for the number one shirt again.

 

Central Defense- were either Ash Phillips or Daniel Ayala going to be starting ahead of Carter and Hyam? Sam Barnes thankfully has recovered and he is very highly regarded while it has been commented that the one thing we're not short of is extremely talented promising central defenders coming through the Academy.

 

Midfield- I have seen enough to be completely convinced that Tronstad is a significant improvement over Tyler Morton of last season. Tronstad instinctively moves the ball quicker, is a more accurate passer, has a fearsome shot and is unlikely to have the sort of total brain farts Morton had at Wigan and Bramall Lane in the Cup. 

 

Up front- we hardly saw Dack last season and whilst his four goals were extremely helpful, he was overshadowed by Sammy Szmodics. Ben Brereton Diaz gave us half a season of Chilean International and half a season of clueless youngster signed from Forest Redux. We simply don't know what Sigurddson and Ennis bring to the party but would it be fanciful to suggest they could chip in with 15 goals and assists between them?

 

Markanday could be better than Dolan while Harry Leonard could be good enough to continue his prolific form shown throughout the age groups into the first team. 

 

 

Adam Wharton could be good enough to win Rovers promotion on his own.

 

 

We are extremely fortunate with our August fixtures to see us through until last week loan deals are done. And let me ask you this- if you are a young potential Premier League hot shot, are you going to opt for a club with no recognised forwards or go to one where there are strikers already well established?

 

My revised forecast is fourth.

 

 

It is incredibly optimistic but I enjoy the breakdown in each position and hard to disagree with a lot of it.

I think we are about on par with last year, maybe slightly behind. We potentially overperformed last year - I'm torn whether some of our 'luckier' wins will revert to draws or whether our increased integration with JDT's way of playing will make us even better. 

Last season was a funnier one - we played some of our better stuff in the latter part of the season when results turned against us! 

Lots of ifs regarding new strikers etc, but a big one for me is JDT - even if he stays, is he as hungry? Will the players detect a drop in intensity from him? 

[philipl]

https://theanalyst.com/eu/2023/07/championship-2023-24-season-predictions-opta

Opta forecast.

Rovers 8.5% chance of automatic promotion. 

[BlackburnEnd75]

With the condition that ennis and Sigurðsson arrived in coupled with the lack of recent movement in transfer for another attacker I'm expecting a slowish start to the season.

How well the season goes will largely depend on how well we recruit in the coming weeks. If the funds come in and that allows us to say sign a striker and loan a decent winger then that could be enough. I don't think we are far off being a good side in this league.

[wanderingrover]

My thoughts: The end of the beginning or the beginning of the end?

Summary: so much riding on transfer window, both from a playing and management perspective.

 

[Mashed Potatoes]

With many of our players clearly still improving I think we can finish in the top 6.

[roverandout]

Top 21. Sell a few players.  That's my expectations

[tomphil]

I was going to leave this until the window shut so as to have a better idea of what to expect however not really much point in that now.

So i'm going 10/12th seeing as clearly the only aim coming from the CEO and ownership is water treading.

Hopefully JDT and the squad have other ideas.

[Nuttall is lost]

[joey_big_nose]

Weve gone into the last three seasons expecting to do worse but actually done better. Im hoping we keep that up. It boils down to the young lads doing better than expected, and as of half time first game of the season signs look good on that again.

Ill say sixth if we keep JDT.