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Realistic Optimism? (Poll - Reset to mark start of season.

Predicted PNE finish 21/22

  • 1st - 6th

    Votes: 5 3.8%
  • 7th - 12th

    Votes: 6 4.6%
  • 13th - 18th

    Votes: 42 32.1%
  • 19 - 24th

    Votes: 75 57.3%
  • Undecided

    Votes: 3 2.3%

  • Total voters
    131
  • Poll closed .

Final Stand

Catchy book title, who was the author?
Patron
Joined
Jul 17, 2004
Messages
5,721
What is a reasonable league position to expect from North End in the 2021/22 season?
 
Really hard to stay. Going off the last few years there is little to suggest we will do anything differently. We’re all talking about a big window coming up, it will most probably be done on the cheap and undoubtedly miss out on the targets that we could have got for a small fee then watch them flourish elsewhere demanding huge fees down the line, but at least we were linked with them 🤦🏻‍♂️
 
I would also say that we will be weaker without Davies and Pearson who are going to be too difficult to replace. Saying that we could finally get a proven championship goalscorer in, when was the last one? Have we ever bought one?
 
It’s difficult to say at this stage especially with a relatively new manager in place. Obviously we ended the season well and if we can get off to a good start who knows where it can take us? Signing up Iversen for the season and bringing in more attacking options to get our goal tally up would be a positive start.
 
If we play "round pegs in round holes" then we stand a chance of a good season (I would class good as in or VERY close to top 6). But until we see the first competitive game we won't really have a scooby doo!
 
For me, at this moment in time - it’s about not getting humiliated/turned over in our local derbies like we did against Blackburn at home

Until we know what team we will have and if we really do improve it, it’s hard to point to a position.

They can point to 13th all they want, but the quality was poor and we never looked really threatening going forward. You can also point to winning those last 4 games, but again - apart from Derby, you could argue the other teams didn’t have much to play for.

I think, they need to focus on building a solid base and cutting out the silly mistakes. We evidently need a strong leader on the pitch as well - far too many times our heads went down last season with no one to pick the team up.
 
Good news. Bad news.

Expectation is low. Like, on the floor, low. We probably won't get relegated. We will pay our tax bills. That's it.

So, good news. Expectation was clearly a burden for Alex. So, maybe zero expectation is just what we need. The team can rediscover what it is like to focus on our best game and play with freedom without the weight of expectation.

And bad news? Do better players want to play for teams that tolerate mediocrity? And, worse still, do fans want to watch them?

So, I'm preparing for another anonymous season of mid-table mediocrity, and hoping to be pleasantly to be surprised.
 
Gotta see what we do transfer wise.

Best idea is to do another poll on the subject on the eve of the season starting, like we've done previously.
 
If we get Iverson and VDB on loan and sign a specialist RB, LCB and proven striker I think we have a decent chance of top 10 at least.
 
It all feels so odd. Haven't been in the ground for over a year. Players out, new faces in, haven't seen any of them play together (in the flesh), new manager, plus lots more changes to come this summer.

It feels like I'll be starting to support them. for the first time, all over again. My lad used to keep badgering me all through the game, asking who's he? Who's that? Now it'll be me doing that!

As for optimism, god knows. Feel like I don't know them anymore.
 
13th-16th for me.
They'll do enough, but not enough.
Agree , but what has it seriously happened for us to be thinking like that ( dont worry I know whats happened) I am not even a #wearetop6certs but phhhhh, a sniff of the play offs would be belting!
 
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