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Just did a predictor thingy...gave us a measly one point for a 0-0 v Swans, put 3-0 defeats down for both the last two games, and erred on the side of generosity to those around us.
I ended with Plymouth bottom on 40, Cardiff second bottom on 45, and we stay up on 47 thanks to a superior goal difference to Luton.
It cheered me up a bit seeing everyone else's fixtures - lots of the teams naturally playing each other, and plenty facing at least one of that strong top 4.
I can see why Marti played the percentages yesterday, and settled for keeping that 5 point gap over Cardiff.
Expecting maximum pragmatism from hereon in, and the onus on a strong defence, in the hope of eking out 3 more draws.
Panic sets in with the fanbase, with tears and pitchforks both prominent, as fkin Derby and fkin Stoke and fkin Hull rack up wins.
Then we beat Brizzle 3-0 with an out of the blue virtuoso performance and a brace from a returning Rayan Kolli, and we all live happily ever after...well til August anyway.
1. Some stability - judged primarily by whether Cifuentes was still in situ at the end of the season. Conclusion: achieved. 2. Get more points than last season. Pending conclusion: think we'll fall just short. 3. Be entertained (along the lines of that first Warburton season - we were inconsistent, very 'midtable', but often good to watch). Conclusion: in the flesh I've seen about half the games. Been entertained more often than not, but I accept I've been lucky to miss some of the real duffers. Again, probably fallen just a bit short of hopes / expectations.
Next season? Of those out of contract / on loan, I'd like to see Dunne, Saito and (for one year) Cook back. Newbies? Not holding my breath. Time for JCS, Chair and Field (and Dunne if he stays) to become the wise heads / culture guardians (or whatever Gaz called it) - oh, and stay fit.
4 points or above from the next 3 games and we can all relax.
2 or less and we have a problem.
Stating the bleedin' obvious, I know...but 3 in a row against teams below us whose recent form is as bad or nearly as bad as ours has been really should be enough for the players to get suitably fired up (especially with some post-Leeds confidence).
Without wishing to go down that more often than not tedious "that's modern football / the game's gone" road...there is very little loyalty in the game these days, and very few players or coaches stay at any club very long. There are no 21st century Tony Inghams or Ian Gillards or Alan McDonalds, or maverick number 10s giving a club our size the best years of their career.
Admittedly Gerry & Olly both came back for second managerial spells, but arguably against their better judgment...and I wouldn't be surprised if they had a few regrets for doing so.
Most owners are trigger happy with coaches and always want shiny new players. So those coaches and players thus go for the best they can get, wherever that may be. You could call it chess or poker - except it possesses none of the subtlety or nuance of those games.
Marti has never stayed anywhere longer than two seasons. I rate him highly as a coach and like him a lot as a person, and would love to see him stay here for a 4-5 year stint, and be given the tools to build something special. However, his track record suggests that he will leave if & when his stock is at a level where he can move up the chain. Fair play. I'm not sure he's quite there yet (to the outside world he did an impressive job last season, less so this)...but suspect he'd consider a sideways move if he felt the club in question's ambitions, budgets, wages and methodologies aligned more with his.
Player wise...all those who've re-signed have done so because it's the best they can get just now / it also suited the club. Arguably Chair and JCS have been seen as our most saleable assets for a while now, with 'bigger club' rumours having circulated - but due to injuries in JCS's case and the court case in Chair's, that talk had slowed. So get a better deal with Rangers, with a realistic release clause for if & when they can prove they're injury / jail-free. I love Sam Field, but is he gonna get a bigger club / better deal than QPR right now? No, so better the devil you know for both parties.
Only Kolli of this year's re-signers raised a 'pleasantly surprised' eyebrow from me.
Being glass half full by nature when it comes to Rangers, I still think a core of the still contracted Nardi, Morrison, JCS, Field, Varanne, Morgan, Vale, Dembele, Chair, Smyth, Kolli is a half decent starting point for next season (and think Lloyd is a worthwhile squad member, and haven't completely given up on Celar - probably have with Madsen tho)...and I'd love that to be with Marti at the helm, and given a decent striker and a couple of full backs who suit his way of playing.
Gut feeling is it won't happen and the merry go round starts again. Ho hum.
As one of the oldies who can remember the days when some away games barely scraped 3 figures...and that would definitely have been the case here...it's been genuinely heartwarming to see the consistent growth over the decades, regardless of fluctuations in form & status.
Long may the days of 3-400 as a bare minimum / 750+ for most midweeks whatever the current state of play / 4 figures+ pretty much every weekend awayday / random 4k turn outs at Cov, Posh etc continue.
I remember Dave Thomas (AKUTRs, not socks down winger) once saying that if you judge a team's away following by the % of its average home gate that travels, that's a good yardstick - and one by which I reckon we rate pretty highly.
This must be the ultimate "die hards only" game...one of our longest away trips (even for the ex-pats) on a midweek night, 3 days after another awayday, out of form and with nothing to play for.
More points than last season is Marti's oft-stated aim. The recent run has made that look somewhat harder.
It's been my hope since day one...bit of stability, signs of progress, some half decent football along the way...which I think is more or less what we've had so far, albeit going about it in a strange way.
Once we hit the magic 50, I'd like to see us prioritise those who'll definitely be here next season - tho I accept that's not 100% possible.
I was in Belgium last weekend...took in Cercle Bruges vs Antwerp. A now ageing Cherry was playing as a false 9 for the visitors.
Still flattered to deceive (nice technique / not much end product)...and suffice it to say the one free kick opportunity he had didn't have this end result.
In the 5 or so years before finally reaching the Prem, Brentford sold around 10 players for 5 million plus each...including biggies like Benrahma and Watkins...and replaced them well enough to keep upward momentum and eventually not only go up, but stay there.
Now we all know about Benham's business / advantage with player info etc etc - but it still shows it can be done this way.
Too young to be able to help with fan reaction to Jago etc...but I will always remember my first night match.
FAC 3rd round we drew Notts Co at home. If I remember correctly, Chelsea and Fulham were also drawn at home - policing wise, something had to give, so we played on the Friday night.
3-0 by HT, we tore them apart, real signs of a special team developing. Me & my mum sat in the Paddock, near the dug outs, and I can still hear one Rs wag repeatedly shouting out "you must be 'avin' a nightmare down there Sirrel" to the helpless* Notts boss (*on the night that is - very much a Meadow Lane legend of course)
Loss at Carrow Road in 76. I wasn't there, too young for aways then as my mum & dad weren't Rs, but I remember my dad took me to some other London game. Walking back to the car, I heard the result on someone's transistor (the days when you all tried to walk next to the bloke with the little radio) and was in complete bits.
Relegation from the Prem first time round at Forest. I'd moved to Nottingham a year earlier which didn't help. All those gallows humour chants (Grimsby on a Tuesday night etc) we sang through the game suddenly felt very real at full time. We then all refused to leave til Wilkins came out - felt like it took about half an hour, but was probably a lot less. We knew he'd fckd up but loved him anyway. The prevailing mood was we'd come straight back up - alas my gut feeling that we could be gone for a long time proved more accurate.
Agreed - when did not playing in the home kit wherever possible (in our case with a switch to blue shorts / socks an option) become a thing?
I guess I know the answer to my own question - when clubs realised how much could be made from flogging away kits.
One I don't know...when did they drop that rule that away kits had to be used for a minimum 2 seasons to stop parents being asked by eager kids to fork out for one every year?
We should only have to change for max half the oppo in this division.
Much as I've liked the variations on the Feyenoord kit over the years, and a few others besides...I'm with Brian...hoops is our identity, our USP...so all 2nd and 3rd kits should be hooped...appreciate it doesn't make financial sense to be Dennis every year, so I'm not really fussed what colour combos are hooped together....just keep it da da da da HOOPS.
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