Pilgrims' Patter
The Forum => The B-Ark => Topic started by: Seenbetter on July 10, 2011, 10:24:29 PM
-
The beginning of the last 2 seasons have been exciting and full of high hopes but I am struggling to find those feelings for the coming season. It is clear I am not alone in that. I hope the team do well but there is nothing there to inspire that hope. In a few months into the season I want to come on here and eat humble pie (and I will ) because the team are doing great but at the moment I am going to stick my kneck out and say this, we will not be in the top six at the end of the season and attendances will be down. Some of you will say I shouldn't be so negative, what I say to you is "I am not alone".
-
So you'll not be disappointed, then, but you may be pleasantly surprised.
It's a strange statistic that not every football team can be successful every season. The true test of a supporter is to weather the bad times along with the good, but to remain always in the true faith that his club will triumph in the end.
Onward and upward; this year, next year, maybe sometime in the future, but it will happen.
-
Oh come on, we've not kicked a ball yet.
-
You'll get into it once we get the games going - remember the first two games of BSN last year? We only sneaked them 1-0...
-
i for one can say that for the last 10 years of my life i have been looking forward to every season reagardless of who is in charge or what players we have. I will be one of the few looking forward to the trip to colwyn bay being freezing cold, vauxhall motors in midweek. Bring on the new season and watch the signings over the coming weeks and the squad develop. UTP
-
The beginning of the last 2 seasons have been exciting and full of high hopes but I am struggling to find those feelings for the coming season.
Did you really have high hopes 2 years ago? At that time, we were all just pleased that the club had survived (on and off the pitch), and whilst we all hoped for a good season (doesn't every supporter, every season?), did we really have particularly great expectations?
We had just avoided relegation the previous season, and had new managers had come in who we didn't know and who had only just started out in management. They promptly released virtually the whole squad and assembled a new squad of players we didn't know anything about, other than that a lot of them had Ilkeston and/or Rotherham connections. One of our new signings (Church) was suspended for the first few games of the season, so had we signed someone who would be suspended for half the season? Another new signing was an unproven defender (Pearson) - everyone said good things about him but if he was that good why was he only playing for Stamford? Those two unknowns became our most important players for two years - why shouldn't some of the players we sign in the next few weeks be the same? (and remember Church was a last minute signing right at the start of the season)
Now we have another new management team. They haven't released a load of players because unlike S&H they inherited a decent team - although some important players have left, we still have a good starting point to put a decent squad together. The new managers will sign players they know, so we may see some old players coming back and some players who have maybe not made it at Forest or County but might stand out at this level.
Until we know the full make-up of the squad, it's difficult to know how optimistic to be about this season. At the moment, I'm looking forward to the next few weeks to find out who we will be signing.
I don't worry about pre-season matches, but will be looking forward to the first league game of the season just as much as ever.
-
I completely agree Burton Pilgrim.
This time 2 years ago we had people moaning about bringing in some unknowns like Newsham instead of keeping on Ricky Miller who had looked busy in a couple of games in a poor team.
Lety's give our managers a chance to see whaty they do and assess at Xmas. Lest we not forget that 2 years ago we were playing ok but not great (Lowestoft anyone?) until the middle of theseason when we brought in the likes of Semple, Yates and SWD whcih turned the season in an upward motion and thus not all transfer business has to be conducted before the first game.
-
With a lot of people not knowing if they will have a job in the months to come I think we should get things into perspective and just enjoy the fact that at least we will have somewhere to go and watch football this season, unlike the poor fans of R&D. We all want to watch a winning and successful team but at the end of the day we can do little about that.
-
Speaking to somebody close to the club last week they had a depressive feeling!
-
Speaking to somebody close to the club last week they had a depressive feeling!
Was Henry stood on their foot ;D
-
I can't believe how negative some people are being considering we haven't even had our first friendly! No doubt the same people will de-cry the premier league sides and the "management merry-go-round" when they start sacking their managers in october/november. Well at least they are prepared to wait that long!
I also don't understand why anyone who does not share the dismal view of the future is branded a "happy clapper" either? Surely we are just employing simple logic, waiting to see what happens over the summer and during the season before forming our opinions. I wonder what these individuals are trying to achieve? Would you be happy to see the management team sacked without the team ever having kicked a ball?
Personally whenever I have heard Jason Lee speak on the radio he has given very sensible and well thought out answers. I haven't heard so much of Cannoville but what I have heard hasn't given me any reason to doubt his ability.
Record numbers of players are being released by League clubs this season and the economic climate isn't exactly great. There is a good possibily that the longer the summer goes on the keener players are going to be to accept contracts or drop down a level or two, especially as the job market outside football being competetive. Doesn't it seem like a sensible strategy with this in mind to be a little more patient and possibly make our modest budget spread a bit further? Any economist will tell you that if the market is flooded with a product, its value will decrease. Some players will get lucky (Yates, Clarke?)when somebody not very bright jumps in and pays them over the odds. The vast majority however will probably be getting a strong dose of reality come September and be ripe for the picking of those who have been more patient.
Have some bloody faith!
-
All I ever ask for is progression. That is never truely measured on the pitch. I see a club progressing and look forward to the merry-go-round that is football after a dull summer with no distractions ;D
-
Let me tell u's a story ..
In the late 1990 's I followed Derby County .. mainly cos they had a shiny new ground .
( Reverted to BUFC late 1998 due to prospect of lower costs and prospect of decent Northern beer .
Summer 1997 or 1998 . . about this time .. Derby had a friendly at Kettering .
Balmy Saturday match duly won by Derby . . about 6-2 I think . Though Poppies came back strongly in 2nd half .
Anyway after the game , I visited the program hut , as U do .
The 'boss' lady in there ( a sort of Maureen with attitude ) was moaning about how the club hadn't signed any new players and she had a bad feeling about the upcoming season .
I think Kettering finished 2nd or 3rd in the Conference at the seasons' end .
Mind you they were relegated a season or 2 later , but we' ll draw a line under that !
-
Thanks everyone for your responses. I was expecting a real arse kicking but instead got a lot of uplifting comments. I think BP probably pinned it down for me where it said "it's difficult to know how optimistic to be for this season". I suppose I will have to be patient.
-
Attacker Kevin Holsgrove
http://www.bufc.co.uk/
-
Too old ?
-
lol