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I am normally a glass half full person, but at the moment I just cannot get myself into a positive frame of mind about the coming season. I am not seeing "guaranteed" top end of the league players on the books. A lot with potential and 2 or 3 seasoned pros.Some contracted players who did not do it for us last season. I am struggling to see a style of play or formation forming despite having plenty of "bodies in the building". I see a lot of experimenting again, no stability which is likely to lead to inconsistency.I am as keen as anyone for Slade to succeed but I don't see it at present and am a bit underwhelmed with the players we now have, Don't worry I am not suicidal but could do with a dose of optimism. All help will be appreciated.

I think it's been a bit of a boring transfer window, with few rumours.

At least you don't support 'ull?

I think that Slade will prioritise getting the team solid and hard to beat. We may have kept quite a lot of clean sheets last season but when we conceded that was it, we fell 2 or 3 behind. If we could get in at 1-0 in these games then there'd be half a chance we could sneak a result. Barnet, Cheltenham, Hartlepool, Crewe, Colchester, Exeter are all examples of this. This is purely a mentality thing, we could clearly defend but we didn't have the confidence to come from behind or keep a score down.

The defence won't be weaker, I never thought Andrew was a great defender, he was a fantastic attacker and great athlete but did get caught out of position and play the odd terrible ball too often. He did improve throughout the season though, probably because he was playing for the first time in years. Slade needs a defensive minded left back and a good, athletic partner for Collins then we can allow Osborne, Jones, Dembele etc to express themselves going forward and not worry too much about defending.

I am optimistic, there is clearly an awful lot of talent in the squad but the majority needed to get to grips with League 2 football and everyone needed to have a manager who could clearly present a cohesive and understandable plan. With all that added together we'll have a really good side IMO.

I'm still staggered we allowed Shaun Pearson to leave while we have re-signed two 36 year olds.

Dembele hasn't ever played a league game so us unknown really. Rose? I work in Mansfield and have heard very average reports about him, but we'll give him a go. The winger from relegated Port Vale? Again, we'll give him a go.

I'm ready for a break from football, Town in particular. Last season was largely a yawnfest, no real chance of promotion under that clown Bignot, never in danger either. We do have some good players, Osborne, Jones in particular (fair one, credit to Bignot there) so there is some sort of base.

I think Slade will get us sorted, but I wonder how much ambition there really is to win promotion, it's only div 4, are we waiting on the new ground?

Oldun...you should know by now ,if your alter ego is a reflection of your status that is, we could have the most exciting of transfer windows on paper and look like absolute dog shite once the friendlies start....or the polar opposite....i am confident that RS will however try and have a side that is hard working & organised ala Hurst but also one that will give us some off your seats counter attacking style play.
A good sign to me is , despite us already having a myriad of other central midfielders on the books, RS has bought in the one type that Hurst/Bignot failed to include in the form of Rose, who hopefully will live upto his box to box tag. He has also brought in some actual wide players which again were largely lacking under Hurst and almost extinct after Bignot's axe wielding.

Some early shoots of hope for me, i also think that RS may also have a bit of wheeler dealing to do late pre season/ mid August as that is when those that he has inherited will really discover that they do not fall under his favour and will maybe want to ship themselves out to try elsewhere rather than languish. I would expect RS to have targets in mind that he will maybe have to wait until the first deadline day to officially approach.

Feeling a bit underwhelmed myself but it is early yet,players are on holidays so maybe things will start to move in a week or two. We do seem lumbered with one or two sub standard players though.

The bookies have us 18th favourites to win the league so they aren't particularly optimistic either.

We all feel a bit underwhelmed at the minute I think.

Perhaps this is because 2017 follows on from the euphoria of being back in the league last year and being in the middle of OP the previous pre-season.

One thing I am sure about is that RS & PW will not be letting the grass grow under their size 11s while we are sitting around twiddling our collective keyboards waiting for news.

Quoted from MeanwoodMariner

The bookies have us 18th favourites to win the league so they aren't particularly optimistic either.

The bookies don't care one way or the other - we're 18th favourites because we haven't made many signings and so nobody has put many bets on us. Might bung 20 quid on now. Who is giving the best odds for promotion, though, as I don't expect us to be title contenders regardless?

10/1 at Bet365 according to oddschecker.

Or you could have just been told today you have been made redundant just like me.

Be positive and for what it's worth the signings so far are fine with me as I'm sure more pace and power is on its way.

GTFC is keeping me positive .

How ridiculous... it's the first week of June, get a grip.

Quoted from oldun

I am normally a glass half full person, but at the moment I just cannot get myself into a positive frame of mind about the coming season. I am not seeing "guaranteed" top end of the league players on the books. A lot with potential and 2 or 3 seasoned pros.Some contracted players who did not do it for us last season. I am struggling to see a style of play or formation forming despite having plenty of "bodies in the building". I see a lot of experimenting again, no stability which is likely to lead to inconsistency.I am as keen as anyone for Slade to succeed but I don't see it at present and am a bit underwhelmed with the players we now have, Don't worry I am not suicidal but could do with a dose of optimism. All help will be appreciated.

It could be a lot, lot worse. Had Bignot still been in charge we would have had 43 incomings and 1 outgoing with the majority being from Solihull. It is just a lull before it kicks off proper, and it is nice to think we have two experienced men at the helm who will know as far as it is possible to know, what we need and where to get them. We will be going all out for promotion from August so I for one am looking forward to it.

Quoted from 75

I'm still staggered we allowed Shaun Pearson to leave while we have re-signed two 36 year olds.

Dembele hasn't ever played a league game so us unknown really. Rose? I work in Mansfield and have heard very average reports about him, but we'll give him a go. The winger from relegated Port Vale? Again, we'll give him a go.

I'm ready for a break from football, Town in particular. Last season was largely a yawnfest, no real chance of promotion under that clown Bignot, never in danger either. We do have some good players, Osborne, Jones in particular (fair one, credit to Bignot there) so there is some sort of base.

I think Slade will get us sorted, but I wonder how much ambition there really is to win promotion, it's only div 4, are we waiting on the new ground?

To be fair to MB his brief , when he was appointed, was to ensure league status and build for the future. I believe he was genuinely trying to achieve this and brought in players , like you mentioned, for next season. The two things that fans gripe about his approach was his experimenting in formations ( fair point ) and his signing of Gunning. But seeing as he only signed Gunning to the end of the season we don't know if he would have become a permanent signing.

Quoted from jonnyboy82

Or you could have just been told today you have been made redundant just like me.

Be positive and for what it's worth the signings so far are fine with me as I'm sure more pace and power is on its way.

GTFC is keeping me positive .

Hope you get a job lined up mate, did you know this redundancy was coming? Must be a difficult time, hope you get sorted out soon.

This time of year is football Limbo. I'm sure there will be talks or deals being sorted but unable to release the news due to current contracts or certain players waiting see what's on offer.

Itching to get a bit of news but it's just a case of bide your time.

Thanks fishys keep it coming with reasons to be cheerful.

Quoted from rancido

To be fair to MB his brief , when he was appointed, was to ensure league status and build for the future. I believe he was genuinely trying to achieve this and brought in players , like you mentioned, for next season. The two things that fans gripe about his approach was his experimenting in formations ( fair point ) and his signing of Gunning. But seeing as he only signed Gunning to the end of the season we don't know if he would have become a permanent signing.

Marcus was Gunning`s female dog!

Quoted from Garth

[/b]

Marcus was Gunning`s female dog!

Didn't RS play Gunning in his first two games in charge?

For me it is a little frustrating seeing lots of clubs bringing in good talent already, but there is still a long way to go yet. I'm confident Slade is a better man for the job than the previous two in charge. Whether that's promotion or just a top half finish we'll have to wait and see.

Quoted from ginnywings

It's early June...

Said Terry Scott ;)

Quoted from jonnyboy82

Or you could have just been told today you have been made redundant just like me.

Be positive and for what it's worth the signings so far are fine with me as I'm sure more pace and power is on its way.

GTFC is keeping me positive .

Sorry to hear that mate. Hope you get sorted soon.

Lincoln seem to be really playing the waiting game, could backfire on them.

Quoted from oldun

I am normally a glass half full person, but at the moment I just cannot get myself into a positive frame of mind about the coming season. I am not seeing "guaranteed" top end of the league players on the books. A lot with potential and 2 or 3 seasoned pros.Some contracted players who did not do it for us last season. I am struggling to see a style of play or formation forming despite having plenty of "bodies in the building". I see a lot of experimenting again, no stability which is likely to lead to inconsistency.I am as keen as anyone for Slade to succeed but I don't see it at present and am a bit underwhelmed with the players we now have, Don't worry I am not suicidal but could do with a dose of optimism. All help will be appreciated.

Think you're fretting over nothing Oldun.

1) I don't think there are any players that are "guaranteed top end of the league".

2) of course we're not seeing a formation or style of play forming yet, we haven't played any games yet and are still building the squad.

Think we just need a bit of patience and belief that just because we aren't signing players from the Premier League, we could still be in with a chance for promotion.

Time will tell. But let's not get too wound up about what we've got when pre season doesn't even start for another few weeks yet.

Quoted from promotion plaice

Lincoln seem to be really playing the waiting game, could backfire on them.

My old man knows Bob Dorrian and got chatting to him the other week and they are only looking to add a couple of players to the squad.

Dangerous strategy, for every Bristol Rovers that add a couple of players and achieve back to back promotions there is a Cheltenham.

I must say, they had a couple of good players but players such as Rhead, Waterfall and Nath have been in the league before and not been up to it. I thought they'd need some serious rebuilding. Woodyard, Raggett, Habergham might be able to do it though as they are untested at that level.

Fans have to realise that the joy of being back in the league brings delays with changes in contracts as league player contracts last for an extra month. This delays the activity process as you don't pay players until old contracts run out. There will be negotiations going on behind the scenes that won't be public until July 1st !!
Slade may not be Mr Popular with older fans but he is no idiot from previous jobs at higher levels and he has a promotion owed to many loyal fans which could be the only way to win back his doubters !

Good luck to him - need to see some better times after a stutter season.

Quoted from acko338

Fans have to realise that the joy of being back in the league brings delays with changes in contracts as league player contracts last for an extra month. This delays the activity process as you don't pay players until old contracts run out. There will be negotiations going on behind the scenes that won't be public until July 1st !!
Slade may not be Mr Popular with older fans but he is no idiot from previous jobs at higher levels and he has a promotion owed to many loyal fans which could be the only way to win back his doubters !

Good luck to him - need to see some better times after a stutter season.

Extra 2 months i think.

As for Lincoln, i think their players showed they could hold their own against better opposition in that FA Cup run. Whether they can do it over 46 games is another matter.

Quoted from Mariner93er

I think it's been a bit of a boring transfer window, with few rumours.

O.K. then let's start a few rumours. Town have suggested having a ground sharing scheme with Lincoln City or as Slade has suggested merging the 2 clubs into one. We could call ourselves "The Fishy Imps"

Quoted from Mariner_09

The defence won't be weaker, I never thought Andrew was a great defender, he was a fantastic attacker and great athlete but did get caught out of position and play the odd terrible ball too often. He did improve throughout the season though, probably because he was playing for the first time in years. Slade needs a defensive minded left back and a good, athletic partner for Collins then we can allow Osborne, Jones, Dembele etc to express themselves going forward and not worry too much about defending.

Still banging that drum are we 09?