Before the season started

To be back in the league, survive, have a cup run to being in finance - plenty reasons to be more than satisfied/content.

However, without wishing to be contrary - it’s all dependent on what happens next. We’ve struggled at home, there’s plenty of debate to be had about the side for next season and the need to improve in areas, there’s a lot riding on the transfer window start of next season for me. Think most will renew season ticket wise, but a few will need convincing, and we know about the trouble we have in attracting players to come here. Unlike others I’m not entirely convinced the standard this season has been that great, and there’s not a lot of difference between a team in 6th to 16th.. for my money we had a decent start to the season and didn’t capitalise on it - understand the reasons why..key players out, very short pre season and the effects of that thereafter, but a small part of me thinks maybe an opportunity lost as I feel we could quite easily be a top 10 side.

My over riding thought is I’m reserving judgement for now ..if we fall into the content/take it for granted structure like last regime we’ll struggle to kick on - and now is the key time to kick on imho..really need to be better next season, continual improvement etc - know there’s lots going on (on and off pitch) and tbh I think the management/owners won’t for one minute settle like the last lot. I’m hoping not ..but do feel this next transfer window is key.

I’m pretty comfortable with where we are and should finish.

Some people expected back to back but I think it’s been evident that there’s some building to be done which again I’m confident will happen though it might be a bit bumpy at times.

I like some have been disappointed with the home form and specifically how bad we hold, pass and squander possession.

I voted that I’m happy. After just 3 home league wins that seems insane, but for my first ST in 20 years I have actually strangely enjoyed it. The only teams that have deserved to beat us were Salford and Donny (I missed the Carlisle game). Other than that, we’ve been at the very least solid.

I must admit I take as much pleasure from seeing the vidiprinter on Sky Sports Soccer Saturday telling me of  away goals and wins as seeing home wins in person, which is weird, but avoiding a relegation scrap was always my desire.

The cup run has been a complete shock.

ST next season too, even though we’ve got pretty much the worst home form in the division, but i see great potential if we keep the spine.

Echo what everyone else has said… I think the feel good factor of last season made most believed we’d be on another promotion charge.

I’m happy as to where we are, I’d liked to have seen us strengthen significantly in January, which for the most part I don’t think we have. But we all know that the January window is much tougher than the summer window.

I think what we need to be aiming for next season is to get the personnel who are able to break down the Harrogate’s and Colchester’s of the league so we’re able to pick up points where we perhaps should be doing against the non-football playing sides

The big problem is our consistency... or lack of.  On our day we play some great football and with passion.  Good start to the season away from home and I feel we might have a good finish. UTM!

Back in the summer I expected 14-16th so we're about right. But the way the season has panned out, had it not been for Taylor and McAtee's injuries we might be in or around the play offs.

Quoted from Poojah

I think this season has been a bit of an eye opener. When the season began in July, it had been almost 2 and a half years since any of us had witnessed League Two football at Blundell Park, and it’s fair to say I think the standard has improved beyond my expectation.

In the past, you would always seemingly get at least 4 or 5 games a season against demonstrably poor teams who would pretty much roll over and give you the three points. Other than Crawley, a game in which the 3-0 score line still flattered us, I haven’t really seen that this season. There are consistently decent teams throughout the division, with fine margins separating the wheat from the chaff.

So whilst I did predict an upper mid-table finish this season, I think some realism is needed. We are still healing from two decades of gross mismanagement; it is perhaps unfair to expect those wounds to heal in two seasons.

We won’t go down this season, and we’ve had (and are still having) a good cup run. Maybe, on reflection, we are about where we should be. I do think, however, that with the sixth largest average gate in the division and the money from our cup exploits, making the League Two playoffs for the first time in 18 years should be a realistic expectation for 23/24.

Y'see I would say that the standard hasn't really improved.  Rather that most teams have become much-about-muchness.  Just like how there appears to be less junk at the bottom end of the table, there's also a lack of real quality at the top end.  I've yet to be massively impressed by anyone this season and think we could/should have done better in a fairly weak league.

2 years ago we were about to drop out the league and had a left-hand side that consisted of Sam Habergham who hadn't kicked a ball for nearly 30 months and Philip Lamy who wasn't too far behind him.  That I'm aware of neither have even got a sniff of a professional club* since.  

How can I not be happy that we're comfortably back in the league after the most amazing end to last season and about to take on a Premier League side in the Fifth Round of the FA Cup, for the first time in 27 years I might add (we were also a second tier side at the time)?  

But I still feel we've maybe let ourselves down a little, or perhaps underachieved is a kinder way to articulate it.  For whatever reasons we've not kicked on as much as I'd hoped and I can't escape the feeling that we've just floated along a bit this year in a relatively mediocre league that was there for the taking.

*I've just checked.  Habergham is playing for Wealdstone having had an unsuccessful trial at Portsmouth after leaving us (no doubt thanks to having worked with the Cowley's before), Lamy is playing in the Cypriot second tier.

The one good thing from this season is that we will be considered to be an established league 2 club. This hopefully will help in the summer transfer business as we will no longer be thought of as a just promoted club by prospected transfer targets.

Quoted from DB

The one good thing from this season is that we will be considered to be an established league 2 club. This hopefully will help in the summer transfer business as we will no longer be thought of as a just promoted club by prospected transfer targets.

We've also not got 6 weeks of L2 being finished where everyone else is signing the best players before we can even start talking to them.

I said 10th pre-season and am sticking with it.