Half season predictions

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Final position 20/21 prediction

Poll ended at Mon Jan 25, 2021 8:05 am

Top (for the crazy)
0
No votes
2-3 and up automatically
0
No votes
Playoffs
2
12%
8-12 (top half)
7
41%
12-18 (not relegated, hooray)
7
41%
18-22 (sweaty Ken)
1
6%
23-24 (darkness)
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 17

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Prufrock
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Re: Half season predictions

Post by Prufrock » Mon Jan 18, 2021 4:14 pm

You like me like many said he needed time. That has to include when things aren't going well to mean anything. Obviously the first half of the season has been a bit of a horror show but it's a whole new squad. At the first window he's changed the shape and signed the players we needed to fix the obvious flaws, two left backs (I thought Jackson was v shaky but also OD was bob on, he's a kid, doesn't count to the squad spaces and presumably is to be cover for John who has pedigree) and a winger. And as a result we had our best 45 mins of the season. I think we'll be much better second half. Let's see
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Re: Half season predictions

Post by irie Cee Bee » Mon Jan 18, 2021 4:16 pm

Playoffs was my prediction at the beginning of the season. Is it still possible to make up 8 pts.. yes. The Board is backing Evatt with signings. Evatt now has to back that up with results.
Do I rate him as a manager? - so far sadly, no. Talks up possibilities and deliver nothing. I prefer results to talking.
Do I rate him on his tactical ability - so far again, no. A one trick pony (until last match), and outthought by managers with much less resources in games when they have to adjust to whats happening on the field
Can he improve - It appears that he is open to learning although stubborn, so yes. But he needs coaching support. All top managers have that.
Do I want him gone - No. Give him time. It might cost us promotion, but some stability is needed.

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Re: Half season predictions

Post by Worthy4England » Mon Jan 18, 2021 4:47 pm

C'mon, who's gone Sweaty Ken? At that level of expectation I'd be happy for them to be my gaffer....

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Re: Half season predictions

Post by Dave Sutton's barnet » Mon Jan 18, 2021 6:17 pm

BWFC_Insane wrote:
Mon Jan 18, 2021 1:38 pm
Dave Sutton's barnet wrote:
Mon Jan 18, 2021 1:09 pm
The_Gun wrote:
Mon Jan 18, 2021 12:59 pm
I think too many of us got sucked into believing that we'd somehow managed to immediately recruit a squad good enough to win promotion essentially from scratch, which in hindsight was unrealistic.
I think you're right – but that requires an element of hubristic admission, and for many it's much easier to call the manager a fraud.
Ahem....

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/18 ... tion-push/
‘There’s no two ways about it, we can’t beat around the bush – we need to be getting promoted, there’s no doubt about it. We need to be up there challenging. There isn’t any point sitting here saying it’s a project, this club should not be in League Two and it’s my job to make sure we get out of League Two as soon as we possibly can.’
‘I get to more or less have a blank canvas and that’s exciting for me. I have the opportunity to build a team how I see fit. We’ve drilled down in a lot of detail in terms of recruitment and we are position specific, I have an idea of what we need for different positions. We’ll be looking at all sorts of recruitment to make sure we fulfil that.
Its not a case of being a fraud - its a question of his ability and experience. The evidence to date suggests even by relative league 2 standards he's not very good at his job. He's not the first very poor manager here and he won't be the last either - sadly.
Not sure I've ever seen a point so well proven, so thanks for that. :wink:

While we're digging up quotes:
BWFC_Insane wrote:
Thu Sep 03, 2020 11:39 am
Yeah I think we may struggle early doors but get stronger. We've built a new team, a new coaching setup and whilst they've mainly had a full pre season, a luxury we've rarely had - it still takes time to adjust to surroundings and each other and form that sort of really strong team bond and understanding.
BWFC_Insane wrote:
Sat Sep 05, 2020 10:48 pm
Expectations are not changed by reality. I think it’s perfectly reasonable to expect promotion. Also perfectly likely it won’t be possible to achieve.
BWFC_Insane wrote:
Mon Sep 07, 2020 12:06 pm
But the manager wants to play a certain way and has been very clear about that. Adapting to it may take some time but I guess we need to be very patient and trust in it. If we wanted to just scrap results game by game I'd suggest we wouldn't have gone and spent money to recruit Ian Evatt. So as fans like me who generally prioritise a win over anything else - we may have to just suck this period up and let things develop.

I do think in the long run the way Evatt wants to play will build something here - and possibly leave us stronger with a chance of recruiting into an established system rather than hoping we find the odd gem here or there who makes our tight 4-5-1 work....
In the gap between expectation and reality lies disappointment. Nobody – least of all Evatt – is saying they're happy with how the season has gone thus far. But as Pru notes, it's frankly fatuous to say "Give it time" with the unspoken caveat "unless it doesn't go as well as I'd like." So if you can be disappointed with the chasm between Evatt's expectations and his reality (thus far), I can be disappointed in your failure to live up to your promises, too.

I liked the Saturday BWFCi, the one who saw the potential and the possibility. Don't tell me you've fallen for the Blue Monday myth cooked up for a PR campaign... :D

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Re: Half season predictions

Post by officer_dibble » Mon Jan 18, 2021 6:18 pm

I’ve not gone sweaty Ken but if we haven’t sorted the goalkeeper issue out come 1st Feb I’ll be sweaty then! As much as i would like to see us cut teams open and look more fluid going forwards (I think Lee is a big part of this plan btw) I worry about us shipping soft goals more than I worry about us not scoring.

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Re: Half season predictions

Post by Dave Sutton's barnet » Mon Jan 18, 2021 6:30 pm

officer_dibble wrote:
Mon Jan 18, 2021 6:18 pm
I’ve not gone sweaty Ken but if we haven’t sorted the goalkeeper issue out come 1st Feb I’ll be sweaty then! As much as i would like to see us cut teams open and look more fluid going forwards (I think Lee is a big part of this plan btw) I worry about us shipping soft goals more than I worry about us not scoring.
Yeah. Goalkeeper is a big worry for me. Not sure Gilkes can carry us for the rest of the season but equally we need the new keeper to be as good as he is at organising the back line, which was terrifyingly absent with Crellin.

IMO Worthy's right that the easier gains will be by conceding fewer than scoring more (we're 16th on goals scored, 22nd on goals conceded). But the stats that jump out at me are how poor we are at home compared to away (only three teams's PPGs are more fiercely skewed towards their away form), and how poor we are from 46-75 minutes (F6 A16) - no point being the better team in the last 15 minutes if the game's gone.

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Re: Half season predictions

Post by Worthy4England » Mon Jan 18, 2021 7:24 pm

Agree with comment about last 15 minutes not being preferable, but, we've picked up 8 points with goals in last 15 so far, which shows we keep going...

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Re: Half season predictions

Post by Dave Sutton's barnet » Mon Jan 18, 2021 8:06 pm

Worthy4England wrote:
Mon Jan 18, 2021 7:24 pm
Agree with comment about last 15 minutes not being preferable, but, we've picked up 8 points with goals in last 15 so far, which shows we keep going...
aye - many a Wanderers team would see the last 15 as fertile ground for turning a defeat into a hammering :lol:

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Re: Half season predictions

Post by Abdoulaye's Twin » Mon Jan 18, 2021 8:24 pm

I went with mid table before we started the season. I think we'll end up on the lower end of that. For me it was naive at best to think we could go with Crellin without a proper experienced alternative. Gilks has done well to step up, but I suspect the adrenaline and excitement of playing again will be wearing off and the reasons for wanting to retire shouting loudly in his head. We really need a replacement.

As long as we steadily improve from here on in then I'm a relatively happy camper.

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Re: Half season predictions

Post by BWFC_Insane » Mon Jan 18, 2021 8:49 pm

Dave Sutton's barnet wrote:
Mon Jan 18, 2021 6:17 pm
BWFC_Insane wrote:
Mon Jan 18, 2021 1:38 pm
Dave Sutton's barnet wrote:
Mon Jan 18, 2021 1:09 pm
The_Gun wrote:
Mon Jan 18, 2021 12:59 pm
I think too many of us got sucked into believing that we'd somehow managed to immediately recruit a squad good enough to win promotion essentially from scratch, which in hindsight was unrealistic.
I think you're right – but that requires an element of hubristic admission, and for many it's much easier to call the manager a fraud.
Ahem....

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/18 ... tion-push/
‘There’s no two ways about it, we can’t beat around the bush – we need to be getting promoted, there’s no doubt about it. We need to be up there challenging. There isn’t any point sitting here saying it’s a project, this club should not be in League Two and it’s my job to make sure we get out of League Two as soon as we possibly can.’
‘I get to more or less have a blank canvas and that’s exciting for me. I have the opportunity to build a team how I see fit. We’ve drilled down in a lot of detail in terms of recruitment and we are position specific, I have an idea of what we need for different positions. We’ll be looking at all sorts of recruitment to make sure we fulfil that.
Its not a case of being a fraud - its a question of his ability and experience. The evidence to date suggests even by relative league 2 standards he's not very good at his job. He's not the first very poor manager here and he won't be the last either - sadly.
Not sure I've ever seen a point so well proven, so thanks for that. :wink:

While we're digging up quotes:
BWFC_Insane wrote:
Thu Sep 03, 2020 11:39 am
Yeah I think we may struggle early doors but get stronger. We've built a new team, a new coaching setup and whilst they've mainly had a full pre season, a luxury we've rarely had - it still takes time to adjust to surroundings and each other and form that sort of really strong team bond and understanding.
BWFC_Insane wrote:
Sat Sep 05, 2020 10:48 pm
Expectations are not changed by reality. I think it’s perfectly reasonable to expect promotion. Also perfectly likely it won’t be possible to achieve.
BWFC_Insane wrote:
Mon Sep 07, 2020 12:06 pm
But the manager wants to play a certain way and has been very clear about that. Adapting to it may take some time but I guess we need to be very patient and trust in it. If we wanted to just scrap results game by game I'd suggest we wouldn't have gone and spent money to recruit Ian Evatt. So as fans like me who generally prioritise a win over anything else - we may have to just suck this period up and let things develop.

I do think in the long run the way Evatt wants to play will build something here - and possibly leave us stronger with a chance of recruiting into an established system rather than hoping we find the odd gem here or there who makes our tight 4-5-1 work....
In the gap between expectation and reality lies disappointment. Nobody – least of all Evatt – is saying they're happy with how the season has gone thus far. But as Pru notes, it's frankly fatuous to say "Give it time" with the unspoken caveat "unless it doesn't go as well as I'd like." So if you can be disappointed with the chasm between Evatt's expectations and his reality (thus far), I can be disappointed in your failure to live up to your promises, too.

I liked the Saturday BWFCi, the one who saw the potential and the possibility. Don't tell me you've fallen for the Blue Monday myth cooked up for a PR campaign... :D
There was promise on Saturday. That doesn’t take away from the terrible job Evatt has done though. And my middle quote is out of context. I was arguing we should expect promotion. And yes I expected some early struggle. But not for us to get progressively worse game by game. Which has happened at times well beyond the start. Shipping 6 at home to Port Vale. Sorry for me that was too much. Can’t forgive that.

Evatt may well turn it round. I dearly hope he does seeing as like I say I doubt there are many other options. But at least as of now, he’s been a failure. Even by his own targets.

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Re: Half season predictions

Post by jimbo » Tue Jan 19, 2021 8:14 am

Worthy4England wrote:
Mon Jan 18, 2021 7:24 pm
Agree with comment about last 15 minutes not being preferable, but, we've picked up 8 points with goals in last 15 so far, which shows we keep going...
My main worry is that just means we’re fit but shit, and only able to become competitive when opposition players are a bit tired.

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Re: Half season predictions

Post by officer_dibble » Tue Jan 19, 2021 12:59 pm

We start second halves so poorly, it’s a mental thing I think.

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Re: Half season predictions

Post by officer_dibble » Tue Feb 09, 2021 9:58 pm

Still at the point where this could go one way or the other, though i think it’s a run at the playoffs at best if you are looking up.

The squad he’s got now I think should be looking up the league - particularly if they add Lynch as well. We had some quality on the bench for this level. What’s par?

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Re: Half season predictions

Post by LeverEnd » Tue Feb 09, 2021 10:17 pm

Absolutely no chance of either playoffs or relegation. Trial now to see if he gets to start next season.
...

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Re: Half season predictions

Post by officer_dibble » Tue Feb 09, 2021 10:26 pm

We can go below Stevenage at the weekend!

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Re: Half season predictions

Post by LeverEnd » Tue Feb 09, 2021 11:39 pm

officer_dibble wrote:
Tue Feb 09, 2021 10:26 pm
We can go below Stevenage at the weekend!
Doesn't matter, we're not getting caught by Grimsby or Southend.
...

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Re: Half season predictions

Post by Bruce Rioja » Wed Feb 10, 2021 8:19 am

I'm already preparing for next season. Did you know that Wealdstone play in Ruislip? Now then, where the feck's Ruislip? 🤔
May the bridges I burn light your way

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Re: Half season predictions

Post by officer_dibble » Wed Feb 10, 2021 8:55 am

Jeez...remember that wealdstone raider guy? “You want some?”

That’s the level you can walk round the ground and swap ends as a fan at half time. Delete club if that happens!

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Re: Half season predictions

Post by LeverEnd » Wed Feb 10, 2021 9:43 am

Bruce Rioja wrote:
Wed Feb 10, 2021 8:19 am
I'm already preparing for next season. Did you know that Wealdstone play in Ruislip? Now then, where the feck's Ruislip? 🤔
I did a race there once. Hillingdon 5. No idea where it is though. You're welcome 😁
...

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Re: Half season predictions

Post by LeverEnd » Wed Feb 10, 2021 9:44 am

officer_dibble wrote:
Wed Feb 10, 2021 8:55 am
Jeez...remember that wealdstone raider guy? “You want some?”

That’s the level you can walk round the ground and swap ends as a fan at half time. Delete club if that happens!
The Raider. Brilliant clip.
...

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