Hand on Heart , How Do You Think You'll Do?

Trapdoor said:

ultimately the clubs who bought their way out like crawley cant sustain league football so ultimately end up dropping back down to their appropriate level.

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Which of those that bought their way out of the conference have dropped back in?
Crawley are just as sustainable in league two as a fair number of other small clubs in the league. It's more the state they are in once the money man disappears and many of those relegated to the conference went because they were in financial difficulty, regardless of whether they had previously been bankrolled

Judge Dredd said:

Standards were dropping before we escaped the division - hence the phrase "steadily declining... in recent seasons". IMHO, the quality level in the Conference peaked during the Crawley/Fleetwood seasons and has been in decline since then.

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The conference was a higher standard back in the eighties and early nineties.

There was less money around in the football league, and there were many players plying their trade at non-league level that could easily have stepped up but chose to remain part-time because it much more sense financially. The lack of promotion and relegation between the leagues meant that you had a surfeit of strong non-league teams.

But if we are going to engage in conjecture, I'd take our Barnet side of 91 and the Darlo side of 90 to best the Crawley/Fleetwood's of the Conference peak years.

The flip side of the coin is there were no foreign imports or those that were here were the cream rather than half a team. This has pushed the decent but not great players lower improving the quality dramatically in L2 and Conf.

Pretty clear to most last seasons Conf was the weakest in the last half dozen years. That doesn't mean the sides that came up are weaker or those that just missed out either - just the overall competition was. Weaker doesn't mean weak. The Conf is a ridiculously tough league to get out of.

George Reilly's got it spot on, well, according to my papa , as that's what he used to tell me, especially after seeing United lose to some unknown n-l side in the cup. I didn't go to watch non-league back in the 90's, so can't really comment myself, but I sure remember a lot of cup upsets by the leading Vauxhall League sides back then, certainly much more than nowadays.

Also, it's entirely understandable that players chose to stay part-time rather than join a 4th Div side, as the average professional player pay wasn't exactly great, and one made more if kept working whilst playing for a some top n-l side.

BTW, imo, the fact that Rovers only spent one year in the conf tells me that it is getting weaker every year. I very much doubt they would've won promotion so soon if they were relegated, say in 2009 or 2010.

Vanni said:

BTW, imo, the fact that Rovers only spent one year in the conf tells me that it is getting weaker every year. I very much doubt they would've won promotion so soon if they were relegated, say in 2009 or 2010.

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I agree they may not have got promoted but I don't agree it means the league is weaker, just that last season had a greater spread of competitive teams. 2009 there were only 5 teams in the race for promotion with a 12 point gap to 6th, 2010 also had a gap, with the two promoted teams finishing well clear.
Barnet, Bristol, Grimsby, Eastleigh and Forest Green all beat or equalled Cambridge teams points total in 2013 ( and that's despite not having Hyde gift everyone 6 points), suggesting that while no one team walked it, the top was well contested. In 2013 we gave Cambridge two very good games, in many ways Bristols performance was on a par with Cambridge, solid, didn't score that many, only difference was Bristol came good as the season went on while Cambridge went off the boil. I reckon if they had been in the same league at the same time then if Bristol had played Cambridge at the start of the season then Cambridge would've won 1-0 but toward the end of the season Bristol would've won 2-0 and over the course of the season Bristol were a better side.

Considering that the last time we dropped into the basement after a clusterfuck of a third-tier campaign we stayed here for 11 years, I can't be too optimistic. The insanity of last term has been widely documented and no amount of looking like we've learned our lesson (appointing a manager who speaks the same language of his players, drastically lowering the age profile of the squad, not having a £7,000,000+ wage bill) is going to convince me that it's not all going to be awful again.

That said, we can boast the best player shorter than 5'7" in the division (Dean Cox) and a couple of other proven higher-division performers. The first 11 will be a match for anyone; the squad looks a little thin on the ground overall. If we can dodge injuries, I'd be disappointed if we didn't finish in the top 23.

Slightly more optimistic that the poster above me.

I think Becchetti has learnt from last season's fiasco, hired a young manager with a point to prove (and most importantly got a class backroom team in, such as Hessenthaler as no2).

15 left, many of which was dead wood, and 9 have come in, including some young hungry players also with points to prove.

I agree that 3 or 4 injuries leaves the squad looking bare, but the first XI is good enough to beat any team in this league 100%.

A year ago we were one penalty kick away from the Championship, so that should prove as good a motivation as any to get back out of this league.

Trapdoor said:

ultimately the clubs who bought their way out like crawley cant sustain league football so ultimately end up dropping back down to their appropriate level.

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Tbh Crawley are a similar sized club to Exeter.

SamPAFC said:

Tbh Crawley are a similar sized club to Exeter.

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TBH, that is complete and arrant nonsense.

George Reilly's Hairpiece said:

The conference was a higher standard back in the eighties and early nineties.

There was less money around in the football league, and there were many players plying their trade at non-league level that could easily have stepped up but chose to remain part-time because it much more sense financially. The lack of promotion and relegation between the leagues meant that you had a surfeit of strong non-league teams.

But if we are going to engage in conjecture, I'd take our Barnet side of 91 and the Darlo side of 90 to best the Crawley/Fleetwood's of the Conference peak years.

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Or Wycombe in 94 highest points tally now its easier to 2 spots not just the 1 like it used to be

With just a week to go and our squad near enough complete I'd say nows the time for a prediction.

Think we'll have a good run at it this year, we've recruited well and I like look the look of us, there's plenty of options for dickie to choose from(although we all know how he sets up so I'm expecting plenty of one nils)

The concerns for me, dickies mental state and recruitment throughout the season, whether he keeps his cool or flips is anyone's guess and he can have a trigger happy side to recruitment. The goalkeepers is another issue, are either of them(Dunn/beasant) good enough for a promotion side, I certainly have my doubts on both and lastly is cover for corr, whilst I like our options further up the pitch he's going to be crucial for us and we don't have anyone to fill the void if he gets injured.

predict us to finish 5th.


KTF

I think we'll struggle.

We have 16 senior players on the books, 2 or 3 of which aren't 20 yet and they're supplemented by a group of totally untested kids coming from the youth team.

Taking a closer look at the players, in goal we have 40 year old Chris Day and no one else, not even 56 year old Dave Beasant on the bench, I have no issues with Day as our number one but without a back-up we're going to be going to be fucked if he gets injured.

In defence we have just 5 players, first choice defence might be solid enough but no chance we'll have them available for the entire season. Midfield is pretty decent - Pett, Whelpdale, Lee, Parrett and (I suspect/hope) Schumacher are all top end League Two players, whilst Conlon and McAllister are good options to have in reserve, could definitely do with another winger though.

Up top we have Adam Marriott, a player I rate highly, unfortunately he's spent more time in the treatment room than on the pitch, and Brett Williams, who's unproven in the Football League. The only player I haven't mentioned is Ben Kennedy, he's got plenty of talent but he's out for best part of four months.

We better hope our youth team is producing some talent or we're going to struggle massively.

On top of all that we have Teddy Sheringham as our manager, a total managerial unknown, but at least he's got experienced back up in Kevin Watson. He managed Maldon and Tiptree for all of 11 days earlier this summer and I'm sure he'll have picked up a lot of knowledge playing second fiddle to Bianca Westwood and Dickie fucking Davies on Sky Sports every Saturday afternoon for the past five years.

Only a week until I can watch us get bummed by Notts County's continental crew next weekend, won't be a problem though as thousands of Spurs fans will be in attendance cheering us on as they are most weekends. Can't wait.

Now our squad is complete we have a genuine playoff chance. We are good enough up top for top 7 and good enough at the back and between the sticks. Our Achilles heel may be through the middle. I'm not sure we have a tip 7 Centre of the park. Time will tell

Basically the signing of CMS HAS to work out. Without him I think we are very thin up front an are a significantly worse team. Must admit I'm a tad worried we've put a lot of eggs in the CMS basket.

Despite having comments like "willy waver" and "arrogant" slung about about Luton fans and by extension myself, I'm not going to
play to the stereotypical image that most seem to have on here and say we'll piss the league or whatever, but I think we'll do well enough for the playoffs.

Judging from pre season (I know) I still think we look incredibly poor going forward, that's on Still for me as on paper he's brought in good attacking players, no see after last seasons shocking attacking play I trust him to get us playing better in that department.

I also think of CMS goes down for whatever reason we'll be in a very bad position. Not entirely confident in our new right back either, looks a bit suspect defensively for me.

Apologies if playoffs still counted as "willy waving" and "arrogant" but I think it's justifiable. Think winning the thing is a little overly optimistic.

Predicting the play offs for Luton is by no means arrogant. It's the very least you should be aiming for.

I'm definitely of the view we will be mid to lower half. Keeper is a problem, Stack spent half of last season playing while injured and he's already failed to be fit for all bar one friendly, we've tried 4 trialist keepers but none have been signed. Back four look very strong with ok backup. Midfield is very solid but a bit unadventurous. Akinde and Gash are looking a very good partnership but it looks like Lisbie and Batt might be poor signings who spend more time in the treatment room than on the pitch.
I really hope our youngsters get a few games, Harry Taylor, Shomotun ànd Stevens have really impressed me in pre - season.

I think that we will get promoted this season.

Derek Adams did a fantastic job at Ross County, that is very hard to ignore given it was in Scotland. I have been very impressed with the job he has done so far, in both interacting with the fans and the acquisition of new players.

If pre-season is anything to go by, we will score a lot of goals. With that being said however, our defence isn't looking anywhere near as formidable as it was last year. We've switched from five at the back to four, so this is in some ways to be expected, but the back four are yet to fully adjust to the new formation.

Reuben Reid is in my opinion the best striker in the league and with additional goals from midfield this season, I can see it being a very productive one. If last year is anything to go by though, League Two is very competitive. Who'd have thought Luton would have missed out on the Play Offs for example? So with that being said, I'm not sure whether it'll be automatic promotion or promotion via the Play Offs.

However, I do expect us to go up.

That Fat Centre Half said:

I also think of CMS goes down for whatever reason we'll be in a very bad position. Not entirely confident in our new right back either, looks a bit suspect defensively for me.

Apologies if playoffs still counted as "willy waving" and "arrogant" but I think it's justifiable. Think winning the thing is a little overly optimistic.

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Not arrogant in the slightest - Luton should be chasing a top 3 spot all season with the squad that's been put together.

As for the right back, are you talking about Scott Cuthbert? If so, I wouldn't worry about him in the slightest - he was amazingly consistent in the division above, and comfortably one of our top three or four performers every season. Gets troubled by all-out pace, but then who doesn't?

No the right back is a chap called O'Donnell who we signed from Partick in Scotland.

I've liked the look of Cuthbert at centre half, looks a good player.

That Fat Centre Half said:

I've liked the look of Cuthbert at centre half, looks a good player.

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That's because he is

Interesting reading this thread to see how we thought we'd get on this season

Leewilson said:

I think we'll have a typical shit patch and a typical good patch.

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Well you got it half right.

Murphy said:

Well you got it half right.

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16 games to go Murph. Believe.

Alternatively, don't believe and be correct.

Leewilson said:

16 games to go Murph. Believe.

Alternatively, don't believe and be correct.

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Doidge to go on an incredible 16 games scoring streak, netting twice a match to not only fire Dagenham into 7th and the play offs, but also to become League Two top scorer and secure a £2,500,000 move to Derby County. Heard it here first.

Look Out There Are Llamas said:

Doidge to go on an incredible 16 games scoring streak, netting twice a match to not only fire Dagenham into 7th and the play offs, but also to become League Two top scorer and secure a £2,500,000 move to Derby County. Heard it here first.

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Or alternatively take pills, kids.

Laker said:

Mid table obscurity, Money walks by Christmas, Man U money spunked in one season and administration by the end of the season.

Might as well bring some realism to this thing.

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Well 2 out of my 4 predictions have proven to be correct (well we sacked Money rather than he walked but the fact he went by Xmas was correct). The club are claiming we've not spunked the Man U money though and administration seems unlikely.

RavenBish said:

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Just looking back to the beginning of the season

I honestly think we will sneak into the play offs. I can't say what will happen once we're there as it's a total lottery.
But we have Jay Simpson, Kevin Nolan and Jobi Mcanuff, all old sure, but definitely some of the best players in the league, no questions asked.
If we had Dean Cox fully fit then I would say play-offs easily, probably 4th (he really is that good)

We've had an unlucky season with injuries and poor management, if we can string a few wins together, and I think we can, we will get into the play offs. Cobblers aside (and maybe Stanley), no one has really impressed me this season.