Assuming no major in's or out's, will we retain our PL place next season?

I think we will, but it won't be easy, as it stands I have us down to finish 15th/16th, however steering clear of injuries will naturally be key.

Our first XI can compete with most sides at this level, but as last term showed if we're missing a regular or two we can look lightweight.

What gives me confidence is SD, he's shown he's the man for a relegation scrap, and his calm persona when all around are pressing the panic button is reassuring.

And I'd expect our home form to improve greatly now the fans will be back, also we will surely be better against those teams in and around us.

Brighton will be an early indicator as to whether this will prove correct or not, a great chance to get a win on the board early, and put a real marker down to our probable rivals.

A bridge too far this season for me with no additions.

NO........After we lose at home to Brighton with this squad it will be all downhill for the rest of the season, even with a new board Dyche has been let down yet again

To not strengthen the starting 11 of a side finishing 17th would just be negligent .Our already ageing slow squad is another year older and slower and unless strengthened will surely be favourites to drop this time.

Not with the squad we currently have. If you just look at Barnes as an example he was very effective for us a few seasons back but now he’s way off the pace and just not good enough for this level anymore. The problem with Physical players is they decline rapidly as they age. Our squad is too threadbare, bereft of any real quality, and too old.

I do love the positivity

With no further incomings I feel that the end of our Premier league stay is just around the corner, we only just scrapped over the line last season and the squad is obviously a year older and also few players lighter. We simply cannot expect the same team to continue to perform miracles without strengthening, this policy will eventually catch up with us and bite us on the backside.

We should have added to this squad two years ago.

Our strongest 11

Pope
Lowton Tarkowski Mee Taylor
Gudmundsson Cork Westwood McNeil
Wood Vydra

The most recent signing there is Vydra three years ago. That’s simply not good enough.

No. Last season was a massive performance indicator. We haven’t reacted well enough.

It’s sad, and I’m disappointed we’ve just rolled over, but it has been coming.

I’ll still be on next season, and for the following ones, but this particular party is over I’m afraid. Not even SD can pull this off again.

I think our experience will see us above the likes of Watford and Brentford, however, I do have concerns over Norwich who have retained Farke and essentially "done a Burnley" so they will see us as targets to beat. Crystal Palace are an anomaly for me too because they are going through changes but have recruited.

I think we'll be 16th, but it'll be a down to the wire season this time I think.

ClaretTony wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 08, 2021 11:19 am

I do love the positivity

Has it been a positive window?

Two Sunday Times columnists, Jonathan Northcroft and Graeme Souness, have made their predictions this morning.

Neither have us down for the drop.

box_of_frogs wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 08, 2021 11:22 am

Has it been a positive window?

We'll see, 23 days to go yet.

ClaretTony wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 08, 2021 11:19 am

I do love the positivity

We were asked if we thought we could stay up with what we have. We are giving our honest opinions, nothing whatsoever to do with being negative!

ClaretTony wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 08, 2021 11:19 am

I do love the positivity

And that keeps us up?

We need more. You know we need more. Saying it isnt disloyal, nor will it make it certain it will happen.

Failing to support the manager by giving him some new tools will end only one way. That’s not “negativity”, or people just having a pop at the club, it’s just a cast iron fact of life in the premier league.

Tony Scholes has us to finish 16th in today’s Observer, good enough for me!

bobinho wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 08, 2021 11:26 am

And that keeps us up?

We need more. You know we need more. Saying it isnt disloyal, nor will it make it certain it will happen.

Failing to support the manager by giving him some new tools will end only one way. That’s not “negativity”, or people just having a pop at the club, it’s just a cast iron fact of life in the premier league.

Who has failed to support the manager this time? I think any suggestion could be well wide of the mark. We have been perilously close to three signings that have fallen through at the 11th hour.

As always I'd expect our side to fight tooth and nail to reach safety, that's what Dyche has instilled in them and I think we'd just about do it.

Meanwhile I'll wait until the window shuts to see what wingers we get in...

Yes, we can. I wouldn't pay too much attention to last season.

The depth of the squad is an obvious concern but a proper break and a proper pre-season will have done us good, compared to last year's craziness.

If we can steer relatively clear of injuries, we do have enough. This team and manager know what they're doing, they know what it takes to keep us in this division.

Yes, comfortably.

lakedistrictclaret wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 08, 2021 11:24 am

Two Sunday Times columnists, Jonathan Northcroft and Graeme Souness, have made their predictions this morning.

Neither have us down for the drop.

I haven't seen a single prediction from a neutral that has us down for relegation. It's almost as if this board is full of hysterical worrywarts.

We can until we don't.

Same goes for every team not sniffing around the Super League.

We have to rely on a meltdown at places like Palace, Southampton and Newcastle, or at least 2/3 of those places. Topped with Norwich, Brentford and Watford in the fold and at least we have something to aim at and who knows Brighton and Wolves might at times flirt around the bottom end. But if we do drop we will lose probably SD, Tarks for sure, Pope probably and Mcneill probably so next May could be a major downer for the club in every way, although our recruitment could then deal with Morecambe and AFC Fylde so they might be more at home ?

ClaretTony wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 08, 2021 11:24 am

We'll see, 23 days to go yet.

I've been hearing this from several people for about 4 years 7 or 8 transfer windows now so sorry if I don't share your hopes for the next 23 day's

ClaretMov wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 08, 2021 11:36 am

I've been hearing this from several people for about 4 years 7 or 8 transfer windows now so sorry if I don't share your hopes for the next 23 day's

I said we'll see. There is money available but up to the manager I assume whether he can find the players he wants to spend it on.

ClaretTony wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 08, 2021 11:28 am

Who has failed to support the manager this time? I think any suggestion could be well wide of the mark. We have been perilously close to three signings that have fallen through at the 11th hour.

Ok fair enough, we are trying to support him. But all of us out here who aren’t in the know see nothing happening and we have no way of knowing it’s any different, unless of course we see an article on here with a new first team player holding a Burnley scarf aloft. We have planned ahead with the acquisition of Collins, but we need a couple more for the here and now.

If we do not strengthen the first team, then I’m afraid the writing is on the wall. I don’t want it to be that way, and I’d love this whole PL thing to be a level playing field, but it’s not and we will always struggle.

ClaretTony wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 08, 2021 11:38 am

I said we'll see. There is money available but up to the manager I assume whether he can find the players he wants to spend it on.

I think that’s one of the problems we have with our recruitment ( or lack of )

Maybe just, yes. But an injury to Dwight McNeil would mean we go down, that’s how close it is.

If our key men stay fit I think we'll just about do enough again, but it won't be pretty.

Tall Paul wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 08, 2021 11:30 am

Yes, comfortably.



I haven't seen a single prediction from a neutral that has us down for relegation. It's almost as if this board is full of hysterical worrywarts.

Or perhaps people noticing last season we becoming even closer than previous seasons & also noticing that no significant signings have arrived, if you look at things logically based on them 2 factors it’s difficult to see anything other than relegation, we have hope as always 3 teams will do worse but that’s the only thing to cling on to not our ability to see the danger out off our own steam.

Yeah, no sweat.
Relax.

ClaretMov wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 08, 2021 11:17 am

NO........After we lose at home to Brighton with this squad it will be all downhill for the rest of the season, even with a new board Dyche has been let down yet again

Astonishing.
It's always the board or the recruitment team to blame. When will it register that the manager picks the team and the transfer targets.
Have you missed that Lennon played yesterday and Dyche's comments?

At some point in time most of the posters on this board need that Dyche wants a certain type of player i.e Stephens, Brownhill, Lennon, Rodriguez. He doesn't trust youth and will only replace his "squad" if there are injuries or suspensions. Our best player pre-season Vyfda was left out in the cold for two seasons.

He is a not the messiah he is a ginger dinosaur.

It will be close but I believe we will stay up, but it won't be pretty. The Brighton game is a big one for us this Saturday. We need to get off to a good start at home. Home form will be key for us this season along with keeping injuries down to a minimum (if that's possible).

We can yes, I don't think we will though. We'd need to hope for no injuries to Pope, Wood, Mcneil, JBG, Mee. We're so short it's unbelievable for a club that's been in the PL for 6 years. Last season should've been an enormous wake up call, this squad is getting worse by the day, we got absolutely battered at home by 10 men WBA and truly embarrassed by newly promoted Leeds. We aren't getting better, we're going backwards.

Jakubclaret wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 08, 2021 11:45 am

Or perhaps people noticing last season we becoming even closer than previous seasons & also noticing that no significant signings have arrived, if you look at things logically based on them 2 factors it’s difficult to see anything other than relegation, we have hope as always 3 teams will do worse but that’s the only thing to cling on to not our ability to see the danger out off our own steam.

We've been closer to relegation (pointswise) in two previous seasons. Both times we achieved a top half finish in the following season.

Our first eleven is good enough to stay up, however, injuries and suspensions will likely take their toll over the course of the season.

As it stands, I don’t think we have a strong enough squad to cope.

Tall Paul wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 08, 2021 11:53 am

We've been closer to relegation (pointswise) in two previous seasons. Both times we achieved a top half finish in the following season.

Position wise is what counts, you end up in the bottom 3 with a good points tally you still get relegated. Plenty of times last season when Fulham were showing signs of waking up we had a twitchy bum.

To stay up there has to be three teams worse than us.
Currently I can't see three.

We need 2-3 in before the end of the window to challenge the first 11 . It’s going to be difficult . I’m confident that the new owners want to impress and have the fans on side though

Tall Paul wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 08, 2021 11:30 am

Yes, comfortably.



I haven't seen a single prediction from a neutral that has us down for relegation. It's almost as if this board is full of hysterical worrywarts.

Neither of those neutrals could name 5 Burnley players, nevermind tell you we have 2 wide players. These so called experts are simply experts at talking about the big 6 English clubs, a real English football expert would have some knowledge outside the big 6-10 clubs.

As dire as the football often is, you’d back Dyche to keep us up every year.

The biggest issue for us is injuries. Two or three key players out and we’re going to struggle to pick up anything. The state of our squad is pathetic.

We are in better shape now than 12 months ago when we had injuries to Tarkowski, Mee and Cork. The mentioned injuries effected out early season form, we only collected 1 pt from the 1st 21. Once we got our best 11 fit we never looked like relegation candidates.

I expect us to be OK with 2 or 3 of the promoted sides getting relegated

Tall Paul wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 08, 2021 11:30 am

Yes, comfortably.



I haven't seen a single prediction from a neutral that has us down for relegation. It's almost as if this board is full of hysterical worrywarts.

At the start of every football season the Racing Post publishes a supplement "The Big Kick Off" previewing the upcoming season. As part of that 72 page supplement they have a feature on Relegation from the PL in which they tip Southampton and Burnley for the drop.

"When American investment firm ALK Capital purchased a controlling stake in Burnley last December, Sean Dyche spoke about a future where he could look beyond simply surviving in the Premier League. While there were never any guarantees of a spending spree, the hope was the Clarets squad would get the overhaul it badly needs, especially after their worst season in 5 years. Burnley crawled home in 17th place last term, taking 13 points from their last 15 games as they failed to reach the 40 points mark."
"While Dyche was able to mastermind wins at Arsenal and Liverpool to provide some highlights in an otherwise underwhelming campaign, the alarm bells should have been ringing in the Turf Moor boardroom. The wave of optimism that accompanied the new ownership has turned into a trickle with only defender Nathan Collins and goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey added to the squad so far this summer. Failure to add further recruits would represent a second summer without proper investment in an ageing squad."
Only Crystal Palace had an older starting line-up on average last season, with a large portion of the playing staff now the wrong side of 30".

Definitely, but it won't be easy.
I don't think we can afford to have many injuries, and how fit we can keep our main players could be key.

The only positive of going into the new season with the same squad, if that is the case, is that the players and SD all know what they have to do. That's more than most of the other strugglers will have.

brexit wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 08, 2021 11:48 am

Astonishing.
It's always the board or the recruitment team to blame. When will it register that the manager picks the team and the transfer targets.
Have you missed that Lennon played yesterday and Dyche's comments?

At some point in time most of the posters on this board need that Dyche wants a certain type of player i.e Stephens, Brownhill, Lennon, Rodriguez. He doesn't trust youth and will only replace his "squad" if there are injuries or suspensions. Our best player pre-season Vyfda was left out in the cold for two seasons.

He is a not the messiah he is a ginger dinosaur.

I totally believe Dyche is the reason we don’t sign more players as he only wants certain experienced characters. But this is also the reason we’ve been so successful. Why change the winning formula now. If he can get the players he wants I believe the money is there. Surely we should be applauding the fact we’re constantly retained our status without having to spend?

ClaretTony wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 08, 2021 11:19 am

I do love the positivity

Sorry Tony, but despite being generally upbeat and easily pleased (BFC don't need to achieve much to keep me happy) I suspect that the answer to the OP's question is 'No'. Whilst our 'strongest eleven' as posted earlier are capable of a mid-table finish, there's very little on the bench - OK for twenty minutes to see out a game, but not to play all ninety or 'win' the game - so we're just too reliant on those eleven and most especially our 'stars' remaining fit/on-form/un-suspended, for enough of those 38 games. Then again, I'm optimistic that we'll have more/better bench-warmers on the books before the transfer window's close, even if we aren't able to secure another 'starter' or two, so we'll be reyt.

Hope so, for me home games with fans could be key.

However, I just don't see it.
As noted earlier, not to strengthen a squad that finished 17th....

alf_resco wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 08, 2021 11:57 am

To stay up there has to be three teams worse than us.
Currently I can't see three.

Well I can in Norwich, Watford and Brentford

kentonclaret wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 08, 2021 12:02 pm

At the start of every football season the Racing Post publishes a supplement "The Big Kick Off" previewing the upcoming season. As part of that 72 page supplement they have a feature on Relegation from the PL in which they tip Southampton and Burnley for the drop.

"When American investment firm ALK Capital purchased a controlling stake in Burnley last December, Sean Dyche spoke about a future where he could look beyond simply surviving in the Premier League. While there were never any guarantees of a spending spree, the hope was the Clarets squad would get the overhaul it badly needs, especially after their worst season in 5 years. Burnley crawled home in 17th place last term, taking 13 points from their last 15 games as they failed to reach the 40 points mark."
"While Dyche was able to mastermind wins at Arsenal and Liverpool to provide some highlights in an otherwise underwhelming campaign, the alarm bells should have been ringing in the Turf Moor boardroom. The wave of optimism that accompanied the new ownership has turned into a trickle with only defender Nathan Collins and goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey added to the squad so far this summer. Failure to add further recruits would represent a second summer without proper investment in an ageing squad."
Only Crystal Palace had an older starting line-up on average last season, with a large portion of the playing staff now the wrong side of 30".

OK, I hadn't seen that. So that's one against the 20-odd that I have seen.

brexit wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 08, 2021 11:48 am

Astonishing.
It's always the board or the recruitment team to blame. When will it register that the manager picks the team and the transfer targets.
Have you missed that Lennon played yesterday and Dyche's comments?

At some point in time most of the posters on this board need that Dyche wants a certain type of player i.e Stephens, Brownhill, Lennon, Rodriguez. He doesn't trust youth and will only replace his "squad" if there are injuries or suspensions. Our best player pre-season Vyfda was left out in the cold for two seasons.

He is a not the messiah he is a ginger dinosaur.

Agree 100% re the dinosaur comment. Sean has earned a lot of browny points from us all. However I cannot believe that he has not played a big part in our ongoing dire recruitment process. In the meantime he doesn’t help himself or the team by taking blind loyalty to another level even when players are struggling. Vydra not getting a kick until Barnes despite being woeful was a shoe in until he got injured. Lennon was dire in the lead up to McNeil eventually getting a chance and helped turn our season around. It’s going to be a long hard season and Sean will struggle to pull rabbits out of hats every year.

ClaretTony wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 08, 2021 11:19 am

I do love the positivity

I noted that when asked if this has been a positive window you replied "Let's see in 23 days time"

So, up until this point you agree with the rest of us that it hasn't been?

We are all waiting to see what happens before the window closes.