When the fixtures came out would you have been happy with 4 points from our first three, with the huge new building work going on. I would.

Absolutely!

yes.

Might seem harsh but I expected 5 - a draw versus Huddersfield, a win versus Luton and a draw versus Watford.

Shows what I know.

Yes.
With the amount of integration required, now style, manager and coaching staff I'm happy with 4 from 9 and not getting battered at all.

It's going to come eventually, but I still think we can finish top 6

Yes because it was always going to take time.

Oh yes. Three quite tricky fixtures with lots of new faces. Been the better side in every game so far. And you'd imagine we'll improve. Far more reasons to be cheerful than not.

I’d of been happy with 4 points before the World Cup

Yeah and don't forget the day after we were relegated not many on here would have named many of our signings as targets. Still at any level the hardest and most expensive thing to do is score goals, we have not addressed that properly as yet.

In a division below its mediocre at best dressing it up positively but honesty can bring accusations of negativity, it’s ok just ok nothing to be orgasming about, plenty of fodder in this division & time to set the world alight just happened yet.

Two home games coming up. Beat Hull and Blackpool, things'll feel a whole lot better.

Easier said than done though....

On par.

Huddersfield and Luton won't be anywhere, Watford will probably be in the top 6.

Lots of work to do, but I just hope it isn't a hot day again when we go to Wembley.

Jakubclaret wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 12, 2022 10:56 pm

In a division below its mediocre at best dressing it up positively but honesty can bring accusations of negativity, it’s ok just ok nothing to be orgasming about, plenty of fodder in this division & time to set the world alight just happened yet.

Is that a "no" from you then?

Jakubclaret wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 12, 2022 10:56 pm

In a division below its mediocre at best dressing it up positively but honesty can bring accusations of negativity, it’s ok just ok nothing to be orgasming about, plenty of fodder in this division & time to set the world alight just happened yet.

No more beers for Jakub, barman.

It's around now, with 2 home games, VK starts to earn his dosh.
New team, still getting used to each other.
And what we're trying to do.
Still think Mr Pace needs to shake the Money Tree for someone who is going to score goals.

DCWat wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 12, 2022 10:59 pm

No more beers for Jakub, barman.

After that performance it was ok I think the Watford goalkeeper did well & abit more fortunate we leave with a point we’ll play far worse & pick up that’s the positivity for me. Good evening.

We were lucky not to get batterd by Huddersfield.

If they'd have turned up in the first half, we'd have lost

tarkys_ears wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 12, 2022 11:13 pm

We were lucky not to get batterd by Huddersfield.

If they'd have turned up in the first half, we'd have lost

We have had 3 tough fixtures to begin with and we have come out of it fairly well, all things considered. We could have beaten Luton and Watford tonight had we been more clinical, having dominated both for the majority of the games. We will get there, we have points on the board and huge ambition. Have faith.

burnleymik wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 12, 2022 11:15 pm

We could have beaten Luton and Watford tonight had we been more clinical, having dominated both for the majority of the games. We will get there, we have points on the board and huge ambition. Have faith.

But we didn't

tarkys_ears wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 12, 2022 11:16 pm

But we didn't

Absolutely, but it would have been far more worrying if we never looked like we could win...

tarkys_ears wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 12, 2022 11:13 pm

We were lucky not to get batterd by Huddersfield.

If they'd have turned up in the first half, we'd have lost

You know nothing about football

More than happy. Loving what I've seeing and excited to see what this squad can do.

About what I expected. We aren’t far off. Big striker signing needed, two or three changes for the starting XI. Barnes is done, Costelloe not ready, Benson not ready. Need to remember we haven’t properly seen our key signing Twine yet who will be a real boon, particularly on set pieces, which have been disappointing mainly.

Fact is, that’s one of the toughest away games we’ll have all season, haven’t played great, yet still should’ve had a point probably.

I thought we’d get 1 with all the changes. Long season.

tarkys_ears wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 12, 2022 11:13 pm

We were lucky not to get batterd by Huddersfield.

If they'd have turned up in the first half, we'd have lost

I know, proper lucky, they turned up second half and battered us with their zero shots on target leading to no actual saves from the keeper.

People have been predicting we’d be wide open, tragic from opposition set pieces etc and I genuinely in 3 games cannot remember the keeper making a save.

The signs that we are a proper side are there, just some are choosing not to see it.

Would have been happy with 9 points at this stage.....

It's a great start from this new team. So many positives about the way we play our possession, movement and high press. Just need to drill the final 3rd down and HMS Pee the League can set sail.

Early days, very happy with where we are at.

I'm not happy - who likes losing?

Yesterday was frustrating as I felt we were justly beaten by what may prove to be one of the better and certainly more experienced side that knew what they were about yet we could have won it. Whether it was the heat, their strength, or simply better tactics I can't say. It seems to me though that at the moment reasonably capable teams just have to wait for us to make a mistake to be able to beat us. Reminds me of Norwich in the Premier League under Farke.

It also reminds me of when I tried to play tennis with no brain. I was always trying for the winning stroke which inevitable went into the net or out because I wasn't very good. If I had half a brain I would have just played the ball into the opponents half and let him make the mistake.

In the bigger scheme of things though we've done OK and there's reason to be optimistic. Manager, coaches, players all learning and there does seem to be potential there. Hopefully an interesting season beckons.

Its an ok start. Kompany said it best when he pointed out that its good to have a test like Watford early on before the window closes. It enables him to judge where we are and where we need to strengthen. The transition from the midfield is painfully pedestrian but he will know we are screaming out for a decent number 9 and 10.

Yes very pleased with the start. Honestly didn’t know what to expect.
The main thing though is that this team excites me. Having been a long time season ticket holder, last year I didn’t go on one game (despite offers of free tickets) and didn’t watch us once on TV. I had just lost interest in the game, the premier league and constant battle to survive.
That is nothing against SD, I think he was great for us and will always be a legend of our club.
This year though, already been on two games, can’t wait to see us on TV.
Can’t wait to see what we can do. Get excited when Vitinho looks to take on a defender, or Brownhill on the edge of the box. Or wondering what the hell will happen when Muric decides to act as sweeper .
It is just bloody exciting and regardless of where we finish, I think I might just enjoy this season UTC.

Yes, it could easily have been 9, but I wasn't expecting the 4 to be honest.

We have looked the better team, overall, in all our games so far, against teams who were either in the Prem and haven't changed much, or were close to promotion themselves. That's a very good sign given the complete overhaul of management and playing staff. I honestly expected a poor start with us hopefully picking up after the World Cup. Instead it's been a pleasant surprise with what we are attempting to achieve.

Reasonably content so far, we're far from the finished article, but what did we expect after 3 games.

Possession has been good, now we just need to find a way to make it tell in games.

Yes we lost last night, but only narrowly at a team that could well be right up there come the business end of the season, and on balance we deserved at least a point.

I find it quite funny that people are being encouraged to “be honest” some people are & all their get back is accusations that they are negative & all they want is doom for the club & always find fault with everything, the general theme & attitude is encouraging dishonesty, reasons do exist giving rise to positivity but reasons do exist giving rise to negativity but for some people it’s just a 1 way thing & even if we got thrashed 10 games in a row everything would be fine.

Happy with 4 points form those 3 games. We're not far off.

I think that is unfair Jakubclaret. No one is suggesting people cannot highlight areas to improve and ultimately no one is being prevented from making whatever statements they want. Personally, I think it is correct to suggest that some are being overly negative and dare I say it, doing that for the attention. The idea that we could have got battered by Huddersfield as one poster suggested or we are doomed to midtable, seem examples of being overly dramatic and overly pessimistic at this stage.

Turftalker wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 13, 2022 11:45 am

I think that is unfair Jakubclaret. No one is suggesting people cannot highlight areas to improve and ultimately no one is being prevented from making whatever statements they want. Personally, I think it is correct to suggest that some are being overly negative and dare I say it, doing that for the attention. The idea that we could have got battered by Huddersfield as one poster suggested or we are doomed to midtable, seem examples of being overly dramatic and overly pessimistic at this stage.

Maybe I’ve got it wrong but a lot of snideness goes on I only mentioned last night we wasn’t playing cohesive enough & somebody was on about my spelling or grammar without even bothering to comment on what I was posting. Anything positive whether factually incorrect won’t be picked up anything negative but factually correct woe be tide.

I’m very happy so far. I thought that with all these new faces we would be really struggling until at least October. Pleasantly surprised how quickly we are gelling together. Just need a decent striker, but then so does every team.

I'm happy with the 4 points.
Bossed huddersfield around, earned a a point against a well organised Luton squad, and should have at least drawn against promotion favorites Watford.

I had a feeling it was going to take half of the season for the VK to get his system in place, but i've been surprised at how well the team has gelled. The passing has been superb, and we've got some creative players which will equate to goals .

Listening to the pundits two days after we were relegated almost had me calling the Samaritans. According to them we were broke, had a team of "out of contract" players, the owners owed £60m and would be taking all the parachute payments, and no manager in place. We were apparently heading one way-the same way as the likes of Ipswich, Sheffield Wednesday and a few others.Within a week, the majority of pundits and journalists were spouting the same thing. In a short period-new manager, new thinking, better football, we have a plan for the future, and am pretty convinced our financial position with the clear out of OOC's, reducing the wage bill, getting good fees for the likes of McNeil and Cornet, and buying and negotiating better is a lot stronger. We could so easily be on 9 points. The next few signings are critical-get them right and we will be a real force in this division-and sooner than we anticipated

I’m pleased with where we’re at but mostly in terms of the trajectory we’re on for the season rather than current points total per se. It’s clear that VK is crafting a squad capable of challenging for promotion in this league this season. It’s also clear that the quality of the squad is lower than last season but we had to expect this once the decision had been made to extensively rejuvenate the entire squad. It’s hypothetical, but I’d expect our team at this time last season would be comfortable playing against our current best 11, but by the end of the season let’s hope we’re more effective in the final third. Watford were very comfortable against us for instance but were clinical when the chance came in a similar way that we have been in the past. Only three games in but lots to be pleased about and enjoyable to see the pathway we’re on. If we do get promoted, I expect we’d need another significant squad upgrade, but we’ve got an exciting squad fit for the Championship, so more optimistic now than before the season started.

For Jacub - a balanced view.

Strengths: Much better than expected and £60 million in the bank from transfer surplus.

Weaknesses: the reliance on Jack Cork and the need for a pacy central striker or preferably two

Lost Opportunities: Just imagine if we had spent £47 million on players instead of shares.....!

Threats: We lose another £30 million in broadcast revenue at the end of the season - we still have £45 million to pay to MSD and £68 million to the former owners.

It all hangs in the balance people...!

warksclaret wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 13, 2022 2:57 pm

Listening to the pundits two days after we were relegated almost had me calling the Samaritans. According to them we were broke, had a team of "out of contract" players, the owners owed £60m and would be taking all the parachute payments, and no manager in place. We were apparently heading one way-the same way as the likes of Ipswich, Sheffield Wednesday and a few others.Within a week, the majority of pundits and journalists were spouting the same thing. In a short period-new manager, new thinking, better football, we have a plan for the future, and am pretty convinced our financial position with the clear out of OOC's, reducing the wage bill, getting good fees for the likes of McNeil and Cornet, and buying and negotiating better is a lot stronger. We could so easily be on 9 points. The next few signings are critical-get them right and we will be a real force in this division-and sooner than we anticipated

Pundits aren't generally worth listening too, they're clueless more often than not

If we'd drawn all three we'd probably be saying: decent start. But that would have only been three points, so you have to be happy with four.

Yes! For that small minority who are having a meltdown already - Norwich are currently bottom, and they definitely won't be down that end of the division come the end of the season.

Quicknick wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 13, 2022 4:28 pm

If we'd drawn all three we'd probably be saying: decent start. But that would have only been three points, so you have to be happy with four.

this. I would have been happy with three "bedding in" draws against the opening three opponents. But that's not the point. We've dominated possession and have a goalkeeper that has not yet made a save, and as far as I can remember only collected one cross. Given that level of bossing the ball, we perhaps should be on at least 5 now, if not above that.

hetheclaret wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 13, 2022 4:33 pm

Yes! For that small minority who are having a meltdown already - Norwich are currently bottom, and they definitely won't be down that end of the division come the end of the season.

Forest were rock bottom this time last season, and look how their season ended, far too early to get carried away checking out league tables in August.

We're doing fine enough so far, with the promise of a good haul of points in our upcoming games.

And for me as long as we're around the top 6 when the WC break kicks in I'll be content, as we'll surely only improve as the season progresses.

tiger76 wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 13, 2022 5:25 pm

Forest were rock bottom this time last season, and look how their season ended, far too early to get carried away checking out league tables in August.

We're doing fine enough so far, with the promise of a good haul of points in our upcoming games.

And for me as long as we're around the top 6 when the WC break kicks in I'll be content, as we'll surely only improve as the season progresses.

Agree 100%

Certainly frustrating, both last night's game and the draw against Luton: We had far and away the majority of the ball and played far prettier/better football, but after 90 minutes failed to get the result we deserved against a bunch of hoof ball playing gorillas. You do start to see why Klopp and the other Premier League managers so hated playing against the 'old' Burnley. A few more games and a couple more signings and all will come good; over a season the cream invariably rises to the top

I suppose so as 2 of the games were away. 5 points would have been better but as we are not clearly at our best yet 4 points will do