To break the ice...

End of season predictions, just gut feelings?

Just gonna do the top 7 and the bottom 7

1. Fleetwood Town
2. Rotherham United
3. Bristol Rovers

4. Oxford United
5. Gillingham
6 Southend United
7. Bradford City

18. Accrington Stanley
19. York City
20. Burton Albion
21. Exeter City
22. AFC Wimbledon

23. Dagenham
24. Barnet

we will finish 12th

2 and 1 reversed for me, barnet, argo and burton, bottom three

I think Exeter may well end up in the bottom two - and no, it's not just wishful thinking. They just seem to be on a downward spiral which may prove difficult to escape from...

100% wishful thinking on my part Andy, exewebbers revelled in our demise just a tad too much.

i have to admit to several emails to ecfc when they were relegated tut conference.



im not sorry though

I wouldn't want Exeter to struggle to much. My new friends up in the Exeter area are good guys and deserve better

City will definitely struggle, along with Barnet, Burton and Dagenham, not sure of the order.

Brizzle Rovers, Rotherham, Southend and Oxford to go up, Fleetwood losing out in the play offs. Argyle a big flag waving aviva paradise, look how far we've come 10th, 6 points off a play off place after winning three end of season meaningless games on the trot.

Fuelling calls for sir Carl of Plymouth to be given the keys to the city and James Brent to have a 60ft statue come lighthouse erected on The Hoe.

Andy_Symons wrote:

I think Exeter may well end up in the bottom two - and no, it's not just wishful thinking. They just seem to be on a downward spiral which may prove difficult to escape from...

We have shipped out 2, signed 4 and also sold a 16 year old to Man Utd for a £100K, plus add ons all in the past 2 weeks. Signs are we will be OK and will be around 7th to 12th.

2 Steps Forward, 1 Step Back, just another Red 5 Year Plan

Chatting to my Grecian neighbour this morning he seemed quite upbeat at a really good crop of youngsters progressing into the first team being blended with a few seasoned old heads being recruited.

I'd be more confident of Tisdale achieving something than Fletch, hopefully I'll be proved wrong.

Trying to tip positions would make my head hurt to much, the Euros game was bad enough.

The Red Star wrote:

Andy_Symons wrote:

I think Exeter may well end up in the bottom two - and no, it's not just wishful thinking. They just seem to be on a downward spiral which may prove difficult to escape from...

We have shipped out 2, signed 4 and also sold a 16 year old to Man Utd for a £100K, plus add ons all in the past 2 weeks. Signs are we will be OK and will be around 7th to 12th.

2 Steps Forward, 1 Step Back, just another Red 5 Year Plan

We shipped a couple out, signed a few and also sold a youngster to a higher league club at the start of last season. We were also releagted the season before. We also had people saying we had some promising youngsters and were only a player or two short of a decent team.

Lets hope that's where the similarity ends for your sake.

If we finish in the top half I will be happy, however it would be wrong for anybody at Argyle to build up hopes for the coming season.

Come November we will have been out of administration for a year so none of the players or management should use that old chestnut.

Oxford for top spot, surprise package will be Daggers.

Lee Jameson wrote:

If we finish in the top half I will be happy, however it would be wrong for anybody at Argyle to build up hopes for the coming season.

Come November we will have been out of administration for a year so none of the players or management should use that old chestnut.

Oxford for top spot, surprise package will be Daggers.

So would you say Brent's comments about Fletcher having enough of a budget for a prmotion push are lies?

And how long out of administration is it ok to start getting pissed off with the lack of progress?

In 2009/10 Southampton started the season in League 1 with a minus 10 point penalty for going into administration. Come August 2012 they will be kicking off in the Premier League at Champions Man City, after playing pre season friendlies against Ajax and Udinese, and having probably signed a few more players to add to the £7 million they have just shelled out on Jay Rodriguez.

Eighteenth tops, x tw@t and the happy clappies will think that is progress for a big city club with no real rivals ,i call it shameful.

Anything other than automatic promotion out of this unmentionable division is utter failure.

BRENT OUT!

Greenjock wrote:

Lee Jameson wrote:

If we finish in the top half I will be happy, however it would be wrong for anybody at Argyle to build up hopes for the coming season.

Come November we will have been out of administration for a year so none of the players or management should use that old chestnut.

Oxford for top spot, surprise package will be Daggers.

So would you say Brent's comments about Fletcher having enough of a budget for a prmotion push are lies?

And how long out of administration is it ok to start getting pissed off with the lack of progress?

In 2009/10 Southampton started the season in League 1 with a minus 10 point penalty for going into administration. Come August 2012 they will be kicking off in the Premier League at Champions Man City, after playing pre season friendlies against Ajax and Udinese, and having probably signed a few more players to add to the £7 million they have just shelled out on Jay Rodriguez.

I dont think JB has lied, I think he's made an assessment of other clubs in our division, looked at their likely budget and ours and set a budget accordingly. On that basis it will be one of the best budgets in our division.

I suspect where we are, is that CF is after a main striker and the discussions he has had so far have priced those available out of not only ours, but most of our competitors price range. As Ive said before, the closer we get to kick off if those players are not signed they will reduce their asking price, its a game of poker.

I think its now, we have moved into a different place than we were 12 months ago and so Administration will not or should not play a part except as a poor excuse. This season we are in a strong financial position compared to most and the manager has the funds to strengthen his squad. The outstanding debt repayments account for very little of our budget.

I do think comparisons with Southampton and similar clubs is football sadism:) We are not in their financial league. Full stop. And no wishful thinking will change that, they have massive sugar daddies and in the 46 years Ive watched Argyle we have never been near that position. Look at Plymouth, we are not likely to be in that position. So we are where we are and we should have enough, allowing for decent signings, to at least be in the play offs.

Greenjock wrote:

Lee Jameson wrote:

If we finish in the top half I will be happy, however it would be wrong for anybody at Argyle to build up hopes for the coming season.

Come November we will have been out of administration for a year so none of the players or management should use that old chestnut.

Oxford for top spot, surprise package will be Daggers.

So would you say Brent's comments about Fletcher having enough of a budget for a prmotion push are lies?

And how long out of administration is it ok to start getting pissed off with the lack of progress?

In 2009/10 Southampton started the season in League 1 with a minus 10 point penalty for going into administration. Come August 2012 they will be kicking off in the Premier League at Champions Man City, after playing pre season friendlies against Ajax and Udinese, and having probably signed a few more players to add to the £7 million they have just shelled out on Jay Rodriguez.

GJ, I don't believe Mr Brent has lied, it is what he believes. I don't want to accuse anybody of telling lies however I do find it strange that Mr Fletcher said almost the opposite. I don't believe that Paul Sturrock had a competitive budget but look what he achieved.

We as supporters should be allowed to be pissed off when we choose, at the end of the day there maybe a difference of opinion but nobodies opinion should be stifled.

When I look at clubs such as Southampton I sigh and think what could have been.

Lee

Andy_Symons wrote:

Lee Jameson wrote:

If we finish in the top half I will be happy, however it would be wrong for anybody at Argyle to build up hopes for the coming season.

Come November we will have been out of administration for a year so none of the players or management or fans should use that old chestnut.

Oxford for top spot, surprise package will be Daggers.

I agree but if that is the opinion, we should allow that opinion to flow.

I was talking to a former director who said it would be wrong for that statement to be used.

PS not one of the the mag 7!

Let's talk REAL shrewd here, shall we.
Between the two of them, Jonah and Harry, have said their bit, both leaving themselves out of the firing line should things go wrong early on. THE most interesting comment is Harry saying Jonah prefers to keep some of his budget back for later in the year .... oh, waht a shrewd man my manager is da da da..

1 ...Heaven forfend those comments are designed to ward off questions of the efficacy of the starting squad and the budget ... because .......

2.... No need for Jonah to be sacked in December if things go belly up, as he's got a wacking great weighted budget for the second half of the season.... be patient da da da... our man is learning his trade, empty your pockets.

These people, these days, consider every word they chuck out. I think the comments are rather manipulating actually.

Lee - my point is that there are still too many fans who seek to trample on any ambition or will amongst the fanbase to see a real attempt to build a squad capable of pushing for promotion.

And, if you were to look at things dispassionately, from an outsiders perspective, you'd see all the plans for redevelopment of the Grandstand, the building of 'new revenue streams' and the like and you'd undoubtedly ask how this is all possible given that we have only recently come out of Administration.

And by the same token, from a fan's perspective, it's easy to ask why, if all this investment can be made in the ground and the club's infrastructure, why can't we see some real investment in the playing side?

It's a familiar debate, one that's indeed left over from the days of the M7. And if we start the new season poorly, it's a debate that will undoubtedly begin again.

Southampton are an extreme example, but Tony is right, administration is well over, James Brent is kicking on with plenty of other ventures guaranteed to make him money, so theoretically there should be no reason why we can't be at least making the play-offs, given the budget Fletcher has at his disposal.

That's theoretically, but realistically I don't think Carl Fletcher has the nous or contacts to get us there yet.

Football is very much a momentum game, hence Southampton and Norwich managing back to back promotions and why Fleetwood are one of the favourites to go up from League 2, and Argyle having survived the possibility of going under totally last year should now be looking to get out of this league this season. Brent himself has described Carl Fletcher as "ebullient" at the moment, so why can't the fans expect promotion this year?

If it isn't achievable under Carl Fletcher with his squad of players, then there is an easy solution to that. Maybe James Brent should sit Carl Fletcher down and ask him why he doesn't think we can get promoted this season? And if he doesn't like the answer he receives then maybe he has made the wrong choice in backing Fletcher.

If I wanted to keep watching a shit League 2 club with no chance of promotion anytime soon, I could always go to Sid James Park, which is actually closer for me.

I think when I asked Mr Brent when he came to the CTC if there would be extra money available if we should need an extra push later on in the season or if a key player got injured that his reply was that there would be contingency money in those sorts of circumstances.

Greenjock wrote:

If I wanted to keep watching a shit League 2 club with no chance of promotion anytime soon, I could always go to Sid James Park, which is actually closer for me.

Jock, there is a written entry exam for any new supporters and a blood test, not sure you would be allowed in. You may need a COA to prove Devonian ancestory (am sure Porkus could forge one), however we go back 3 generations and any Cornish or indeed Scottish bloodline would also mean you would be barred.

Shite League 2 Club (all League 2 Clubs are shite) we may well be, but we have no fanfests, no Janner song, no PI's, no false promises from the board and no Newell. What we do have though is a Club that will be alive in 20 years, where the staff wages are paid and where the Trust has a real voice, not a puppet run supporters board.

The Red Star wrote:

Greenjock wrote:

If I wanted to keep watching a shit League 2 club with no chance of promotion anytime soon, I could always go to Sid James Park, which is actually closer for me.

Jock, there is a written entry exam for any new supporters and a blood test, not sure you would be allowed in. You may need a COA to prove Devonian ancestory (am sure Porkus could forge one), however we go back 3 generations and any Cornish or indeed Scottish bloodline would also mean you would be barred.

Shite League 2 Club (all League 2 Clubs are shite) we may well be, but we have no fanfests, no Janner song, no PI's, no false promises from the board and no Newell. What we do have though is a Club that will be alive in 20 years, where the staff wages are paid and where the Trust has a real voice, not a puppet run supporters board.

Blimey it sounds boring!

The Red Star wrote:

Greenjock wrote:

If I wanted to keep watching a shit League 2 club with no chance of promotion anytime soon, I could always go to Sid James Park, which is actually closer for me.

Jock, there is a written entry exam for any new supporters and a blood test, not sure you would be allowed in. You may need a COA to prove Devonian ancestory (am sure Porkus could forge one), however we go back 3 generations and any Cornish or indeed Scottish bloodline would also mean you would be barred.

Shite League 2 Club (all League 2 Clubs are shite) we may well be, but we have no fanfests, no Janner song, no PI's, no false promises from the board and no Newell. What we do have though is a Club that will be alive in 20 years, where the staff wages are paid and where the Trust has a real voice, not a puppet run supporters board.

I played for Exeter City in my youth I went to school near Dawlish and played for Dawlish first and then was put forward for a trial with City, oh the shame! I was quite useful before the drugs, alcohol, cigarettes and glue sniffing took its toll. Just before I was 16 I had a knee operation so couldn't play for a few months and I'd left school and was back in Cornwall before I played again.

I scored 5 goals in 7 games, but didn't get on with the rest of the team because I supported Argyle. There was one other lad who also used to play for Dawlish who I knew, but other than him the others ignored me. Back then I didn't think it mattered who I played for because I just wanted to play and thought I could play for Argyle and Scotland once I'd made it, and turn down moves to Liverpool or Man Utd to stay at Argyle, and be the fans hero.

There I've got that off my chest now. I'll say 3 hail mary's and wash in holy water and hopefully I'll be forgiven.