Are we over or under achieving this season?

[rentaghost]

Well yes in that case then. Obviously.
But factor in the chronic problems off the field, some of which are still there, then it's a much different story.
The budget is considered an advantage but its hardly that when much of it is paying the wages of Oviedo and Cattermole.

The budget is huge and the biggest in the league by a mile even without Cattermole and Oviedo. Without those two we have a budget and transfer power that no other team in the league can match. The off field problems are a bit of a red herring. We were looking solid, confident and built a great base for automatic promotion coming into January. Owners were positive, fans supportive and no cloud hanging over anyone and some decent money available to try and turn some of those draws into wins. If it was blatantly obvious there was a huge cloud over the club at the beginning of the season and we had left ourselves too much to do I could understand but our performances now look worse than at any stage of the season.

 

[SAFC 2012]

A huge amount of the massive budget is wages we're already committed to . If we could have peddled Catts Oviedo McGeady then I'm sure we would have done so .....where would that have left us ?

And signed more shite?

Mcgeady has been our best player and catts is by far our best centre mid as is oviedo at left back

Barring mcglaughlin and maguire and maybe onien when he can be arsed ross signings have been pretty shit

Edit. When maguire can be arsed that is

 

[Seaham Towny]

Man for man, your first eleven is probably better, but they have a cohesion that makes the team greater than the sum of it's parts.

Sonny Bradley wasn't good enough for Portsmouth in League 2, yet he's a vital part of Luton's team.

Was really impressed with their full backs, 2 centre forwards and Pearson their centre half when they played us here. think all 4 could play in the Championship no bother.

Just looked at their team at the weekend and looks as though they played without a striker...

 

[Keawyeds]

Compared to what?

It’s a fresh start with a new manager, new players. I had no expectations for the season.

f***ing this. The amount of negative people on here, twitter and in general absolutely do my tits in.
I had to unfollow some lass because she was just permanently on the negative about our chances of being promoted.

You're either behind the team, or you're not.

 

[toosb]

The budget is huge and the biggest in the league by a mile even without Cattermole and Oviedo. Without those two we have a budget and transfer power that no other team in the league can match. The off field problems are a bit of a red herring. We were looking solid, confident and built a great base for automatic promotion coming into January. Owners were positive, fans supportive and no cloud hanging over anyone and some decent money available to try and turn some of those draws into wins. If it was blatantly obvious there was a huge cloud over the club at the beginning of the season and we had left ourselves too much to do I could understand but our performances now look worse than at any stage of the season.

It's largely because of two League 1 standard defenders completely losing their shit as the run-in gets serious.
Our general play has been largely consistent throughout and at no stage have we been brilliant. Not sure why people think we should walk this league when we have players in the team from Wycombe, Burton, Peterborough, Bradford, Wigan's bench and Scotland.
It's basically a "cobbled together at the last minute" team.
Ross has made mistakes, he hasn't had a good week. But I look at the team and I think where we are is basically where we should be. In with a shout, but not walking it.

 

[TAFKAHM]

For what it's worth, I don't think you ha e the best squad in the league. Best first eleven, maybe, but your squad is definitely thinner than Pompey's.

Problem is, we have not had the first eleven available that many times this season!

 

[flanny1]

This thread is quite bizarre, fans are saying we have good players and should be getting promoted and other fans are calling them for being negative.

True
False

So who has a better squad?

 

[ilovehorswill]

So who has a better squad?

The two teams above us for a start

The problem is you see a group of players who have played at a much higher level and think they are the best team in this league.

I see a bunch of individuals thrown together punching over their weight. Our keeper is spot on but our defence has no pace, the midfield is inconsistent and our forwards don't score.

They try hard and some are very talented but that's not enough to piss the league. To do that you have to work as a team as demonstrated by Luton all season long.

 

[cjt]

With our squad, under, way under
With our circumstances going into the season, over

 

[safcmackem]

if we are still in this league next season then we have Under Achieved

 

[two left feet]

No but having the biggest budget by a mile, the biggest squad, spending the most money, having the likes of McLaughlin and McGeady in this league is massive. After the start we had and those things in our favour automatic should be achieved. That's nowt to do with history etc.

Just purchasing a new team does not guarantee success. The club was at its lowest ebb. I had no expectations for the season. But that’s my opinion; you’re welcome to have your own.

You're wrong. All big clubs have advantages when relegated to a league they very rarely if ever visit. The new owners (with the help of Short) stopped the rot at this club by the time the season had kicked off. The budget, income and ability to pay higher than average wages gave us an advantage over our competitors. The size and standing of the club is a more intangible thing to quantify but its difficult to argue its not a factor. The only two variables for me were quality of recruitment and quality of management, and imo both of these have question marks against them.

No, I’m not wrong. My opinion is my opinion. You’re welcome to your own.

 

[Zinedine Kilbane]

People keep saying about only 3 losses which doesn’t exactly tell the full story.
3 loses is remarkable. However, not when you put 18 draws into the same sentence. Shows we’ve dropped points throughout the season.

Despite the 3 loses we are very much in a battle for 2nd place and looking at the bookies odds (Sky Bet) were 3rd favourite for that position (5/2) odds for 2nd place behind Barnsley (Fav) and Pompey (2nd Favs).

Underperforming. We should not be outside the top 2 with the wage bill and players at this club. Anything less than top 2 is horrendous

 

[rentaghost]

It's largely because of two League 1 standard defenders completely losing their shit as the run-in gets serious.
Our general play has been largely consistent throughout and at no stage have we been brilliant. Not sure why people think we should walk this league when we have players in the team from Wycombe, Burton, Peterborough, Bradford, Wigan's bench and Scotland.
It's basically a "cobbled together at the last minute" team.
Ross has made mistakes, he hasn't had a good week. But I look at the team and I think where we are is basically where we should be. In with a shout, but not walking it.

All teams in this league have players in their team from the likes of Wycombe, Burton, Peterborough, Bradford. In fact the likes of Wycombe, Burton, Peterborough, Bradford are full of them and so far we havent got a single win against 3 of those 4

 

[naughtynose]

Anyone who thinks other than we've massively under achieved is kidding themselves tbh.

 

[Hot Since 82]

Should be promoted by now, shite. The football has been pitiful for most of the season. The standard in this league is appalling and we look right at home in it.

 

[Mboma]

As soon as anyone has hit any form they've gone and got injured.

The team was thrown together and expected to gain promotion.

A lot of our side have come from league one and Scotland.

Our top goalscorer left to warm the bench and count his money elsewhere.

Teams coming to the SoL and playing out of their skins whilst a lot of referees have went hiding in theirs.....

I could keep going but the fact is, it's a miracle that we're are still in with a shout of promotion after all the draws but we may just get over the line yet.

I thought play offs at the start of the season but I'll keep my fingers crossed for 2nd place....what will be, will be.

 

[offmenut]

Anyone who thinks other than we've massively under achieved is kidding themselves tbh.

Disagree like.
If we don't go up then I think we have massively under achieved.
Atm we arent massively underachieving. Perhaps under achieving, but not massively.

 

[riffraff]

As a club we have massively underachieved this season. The double should’ve been wrapped up by now. We pay more, we’ve spent more, we get bigger crowds, we’ve the biggest stadium and the biggest history. How can we say owt else.
As a set of players of vastly differing ability levels they’re can’t be anywhere else than where they are. So they’ve “achieved”.

 

[Keawyeds]

if we are still in this league next season then we have Under Achieved

You could say that about any team trying to get promoted.

As a club we have massively underachieved this season. The double should’ve been wrapped up by now. We pay more, we’ve spent more, we get bigger crowds, we’ve the biggest stadium and the biggest history. How can we say owt else.
As a set of players of vastly differing ability levels they’re can’t be anywhere else than where they are. So they’ve “achieved”.

We're also a more densely populated area than a lot of others. Our ground is massive compared to all others in the league.
We're a team of players who mostly only came together at the beginning of the season. Considering how well they've done this season to get to a cup final and be in contention STILL for an automatic place says it all.

We CAN still go up automatically. If we don't we CAN still get promoted.
What we CAN'T do, is influence other team's results

 

[rentaghost]

You could say that about any team trying to get promoted.



We're also a more densely populated area than a lot of others. Our ground is massive compared to all others in the league.
We're a team of players who mostly only came together at the beginning of the season. Considering how well they've done this season to get to a cup final and be in contention STILL for an automatic place says it all.

We CAN still go up automatically. If we don't we CAN still get promoted.
What we CAN'T do, is influence other team's results

That's only really relevant if we looked a disorganised shambles from the off. Credit to Ross then but we didn't, we were strong, organized but just struggled to put teams away at times. From that base point I would expect him to improve players, improve the system and generally improve the team overall. We are worse now than we were then both in terms of tactics, systems and player performance.