villa89 Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 It probably all hinges on this striker or strikers that we plan to buy. If we can get a player in who can score plenty of goals for us then we'll have a chance of promotion. Realistically though a playoff spot is the expectation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Thomas Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 (edited) 8 hours ago, markavfc40 said: Gary your optimism seems to be waning slightly mate. It tends to fluctuate by the day at the minute! I am still hopeful, Newcastle are the stand out team but I would not put us far behind any of the others - maybe even in front; all depends on what we do in the market over the coming weeks. Seem to be a few links appearing (outs and ins) so the barometer has gone up a few notches. Edited July 20, 2016 by Gary Thomas 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briny_ear Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 Di Matteo is clearly trying to prepare us for the idea that promotion in 2016/7 is not a shoo-in & he has lots of work to do to rebuild the club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 Just now, briny_ear said: Di Matteo is clearly trying to prepare us for the idea that promotion in 2016/7 is not a shoo-in & he has lots of work to do to rebuild the club. Not sure there's much preparation needed, just evidence of the club speaks volumes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted July 20, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted July 20, 2016 Merely having an actual football manager in charge of pre season will mean we're noticeably better than last season even of we signed nobody Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlwaysAVFC Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 24 minutes ago, Stevo985 said: Merely having an actual football manager in charge of pre season will mean we're noticeably better than last season even of we signed nobody You're not wrong. I think it will make a massive difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briny_ear Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 54 minutes ago, Richard said: Not sure there's much preparation needed, just evidence of the club speaks volumes True, but judging by some of the comments on this site, not all fans are on that page. There may be some expectation management going on with our new owner when he made his comments in China. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodders0223 Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 We have a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 3 minutes ago, rodders0223 said: We have a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it. Que the: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrytini Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 3 hours ago, Stevo985 said: Merely having an actual football manager in charge of pre season will mean we're noticeably better than last season even of we signed nobody Indeed. And the guys with him. I never liked Bond as Robin to Candlefaces PratMan but he's a good coach, and we all know Clarke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nabby Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 I'm hoping history repeats itself with RDM in that his team follows a newly relegated Newcastle up. Of course I'd love to win the league but Newcastle's player sales have given them a huge advantage to spend big. Mf looks like it needs some players and a striker is still a must but I think we are in ok shape so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackbauer24 Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Most accept Newcastle are currently miles in front of us. They started miles in front of us and have significantly invested to improve further. If they lose some of their bigger names that may change but as it stands they will walk the league - a good manager who's been in place for a while, with a very good squad and lots of money to invest. Furthermore, they have recent experience of this league so that gives them a small advantage too. So that leaves us fighting for one automatic promotion spot and the lottery of the playoffs. We have hopefully improved our goalkeeping situation, marginally improved our defensive situation, added another player to our midfield and significantly improved our management setup. As it stands, is it enough? Personally I can't see it. With weeks left until the season starts we still seem a long way off where we'd need to be to gain promotion. Momentum is with other teams, we haven't seen a massive jump in performance from Richards, Lescott, Gabby etc and none of those players have gone. Furthermore we will be a big scalp because of our name and we have loads more derbies to contest. Everything currently points to a season of hugely underwhelming disappointment. I think we're currently good enough to be in a battle for playoff places, but certainly not guaranteed one. However, I won't fully make judgement until the transfer window closes. Then we'll know where we are and what we've got. Last year that's when it became apparent to me that we were screwed, hopefully this year I'll come to a different conclusion but tinkering needs to become full-on repairs quickly or the Aston Villa engine will once again stall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markavfc40 Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Be interesting to see what Wolves do now they have been taken over. We have had a number of weeks head start and given that they finished 14th last season, which would suggest they have a squad that needs a lot of work, I'd hope they wouldn't be finishing ahead of us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippo Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 21 hours ago, briny_ear said: Di Matteo is clearly trying to prepare us for the idea that promotion in 2016/7 is not a shoo-in & he has lots of work to do to rebuild the club. You can't fudge the manager position. RDM is a poor appointment that's a massive hindrance to promotion - all IMO of course. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 I would say the ones that are outgoing are not the cancerous players in the dressing room. Thats my concern to why promotion may be difficult. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinker Posted July 21, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted July 21, 2016 At the moment its more about who's leaving and that's a worry , the better players will be sought after and the poor ones will be left here, yet again. IMO Were not going up next season, there's at least 5 teams who are better placed and we haven't got enough time to buy the players we would need, get them fit and then integrate them into the team. Our only chance is the existing players, who showed some promise stay and improve, Veretout is an example of one of those players and hes being linked with a loan move away.........UTV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasshopper Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 ATM we are top of the league Champions! So there's only one way, and that's down Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dounavilla Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 3 hours ago, hippo said: You can't fudge the manager position. RDM is a poor appointment that's a massive hindrance to promotion - all IMO of course. What do you Base that on exacley ? A poor appointment ? Ludicrous to suggest that Imo considering he hasn't even had a competitive game for us yet. Furthermore everything he has said or done so far has been largely positive. Who in your opinion would you have realisticy gone for? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HAL Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 If we dont go up this season it will be far harder to go up since the ones that drop from the prem will have a far higher kitty to spend than us . Also if we fail to spend this then Alot of fans will be against the new owner stright away :I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashingqwerty Posted July 21, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted July 21, 2016 Yeah as we stand i think we are closer to relegation than playoffs never mind automatic promotion. At least 6 players needed for me to make us playoff contenders never mind champions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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