General How have the team performed?

[Foley]

A small number of people on here seem to be suggesting that the team has underperformed this season.
I appreciate that there is one game left but based on 71 points in 45 games, how do you think we have done?
Should we have finished above
Sunderland
Pompey
Charlton
Ipswich
Hull
Peterborough ( who have spent around £3.5m in the past 2 seasons)

 

[Steve Gilbert]

A small number of people on here seem to be suggesting that the team has underperformed this season.
I appreciate that there is one game left but based on 71 points in 45 games, how do you think we have done?
Should we have finished above
Sunderland
Pompey
Charlton
Ipswich
Hull
Peterborough ( who have spent around £3.5m in the past 2 seasons)

5 of those teams knew which league they were playing in the following season when the season were called off and PPG used. Only Pompey didn’t. This meant they could all plan their recruitment accordingly. We didn’t know what league we were playing in until the night of 13th July. Our first game back was just 8 weeks later.

In those 8 weeks we had to plan recruitment, get players in, plan preseason training, pre season friendlies, organise the current squad regarding OOC players.

Already this season we have seen the club move quicker regarding the contract situations regarding the current players in the squad.
I’m also positive that we won’t have the shambles of games such as Crewe at home and Swindon at home being called off at short notice (less than an hour before KO in Crewe’s case) next season.
Injuries to key players like Atkinson, Henry, Brannagan, Ruffles and Long haven’t helped plus McGuane just as he was getting into his flow. The lack of form from Eastwood and Henry seemed to be a Wembley hangover.
That was all in the first half of the season (except McGuane) and since Christmas we have kicked on.

With all that in mind I’d say it’s pretty damn good that Robinson has managed to get a team who could still make the play offs on the last day of the season! Do I think we will do it if we get in there? I think it will be 1 step too far but it will be a great achievement in a season like no other IMO.

 

[DevilsAvocado]

Evening,

I voted about par based on my pre season prediction of 5th, however, take into account the injuries
and i think there is a good case for voting overperformed. Think of my vote as about par ++

More than happy at this moment in time to be a team that other sides will look at as a threat in this
division, next season i would probably up the ante and move from being an established top 10 L1
side to being recognised playoff contenders.

If we fail to reach the playoffs this season i`m not going into meltdown, as all things considered its
been a decent effort and at the least gives us something to build on.

 

[unification]

5 of those teams knew which league they were playing in the following season when the season were called off and PPG used. Only Pompey didn’t. This meant they could all plan their recruitment accordingly. We didn’t know what league we were playing in until the night of 13th July. Our first game back was just 8 weeks later.

In those 8 weeks we had to plan recruitment, get players in, plan preseason training, pre season friendlies, organise the current squad regarding OOC players.

Already this season we have seen the club move quicker regarding the contract situations regarding the current players in the squad.
I’m also positive that we won’t have the shambles of games such as Crewe at home and Swindon at home being called off at short notice (less than an hour before KO in Crewe’s case) next season.
Injuries to key players like Atkinson, Henry, Brannagan, Ruffles and Long haven’t helped plus McGuane just as he was getting into his flow. The lack of form from Eastwood and Henry seemed to be a Wembley hangover.
That was all in the first half of the season (except McGuane) and since Christmas we have kicked on.

With all that in mind I’d say it’s pretty damn good that Robinson has managed to get a team who could still make the play offs on the last day of the season! Do I think we will do it if we get in there? I think it will be 1 step too far but it will be a great achievement in a season like no other IMO.

Agree with all of that. I’d add four freak issues that hit the squad early on in the season to the mix.

1. The Brannagan eye injury
2. The Joel Cooper situation
3. Mousinho ending up as a passenger for the first half of the season
4. Experienced pros Eastwood and Henry taking a long time to recover from the playoff final.

All teams have injuries and squad situations. I don’t think we’ve been hit any worse than others but maybe a few key players have been affected. A couple of those instances listed above no one would have predicted ahead of the season starting.

 

[Scotchegg]

Agree with all of that. I’d add four freak issues that hit the squad early on in the season to the mix.

1. The Brannagan eye injury
2. The Joel Cooper situation
3. Mousinho ending up as a passenger for the first half of the season
4. Experienced pros Eastwood and Henry taking a long time to recover from the playoff final.

All teams have injuries and squad situations. I don’t think we’ve been hit any worse than others but maybe a few key players have been affected. A couple of those instances listed above no one would have predicted ahead of the season starting.

In addition, Elliott Moore lost his Dad late into preseason and undoubtedly impacted on his preparation. Josh Ruffels had a very unlucky injury with landing on his shoulder after a nothing challenge. Gorrin was also injured had that contributed to our poor defensive record as much as the ever changing back 4. And I would add Taylor to those who lost form at the beginning of the season.

So if you look at the team that finished last season and how they performed in the first dozen games.





Eastwood - badly out of form and probably got an extra half dozen games out of loyalty.

Long - 50 mins at RB, then LB and CB over the next dozen games.

Dickie - left replaced by Atkinson, who had 2 injuries in the first dozen or more games.

Moore - lost his Dad and played in a makeshift defence. Form clearly affected.

Ruffels - a freak injury and then lost of form.

Sykes - not regularly playing and very inconsistent.

Gorrin - injured first game and too exposed on his return.

Brannagan - freak injury that kept him out for most of the first half of the season.

Henry - huge loss of form and confidence. Really struggled to make any impression and offered little support on the right.

Taylor - chipped away with a few goals but never looked particularly sharp and not helped by the lack of service he got.

Browne - left and replaced by Cooper who sadly couldn't settle. Some glimpses of what he was capable of, but barely had a run.


Some of these issues were of our own making (we were at least one defender short and had a bench of utility players rather than direct replacements). But I don't think anyone would argue against the fact that we were desperately unlucky to lose pretty much everything from a playoff final side within a couple of weeks of the season starting.

 

[milburn]

Whose job is it to have got these players back in form and/or over their Wembley hangovers?

 

[Scotchegg]

Whose job is it to have got these players back in form and/or over their Wembley hangovers?

Ultimately it's the managers job. But one player in isolation can be addressed, several players alongside several more injuries presents a much bigger problem.

Many talk of the massive rebuilds each year, yet we went into the new season with Atkinson instead of Dickie, McGuane instead of Sykes and Cooper instead of Browne. All three had looked good during preseason and there was no reason to think that we would struggle. But the injuries and loss of form from key players made it almost impossible to put a side out to the standard we needed.

We can blame Robinson. We can blame the recruitment. We can blame the squad restrictions. We can blame the players. But I think it's also reasonable to say that we were exceptionally unlucky and all the criticism in the world won't change that.

 

[Jolteon]

Taking into account the entire season as a whole I've voted par. But in reality it's more a case of underperformed for a while, then we lost to Swindon, and since then overperformed the rest of the season. Whilst every team gets injuries etc. I think if you compared the timing and who the injuries were too, we're definitely among the most unlucky this season along with Lincoln which makes our position on 71-74 points, and theirs in the playoffs, all the more impressive. Add in the much shorter recovery time that we had and the lack of knowledge of what league we'd be in compared to how early the rest of the division knew other than Pompey and Fleetwood... Perhaps I should have voted over performed. Fingers can be pointed at KR for the defensive recruitment, we took a shot on Clare, it didn't work, Obita came in late, but you have to also take into account that in the first few weeks of the season we lost Mous for the season, Atkinson for several weeks, Gorrin and Ruffels for a few weeks. If one or two of those don't happen we'd probably have the extra points to be in the driving seat on Sunday. The defeat to Northampton there's no defence for, however. Baffling team selection.

 

[Marked Ox]

We are battling to get into the play offs on the last day of the season so it is par and remains so whether we make it or not for me.

 

[Paul Cannell]

A small number of people on here seem to be suggesting that the team has underperformed this season.

Should we have finished above
Sunderland
Pompey
Charlton
Ipswich
Hull
Peterborough ( who have spent around £3.5m in the past 2 seasons)

Were you at the board meeting or discussion where the club goals were set? I though not.

I was. Tiger was prowling back and forth on the carpet, Horst sitting back in an armchair stroking a white cat and The Blessed Robinson was hopping from foot to foot honking and squeaking as if he was in an interview as they thrashed out the details. This is what they agreed: based on budget we should finish above Ipswich, and Charlton but we should finish below Peterborough ( who have spent around £3.5m in the past 2 seasons), Hull, Sunderland and Portsmouth because we can't really expect a manager to perform better than budget. So 5th is the goal.

Even you, @Foley don't think that's how it works, so why run this squirrel?


I don't care if we've under-performed, I care that we get promoted and our management has made a reasonable number of decisions that have cost us: Clare at right back, Eastwood, no defensive cover except Mousinho who was known to be the walking crocked, a supine mid-season where we played it sideways for game after game, the comedy at Northampton.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

It's seemingly the nature of a KR team that we swing wildly from underperforming terribly (start of the season) to doing how you think we will (able to beat the rubbish, but not good enough to consistently threaten the teams at the top) and on to overperforming (an excellent run of consecutive wins). So the answer to the poll is - all three!

That does really seem to correlate with having the first choice players available - so squad depth/quality is obviously an issue.

I think the first choice players have in the main probably over-achieved. The manager is about par. The recruitment team have probably underperformed and the second string players have been mostly underwhelming. I know we've had injuries, but the art of building a squad is to (as far as possible) mitigate that.

 

[Jolteon]

and the second string players have been mostly underwhelming. I know we've had injuries, but the art of building a squad is to (as far as possible) mitigate that.

This is I think is the big one that has contributed to us not walking into the playoffs. When we did get unlucky with injuries, we didn't have reliable performers to pick up the slack. I don't think you can necessarily beat KR and the recruitment team with it entirely, but ultimately they chose to sign these players - I think most of us were happy to bring Kelly back but he has been poor for 90% of the season, Winnall had great pedigree but has injury history so it was a risk, and it took until the last couple weeks of the season to start showing he is capable still, nobody could've forseen Cooper having to go home, and by all accounts Grayson looked like a good fit for us and Blackburn fans were complimentary of him, but for whatever reason the few times he played for us he looked non league quality. The inconsistent opening to the season from Agyei and Sykes didn't help either, but thankfully they've both been brilliant towards the end.

Where I think the blame is 100% with KR is the baffling decision to give Hall a new contract. I appreciate standing by your players, but if Hall had had a blinding season and had Championship clubs chasing him, would he have stood by us the same way or left on a free? I'd suggest probably the latter. There's very little room for nostalgia in football and we stepped over that line with Hall this season, particularly with the squad cap meaning we were short a defender to keep him around.

 

[Stranger]

The defeat to Northampton there's no defence for, however. Baffling team selection.

Although if Atkinson's goal had counted...

 

[DevilsAvocado]

Taking into account the entire season as a whole I've voted par. But in reality it's more a case of underperformed for a while, then we lost to Swindon, and since then overperformed the rest of the season. Whilst every team gets injuries etc. I think if you compared the timing and who the injuries were too, we're definitely among the most unlucky this season along with Lincoln which makes our position on 71-74 points, and theirs in the playoffs, all the more impressive. Add in the much shorter recovery time that we had and the lack of knowledge of what league we'd be in compared to how early the rest of the division knew other than Pompey and Fleetwood... Perhaps I should have voted over performed. Fingers can be pointed at KR for the defensive recruitment, we took a shot on Clare, it didn't work, Obita came in late, but you have to also take into account that in the first few weeks of the season we lost Mous for the season, Atkinson for several weeks, Gorrin and Ruffels for a few weeks. If one or two of those don't happen we'd probably have the extra points to be in the driving seat on Sunday. The defeat to Northampton there's no defence for, however. Baffling team selection.

My take on this is that KR had more than one eye on the Sky game v Lincoln on the Friday night and
that he thought he could scrape a result v Northampton while resting key players for Lincoln.

This is pure speculation but i can easily imagine that the powers that be made it clear that a good
performance in front of the camera`s was required and that some people were viewing this as an
opportunity to showcase our club, kinda makes sense with everything that has been happening at
board room level.

That is the only credible reason i can think of that would explain the team selection v Northampton.

In the end he got that week half right and probably in the game that meant more to the board.

Lots of if, buts and maybe`s going around, my favourite is from the Charlton forum where a number
of posters are crying about the penalty they failed to convert against us and pointing to that as the
critical moment of the season for them.

 

[Sarge]

My take on this is that KR had more than one eye on the Sky game v Lincoln on the Friday night and
that he thought he could scrape a result v Northampton while resting key players for Lincoln.

This is pure speculation but i can easily imagine that the powers that be made it clear that a good
performance in front of the camera`s was required and that some people were viewing this as an
opportunity to showcase our club, kinda makes sense with everything that has been happening at
board room level.

That is the only credible reason i can think of that would explain the team selection v Northampton.

In the end he got that week half right and probably in the game that meant more to the board.

Lots of if, buts and maybe`s going around, my favourite is from the Charlton forum where a number
of posters are crying about the penalty they failed to convert against us and pointing to that as the
critical moment of the season for them.

I hope theyre correct

 

[Jolteon]

My take on this is that KR had more than one eye on the Sky game v Lincoln on the Friday night and
that he thought he could scrape a result v Northampton while resting key players for Lincoln.

This is pure speculation but i can easily imagine that the powers that be made it clear that a good
performance in front of the camera`s was required and that some people were viewing this as an
opportunity to showcase our club, kinda makes sense with everything that has been happening at
board room level.

That is the only credible reason i can think of that would explain the team selection v Northampton.

In the end he got that week half right and probably in the game that meant more to the board.

Lots of if, buts and maybe`s going around, my favourite is from the Charlton forum where a number
of posters are crying about the penalty they failed to convert against us and pointing to that as the
critical moment of the season for them.

100% agreed. KR knew the game against Lincoln was a big one in terms of being on TV and the playoff race, and didn't respect Northampton enough to think they could get a result against us. I'm a KR in person, but that's was a huge misstep that I really can't defend, although some blame does also have to go to the players because the team that started SHOULD have beaten Northampton still.

 

[DevilsAvocado]

100% agreed. KR knew the game against Lincoln was a big one in terms of being on TV and the playoff race, and didn't respect Northampton enough to think they could get a result against us. I'm a KR in person, but that's was a huge misstep that I really can't defend, although some blame does also have to go to the players because the team that started SHOULD have beaten Northampton still.

Just been looking at the line up for that game and the only 2 that really stick out are Grayson and Winnall starting. With Lincoln in mind
the only thing i might change would be Kelly or Hanson for Grayson. Winnall i would keep as i would want a reasonably fresh Taylor for
friday so apart from that there is not a great deal that can be done imo, Kelly has seemed to lose his way this season and Hanson i hate
to say is just not good enough especially as a CM, Grayson it turned out was even worse but is that hindsight and was it worth a gamble
before the game ?

Look at the line ups for both games including the subs bench and i think you might agree we had very limited options during that time,
the bench v Lincoln especially and if KR was requested to do everything he could to ensure a decent show on friday that completely tied
his hands up for the Northampton game, Grayson aside i dont think there is anything he could have changed.

Edited to say that as Hanson started the game v Lincoln it actually comes down to either Grayson or Kelly and Kelly had just had a stinker in
the previous game v Blackpool.

 

[oufc1991]

I would say if we was going from
The first 10 games we’ve over achieved but the following 30 we’ve under achieved other than a few mishaps we should be getting ready for a play off campaign

 

[Northernyellow]

It's seemingly the nature of a KR team that we swing wildly from underperforming terribly (start of the season) to doing how you think we will (able to beat the rubbish, but not good enough to consistently threaten the teams at the top) and on to overperforming (an excellent run of consecutive wins). So the answer to the poll is - all three!

That does really seem to correlate with having the first choice players available - so squad depth/quality is obviously an issue.

I think the first choice players have in the main probably over-achieved. The manager is about par. The recruitment team have probably underperformed and the second string players have been mostly underwhelming. I know we've had injuries, but the art of building a squad is to (as far as possible) mitigate that.

Kind of hard to build a squad with depth when the owner sells 2-3 of the club’s best players every season

 

[Scotchegg]

Kind of hard to build a squad with depth when the owner sells 2-3 of the club’s best players every season

Kind of hard to stay in business when you don't!