Verdict on season

[UniFox21]

I think we need more of this in our game.

 

 

 

[Corky]

The elitism and snobbery in English football is depressing. Fuelled by Sky, mainly.

 

The desperation to finish 4th has changed the game for the worse. It has devalued domestic cups, made the Europa League (plus Conference now) appear a joke event and even that wasn't enough for those club executives.

[bovril]

Reading some of the recent posts in the depression thread and some of the posts in the match day thread - I understand when people say it's no good for their mental health. I suppose with the pandemic and not doing other stuff football has really taken centre stage. Another problem is that the games are on at all times and all days now so there's no escape.

 

I say this every season but I really will try to take less of an interest next year. I felt physically sick during the cup final and was exhausted for days afterwards. Bike rides instead of Leicester matches from mid August onwards, at least for a few months. 

[UniFox21]

5 minutes ago, Corky said:

The elitism and snobbery in English football is depressing. Fuelled by Sky, mainly.

 

The desperation to finish 4th has changed the game for the worse. It has devalued domestic cups, made the Europa League (plus Conference now) appear a joke event and even that wasn't enough for those club executives.

My mates a non-league fan and says the exact same. The Top 4 mantra is pushed so hard by sky/BT that everything else doesn't matter. Fans seem to just lose today when you look back on your team, you don't see X number of top 4 finishes, you'll see trophies won etc. 

I hate where the game is in terms of the elite. 

[CosbehFox]

14 minutes ago, UniFox21 said:

I think we need more of this in our game.

 

 

 

You know the most annoying thing? We had most of the UK media claim about taking football ‘back’ but in reality it was them wanting to reinforce and maintain their monopoly 

[CosbehFox]

5 minutes ago, bovril said:

Reading some of the recent posts in the depression thread and some of the posts in the match day thread - I understand when people say it's no good for their mental health. I suppose with the pandemic and not doing other stuff football has really taken centre stage. Another problem is that the games are on at all times and all days now so there's no escape.

 

I say this every season but I really will try to take less of an interest next year. I felt physically sick during the cup final and was exhausted for days afterwards. Bike rides instead of Leicester matches from mid August onwards, at least for a few months. 

So true. It’s why I really don’t mind international weekends. Being at the game is so much better because it’s communal in feeling 

[UniFox21]

4 minutes ago, Cardiff_Fox said:

You know the most annoying thing? We had most of the UK media claim about taking football ‘back’ but in reality it was them wanting to reinforce and maintain their monopoly 

It's the most apparent thing ever in hindsight. 

Not even weeks have been and gone, yet we see sky pundits saying clubs need to spend X 100's of millions to compete. 

They hated losing their revenue source, nothing about the game. 

 

Made me laugh seeing Jake Humphrey make out that BT were some heroes for showing games through the pandemic. Excluding the behind a pay wall aspect obviously

[fox_up_north]

Just rewatching the games on MOTD and, personally, I'd rather see us fight for 5th than capitulate again. For me, it's much more demoralising to see us do so well then collapse, compared to fighting hard against the "top 4" and not quite make it but knowing we're better than 7th and below.

[don_danbury]

3 minutes ago, fox_up_north said:

Just rewatching the games on MOTD and, personally, I'd rather see us fight for 5th than capitulate again. For me, it's much more demoralising to see us do so well then collapse, compared to fighting hard against the "top 4" and not quite make it but knowing we're better than 7th and below.

i think i agree.to have this happen twice in a row is gutting. to have chelsea pip it too with them hardly scoring any goals and being mostly shit. i hate it

[Corky]

19 minutes ago, UniFox21 said:

My mates a non-league fan and says the exact same. The Top 4 mantra is pushed so hard by sky/BT that everything else doesn't matter. Fans seem to just lose today when you look back on your team, you don't see X number of top 4 finishes, you'll see trophies won etc. 

I hate where the game is in terms of the elite. 

Guillem Balague is the chairman of Biggleswade so despite being a prominent journalist he knows all about the lower levels of the game. Not surprised he's fed up with the snobbery involved and he's also from Spain whose teams seem to take every European competition seriously.

 

I'm glad I never became a fan where winning trophies and appreciating all aspects of the game was secondary to existing in a bubble of smug superiority.

[Dan LCFC]

2 hours ago, Cardiff_Fox said:

You know the most annoying thing? We had most of the UK media claim about taking football ‘back’ but in reality it was them wanting to reinforce and maintain their monopoly 

The majority of them were just upset that they weren't involved in the plans. The majority of them are total frauds and anyone worth their salt knew it.

 

As predicted, they virtually all got what they hoped for yet faced no punishment for this. Depressing yet totally predictable.

[smudgerfox]

The West Ham (a) game in retrospect seemed pivotal. Out of the international break we lost to Man City without laying a glove on them. We had eight days to prepare for West Ham and to beat them would have really opened the gap to fifth. It was a Cup Final which, had we won it, would have eased the pressure later. Even a draw would have been useful.
 

What happened? We had to change the team fairly late in the day because of the Perez party fiasco. We were 3-0 down after 48’ after a performance that was utterly clueless and smacked of a criminally unprepared team. Amartey was subbed at half time never to be seen again - except riling up Chelsea after the Cup Final. Praet was hooked after an hour and similarly disappeared. From that game team selection for the remaining nine games - played over five weeks - revolved around 14 players with only very occasional late appearances from the wider squad (Praet, Choudhury, Mendy, Morgan). The party-goers, Maddison and Perez, were utterly anonymous for the vital remainder of the season - neither produced anything of significance to assist the cause.

 

Brendan lost faith in his squad after that game which left a massive workload for those left still standing. Injuries (Evans, Forfana) inevitably followed. And we won the FA Cup to a piece of individual genius. 

[cruzFOX]

It’s a bitter bitter pill to swallow today. The old saying ‘it’s the hope that kills you’ is so true.

i almost wish Chelski had beaten villa by 3 goals before half time would have been better.

Atleast then we would have known we had no chance. We as fans have suffered watching our team capitulate in key moments through the season. The players have suffered too and picked themselves back up to go again and stay in the fight. Football can be a cruel game that’s all I can say. Today it was brutal.

lets get everyone back now fully fit and healthy. Hope we can strengthen significantly in the summer transfers! We cannot and must not go thru this again next season.

[Winchesterfox]

Just winning the FA Cup has made it a great season for me.  We've got a good manager, the best recruitment team, lots of young talent, play exciting football a lot of the time, and on our day can beat anyone.  Things are looking up, especially if we can continue to spot and develop players and take advantage of our world-class training facilities.

 

Sure, we've got things to work on, like all clubs.  Squad depth in a few places, taking and defending corners, defending in general (50 goals against is too many for a club with PL aspirations), and sorting out our home form. Above all I'd like a Roy Keane type in the middle of the pitch to balance out the youth - an experienced leader who can made us a bit less nice when we need to be and help us grip games and close seasons out.  

Edited 24 May 2021 by Winchesterfox

[Dorkingfox]

56 minutes ago, Winchesterfox said:

Just winning the FA Cup has made it a great season for me.  We've got a good manager, the best recruitment team, lots of young talent, play exciting football a lot of the time, and on our day can beat anyone.  Things are looking up, especially if we can continue to spot and develop players and take advantage of our world-class training facilities.

 

Sure, we've got things to work on, like all clubs.  Squad depth in a few places, taking and defending corners, defending in general (50 goals against is too many for a club with PL aspirations), and sorting out our home form. Above all I'd like a Roy Keane type in the middle of the pitch to balance out the youth - an experienced leader who can made us a bit less nice when we need to be and help us grip games and close seasons out.  

Just shows how far we have come when we are disappointed at finishing 3rd or 4th, even after winning a trophy. Was a strange thing being at the game. 

[Analysethis]

Considering out catalogue of injuries, I`d say this was an amazing season.

 

4 points better off in the league than last time and another major trophy in the cabinet. The squad has improved, youngers are emerging from the academy and our purchases have largely improved in value, especially Fofana.

 

8/10 season at least for me.

[Steve Earle]

We lost half our home games! 

 

To finish in a European spot with that record is miraculous. Let's hope we never see another home season like it. 

[whoareyaaa]

Good season 5th and FA Cup winners, lets go and win the Europa League next season and we can get in the champions league auto.

 

Time for a much needed rest.

[FrankieADZ]

looking back,what we've done this season, in the league, cups and in europe too, and considering we havent even been able to really field a full strength team for the most part of the season too, i think weve had a good season;

for us to still have a chance at top 4 and given our ropey home form too(dont get me wrong losing it again is gutting) but im still pleased with the season we've had tbh even if it is topped with that very tiny layer of disappointment

[Babylon]

With the injuries it's a minor miracle we finished 5th and won a cup, it's as simple as that. 

 

Yeah it's frustrating the season ended like that again, nothing wrong with feeling like that. But ultimately it was successful. 

Edited 24 May 2021 by Babylon

[Hales]

Yes i was disappointed yesterday as we were so close! The season has been great and im going to be positive. The FA cup was magical and there were some massive results against the "big 6". We are on a journey and next season will be even better! I think Top will back Brendan in the transfer window and hopefully we can make some great signings and get players back from injuries. Time for them to rest, recuperate and come back fighting. Hope Youri, Timmy, Dennis, Cags, Kasper etc. have a great Euros and come back fit and well and full of confidence for next season. I'm looking forward to it, bring it on!

[chapero82]

It’s been a great season and we are lucky to be where we are as just a few years ago we were relegated to league one

[Cadno'r Cymoedd]

8 hours ago, bovril said:

Reading some of the recent posts in the depression thread and some of the posts in the match day thread - I understand when people say it's no good for their mental health. I suppose with the pandemic and not doing other stuff football has really taken centre stage. Another problem is that the games are on at all times and all days now so there's no escape.

 

I say this every season but I really will try to take less of an interest next year. I felt physically sick during the cup final and was exhausted for days afterwards. Bike rides instead of Leicester matches from mid August onwards, at least for a few months. 

Excellent post. Football has become a more intense focus in the pandemic with little let up for fans as well as players. 

 

I will take a great interest in the Euros being Welsh and hope we do well there as there is perhaps more of a focus here with our small size and lack of success internationally.

 

But the summer break is very welcome. The end of last season and this has really got into my head, not all good either. 

[Cadno'r Cymoedd]

1 minute ago, Cadno'r Cymoedd said:

.. 

 

Edited 24 May 2021 by Cadno'r Cymoedd

[An Away Move]

The heart is still gutted and the body feels flat. Only the brain knows that we did amazingly well with the list of injuries we’ve had to contend with and ‘party gate’, which did have an impact.