01-08-2018, 08:33 AM
There is usually a lot positive feelings going into a new season and I think it's wise to be a bit realistic as well. There are a lot of good teams in this league and I believe most of them would fancy themselves as having a possibility of reaching the play offs with a bit of luck. When that is said, I do believe that there are far more positives than negatives when we look at Forest and I personally would be very disappointing if we are no able to be among the top 6. With the squad we now have and all the good work that has been done in and around the club, I believe that's a fair expectation.
These are my list of positive and negative points:
POSITIVES:
- We have a proven manager who has done it before
- The manger has the full backing of the owners and has been able to assemble his own squad
- The squad has the right blend of experience, leadership and youthful talent and we now have at least two very good options for each position in the team
- It seems that everybody believes in the "project" (players,staff, owners and supporters). Everybody is pulling in the same direction.
- There seems to be a great togetherness among the players
- Karanka has a clear idea on how his team should play and it seems like he has been able to get the team to take that on board and adapt (high intensity, defensive solidity and attacking with pace and movement)
- Of the 10 new players coming in Figs, Pants and Colback were here last year and the Portuguese trio and Daws came in very early and thus have had the full pre-season with the team. Only the seasoned pros Grabban and Soudani came in late.
- The Portuguese trio have played together before and know each other very well (Diogo and Joao has played together all their lives and they have together with Gil played for the Portuguese U21 team)
- Early signs indicates that every single players has accepted that they must work hard for the team in order to be a success. Even our flair players are working their socks off to press and close down.
NEGATIVES:
- 7 new players coming in. The Portuguese trio consists of young talent who has limited experience from first team football (Gil has more than the other two) and no experience from English football. The same goes for Soudani. It can take time for them all to adapt and there is always a risk that they won't adapt at all.
- We have a squad of players that probably all feel that they should be playing each week. That is of course not possible and disrupting behavior from players not playing could become a problem. Karanka has however proven that he will not tolerate that kind of behavior so hopefully that will be avoided.
I'm actual struggling to find further negative points but maybe some of you can pitch in here but it would surprise me a lot if those could overshadow the positive ones. There are of course many good teams in this division but I put my trust in Karanka here. If he believes he now has a squad that is capable of gaining promotion then I wouldn't argue against that. After all he has done it before. I for one, can't wait for it all to unfold.
These are my list of positive and negative points:
POSITIVES:
- We have a proven manager who has done it before
- The manger has the full backing of the owners and has been able to assemble his own squad
- The squad has the right blend of experience, leadership and youthful talent and we now have at least two very good options for each position in the team
- It seems that everybody believes in the "project" (players,staff, owners and supporters). Everybody is pulling in the same direction.
- There seems to be a great togetherness among the players
- Karanka has a clear idea on how his team should play and it seems like he has been able to get the team to take that on board and adapt (high intensity, defensive solidity and attacking with pace and movement)
- Of the 10 new players coming in Figs, Pants and Colback were here last year and the Portuguese trio and Daws came in very early and thus have had the full pre-season with the team. Only the seasoned pros Grabban and Soudani came in late.
- The Portuguese trio have played together before and know each other very well (Diogo and Joao has played together all their lives and they have together with Gil played for the Portuguese U21 team)
- Early signs indicates that every single players has accepted that they must work hard for the team in order to be a success. Even our flair players are working their socks off to press and close down.
NEGATIVES:
- 7 new players coming in. The Portuguese trio consists of young talent who has limited experience from first team football (Gil has more than the other two) and no experience from English football. The same goes for Soudani. It can take time for them all to adapt and there is always a risk that they won't adapt at all.
- We have a squad of players that probably all feel that they should be playing each week. That is of course not possible and disrupting behavior from players not playing could become a problem. Karanka has however proven that he will not tolerate that kind of behavior so hopefully that will be avoided.
I'm actual struggling to find further negative points but maybe some of you can pitch in here but it would surprise me a lot if those could overshadow the positive ones. There are of course many good teams in this division but I put my trust in Karanka here. If he believes he now has a squad that is capable of gaining promotion then I wouldn't argue against that. After all he has done it before. I for one, can't wait for it all to unfold.