An unscientific view of the season.

[bill taylors apprentice]

Firstly, what an enjoyable season with every player contributing to the cause, even players with little playing time made valuable contributions at times.

We maintained our high work rate from the opening game of the season and games where we lacked an edge were very few and far between.

Newcastle at home (early sending off) was the only real bad day at the office due to poor performance. Villa away, Bournemouth away were performances below expectations while West Ham mugged us twice thanks to the officials.

Arsenal away looks bad on paper but the score flattered them while they were full of confidence.
But sport (especially football) is not an exact science and there are off days for all teams.

Then we won at BHA against all logic but we worked our socks off to be in with a chance.
There were games where we took advantage of the opponents errors and we enjoyed wonderful wins such as Leeds & Palace away but always our hard work and teamwork allowed our quality to come through.

It's weird, but I had a reoccurring feeling of disappointment at times throughout the season that is probably unreasonable.

That feeling was that time and again we never quite won a game against the bigger clubs.

In almost every game against Man U, Man C, Spurs, L'pool we should have, could have won.
Not every time of course but I can't shift the disappointment at not having beaten a couple of them.
Of course, this disappointment is nothing to the joy of seeing the team compete at PL level and hold their own.

We looked throughout the season like a PL team and now the plan is to maintain the standard against the bottom half of the league and find a solution against the "top teams" of this league next season.

COYW!

[The Rock]

Nice post. I don't think we were "good value" for being 10th either. No team really outclassed us (expect maybe City at points). We seemed to beat all the teams below us and lose to all the teams above us, generally speaking (West Ham, Brentford, BHA etc. were outliers).

I too felt we should have done even better, however unreasonable that might seem, and I think that is due to the fact that we barely lost those games (to most of the top teams) and played better than them in a number of cases (United comes to mind).

We simply outclassed the teams below us in most cases so it felt like we came up a bit short. I can't remember when this was the case to such an extreme, even when we were in Europe with RH. I really enjoyed watching it.

[bill taylors apprentice]

Nice post. I don't think we were "good value" for being 10th either. No team really outclassed us (expect maybe City at points). We seemed to beat all the teams below us and lose to all the teams above us, generally speaking (West Ham, Brentford, BHA etc. were outliers).

I too felt we should have done even better, however unreasonable that might seem, and I think that is due to the fact that we barely lost those games (to most of the top teams) and played better than them in a number of cases (United comes to mind).

We simply outclassed the teams below us in most cases so it felt like we came up a bit short. I can't remember when this was the case to such an extreme, even when we were in Europe with RH. I really enjoyed watching it.

I totally agree.

The danger for any team is believing the hard work is done and starting next season at a lower intensity.
I don't think we will suffer from this or the classic second season syndrome that some teams do.

With five substitutes allowed now the need for quality on the bench is vital and players seem more likely to accept this if they are used regularly.

Additions need to be good enough to start and even improve to have that extra edge against the teams above us and maintain our position in the league.

We do need to keep all our starters and continue the (almost) excellent recruitment. 

[WindyCity]

Nice post by the TO.  Agree with the sentiment.  Great season, sorry to see it come to a close.  But if anything FFC showed that it was PL quality and absolutely deserved to be in this league.  Now we need to build upon this and position ourselves for a long run in the league.  Can't sit still, will need to pick up some new players in the summer.  Sure, we will need to get some results against the top teams, but don't sell short what needs to be done v the lower half clubs.  To stay in this league, it's imperative that you beat up on the weak sisters, and FFC did that to near perfection.  And that needs to continue.  Hopefully the team can be upgraded where needed and we can turn some of those one goal losses around to points next season.  A terrific season, cap tip to MS and lads!!

[WindyCity]

The danger for any team is believing the hard work is done and starting next season at a lower intensity.
I don't think we will suffer from this or the classic second season syndrome that some teams do. 

That's why MS is paid the big bucks.  Avoidance in 'second season syndrome' will largely be the responsibility of MS.  I really like MS as coach of this club and feel he has put the team in great position to move forward and improve.

[Kiwimike]

I felt at times in some of the'close' games that we lacked someone who could see and make that cutting pass to open up the tight defences.  TC and AP did it occasionally but not often enough.  I hope to see the addition of a midfielder who can do this along with another striker (more mobile than Mitro and Vini).
The Fred option sounds promising - with another Portuguese speaker in midfield we should be able to confuse every other team (except possibly Wolves)