We have stayed in league one for the first time in 15 years(ALLEGEDLY)...an achievement considering we have the smallest budget of those years (probably) people want to invest (possibly) and we all like football.
Another reason: Our squad will have the best unity and team spirit in the division - again - which ends up being worth points in the long run.
Also, we were in almost every game last season, including games where the lineup was more or less composed of the remaining players. If we add even three or four "GA specials", whether on loans or frees, I still think we will be competitive.
There's lots to be positive about; best league finish in 17 years (since 2002). Consolidated as a League 1 club which is where we need to be to grow. Best average attendance for 9 years (since 2010). We have continuity with a manager who gets the best of out of players, moulds them into a team and punches above its weight. I love pulling bigger clubs down a peg or two. (waves towards Devon). We also have Sido Jombati. : )
I heard last night on very good authority that one of the clubs promoted from League 2 has a playing budget around 3 times bigger than Wycombe’s! More evidence of the minor miracle that GA has achieved on such limited resources.
I’m actually looking forward to the new season, but we desperately need Gareth (and maybe Bayo) to still be with us. Our expectations will (and should be) low but as others have pointed out we were competitive in most games and work harder than most and I can see us picking up enough points to not be cut adrift by January.
I think by then we will be in a position to increase the player budget which will hopefully boost us to exactly the same position we finished this year.
@Shev said:
Another reason: Our squad will have the best unity and team spirit in the division - again
I'm all for optimism but what exactly is this based on, other than it often being stated by Wycombe that we have a unified squad with lots of team spirit? Do you know enough to say for sure that we are more unified and with more team spirit than anyone else in the league? And given we've lost three of the players widely acknowledged to give the team its spirit in the last year - Bean, Ma-Kalamby and, a year ago, O'Nien - with the possibility we'll also lose Akinfenwa this summer, why are you so certain that we'll have such great team spirit again?
@glasshalffull said:
I heard last night on very good authority that one of the clubs promoted from League 2 has a playing budget around 3 times bigger than Wycombe’s! More evidence of the minor miracle that GA has achieved on such limited resources.
Although the focus will be on league survival, a run in one of the cups next season would be great financially even though it will stretch our playing resources
@aloysius I know mate lying bastardos eh? Team spirit? Togetherness ? What a shower,eh? They'll say anything to make it look like they're working hard for us when we know the truth. Smell that coffee! Take off the rose tinted glasses! Renew your ST!
@aloysius: I enjoy your posts and, for what it’s worth, normally find myself broadly in agreement. On the matter of togetherness, team spirit, character etc, trying to evaluate where we stand in comparison with other clubs is difficult and to some extent subjective. However, there were several games against top League 1 sides last season where sheer determination, industry and team spirit gave us the edge in terms of possession and shots on goal and one match which typified this was the recent home game against Charlton. Watching them now against Doncaster (and bearing in mind that they have won seven of their last eight games) it is remarkable to think that we could so easily have won that game (even without the loan players!) if we’d had more of a cutting edge. And not given away a sloppy goal through “ball watching”.
@aloysius - for my part, I agree it is a reasonable question you ask. There was a mention on here about confirmation bias a while back, and I can see how blue quartered glasses could help Wycombe fans believe we have something greater than we do. @micra is spot on in saying "trying to evaluate where we stand in comparison with other clubs is difficult and to some extent subjective."
That all being established, I made the statement because everyone involved in both the team and wider club appear to go out of their way to use superlatives, rather than standard lip service. Instead of "the lads are together" or "we have a great dressing room", I have heard more than one comment along the lines of "I have never been a part of anything like it" - this kind of statement (to me) goes beyond the standard cliches to indicate something special. A couple of examples of this are Joe Jacobson's interview on the pitch after Fleetwood, and an interview Nathan Tyson gave to @bluntphil last season, stating that coming to Wycombe - and playing for GA - helped him fall back in love with football. There are numerous other examples of players going above and beyond in their effusive praise of the club, the manager, and the unity in the dressing room. Even the confidence with which the players came out, week after week, in the midst of a dreadful run, can be directly compared to Southend's players, who were on a very similar run, and did not look interested, or Walsall's players, who were being serenaded at one point with "you're not fit to wear the shirt" by a huge section of the away support.
As far as your very relevant question about how this can continue with the loss of several of the squad, my confidence is within the question itself, as you mentioned Luke O'Nien. I must admit I was a little worried about him leaving from that aspect, but we brought in McCarthy and Samuel, who have more than made up for anything we lost from Luke in that department. So I believe the key is with Gareth Ainsworth, and his deliberate recruitment of players with the right attitude, in addition to (hopefully) talent on the pitch. If we do lose over a third of our squad (in other words, if Bayo, Gape and Kasket refuse contracts and we lose 9), it would definitely test our spirit, but I do think it comes down from the manager. I believe that we still have that vital core to build upon, on and off the pitch. The most notable possible danger to our team spirit is the day Gareth leaves.
You’ve absolutely nailed it, @Shev. I remember that interview with Tyson and there are of course several other players who have been delighted to return. Must be at least half a dozen, including PCH and Fred, of course.
Not sure quite what I was on about in my thread opener when I referred to £500,000 for what I described (not knowing what it was) as a parachute payment. Of course, we have since learnt that each League 1 club gets a share of TV (etc?) receipts of £1.39 million. I hope I’ve got that right. Sounds borderline football fortune!
Thanks for the considered responses @shev and @micra - I agree that recruitment of players with the right mentality is something that Gareth clearly prides himself in doing and, on the whole, succeeds at. I do think Luke was a big loss when it came to squad spirit; his enthusiasm was clearly infectious and he built a great rapport with Bayo in particular. I didn't notice such a particular sense of 'togetherness' this season - maybe also not helped by Bayo training less and less with the squad - but certainly it's something that Gareth and Dobbo do their damndest to install in players, a key part of the Wycombisation process, and I look forward to seeing their efforts in that regard with whoever they recruit over the summer. There will be some very tough times ahead and we'll need as much team spirit as we can muster in the next twelve months.
.The £1.39 million which I mentioned in my post of 5.43pm I now realise relates to last season and, according to the Plymouth Herald article quoted by the Gasman (perhaps someone can explain to me how to get link details copied into posts) amounts for the upcoming season have not yet been confirmed. A hefty increase would be welcome!
@fame_46 said:
It’s also poor to claim Bayo supposedly training less damaged unity in the dressing room, when in reality he trains as hard as any pro in the game.
Just spotted a great Tweet from Nick Harris: "The romance of football; little Salford City, owned by a billionaire and 6 multi-millionaires, losing the thick end of £2 million a year in England's FIFTH tier while paying players up to £200,000, winning promotion to the EFL. Underdog tales."
Have they never heard of fan ownership or Gareth Ainsworth???
Comments
Come on folks. Please endorse and augment (if you can!). Absence of comment could render me joyless and negative like the usual suspects.
Who will now give me the thumbs down. You see.
Thumbs up from me.
Point 1 and his number 2 , our no 2, due some football fortune (You Hause) , New varieties of crisp launched every day.
We have stayed in league one for the first time in 15 years(ALLEGEDLY)...an achievement considering we have the smallest budget of those years (probably) people want to invest (possibly) and we all like football.
All good so far, especially the wipeout of a thumbs down from one of the joyless.
You’re right @StrongestTeam - Dobbo for ever!
Another reason. Mark Warburton has a very good track record when it comes to loaning out quality young players.
Another reason: Our squad will have the best unity and team spirit in the division - again - which ends up being worth points in the long run.
Also, we were in almost every game last season, including games where the lineup was more or less composed of the remaining players. If we add even three or four "GA specials", whether on loans or frees, I still think we will be competitive.
Totally agree @Shev (you’ll not be surprised to hear!).
There's lots to be positive about; best league finish in 17 years (since 2002). Consolidated as a League 1 club which is where we need to be to grow. Best average attendance for 9 years (since 2010). We have continuity with a manager who gets the best of out of players, moulds them into a team and punches above its weight. I love pulling bigger clubs down a peg or two. (waves towards Devon). We also have Sido Jombati. : )
Excellent post @glasshalfempty.
Only half empty after all.
I heard last night on very good authority that one of the clubs promoted from League 2 has a playing budget around 3 times bigger than Wycombe’s! More evidence of the minor miracle that GA has achieved on such limited resources.
I’m actually looking forward to the new season, but we desperately need Gareth (and maybe Bayo) to still be with us. Our expectations will (and should be) low but as others have pointed out we were competitive in most games and work harder than most and I can see us picking up enough points to not be cut adrift by January.
I think by then we will be in a position to increase the player budget which will hopefully boost us to exactly the same position we finished this year.
I'm all for optimism but what exactly is this based on, other than it often being stated by Wycombe that we have a unified squad with lots of team spirit? Do you know enough to say for sure that we are more unified and with more team spirit than anyone else in the league? And given we've lost three of the players widely acknowledged to give the team its spirit in the last year - Bean, Ma-Kalamby and, a year ago, O'Nien - with the possibility we'll also lose Akinfenwa this summer, why are you so certain that we'll have such great team spirit again?
Mk Dons..
Although the focus will be on league survival, a run in one of the cups next season would be great financially even though it will stretch our playing resources
@aloysius I know mate lying bastardos eh? Team spirit? Togetherness ? What a shower,eh? They'll say anything to make it look like they're working hard for us when we know the truth. Smell that coffee! Take off the rose tinted glasses! Renew your ST!
@aloysius: I enjoy your posts and, for what it’s worth, normally find myself broadly in agreement. On the matter of togetherness, team spirit, character etc, trying to evaluate where we stand in comparison with other clubs is difficult and to some extent subjective. However, there were several games against top League 1 sides last season where sheer determination, industry and team spirit gave us the edge in terms of possession and shots on goal and one match which typified this was the recent home game against Charlton. Watching them now against Doncaster (and bearing in mind that they have won seven of their last eight games) it is remarkable to think that we could so easily have won that game (even without the loan players!) if we’d had more of a cutting edge. And not given away a sloppy goal through “ball watching”.
Well said, @micra!
@aloysius - for my part, I agree it is a reasonable question you ask. There was a mention on here about confirmation bias a while back, and I can see how blue quartered glasses could help Wycombe fans believe we have something greater than we do. @micra is spot on in saying "trying to evaluate where we stand in comparison with other clubs is difficult and to some extent subjective."
That all being established, I made the statement because everyone involved in both the team and wider club appear to go out of their way to use superlatives, rather than standard lip service. Instead of "the lads are together" or "we have a great dressing room", I have heard more than one comment along the lines of "I have never been a part of anything like it" - this kind of statement (to me) goes beyond the standard cliches to indicate something special. A couple of examples of this are Joe Jacobson's interview on the pitch after Fleetwood, and an interview Nathan Tyson gave to @bluntphil last season, stating that coming to Wycombe - and playing for GA - helped him fall back in love with football. There are numerous other examples of players going above and beyond in their effusive praise of the club, the manager, and the unity in the dressing room. Even the confidence with which the players came out, week after week, in the midst of a dreadful run, can be directly compared to Southend's players, who were on a very similar run, and did not look interested, or Walsall's players, who were being serenaded at one point with "you're not fit to wear the shirt" by a huge section of the away support.
As far as your very relevant question about how this can continue with the loss of several of the squad, my confidence is within the question itself, as you mentioned Luke O'Nien. I must admit I was a little worried about him leaving from that aspect, but we brought in McCarthy and Samuel, who have more than made up for anything we lost from Luke in that department. So I believe the key is with Gareth Ainsworth, and his deliberate recruitment of players with the right attitude, in addition to (hopefully) talent on the pitch. If we do lose over a third of our squad (in other words, if Bayo, Gape and Kasket refuse contracts and we lose 9), it would definitely test our spirit, but I do think it comes down from the manager. I believe that we still have that vital core to build upon, on and off the pitch. The most notable possible danger to our team spirit is the day Gareth leaves.
You’ve absolutely nailed it, @Shev. I remember that interview with Tyson and there are of course several other players who have been delighted to return. Must be at least half a dozen, including PCH and Fred, of course.
Not sure quite what I was on about in my thread opener when I referred to £500,000 for what I described (not knowing what it was) as a parachute payment. Of course, we have since learnt that each League 1 club gets a share of TV (etc?) receipts of £1.39 million. I hope I’ve got that right. Sounds borderline football fortune!
Thanks for the considered responses @shev and @micra - I agree that recruitment of players with the right mentality is something that Gareth clearly prides himself in doing and, on the whole, succeeds at. I do think Luke was a big loss when it came to squad spirit; his enthusiasm was clearly infectious and he built a great rapport with Bayo in particular. I didn't notice such a particular sense of 'togetherness' this season - maybe also not helped by Bayo training less and less with the squad - but certainly it's something that Gareth and Dobbo do their damndest to install in players, a key part of the Wycombisation process, and I look forward to seeing their efforts in that regard with whoever they recruit over the summer. There will be some very tough times ahead and we'll need as much team spirit as we can muster in the next twelve months.
.The £1.39 million which I mentioned in my post of 5.43pm I now realise relates to last season and, according to the Plymouth Herald article quoted by the Gasman (perhaps someone can explain to me how to get link details copied into posts) amounts for the upcoming season have not yet been confirmed. A hefty increase would be welcome!
@fame_46 care to justify that claim?
Just spotted a great Tweet from Nick Harris: "The romance of football; little Salford City, owned by a billionaire and 6 multi-millionaires, losing the thick end of £2 million a year in England's FIFTH tier while paying players up to £200,000, winning promotion to the EFL. Underdog tales."
Have they never heard of fan ownership or Gareth Ainsworth???