" Expectation "

Have we become a club/supporters who expect too much from the club ?
At the start of the season if you had told me we would be a few points off the play offs and have been to the cup final, i would have laughed.
even if we dont make the play offs i think Malky is building something here...we have signed young players, hungry players who will get better and may be capable of playing at a higher level. we are not so reliant on loan players and has beens.
This is a hard league to get out of, and a cruel one if you start to struggle......ask sheff wed, sheff utd, charlton, plymouth, coventry.....norwich a few years back.Lets not get carried away with promotion this year.....i think Malky is doing what lambert did at norwich so lets be patient.Expectation can eat into you......ask all the charlton fans who got curbishly the sack coz he could only get them half way up the premiership table every year.i bet they would love to be there now.We are still in the mix we still have good players, we can still get up.......but if we dont its not the end of the world because we can come back bigger and stronger next year.

Have we become a club/supporters who expect too much from the club ?
At the start of the season if you had told me we would be a few points off the play offs and have been to the cup final, i would have laughed.
even if we dont make the play offs i think Malky is building something here...we have signed young players, hungry players who will get better and may be capable of playing at a higher level. we are not so reliant on loan players and has beens.
This is a hard league to get out of, and a cruel one if you start to struggle......ask sheff wed, sheff utd, charlton, plymouth, coventry.....norwich a few years back.Lets not get carried away with promotion this year.....i think Malky is doing what lambert did at norwich so lets be patient.Expectation can eat into you......ask all the charlton fans who got curbishly the sack coz he could only get them half way up the premiership table every year.i bet they would love to be there now.We are still in the mix we still have good players, we can still get up.......but if we dont its not the end of the world because we can come back bigger and stronger next year.

Excellent post Denzil, 100% agree with you

Have we become a club/supporters who expect too much from the club ?
At the start of the season if you had told me we would be a few points off the play offs and have been to the cup final, i would have laughed.
even if we dont make the play offs i think Malky is building something here...we have signed young players, hungry players who will get better and may be capable of playing at a higher level. we are not so reliant on loan players and has beens.
This is a hard league to get out of, and a cruel one if you start to struggle......ask sheff wed, sheff utd, charlton, plymouth, coventry.....norwich a few years back.Lets not get carried away with promotion this year.....i think Malky is doing what lambert did at norwich so lets be patient.Expectation can eat into you......ask all the charlton fans who got curbishly the sack coz he could only get them half way up the premiership table every year.i bet they would love to be there now.We are still in the mix we still have good players, we can still get up.......but if we dont its not the end of the world because we can come back bigger and stronger next year.

Denzil,

I am not saying its easy to get out of this league far from it, but once your up there, in my mind/world you go for it.

I have to sort of disagree with you. Yes at the start of the season I would of been happy with 10th, but when your up there near the top for over 6 months, you grab it while you can, imagine next season, we could end up being like Forest, you could not guarantee that could you ? Also people say we can build for next season ? Why will we be any better in the transfer market than we were with the supposedly £5 mill in January ? Surely we would not put our selves in debt this Summer as some say ? Those who know it all with the accounts etc, who say we cant buy players because we are in so much debt £70 mill, why will we be any better of in the Summer, than we are now ?



I went to Brighton last night quite happy if we came back with a draw, but when your winning the game on both occasions and then with 3 minutes to go you think were going to win and bring home 3pts and we were singing and celebrating, then bang they equalise, you do feel youve lost 2pts and then you leave the ground unhappy, because you feel youve given it away.


Its exactly the same in the league table, at the beginning of the season I would of accepted 10th place, but then when you have been up there near the top for nearly 7 months, even 2pts of the top and you know that its there for the taking, suddenly bang, we crash down to 8th place and one win our last 7 games, come on be honest you have to be very disappointed ? because I certainly am now. Once your in the lead or up there, surely you want to be a winner then ?


Also something does not add up.

Malky wanted to strengthen/said we needed to strengthen and we never.



Denzil

Why cant we be back in the top 6 after the next 4 matches, is that expecting to much ?

Bristol C away/Hull C home/Burnley home and Coventry home.


I am expecting a return of at least 9 to 10pts from 12pts and this should be putting us back on track in the play offs.

No excuses in my opinion.

I don't want to hear that we are tired or any excuses.
Our season will be defined with these games.


Bristol here we come.

Have we become a club/supporters who expect too much from the club ?
At the start of the season if you had told me we would be a few points off the play offs and have been to the cup final, i would have laughed.
even if we dont make the play offs i think Malky is building something here...we have signed young players, hungry players who will get better and may be capable of playing at a higher level. we are not so reliant on loan players and has beens.
This is a hard league to get out of, and a cruel one if you start to struggle......ask sheff wed, sheff utd, charlton, plymouth, coventry.....norwich a few years back.Lets not get carried away with promotion this year.....i think Malky is doing what lambert did at norwich so lets be patient.Expectation can eat into you......ask all the charlton fans who got curbishly the sack coz he could only get them half way up the premiership table every year.i bet they would love to be there now.We are still in the mix we still have good players, we can still get up.......but if we dont its not the end of the world because we can come back bigger and stronger next year.

Denzil,

I am not saying its easy to get out of this league far from it, but once your up there, in my mind/world you go for it.

I have to sort of disagree with you. Yes at the start of the season I would of been happy with 10th, but when your up there near the top for over 6 months, you grab it while you can, imagine next season, we could end up being like Forest, you could not guarantee that could you ? Also people say we can build for next season ? Why will we be any better in the transfer market than we were with the supposedly £5 mill in January ? Surely we would not put our selves in debt this Summer as some say ? Those who know it all with the accounts etc, who say we cant buy players because we are in so much debt £70 mill, why will we be any better of in the Summer, than we are now ?



I went to Brighton last night quite happy if we came back with a draw, but when your winning the game on both occasions and then with 3 minutes to go you think were going to win and bring home 3pts and we were singing and celebrating, then bang they equalise, you do feel youve lost 2pts and then you leave the ground unhappy, because you feel youve given it away.


Its exactly the same in the league table, at the beginning of the season I would of accepted 10th place, but then when you have been up there near the top for nearly 7 months, even 2pts of the top and you know that its there for the taking, suddenly bang, we crash down to 8th place and one win our last 7 games, come on be honest you have to be very disappointed ? because I certainly am now. Once your in the lead or up there, surely you want to be a winner then ?


Also something does not add up.

Malky wanted to strengthen/said we needed to strengthen and we never.



Denzil

Why cant we be back in the top 6 after the next 4 matches, is that expecting to much ?

Bristol C away/Hull C home/Burnley home and Coventry home.


I am expecting a return of at least 9 to 10pts from 12pts and this should be putting us back on track in the play offs.

No excuses in my opinion.

I don't want to hear that we are tired or any excuses.
Our season will be defined with these games.


Bristol here we come.

Have to agree with all of that to be fair.

And Lambert took Norwich straight up last year and it looks like Adkins may do the same with Southampton this season.

got to agree with you annis if there tired use the squad ffsand use all 3 subs

Have we become a club/supporters who expect too much from the club ?
At the start of the season if you had told me we would be a few points off the play offs and have been to the cup final, i would have laughed.
even if we dont make the play offs i think Malky is building something here...we have signed young players, hungry players who will get better and may be capable of playing at a higher level. we are not so reliant on loan players and has beens.
This is a hard league to get out of, and a cruel one if you start to struggle......ask sheff wed, sheff utd, charlton, plymouth, coventry.....norwich a few years back.Lets not get carried away with promotion this year.....i think Malky is doing what lambert did at norwich so lets be patient.Expectation can eat into you......ask all the charlton fans who got curbishly the sack coz he could only get them half way up the premiership table every year.i bet they would love to be there now.We are still in the mix we still have good players, we can still get up.......but if we dont its not the end of the world because we can come back bigger and stronger next year.

Denzil,

I am not saying its easy to get out of this league far from it, but once your up there, in my mind/world you go for it.

I have to sort of disagree with you. Yes at the start of the season I would of been happy with 10th, but when your up there near the top for over 6 months, you grab it while you can, imagine next season, we could end up being like Forest, you could not guarantee that could you ? Also people say we can build for next season ? Why will we be any better in the transfer market than we were with the supposedly £5 mill in January ? Surely we would not put our selves in debt this Summer as some say ? Those who know it all with the accounts etc, who say we cant buy players because we are in so much debt £70 mill, why will we be any better of in the Summer, than we are now ?



I went to Brighton last night quite happy if we came back with a draw, but when your winning the game on both occasions and then with 3 minutes to go you think were going to win and bring home 3pts and we were singing and celebrating, then bang they equalise, you do feel youve lost 2pts and then you leave the ground unhappy, because you feel youve given it away.


Its exactly the same in the league table, at the beginning of the season I would of accepted 10th place, but then when you have been up there near the top for nearly 7 months, even 2pts of the top and you know that its there for the taking, suddenly bang, we crash down to 8th place and one win our last 7 games, come on be honest you have to be very disappointed ? because I certainly am now. Once your in the lead or up there, surely you want to be a winner then ?


Also something does not add up.

Malky wanted to strengthen/said we needed to strengthen and we never.



Denzil

Why cant we be back in the top 6 after the next 4 matches, is that expecting to much ?

Bristol C away/Hull C home/Burnley home and Coventry home.


I am expecting a return of at least 9 to 10pts from 12pts and this should be putting us back on track in the play offs.

No excuses in my opinion.

I don't want to hear that we are tired or any excuses.
Our season will be defined with these games.


Bristol here we come.

Agreed annis , but even as a kid in a rare once i never give it up to come 1st not once did i think while in 3rd place "OH f**k IT THERES ALWAYS NEXT YEARS SPORTS DAY" like we have done this year.
People need to ask themselfs why we done this because its pretty obvious why we never got people in for the push in the jan market and are failings this year will boil to do the non movement in the jan window for sure, but never mind like most people say on here theres always next season and we got 5million in to spend before the new season starts, you will all see we got nothing like it at all.
We are just drip fed bullshite from the club to the tune of what fans want to hear ,you know that and i know that but do others believe that.

I know where you are coming from Annis.Yes I am disappointed we did'nt kick on in January.After years of rubbish we are now so near we can smell it and taste it. I dont know the reasons for us not buying at least 3 players in the window, but we are here , we are competative and with Malky at the helm I just feel like we are building towards something. I hoped it would be this year and i hope it still can be. Under Dave jones i always thought we we fire fighting each season and panicking in the window.........look at some of the dross we bought..........and look at some of the time wasters we had on loan.Yes i'm desperate for success, otherwise its not worth turning up or keeping the score. But I want a team and a club to watch......whatever div it is in....i dont want to be Luton or Wrexham or Halifax or Chester or plymouth.Never mind 8th in the ..........if you told me where we would be now and what finals we have been too 20 years ago...........I would have had to get the men in white coats to you.

I know where you are coming from Annis.Yes I am disappointed we did'nt kick on in January.After years of rubbish we are now so near we can smell it and taste it. I dont know the reasons for us not buying at least 3 players in the window, but we are here , we are competative and with Malky at the helm I just feel like we are building towards something. I hoped it would be this year and i hope it still can be. Under Dave jones i always thought we we fire fighting each season and panicking in the window.........look at some of the dross we bought..........and look at some of the time wasters we had on loan.Yes i'm desperate for success, otherwise its not worth turning up or keeping the score. But I want a team and a club to watch......whatever div it is in....i dont want to be Luton or Wrexham or Halifax or Chester or plymouth.Never mind 8th in the ..........if you told me where we would be now and what finals we have been too 20 years ago...........I would have had to get the men in white coats to you.

I agree with everything you say there Denzil, but I am in my mind still going for it this season.

Annis there is one major difference between the january transfer maket and the summer transfer market. in the january window clubs ask extortionate prices for shit players, while in the summer there is some major quality going on free transfers and lower fees.
I can see where you are coming from and the temptation for malky to abandon his ethos and bring players in quickly must have been great but i for one am glad he didn't take that gamble and can hopefully add the funds to his summer budget to make us a real force next season.

Annis there is one major difference between the january transfer maket and the summer transfer market. in the january window clubs ask extortionate prices for shit players, while in the summer there is some major quality going on free transfers and lower fees.
I can see where you are coming from and the temptation for malky to abandon his ethos and bring players in quickly must have been great but i for one am glad he didn't take that gamble and can hopefully add the funds to his summer budget to make us a real force next season.

Yes there is a difference I agree, but lets hope we don't go backwards next season, you should seize the opportunity when its there. Although I feel we can still rescue this season, in the next 4 games.

Annis there is one major difference between the january transfer maket and the summer transfer market. in the january window clubs ask extortionate prices for shit players, while in the summer there is some major quality going on free transfers and lower fees.
I can see where you are coming from and the temptation for malky to abandon his ethos and bring players in quickly must have been great but i for one am glad he didn't take that gamble and can hopefully add the funds to his summer budget to make us a real force next season.

What if we do not get 3rd again then gringo then what would are new squad before the season kicked off be a gamble to, oh yea it would thats where people need to wake up whats the diffrence in spending out while a balls not been kicked next season and not knowing whats going to happen or spending while we was 3rd in the league two points off top and 3/4 of the way through the season....THERE BOTH GAMBLES but im sure everyone would agree the best option would have been this season as we knew where we was in the league and what it would take to get top spot two f*cking points, but i dont expect people to understand this

Annis there is one major difference between the january transfer maket and the summer transfer market. in the january window clubs ask extortionate prices for shit players, while in the summer there is some major quality going on free transfers and lower fees.
I can see where you are coming from and the temptation for malky to abandon his ethos and bring players in quickly must have been great but i for one am glad he didn't take that gamble and can hopefully add the funds to his summer budget to make us a real force next season.

Yes there is a difference I agree, but lets hope we don't go backwards next season, you should seize the opportunity when its there. Although I feel we can still rescue this season, in the next 4 games.

I hope so too

Annis there is one major difference between the january transfer maket and the summer transfer market. in the january window clubs ask extortionate prices for shit players, while in the summer there is some major quality going on free transfers and lower fees.
I can see where you are coming from and the temptation for malky to abandon his ethos and bring players in quickly must have been great but i for one am glad he didn't take that gamble and can hopefully add the funds to his summer budget to make us a real force next season.

What if we do not get 3rd again then gringo then what would are new squad before the season kicked off be a gamble to, oh yea it would thats where people need to wake up whats the diffrence in spending out while a balls not been kicked next season and not knowing whats going to happen or spending while we was 3rd in the league two points off top and 3/4 of the way through the season....THERE BOTH GAMBLES but im sure everyone would agree the best option would have been this season as we knew where we was in the league and what it would take to get top spot two f*cking points, but i dont expect people to understand this

Ok i will try to answer you properly. In a sense they are both gambles but in my opinion they are gambles with quite different odds. Malky attempted to get in the players he thought could strengthen us in january but these deals fell through. Malky could have then gone down the dave jones route of adding numbers even though those players may have lacked quality. You may say to me, "why didnt he sign, (for example) jonjo shelvey?" my argument to people who say this is , maybe jonjo shelvey didnt want to come to cardiff!
Now in the summer it does become less of a gamble
A) because fees are a lot lower
B) because i cant go along with your argument (what if we dont get to 3rd again). Surely, Barcelona aren't where they are cos of luck (i'm not comparing us to barca). What i am saying is, if we use our budget well in the summer we wont need luck to be in the automatic positions. You may say to me, 22 other teams will be thinking that, but i think malky has built the foundations of a good youthful side this year that will only get better, and with the right additions (including some pace and a good attacking right back) and we will be some force next season.

Annis there is one major difference between the january transfer maket and the summer transfer market. in the january window clubs ask extortionate prices for shit players, while in the summer there is some major quality going on free transfers and lower fees.
I can see where you are coming from and the temptation for malky to abandon his ethos and bring players in quickly must have been great but i for one am glad he didn't take that gamble and can hopefully add the funds to his summer budget to make us a real force next season.

What if we do not get 3rd again then gringo then what would are new squad before the season kicked off be a gamble to, oh yea it would thats where people need to wake up whats the diffrence in spending out while a balls not been kicked next season and not knowing whats going to happen or spending while we was 3rd in the league two points off top and 3/4 of the way through the season....THERE BOTH GAMBLES but im sure everyone would agree the best option would have been this season as we knew where we was in the league and what it would take to get top spot two f*cking points, but i dont expect people to understand this

Ok i will try to answer you properly. In a sense they are both gambles but in my opinion they are gambles with quite different odds. Malky attempted to get in the players he thought could strengthen us in january but these deals fell through. Malky could have then gone down the dave jones route of adding numbers even though those players may have lacked quality. You may say to me, "why didnt he sign, (for example) jonjo shelvey?" my argument to people who say this is , maybe jonjo shelvey didnt want to come to cardiff!
But we did not sign anyone really bar that kid who sits in the youth from wycombe as for the TRYING to sign players then trust me theres plenty of players out there who would have jumped at the chance with quality while we was 3rd in the league, which then means them becomming an asset for next season, as for loans i couldnt care for them its dead money unless it gets you promoted but are current loans will not ge us promoted
Now in the summer it does become less of a gamble
A) because fees are a lot lower
Again you have a point fees maybe lower but i can hardly imagine MM saying while he had this supposed FIVE million quid in january saying we wait and get them next season because fees are lower so trying to go for top spot and promotion didnt matter to him, he wanted players for sure as thats all hes been on about and MONEY talks
B) because i cant go along with your argument (what if we dont get to 3rd again). Surely, Barcelona aren't where they are cos of luck (i'm not comparing us to barca). What i am saying is, if we use our budget well in the summer we wont need luck to be in the automatic positions. You may say to me, 22 other teams will be thinking that, but i think malky has built the foundations of a good youthful side this year that will only get better, and with the right additions (including some pace and a good attacking right back) and we will be some force next season.I agree we may well use that budget alot wiser before next season but nobody will know untill then what we have and whats comming in/outs, its a dead start next season, unlike when we was 3rd after all are we not going for prem ,thats why we should have done the GAMBLE as you put it in jan.
We do have something good going on any fan can see that its being build with youth but i just can not grasp why we never went for it when we had the chance now its gone and we are left with a tired side playing well below par football in are own half and hoofing it up field, while hoping we get lucky on a break with Three shots on goal these days an this hurts knwing what could have been if we just took the rite option in my eyes

I dont expect promotion far from it. I dont think we should win every game.

However no football fan should be happy losing games and no football fan should be happy going on a bad run like we have in terms of results and performance.

Annis there is one major difference between the january transfer maket and the summer transfer market. in the january window clubs ask extortionate prices for shit players, while in the summer there is some major quality going on free transfers and lower fees.
I can see where you are coming from and the temptation for malky to abandon his ethos and bring players in quickly must have been great but i for one am glad he didn't take that gamble and can hopefully add the funds to his summer budget to make us a real force next season.

What if we do not get 3rd again then gringo then what would are new squad before the season kicked off be a gamble to, oh yea it would thats where people need to wake up whats the diffrence in spending out while a balls not been kicked next season and not knowing whats going to happen or spending while we was 3rd in the league two points off top and 3/4 of the way through the season....THERE BOTH GAMBLES but im sure everyone would agree the best option would have been this season as we knew where we was in the league and what it would take to get top spot two f*cking points, but i dont expect people to understand this

Ok i will try to answer you properly. In a sense they are both gambles but in my opinion they are gambles with quite different odds. Malky attempted to get in the players he thought could strengthen us in january but these deals fell through. Malky could have then gone down the dave jones route of adding numbers even though those players may have lacked quality. You may say to me, "why didnt he sign, (for example) jonjo shelvey?" my argument to people who say this is , maybe jonjo shelvey didnt want to come to cardiff!
But we did not sign anyone really bar that kid who sits in the youth from wycombe as for the TRYING to sign players then trust me theres plenty of players out there who would have jumped at the chance with quality while we was 3rd in the league, which then means them becomming an asset for next season, as for loans i couldnt care for them its dead money unless it gets you promoted but are current loans will not ge us promoted

That's my point. I think Malky genuinely thought we had the noone deal tied up but brighton clearly played us (cunts) and he thought he could pinch sordell who has proven he could score at this level. But having missed out on these (perhaps too late but perhaps it had to be) he has basically decided to go with what we've got until he can find what he believes to be genuine quality (lawrence and vuckic)
Now in the summer it does become less of a gamble
A) because fees are a lot lower
Again you have a point fees maybe lower but i can hardly imagine MM saying while he had this supposed FIVE million quid in january saying we wait and get them next season because fees are lower so trying to go for top spot and promotion didnt matter to him, he wanted players for sure as thats all hes been on about and MONEY talks
No, he wanted noone and sordell but having lost out, instead of using that money on expensive loan fees malky is now (i believe) gonna use that money in the summer when it's a market that favours the buyer not the seller
B) because i cant go along with your argument (what if we dont get to 3rd again). Surely, Barcelona aren't where they are cos of luck (i'm not comparing us to barca). What i am saying is, if we use our budget well in the summer we wont need luck to be in the automatic positions. You may say to me, 22 other teams will be thinking that, but i think malky has built the foundations of a good youthful side this year that will only get better, and with the right additions (including some pace and a good attacking right back) and we will be some force next season.I agree we may well use that budget alot wiser before next season but nobody will know untill then what we have and whats comming in/outs, its a dead start next season, unlike when we was 3rd after all are we not going for prem ,thats why we should have done the GAMBLE as you put it in jan.
We do have something good going on any fan can see that its being build with youth but i just can not grasp why we never went for it when we had the chance now its gone and we are left with a tired side playing well below par football in are own half and hoofing it up field, while hoping we get lucky on a break with Three shots on goal these days an this hurts knwing what could have been if we just took the rite option in my eyes

Yes we are looking jaded at the moment but so were southampton about a month ago. I don't believe billy sharp is the one that has made so much difference to them but after their game against us their confidence seemed to come back. It happens to every team in this league and i hope we can kick on again soon (hopefully tomorrow)

i said. middle table this year would be good. and we can build on that. but. come jan. and we were up in the top 6. i think we should have pushed on. with jan signings.it looks to me like there wasnt a plan b. as for the playoffs . i think i need a break from them my heart needs a break. i will be happy with 7th or 8th. and new summer signings, then add in jan. if needed. but its not my money . so i say. spend, spend , spend, without more debt,

when ontop in any game, you go all out for the win..

the top two were there for the taking, with just 2 or 3 additions... if we do finish mid table, i personally will be gutted. yes you can say that we were all happy with mid table at the start of the season. but then half way through we were in with a shout nobody would have settled for mid table and it looked a long way off.

i dont see how another season in the championship is going to benefit us at all... more debt, i doubt very much we will have more season tkt holders next yr than this yr and we could end up losing key players and having to rebuild again next season which is not going to be any easier. charlton are going to be like southampton, been together for 2 or 3 yrs and will do well next yr. also the sheff teams will prob come up. wolves will poss come down and will have a huge squad and spend like they normally do to get out of this league.. plus leicester, reading, hull, leeds etc will all improve again... we will never have had a better opportunity than we had back in jan... it was there for the taking and we pulled our hands away...

Have we become a club/supporters who expect too much from the club ?
At the start of the season if you had told me we would be a few points off the play offs and have been to the cup final, i would have laughed.
even if we dont make the play offs i think Malky is building something here...we have signed young players, hungry players who will get better and may be capable of playing at a higher level. we are not so reliant on loan players and has beens.
This is a hard league to get out of, and a cruel one if you start to struggle......ask sheff wed, sheff utd, charlton, plymouth, coventry.....norwich a few years back.Lets not get carried away with promotion this year.....i think Malky is doing what lambert did at norwich so lets be patient.Expectation can eat into you......ask all the charlton fans who got curbishly the sack coz he could only get them half way up the premiership table every year.i bet they would love to be there now.We are still in the mix we still have good players, we can still get up.......but if we dont its not the end of the world because we can come back bigger and stronger next year.

Great post

when ontop in any game, you go all out for the win..

the top two were there for the taking, with just 2 or 3 additions... if we do finish mid table, i personally will be gutted. yes you can say that we were all happy with mid table at the start of the season. but then half way through we were in with a shout nobody would have settled for mid table and it looked a long way off.

i dont see how another season in the championship is going to benefit us at all... more debt, i doubt very much we will have more season tkt holders next yr than this yr and we could end up losing key players and having to rebuild again next season which is not going to be any easier. charlton are going to be like southampton, been together for 2 or 3 yrs and will do well next yr. also the sheff teams will prob come up. wolves will poss come down and will have a huge squad and spend like they normally do to get out of this league.. plus leicester, reading, hull, leeds etc will all improve again... we will never have had a better opportunity than we had back in jan... it was there for the taking and we pulled our hands away...

Good post

we will never have had a better opportunity than we had back in jan... it was there for the taking and we pulled our hands away...

A lot of what you said makes very good sense, it just seems to me that fans always want their clubs to spend, spend, spend. Your post was already fully quoted twice so I just included the last line which got me thinking.

Money guarantees nothing and spending money on big time Charlie's could've upset the mood. We actually had a BETTER opportunity last season when we were firmly rooted in the top 2 and there was no West Ham/Birmingham types in sight. Look what the big money prima-donnas did for us then with their attitude and effort when it came down to crunch-time.