Parky and Wanderers in the Championship

Let's assume for argument sake that we're already up. It's not done and dusted yet but we'll say it is for the moment.

Like it or not, that makes Phil Parkinson look pretty damn special. He's already achieved big things at a couple of other clubs, now he's taken Bolton back up at the first attempt when most fans thought they'd do well to get to the play-offs.

However much of it anyone thinks it boils down to luck - I personally think 2nd place is incredibly flattering - on paper it's brilliant stuff from Parky. 

The trouble is, what will the fans settle for in the Championship next season? Is Parkinson unsackable?

Well Wolves absolutely walked this league, yet their fans soon wanted rid of Kenny Jackett.
Bristol City were the same under Cotterill.
And Wigan with Caldwell.

...just a few examples off the top of my head.

And will the expectations be constant throughout the season? 

Most Bolton fans would have taken 6th place at the start of this season yet there's never been universal satisfaction, even though we've rarely dropped outside the top 6. 

Will we start the season saying things like "this season is just about steadying the ship" and "we'll take anything above 22nd", until October when we're midtable and it's "we've been pretty lucky to date, it's only a matter of time before more and more teams suss us out"?

Who knows what will happen once the transfer embargo gets lifted.  We have a lot of players out of contract too, so we should be much better off financially. I'd be happy with survival.

doffcocker wrote:Let's assume for argument sake that we're already up. It's not done and dusted yet but we'll say it is for the moment.

Like it or not, that makes Phil Parkinson look pretty damn special. He's already achieved big things at a couple of other clubs, now he's taken Bolton back up at the first attempt when most fans thought they'd do well to get to the play-offs.

However much of it anyone thinks it boils down to luck - I personally think 2nd place is incredibly flattering - on paper it's brilliant stuff from Parky. 

The trouble is, what will the fans settle for in the Championship next season? Is Parkinson unsackable?

Well Wolves absolutely walked this league, yet their fans soon wanted rid of Kenny Jackett.
Bristol City were the same under Cotterill.
And Wigan with Caldwell.

...just a few examples off the top of my head.

And will the expectations be constant throughout the season? 

Most Bolton fans would have taken 6th place at the start of this season yet there's never been universal satisfaction, even though we've rarely dropped outside the top 6. 

Will we start the season saying things like "this season is just about steadying the ship" and "we'll take anything above 22nd", until October when we're midtable and it's "we've been pretty lucky to date, it's only a matter of time before more and more teams suss us out"?

Bolton fans were not happy when we dropped out of the top four in the EPL... so I would not want to speculate how they would feel if and when we return to the Championship. More importantly is the road the club is on financially.  KA has said the right things... to make the club a break-even team when contracts run out.  If in fact, he has new investors, which others have speculated, then the games truly begin.  Will KA continue to espouse the theory of playing even, or try and buy players to take us to the top six next season? 

Judging from the past year, KA has brought us back from near certain bankruptcy.  He has weathered ups and downs along the way... seeing us at the top of the table and then going into a tailspin... buying and selling players to keep us afloat during his months of agony with DeanO... and now having us within a few games of finishing second (yesterday's game a disappointment and one I hope we don't rue if we fail to finish second). 

So now what does the future hold?  Who should we keep if we go up?  Who is available to join us if and when we get FA approval (assuming our accounts are cleaned up... which to date have not happened).  Who will get injured... a really tough season of injuries could knock the sails out of a team.  What becomes of Amos?  High salary, low reward to date. Do we sign Morais and ALF?  Does Wheater make a return (and we would not be in the top two if he decided he was a pig and would not make concessions... kudos to him for returning). 

A lot of this depends on KA's ambitions... does he just want to get us up and sell on?  Does he want to stay with the team and hope to return to the top tier?  So far, KA has done so much better than any of us thought.  I'd rather be top two by seven with six to play than any team beneath us.  Hopefully we win at least one of the two games we have this week. We cannot count on teams below us... we need to count on winning and let the other teams do the math.  We've thrown away enough points this season, or we could have been on par with Sheffield United.  One shot on target does not make it and losing one player like Madine should not turn off the engine. 

So here's to picking up at least one win this week, and not looking down.  Let them fight among themselves for a place in the playoffs... and let's keep them at distance by adding to our point total.

We'll be relegated by Christmas with Parky in charge in the Championship. The long ball hoof simply doesn't work unless you have Andy Carroll up front. We don't.

i thought we would struggle this season so have been pleasantly surprised to be honest. If we do go up then i can only see a struggle next season if finances are no better.

I do agree with Nat about the long ball, he does need to find a plan B, that was painfully obvious yesterday against a side second bottom

I prefer a round ball.

If we go up,then Parky will have earned the right to take us forward,then its down to results. 

I will take survival in the championship in the hope that KA continues to steady and improve the financial stability of the club. So small steps but progress without putting the clubs finances at risk is all i ask.

Its obvious that Parky has discovered that if you have big players in defence, and attack, then you are odds on to win more than you lose. Hoofing it from back to front all the time is fine for this division, but if we carry on this way, in the Championship, we will get our arses kicked after a handful of games, when the opposition realises that we have no game plan.
We can play football, but this current way is paying dividends, and putting us in the frame, so don't expect any changes, (or plan B's)

I don't think Parky is brilliant but if he gets us promoted he has to be given a chance. With so many senior players out of contract there is the opportunity to completely revamp the squad in the summer. If Parky resigns the players that got us relegated last time, I think we'll really struggle. If he manages to pull off a few good signings we have a chance of staying in the Championship but a lot of that will depend on our financial position. I believe KA has bet everything on us getting promoted so although we could look forward to increased income, we don't know what has been staked to get us there - and therefore how much of that increased income will go towards improving the squad. We have to get there first, but if we do get promoted it will be almost impossible to assess our chances until we see what the team will be after the transfer window.

This team is already better than the crap that got us relegated, mainly because the defence can defend a bit.

We would need minimum 5 players to stay up in the Championship though. The key is a target man as Madine clearly isn't good enough at that level. Closely followed by a midfielder who isn't a headless chicken.

I'd try and sign Morais on a proper contract, same with left-back Taylor, not sure about Le Fondre though, I suspect League 1 is his level these days.

I reckon Clough will end up back with us next season

We're a better team without him.

I also hope Parky is stronger than previous managers and shows Mavies the door.

Ameobi will certainly be coming back, he's out of contract this summer

Boggersbelief wrote:Ameobi will certainly be coming back, he's out of contract this summer

Would you have him over Morais?

I think Morais has shown what a proper winger can do, Ameobi had no end product.

Ameobi hasn't done it in the Championship, it would be a backward step to sign him.

Ameobi is hit and miss. To be fair,he's the type of player who might have opened up Chesterfield on Saturday,but I'll take morais over him every time.

I feel like morais has upped his game to earn a contract and at 31 I doubt he'll be good enough for higher level. Ameobi all day

Boggersbelief wrote:I feel like morais has upped his game to earn a contract and at 31 I doubt he'll be good enough for higher level. Ameobi all day

I'd certainly have him in the squad Boggers,if we could come to an arrangement on wages.

I

I was kinda hoping for someone else than either of these i.e. a brilliant signing out of the blue. We need Parky to pull some rabbits out of the hat.

They will be a load of changes in the summer, would keep if possible

Vela
Taylor
Spearing
Pratley
Alnwick
Howard
ALF
Morais
Madine
Wheater
Beevers
Osede
Clayton

Possibly keep

Thorpe
Wilson
Devite

Release / Sell

Wilkinson
Buxton
Amos
Proctor
Moxey
Trotter
Davies


What is lurking in the development squads is anyone's guess, Samizadeh and Perry (looked good in a couple of cup games) and the keeper apart from that I don't know.

I'd keep Mark Davies on a pay as you play deal, our best player by miles on his day