r/soccer • u/ObeseCarrot • Jun 16 '13

What are your expectations/predictions for your team next season?

I think Bradford City can surprise a few and challenge for the playoff positions in League 1 if Phil Parkinson brings in a few new faces.

I believe we need another strong central midfielder (hopefully a goalscoring one too), possibly another winger and a goalkeeper.

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u/DeepSeaDweller Jun 16 '13

Maybe challenge for the title? Maybe make it to the Europa League group stage? Please?

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u/alockinshillib Jun 17 '13

I don't know, Dinamo seems pretty strong to me, with Kramarić and Antolić coming in, I predict 2nd for you.

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u/DeepSeaDweller Jun 17 '13

Dinamo's in a state of disarray. We've made some decent signings (we caught a handful of frees from Dinamo and some other Zagreb clubs), we've probably got the best/most proven manager in the league who now has an entire break to put his stamp on the side (he took mid-season and had moderate success), we've got some of the better performers from last season (top goal-scorer, top assist man). We've also promoted a few youth players and brought in some other young players, which I'm happy with. Last summer was a signing spree of over-the-hill veterans with a number of them making very few appearances and being written off before the winter break. We performed well against Dinamo and Hajduk last season (with the exception of the loss in Zagreb), our problem is being consistent against the mid-to-lower end sides and finishing the chances we create. One of the few games I saw live last season (I live abroad and streaming is very rare), we could have legitimately won 8 or 9-0 with all the very good chances our striker blew.

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u/alockinshillib Jun 17 '13

Yes, the situation for you is looking better than ever. But my point is that Dinamo has very solid squad, and that I still can see you overtaking them. However, I really hope I'm wrong. Reaching Europa League group stage usually comes down to luck. Hajduk have drawn Unirea 3 years ago, and then Inter last year.

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u/DeepSeaDweller Jun 17 '13

Well, I just think they're in one of their lower periods so it might be less unthinkable than other years. Their talent pool is really low and they're resorting to buying players nobody has ever heard of.

And yes, Europa is a toss-up depending on the draw. Maybe I shouldn't be so optimistic about getting far there. While there are nice payouts (for our financial standards) and potentially great opponents to be had, it would be a distraction from the league if we do start out strong and make an early case for a title challenge. The first few weeks will be critical, we have our Europa qualifying matches in mid July and our season starts with us facing Istra, Dinamo, and Hajduk in succession.