[SydneyDon]

Now, I know this is looking waaaay too far ahead, but if we did go up to League 2, you’d think we’d have about an extra GBP 400K in the budget, especially if we go up via the playoffs.

Let’s assume we keep the squad pretty much the same size and that we upgrade a few of the players’ deals.
Who would we be looking at?

I’d be saying an additional CB, an additional RB, three midfielders (replacing Rigg, Bulman and Beere) and a striker (replacing BMO).

We’d probably also want to upgrade a few of the existing contracts albeit with relegation clauses.

[SydneyDon]

Would have to be up there for signing of the year with Taylor.

Actually, NA’s permanent signing record is pretty good. Look at Azeez who everyone at WUP poked fun at last year, he is now a valuable member of the squad. I guess it should be one of his strengths given his youth background but where every penny counts it is a huge asset.

[SydneyDon]

Surely the people suggesting that NA should be sacked if we don’t make the playoffs are joking?

Anyway, it would seem we are really coming on strong now and confidence is an amazing thing with sport, if we can keep this running then promotion is a real possibility.

I hear the arguments about it being too soon and I even hear the financial argument about the best result being a losing playoff final.

For mine though if we can we should go for promotion, to not shows a lack of ambition.

And if we did go up I reckon we have the nucleus of a side that, with half a dozen out and in, could well be competitive in League 1.

My main concern about promotion would be whether our supporters are ready for it because quite simply, just staying in League 1 whilst still at KM. Would NA’s reward for promotion be incessant bellyaching by our more entitled fans. Would we be able to accept a gallant relegation provided that we tried hard and came down stronger than when we went up?

I’m not sure we are…

[SydneyDon]

The issue of being able to keep players is a good one to have provided they are under contract. If they want to stay that’s great, if not then we should get a fee.

At this level nobody is irreplaceable and one of NAs strengths is his recruitment. Plus I think we now have added depth and a junior pathway coming through.

Were we to get to the playoff finals that would, I believe, provide a significant cash windfall for the club (hundreds of thousands of pounds I believe). That would be very useful regardless of what league we are in next year. Part of me thinks that we will struggle in League 1 until we are at NPL but provided we are responsible cash-wise if we do go up (and Erik always is) then I don’t see a major downside apart from the expectations of supporters

[SydneyDon]

Sounds like a match to forget – funny how the last couple of seasons all people wanted was a season of stress free mid table obscurity with no football worries in April and May and now, when we get it, all we do(as usual, mainly talking about WUPGB here)is whinge.

If we look at the big picture I think the season has been a success. We beat the Scum, we had the long overdue FA Cup run, we never looked like being relegated and we saw some real proof that our youth program is finally bearing fruit (and that is a NA baby).

And on top of all of that we have the new stadium almost approved. At Plough Lane.

Yet still we are miserable. Can someone please lighten up.

I expect NA to continue his learning curve, I know he is not a novice now but he is still on the upside. I expect that he will have significantly more funds at his disposal and I would like a top striker along with a couple of CBs and maybe a couple of Midfielders. Five in and Five out to freshen the place up.

I expect the likes of Fitzpatrick, Harrison, Nightingale, Sweeney and Beere to become genuine first teamers next season.

Next season a top 10 finish should be the measure of success for NA to guarantee his job but that shouldn’t mean he is sacked automatically if he doesn’t get that result. As long as the club is moving in the right direction next season, as it has this year, he should be retained.

[SydneyDon]

Well done Dons, quite surprised by the number of fans who have written off our season. Know the chances are that we will miss the finals we need 6 wins from 8. We haven’t had a real run of results yet but it could be now.

I’ll go as far as saying if we beat Tranmere then we are in with a genuine chance. Clearly we’ll need to beat Cheltenham, the other bottom team, buy the better teams seem to suit us better.

I’d like us to have a real crack at making the playoffs so for me that means we play Worner for the run in – I think we owe him the chance to be in the shop window and he is clearly a better keeper than McDonnell at this stage – it would be good if we could actually keep both Shea and Worner for competition but I think that is probably a luxury we cannot afford.

In any event we are looking at significantly eclipsing our best points total in the Football League and with some good recruiting (striker and two CBs must be top of the list) along with the development of the likes of Beere, Sweeney, Harrison, Gallagher and Oakley we could be in for a pretty good season in 2015-16

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