Did we Over-reach ?

[Ace 3,556]

In light of the reaction over our European exit i wondered why everyone is gunning for Walter !!

In my opinion, i think that we over-reached ourselves. The previous season (2006/2007) we were dreadful, no-one can deny it, we had failed again to win anything and the league was over by Christmas .. again.

We desperately need someone to come in, stop us shipping goals and losing games.

Walter arrived, signed, what we thought were journeymen players but who tightened up our defence and gave us some pride in our team.

The following season (2007/2008) was supposed to be a year where we would make a challenge, make sure we didn't lose the league by Christmas again, try to have a decent run in europe, maybe stay in beyond Christmas (Christmas is always an important date for Football).

Somehow, Walter and his ragtag team went on a run of performances that took us a to a European final, took us to 2 cup trophies and took us to a final day challenge for the league. This was a season where we punched above our weight, a season where the expectations of the fans were lifted to heights never imagined at the start of the year.

When the 2008/2009 season began all our hopes where on replicating that previous run(s) in league & Europe, everyone believed that where we went once we could obviously go again but it wasn't to happen.

I think it wasn't just the fans who believed, it was the team too .. listening to the fans, to the press & probably to each other.

Basically, we exceeded all expectations of the season & when we failed to live up to our previous season's performances then everyone looked for a scapegoat.

[azul 0]

I did not expect us to reach another european final this season, but I certainly DID expect us to make it past FC Kaunas. There is no excuse for failing to beat them over 2 legs. We had a good base to build on from last season and 3 strikers were not what was immediately required. We should have had at least one midfielder in place for the qualifiers. Also picking Dailly and McCulloch in midfield for a hugely important euro tie and leaving Hemdani on the bench, when he has performed well for us in europe in the past (and of course he IS a midfielder). That on top of dreadful performances at the end of last season and all through pre-season. Can you really blame people for being annoyed with the management?