There are a few games left of this season, and a lot of points still up for grabs, but it struck me that I’ve seen every side now, some twice.
Having watched almost every minute of the season so far, I’ve been impressed by some teams who have not performed as they’d hoped, and unimpressed with some others. For general interest, I thought I’d discuss which two clubs have surprised me the most this season, and which have left me feeling very underwhelmed indeed.
It’s also sure to draw some criticism from supporters of the clubs I do not rate, and so let’s start with one I know will get me the most stick!
Rotherham United
Last season, I went to Rotherham and said I felt like they were infected by Evans. I’m watching The Last of Us at the minute and it felt like something was spreading across a club I had a begrudging respect for before he went there. This season, I felt the same. I criticised the atmosphere and got pelters from their fans as well as lost 3-0, but they left me feeling hugely underwhelmed.
They’ve only won one home game since, two in the league in total and I can’t help but feel vindicated. They were always the team to be, the aspiration for smaller sides, like us, wanting to compete at the top end of the division, bouncing between the two. They have a nice ground, but something is wrong there.
It has been for a while, and this season, they’ve just been poor. They were poor when they beat us, that’s not sour grapes, and the whole ambience wasn’t right. I don’t know what it is. I think I predicted them to be relegated this season, and it seems my prediction was spot on. On episode 393 of the podcast, I suggested that they were leaning too heavily into the romance of Hamshaw, while actually looking weaker than last season. I highlighted departures, reliance on older legacy players, and a difficult identity reset after the Evans era.
I think I was right.
Plymouth Argyle
Here is a team that you could have been forgiven for thinking were doomed at the start of the season. We were 3-0 up, and their supporters were convinced they needed to sack the manager and start again. That was after what, six matches? I felt differently then, saying they’d be well clear of the bottom four at the end of the season, without sacking the boss.
I guess the relegation hangover had their fans feeling down, and I’m sure they felt the same as we put four past them a couple of weeks ago, but again, it was a good time to play them with no Tolaj and Pepple injured during the game. The truth is Plymouth are a good side, with good players, and they’ve impressed me despite losing to us 7-3 on aggregate this season. Look at it this way, 10% of the goals we’ve conceded this campaign have been against them.
Without becoming a bit sycophantic, everything about Plymouth Argyle impressed me. The ground was good, the facilities were great, their support was good. They feel like a club pointing in the right direction because they stuck with the manager. They’re a Championship side in waiting and next season, they could be a real force in League One.
Burton Albion
This might surprise a few, but I’m going to be complimentary, not derogatory about Burton.
They’re currently five points clear of the drop, which by any stretch of the imagination is a position they’d take at the end of the season. However, I think they could be higher. In fact, I think they have the ingredients to be a top-half side.
It sounds like madness, but they’re a tough team to play. They’re hard to break down, but they have some really good players. Tyrese Shade and Charlie Webster would trouble our squad, and Jake Beesley would be in the mix as well. Their problem is that they’ve had such bad luck with injuries that they’ve been robbed of key players for parts of the season.
Three of the toughest games to watch as a City fan, certainly games we have won, have been against Burton Albion. With Webster, they have a real creative threat. With Beesley, they have a poacher, and around those players they’re not bad. Their issue is depth, and if they had the resources of, say, Huddersfield Town, then they’d be promotion contenders for sure.
Mind you, who wouldn’t, right?
Huddersfield Town
Speaking of which, may I take a moment to have a wry smile? I got pelters from Terriers’ fans at the start of the season after doing a TikTok (yeah, that’s right, down with the yoof) saying I hated them. At the time, I was between thinking they’d fail, and thinking they’d do well.
@thestaceywest Why I want Huddersfield Town to go down #htfc #huddersfieldtown ♬ original sound – The Stacey West
I gave Lee Grant until Christmas, and had them outside the top six, but I listened to Chris too much, got swayed by signings, and went for them being promoted. As a neutral, I just expected more from them. I did from Luton, but I’m not joining that pile-on right now. No, Huddersfield are the ones for me because they didn’t have back-to-back relegations to contend with, just another summer of buying everyone else’s players for big money.
Even so, I was swayed. I went for them as a top two side, and I’ve been hugely disappointed with them. With their players, they should be doing so much better, and they have learned nothing. The rinse and repeat strategy to recruitment that boiled my beans at the start of the season has carried on: out goes big-money signing Joe Taylor, because they can’t play a style that suits him. In comes criticism of Alfie May because (checks notes) they can’t find a style that suits him.
They’re the real-life embodiment of a teenager playing Football Manager with a cheat code on for finances, and wondering why he is losing because he just puts all the best players into a formation that doesn’t work.
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