[Pumpetypump]

Re: 2016 Fixtures : Mon Oct 19, 2015 11:13 am  

If you want to look at the 2016 fixtures through faeces tinted glasses then they are merely an elongated and pointless set of pre-season fixtures ahead of the middle 8s. Worst case scenario we are 4th after the meaningless fixtures, best case we are 1st. And then the actual season starts with a frenetic battle to see which championship team gets to go lose at a SL team in the million pound game.

Re: 2016 Fixtures : Mon Oct 19, 2015 11:37 am  

Sounds great! Sign me up...

[Bulliac]

Re: 2016 Fixtures : Mon Oct 19, 2015 12:16 pm  

Pumpetypump wrote:

If you want to look at the 2016 fixtures through faeces tinted glasses then they are merely an elongated and pointless set of pre-season fixtures ahead of the middle 8s. Worst case scenario we are 4th after the meaningless fixtures, best case we are 1st. And then the actual season starts with a frenetic battle to see which championship team gets to go lose at a SL team in the million pound game.

Not sure you need any 'faeces tinted' glasses, to be fair - just remove any rose tinted ones and see what's really out there.

Re: 2016 Fixtures : Mon Oct 19, 2015 12:31 pm  

[quote="Rarebreed"]Feel quite dispirited about it all! We will go another 23 games with nothing to show for these games, no sil verware or prizes for finishing top or second in the league. The only cringeworthy game is the so called £1m playoff against an opposition that has had the time and finances to build a superior squad of players, whilst their opponents are left with picking and choosing from what is available in the lower leagues or the SL players who can't find another SL club, or worse still are no longer required in that league:

I am thinking of changing my pen name to gloom and gloomier? [/quote]


Not sure there should be silverware or prizes for finishing second in the league

Re: 2016 Fixtures : Mon Oct 19, 2015 12:38 pm  

Pumpetypump wrote:

If you want to look at the 2016 fixtures through faeces tinted glasses then they are merely an elongated and pointless set of pre-season fixtures ahead of the middle 8s. Worst case scenario we are 4th after the meaningless fixtures, best case we are 1st. And then the actual season starts with a frenetic battle to see which championship team gets to go lose at a SL team in the million pound game.

For me i think it's quite important we get top spot. Finishing second would mean Leigh away and Wakefield (most probably) away. Leigh won't implode like this year, and going to their place will be difficult. Also if we couldn't beat Wakefileld in two attempts at BV this year, it's highly unlikely we'll be able to do it next year.

Getting them at our place though, along with Leigh will give us a chance.

The systems not perfect and needs tweaking. SC raise for championship clubs and transfer deadline brought forward. But the reason we're playing championship rugby this year is 100% down to us. We had a great opportunity to be promoted but blew it as we weren't good enough.

Re: 2016 Fixtures : Mon Oct 19, 2015 1:10 pm  

Bull Mania wrote:

For me i think it's quite important we get top spot. Finishing second would mean Leigh away and Wakefield (most probably) away. Leigh won't implode like this year, and going to their place will be difficult. Also if we couldn't beat Wakefileld in two attempts at BV this year, it's highly unlikely we'll be able to do it next year.

Getting them at our place though, along with Leigh will give us a chance.

The systems not perfect and needs tweaking. SC raise for championship clubs and transfer deadline brought forward. But the reason we're playing championship rugby this year is 100% down to us. We had a great opportunity to be promoted but blew it as we weren't good enoughFOR LONG ENOUGH.

Thats the disappointing thing for me. We were good enough, in patches, just no consistency. The players kept trotting out the "we need to put an 80minute performance together" line. How many times did we actually manage it? 4?

[Bulliac]

Re: 2016 Fixtures : Mon Oct 19, 2015 2:39 pm  

Bull Mania wrote:

For me i think it's quite important we get top spot.

That's what I'd like us to do next year. Go all out and target a 100% record, try and win every game by as much as we can - very much as Leigh did last time round.

I know it doesn't matter. The whole first six months of the seasons don't actually make much difference [ask Leigh..], but it is an attitude of mind and I'd like to see us really put teams to the sword. It may be one way of creating a little of the tension and intensity of play that the SL teams will be getting, maybe something to take into the business end in the eights. We'll still be behind the pace compared to whoever in SL joins us there but we can definitely do without any of the slack performances which were dished up late in the season, losing twice to Halifax for heaven's sake..

Re: 2016 Fixtures : Tue Oct 20, 2015 2:37 pm  

Highlander wrote:

Thats the disappointing thing for me. We were good enough, in patches, just no consistency. The players kept trotting out the "we need to put an 80minute performance together" line. How many times did we actually manage it? 4?

At the risk of sounding positive, are you actually surprised though? I have had my criticisms of Lowes, and perfect he's not. but looked at in the round, he has taken a motley crew of players and turned them into a formidable bunch by Championship standards in his first year. But anyone who is genuinely trying to build a good team from scratch will say that it takes several seasons of gradual improvement, and then you will reach a peak. Which may or may not be a very good peak, but it will be a settled side, tweaked, and accustomed to playing alongside each other. It cannot be done during the course of one season. Leigh have made a good fist of it and yet despite that, Lowes' team beat Leigh when it mattered.

Our curse is that we really didn't have the luxury of a few years in the Championship to build a side, we need to get out (if that is even possible- but that's a different thread). But the fact that we are inconsistent - well we would be, wouldn't we?

Re: 2016 Fixtures : Sat Oct 24, 2015 11:37 am  

Nope. I'm still trying to come to terms with the MPG loss. No matter how many times I watch it back, we still lose. I've tried screaming at Danny Addy not to go for the 2 points, but he always takes that kick and the rest, as they say, is history.
I think as Bulls fans we will always see our cup as half empty until (or if) we get back into Super League; no disrespect to any Championship sides; I'm definitely not saying we deserve our place in SL; but several championship fans will be rightfully chuffed if they beat us during the season (and good on em).
But lots of us Bulls fans lived through those heady first years of SL when we were the top team with the most supporters and it was a great time to be a Bradford fan. Other than beating Leigh at Odsal I cant recall any 2015 moments that I felt that same pride.
2016 could be a happy year for us, but I'm preparing myself for months of not quite playing as good as we should, loosing a few silly games, then yet again failing at the last hurdle.
I sincerely hope I'm wrong, and please quote me as Mr Doom and Gloom if we make it to SL next year.

Re: 2016 Fixtures : Sat Oct 24, 2015 12:16 pm  

Smack him Jimmy wrote:

Other than beating Leigh at Odsal I cant recall any 2015 moments that I felt that same pride

Don't want to make you feel more depressed than you obviously already do, but I think you'll find we actually drew that game...