Reality Check

[DevilDom]

Can I start by qualifying this post - I am not slting the management or the team.

i think this weekend has been a massive reality check for us fans. We have a good team, but not a great team and we are not going to win the league. Don't get me wrong, I think that on our day we are more than capable of beating any team is this league and beating them well, we are just not quite there yet. i'd love to be proved wrong but I don't think I will be.

I have really enjoyed the majority of games we have played at the tent this year and I think with some consistent officiating we could have won tonight. However, lets not try and mask tonights loss with Darnells horror show (and it was). We were caught out 3 times in the 2nd period at the back and suffered at the hands of one of the leagues top 3 teams. We have lost this weekend to 2 of the top 3 and its only a matter of time before Coventry work us out.

However, lets not be glum. I think the guys played really well tonight and i'm enjoying the attacking brand of hockey they are playing. I'm sure we'll give all of the top teams something to think about before the end of the season, however we are not going to win the league. Lets enjoy what we have and I think the boys can now play the rest of the season free from the pressure that we are really contenders and hopefully secure 4th place as a minimum.

 

[Jacko]

:roll: its November.

no one team has stood out so far yet, to settle for fourth at this stage of the season is a bit defeatest, it basically says your happy to just beat the caps, this seasons devils team are better than that, as has been pointed out on another thread your missing the offensive output of Smith, and while i subscribe to the 1 man not making a team (unless that man is theo fluery) no one it seems has stepped up and taken up the slack.

last weekend we got defeated by the blaze and an o/t loss to you guys, weekends like that happen. who knows what sort of run of form/injury crisis/new players/unknown events will transpire in the next 4 and a bit months, its to early to conceed.

 

[Finny]

last weekend we got defeated by the blaze and an o/t loss to you guys, weekends like that happen. who knows what sort of run of form/injury crisis/new players/unknown events will transpire in the next 4 and a bit months, its to early to conceed.

Exactly. There are going to be weekends like this through the season for all teams. I would bet that it won't be the Devils last either.

I'm disappointed we lost and it is a blow to our title challenge as we have dropped back from the teams at the top.

We've got three games next week and I believe we can win all 3. The last time we lost both games on the weekend we came back the next week flying and won 7 games in a row. (It could be a coincidence but that weekend again started with a Belfast away game...)

 

[Gazza272]

The last couple of weeks i really dont think we have had the bounces, or the calls go in our favour. That happens but i really think that will balance out over the season.


There still hasnt been a team in this league who i think are miles ahead of us, and with G already looking to make changes to strengthen us, i think thats a very good sign that there is a belief in the coach and the team that we can challenge this year.

 

[DevilDom]

:roll: its November.

no one team has stood out so far yet, to settle for fourth at this stage of the season is a bit defeatest, it basically says your happy to just beat the caps, this seasons devils team are better than that, as has been pointed out on another thread your missing the offensive output of Smith, and while i subscribe to the 1 man not making a team (unless that man is theo fluery) no one it seems has stepped up and taken up the slack.

last weekend we got defeated by the blaze and an o/t loss to you guys, weekends like that happen. who knows what sort of run of form/injury crisis/new players/unknown events will transpire in the next 4 and a bit months, its to early to conceed.

I know its only November but I really believe this weekend has shown us up for what we are - a really good attacking team which on their day can beat anyone, however not quite good enough to challenge for the title this year.

I'm not saying we can only beat the Caps. I think we are better than Newcastle, Sheffield and Hull too and I think we will take points off the other 3 teams as well, however not enough to see us mount a serious challenge.

We don't have the resources of the Panthers, Giants and Blaze to bring in top quality replacements at short notice to cover for injuries or poor form and therefore tend to wait too long when players get injured before acting.

Its just my opinion and as I said, I am enjoying the way the team is playing this year - its very exciting if not wholly consistent and i'd love to be proved wrong.

 

[J.B]

Having picked the Devils at the start of the season as having the most impressive squad in the league, I have to admit I have been a little surprised by the faltering start to the season. There certainly seems to be a degree to which your team of stars aren't working as a team to grind out results like other teams are doing. However, on a more positive note, surely the team of so many good players will eventually click and when it does it is a scary prospect.

 

[michael]

Having picked the Devils at the start of the season as having the most impressive squad in the league, I have to admit I have been a little surprised by the faltering start to the season.

It's always difficult to pick a title winner at the start of the season because so few people in the UK will know many of the players new to the UK who've been signed by clubs across the league. Thinking that a club which signs players who have been successful previously in the Elite League will do well is one thing but thinking this means they'll win the league is another. Every year there are players we haven't heard of who'll be better than those we know all about.

Your repeated comments that Devils have the best players and that they must be under-performing if the team isn't leading the league has enabled you to add me to the list of those who have bitten on your hook. Well done! I hope you're pleased with yourself.

 

[jimmy snels]

haha, J.B winding people up?? no way ! :lol:

i have got to be honest when i say tho i thought we were signing a very impressive team on paper (and from wot i knew) and although on our night we can dominate teams (6 goals past panthers win for example) i am suprised we havent put together a little more consistancy yet
i think this is kinda where your coming from J.B?