Providing we beat London, we are looking at a 7th placed finish. Bang on mid table and just outside the top 6 play off positions.
The question is, before a ball had been kicked at the start of the season, would you have been happy with 7th place?
Dan at the start of the season when you’re all positive and based on last seasons charge to the playoffs I would’ve thought 7th a disappointment… however given where we were at one stage of the season with only a hand full of our own players fit and given we couldn’t buy a win (those bizarre 2 or 3 games where we would go up by 16/18 points and throw it away in the second half) I’d say 7th is a decent finish. Yes we should be aiming for higher and there’ll be a lot of negativity around (you’ve only got to look at FB last night that!) but given the context of the season I’m satisfied. And let’s be honest, as my lad and I walked out of the Shay yesterday he asked how we’d have gone on in the playoffs…? Away to the Oldhams/Bratfuds of this world? Not sure…
Seventh place in the second division is failure and only the easily pleased would be happy with it.
Nobody who supports WV will be happy with it. The Club, Players, Coach, and all others. Is it failure, probably yes. Was it failure due to unforeseen circumstances (injuries, suspensions), maybe. I just think about, in spite of all those things, the loss to 11 men of Donny, and the two draws against Oldham & Halifax is what killed us. If you go into the Play-offs, it becomes cup-tie rugby, and therefore any result is possible.
I'd like to think that whatever league we are playing in in 2026, with the right recruitment, we'll get better. You have to, or you might as well go home.
Paulie xx
I am not at all happy with it but before a ball was kicked I forecasted a 7th to 9th finish based on our squad at the time. It has been strengthened since. So not happy but more or less what I expected.
God willing I will be there next year for my 66th season.
COYV
I think it's expected with the number of average players in the squad who would get nowhere near a top 4 team
I think our reliance on utility players Roberts , Fleming ,edge,Owens,Lloyd has us playing people (who can cover those positions) but don't necessarily own those positions one or two utility players is great but we have a squad packed with them buy players for positions and stick to it surely we don't need 6/7 utility players
recruitment is crucial this season to challenge what will be a weaker league next year
I doubt anyone is happy with 7th but I think it's probably a fair reflection.
There were quite a few games that were nip-and-tuck, and we ended up losing. But I guess a better side would have found a way to win them. The ones that we did lose, I don't remember thinking that the opposition were much better than us, York aside. Seems that way thinking back anyway.
I think if we'd have scraped the play-offs, we'd have only got one game out of it.
Widnes finishing 7th in the championship is a failure, I feel sorry for AC as his hands are tied with regards to player budget
Too much reliance is placed on SL player availability to think that we can judge our committee or coach.
We have the game below SL working the second half of the fixtures on a pick and mix system with SL clubs pulling the strings. When you look at our starting squad compared to todays squad it has been a game of chance every week with SL clubs deciding who might be available to boost the Championship teams.
From the point of view of improving our game as a whole this is simply not good enough and anybody looking to invest in the British game will realise that.
Without a serious update the Championship will lose any attraction for supporters, particularly those who might invest in Season Tickets.
I think 7th was a disappointing finish, but partly down to the number of injuries we got, with players coming in for 1 or 2 matches and going again , so not being able to get used to playing together, with lots of different teams each week.
If Dual Reg is going to continue next season, we need to ditch warrington, and get a club who will give us some players and not call them back to play in their under 21’s or academy instead.
As ever, I'm an outsider looking in on this particular scenario, but.....
Mid table mediocrity, with the London game being purely academic?
Had we survived last term, and retained our tier two status, I'd have been turning cartwheels at a position of seventh, but................
Surely it's not good enough for the Chemics?
This Sunday's fixture is between two teams who've applied for SL, yet for competition points, it's almost meaningless!
Harsh comments? You tell me!
Spelly.
We have the game below SL working the second half of the fixtures on a pick and mix system with SL clubs pulling the strings. When you look at our starting squad compared to todays squad it has been a game of chance every week with SL clubs deciding who might be available to boost the Championship teams.
As a fan of a Championship club, I find the DR pointless. It's not about creating an environment where players can develop or re-find form or fitness, it's about palming off players at random to lower leagues. I must have seen that Johnson from Warrington playing for 3 clubs at our ground this season. It leads to a detached relationship with the team and I'd prefer to play young lads than cast-offs from SL.
I’m not happy with a 7th place finish at all, I do think we’ve had extreme extenuating circumstances this season in regard to the sheer amount of injuries we’ve had. Injuries are part and parcel of the game but there’s been occasion where our whole spine has been out at the same time for weeks on end so you can’t gain any consistency there.
however from about week 7 onwards our poor recruitment from the start of the season showed and that lies with the board to get the right investment.
mid season additions clearly had a positive effect and hopefully we can keep hold of a few even if condon goes to Leigh.
playoffs should be a minimum expectation otherwise what’s the point
@sandgroper keeping hold of season ticket holders is getting harder and harder every year without major improvements in playing results it's a slippery slope
Unfortunatley the league table doesn't allow for injuries and it can't be proven anyway that Widnes would have won more games. We suffered poor defeats even before the injury crisis.Barrow and Batley for example