Had this debate with pals in the bonser suite after the gills game and had differing views.
What team do you think is stronger ?
Without doubt 15/16. It’s not even close.
Then again ask at the end of the season.
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15/16 easy
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I would say 15/16, but would love to be proved wrong 
The full backs from three years ago give them a definite edge, have we had a better pairing than Demetriou and Henry? And I’m not sure we have a player as classy as Sawyers now and Bradshaw was a class act.
Early days, but we have moved, and are moving, in the right direction.
i said the same about the quality of the full backs.
Early days yet and opinion could change come the end of the season but 2 completely different style of teams and players
Agree with most in that the full backs then give the 15/16 team the edge over this one
Have to say though, I find this team more exciting than the total football under DS even though it was great to watch at times
You asked 2 questions there.
- which team is better; answer: 15/16
- which is stronger; answer: 18/19
Two totally different teams. 15/16 was just great, nice to watch and very talented.
18/19, it’s too early to compare with a side that nearly won promotion but this team is stronger and more exciting. I’d say more difficult to play against too as a group even though not as talented.
Loved watching the team of 2015/16 and they had some great players and from a football purist point of view were great to watch, if a tad frustrating at times. I’ve not had the buzz and excitement of going to watch us play since that season until now. As @SamsaraSaddler said though - ask again towards the end of the season. I do feel they could match and possibly exceed the achievements of that squad this season.
The full backs as people have already said were excellent. I know Demetriou was commuting from London, but I was shocked that he didn’t pick up a better club than Southend when he moved on after his season here.
One question I do have is - how many of this squad would you swap for the squad of 2015/16?
ferrier for cook, cook for hiwula, Dobson for mantom, zeli for lalkovic… am I allowed to keep a team of bradshaw, ferrier and cook 
Easily 15/16.
That team was quality at this level, criminal automatic promotion never happened. Ah well.
Don’t get me wrong this team is a fan favourite team, so much heart and spirit and some good quality at times.
Would still be surprised if it makes the top 6. It’s a very good start, nothing more atm.
Two completely different teams. If you are talking technically skilled then 15/16,but if you are talking which is better equipped to get you promoted from league 1 it could be this team. 15/16 struggled against well organised physical sides, this team doesn’t but still carries plenty of threat to hurt teams.
What a good question.
I saw a lot of that 15/16 team. There were some fabulous performances/games. Gillingham, Burton at Home. Port Fail away. But there were also the games at Crewe and Burton that were dire, as well as the Valley Parade massacre (Did anyone else get flashbacks from the sight of James Hanson Tuesday night?)
Having personally only seen this term’s side play twice is a stark reminder that they’ll be some downs to come this season (Perhaps even at Rochdale Saturday where we rarely win) and we need to see how they respond to knockbacks and the inevitable suspensions/injuries.
So this (fantastic) debate could well change from now until May.
But, for now (and avoiding the original question) if I was bastardising I’d stick with our current more direct style, bring in the keeper and full backs from 15/16 and stick with the rest we have now. Can’t believe Sawyers, one of my all time faves doesn’t make the cut, but he’d be a square peg in this current side. Plus I’d take Andy Cook all day, don’t care if he doesn’t end up being prolific it’s the restbite and general holdup play that I love him for. Oh and as we need a spare centre back stick Paul Downing on the bench, if not to just ruin my credibility 
It’s far too early to say.
I’m just pleased that we’re in a position where the question is even being asked.
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15/16 is a better team in terms of ability
18/19 is a bunch of shithouses - and I bloody love it.
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Good points about this being a “stronger” team. We used to get bullied quite a lot, and struggled against physical and robust teams. Won’t happen so often now, I reckon.
I’ve been thinking how many of our former players could take on Andy Cook and maybe get the better of him - he’s a big flippin’ unit. Rambo, Roger Hynd, maybe Danny Hay. Mountfield and Ada would gang up on him, Barras would have a right go, as would Stan Bennett and Andy Butler and Ropes. Serella Serella Serella wouldn’t hold back, but then there is three of him. Of course, Bernie Wright would eat him for breakfast 
It’s nice having him around though, and he can play a bit too.
In between the scotch and the broken glass, I presume.
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I’d say that 15/16 had slightly better players in terms of footballing ability. While it may seem contradictory, I think the 18/19 team would beat 15/16 in an 11 v 11 game. Our current lot are exactly the kind of team that rolled us over in those days!
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Now we’re a dozen games in, the answer to this has probably got harder.
The current side is exactly the sort of team that the 15/16 mob would hate playing against. Downing and O’Connor didn’t really like playing against a two, let alone a physical two. And as good as Rico and Jason were, playing against orthodox wingers who made them defend like orthodox full backs rather than licence to roam wing back types, also wouldn’t have been to their liking.
But going the other way, I think Chambers, Evans/Mantom and Sawyers could overwhelm Dobson and Osbourne with Sawyers finding chasms of space in between the current team’s rather static lines, thus drawing out centre backs to give Bradshaw a ton of space. And if Lalkovic and Forde were having good days then Leahy and Devlin would be massively exposed.
With Etheridge better than Roberts I think that if the two teams played each other five times then the 15/16 would win three, there would be one draw and the current side would win once.
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I doubt this side will finish 1 point off 2nd.
Guess the league is harder than in 15/16 though. You have Pompey pretty much winning every away game they play, Barnsley went to Posh the other week and won 4-0 and have a spare game to go top, Posh are inconsistant but have a million strikers to choose from which will always win them games and Sunderland are in the mix and will probably motor after xmas like Wigan/Bolton/Blackburn all did to improve Worsul’s bank balance…
Play offs would be a brilliant result for this team and I do think there are two places in play below that top four.