I think that’s where the heart ruling the head needs to come in. As long as everything is just about the practicalities, which it has been for years now, you’re never going to inspire the players to want to be a part of something amazing. Credit to Solskjær for this, the Blackpool fans, Wimbledon and Forest Green for having a purpose and vision and reaping the benefits. Conversely Coventry are in real trouble now for digging their heels in. Lambert has made a start but it’s up to Evans to follow it up.
This isn't going to go down well, but I think we have somewhat of a unique problem with really punching ridiculously above our weight under Bobby Robson for such a prolonged period of time. Heck, I was born in 86 - so really know very little / clearly didn't see us when we were ruling Europe, quality team with quality players etc. May be wrong, but with the Dutch trio, weren't we one of the first clubs to really tap into the overseas market, and somewhat ahead of the time? I mean look at fellow clubs in the championship who would also expect to be in the premier league or top 10 of the championship also - heck - I'm not going to do a long list but I think we all know. A lot of them get far more fans than we do weekly, are bigger sized clubs whether we like this fact or not, and also under their current owners - are investing more. Sure - Evans COULD put more in - there's no debate there - he'd admit himself he's quite capable of, but with the cost of football - the example above of Wolves losing £50 million in one season, and Evans total worth being £800 million or so - it's difficult for him to go crazy. A new owner would clearly mitigate this for us - and perhaps we would hit the Premier league. However, what is our ceiling? Probably a Stoke / Charlton, club like this who have say a 10 year spell in the top flight and then get relegated. I get where you're coming from Hampy with your examples - Blackpool can certainly push on now they have the fan bases - it's all new for Forest Green and it's nice to see Wimbledon at least doing something nowadays. I just - if I put my pragmatic hat on - really struggle to see what we can achieve as a club!?!?!? That may be incredibly negative, it's just how I see it. I don't think for the remainder of our existence, we will ever have a period so good as the 80s again.
There is no ceiling, there never has been and there never will be. It takes a visionary and a winning and growth mentality. We are actually a club that has all the resources we need but we possess an owner who has no belief or vision.
How long is the future? The future is forever. How long will it take us to be back into the Premier League? All depends on whether Evans stays at the club and whether we change the way we do things. Also outside factors. If someone like Ed Sheeran got involved, and I suspect he might one day, that could come with a huge cash injection. Give it 5-10 years and he might be worth something similar to the ME Group by himself.
To put it another way - do I have confidence in Marcus Evans to get us back to the Premier League in the next five years? Absolutely not.
Oh absolutely, the future is forever - just be absolutely amazed in my lifetime if we ever had a period like with Robson - don't see it happening. Premier League with Evans? Likewise, not going to happen I don't think. While he's wealthy, he's not as wealthy unfortunately as various owners in the second tier - time for someone else to have a go and run us. Sheeran's value is only going to go up you'd imagine.
I don't think it matters too much about the owners wealth. That's just a quick fix. You need owners/manager/coaches with vision and ideas to improve us year on year. Imo, an excellent group of coaches (at all levels) are far more important than a wealthy manager. Our potential, like most champ clubs, is infinite. The likes of Man city, Bournemouth Fulham, Leicester...even Chelsea..they've all been in the 3rd/4th division. Step 1 is to nurture the kids, coach them well as they will be our future (whether they'll be first teamers or being sold for millions). Rome wasnt built in a day... Might take us ten years, but as long as we progress each season, that's all I hope for (oh, and the odd fa cup run would be nice).
A little off topic, but felt the need to reply to the (myth?) of how amazing Norwich attendances have been considering their league position.. When they were relegated, Norwich were a club that had until recently been feasting at the Premier League table (3 seasons prior) so their attendances were facing a small decline when they dropped into the 3rd tier. I also strongly believe that Fans want to see winning football regardless of their division and although they lost the opener they quickly started winning (and winning well) therefore fans were willing to turn up to see them face Gillingham as they were confident they'd win and score a few goals. On the flip side, our attendances have been dropping for years, but if you look at the first 3 seasons since Premier League relegation in 2001 they stayed at a very healthy 20k+ and I dare say had we have dropped down a league then, we'd have still had plenty turning up (especially if we were winning) as like I say whether it's Chelsea or Cheltenham, if you're on a winning streak and challenging near the top of the league. The fans will turn up. As it is though, we've spent 18 years now in this league which means a whole generation of fans have not seen us play in the top league and seen us gradually fall further and further away with no chance of rejoining the elite. Which makes it a very difficult task for the club to then re engage those lost fans when the news around the club has been negative for so long.
I remember a comment during a match when we were on Sky back in the early 200's (not long after relegation) about how we "Had everything in place to be a Premier league club, except on the pitch.. It's a Premier League club in waiting" I believe that was true, at the time. But not anymore. We have a lot in place but the majority of that is now in major need of development in itself. We have been left behind on all fronts as there are clubs who have invested far more in everything involved in driving football clubs forward and we have an owner who seems willing to see what can happen if we just keep plodding on doing the same thing.
This is all just a choice. If Evans had a vision and any belief he would not see investment as a risk. Instead he has chosen the ‘safe option’ and as we all know, in football if you stand still you go backwards. It’s still the case. Compare our resources to that of Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Watford, Huddersfield, Burnley and Town come out of it favourably. Look at Championship sides and aside from playing staff we would be on a par with all but a few of them.
Seriously? We've got a bigger ground than most, but all those clubs you mentioned are richer and have a more innovative, extensive set-up behind the scenes. Most of those clubs have been in the Premier League for a few years, and have access to money we can only dream about right now. We haven't been in the Premier League since 2002. Not having access to Premier League money over the past decade, or even having three years of parachute payments to build a competitive squad at this level, has ensured that we lack financial resource even at Championship level. Look at our expenditure on wages and player sales, and look at how much we bring in outside of the TV money (plot twist - not a lot) and we're financially one of the smallest clubs in this division.
If you want to take Fulham and Watford out of the equation who have Premier League cash going back years then the others are only there as a result of vision, shrewd strategy and a quality manager. That cash resource to compete with all but the very top clubs has always available to us but Evans chooses not to invest. Somebody had a dig at Roy Keane the other day for investing in Playford Road. Do we want to be ambitious or not?
All of what's been said is true but I believe the vital ingredient is the atmosphere in and around the Club, remember just a short while ago when MM was manager,we would turn out for matches knowing we probably wouldn't lose but would probably be bored to tears, this I believe was a reflection on the way our Club was stagnating with our hopeless owner and the everything on the cheap policy and I was one of the many who gave up our season tickets. Fast forward to PLs reign and although the results are dreadful and our league position virtually hopeless there is a buzz about the Club once more and enthusiasm being rekindled, supporters travelling in numbers not associated with a bottom of the table Club, and even 3rd Div football being accepted and an energy to get started, the only thing we need is results next season to keep this enthusiasm going, over to you Evans.
If we were to compare the resources it would make for incredibly stark reading as we would be further behind than you think.. Palace are worlds ahead of us, as are Watford and Burnley.. Also Bournemouth spent £15m on a defender in the summer and continue to invest well with smaller signings and not having a big stadium means diddly. I mean the thought that we're comparable with some of those guys (in our current guise) if frankly laughable The only possibility from your list would be Fulham and Huddersfield but their season's in the sun and (current) owners have more drive and ambition so can't foresee them dithering for the next 18 years and clearly have a greater starting position having been able to get there in the first place/ It all comes down to the missed opportunity from when Evans took us on and that window has been shrinking ever since. And the point I was making earlier, was not simply on playing staff and bricks and mortar but practices within the club from admin to operations, to Sport Science, to coaching and everything in between.. and knowing the people I know within sport, I'd heard a couple of comments over the years about how behind we were in Sports Science and Sports Medicine in particular (not a surprise, or new information I know) but just one example of how we've stood still for best part of 20 years where others have adapted, innovated and comfortably sailed past us up the football pyramid.
Keane did the total opposite, he invested a 7 figure sum on rooms to have meetings and didn't invest a single penny on the academy. We're miles off in all kinds of elements right now. Lightyears behind.
