What's the worst part about relegation? For us it'd be missing the trophies, the rivalries with Liverpool, City, Arsenal and Chelsea. Not playing in Europe. Genuine question, this board is a misery currently and I don't believe it has anything to do with posters, I think it's purely down to the football you're served up. Seriously would any of you miss this?
There's no doubting it is overall a bad thing. However, just look over at the Newcastle board to see lots of false hope and expectations after a few years of misery. There can be positives if the club handle it in the correct manner. Norwich and Villa fans not so keen though and the worry for Sunderland is financially where you would find yourselves. Results would improve, the question is just whether they would improve enough.
The last half dozen seasons have been utter drudgery but the funny thing is is that we have had a hell of a lot worse teams in my 30 odd years. This time though its getting to the point that it has become boring. Sunderland being in the Premier League at the moment is BORING! Relegation might spark an increase my interest in Sunderland again. Then again, it might not. Its due to this that I wouldnt miss the Premier League in the slightest and we would be where the club (not the supporters) deserve to be.
If we perform well and are at least competing then you would see a lot more posters/input etc. Unfortunately we are not performing well, hence the lack of posting and 'Off Topic' threads. No one wants to talk about how bad we are and i'm sure that if we are given a little bit of hope then the posters will return with more football related topics. Missed? definitely the derby games.
As a fan I've enjoyed most of our seasons in the Championship. Normally we do well - but we may end up being another Villa this time around. We've got a club with an owner who, seemingly, doesn't give a **** and has run us so badly it's embarrassing (OK let down by most he employed - but the fact is that HE employed them) On the whole, as haslam says, it's a bad thing - they've had to spend silly money and pay their manager the most any manager in that division has ever been paid to ensure they'll come up. They had assets to sell which they used to strengthen - I used to think we had the better of the 2 owners, now I don't think either of them is any good. Said to the lad I sit next to yesterday - an average of 42000 for a team sitting bottom of the league is pretty amazing - I can only think of 2 or 3 others who'd have that (Man U, Newcastle and us). We need 5 wins and a few draws from our remaining games I think (36 points I reckon will survive) so we're doomed. Guess it's a case of let's see what the owner does if he can gain money from players like Kone etc.
I think the championship is a shocking standard at the moment. If we kept the right players and dealt sensibly in the transfer market it should be winnable. Just sad after such a long run in the premiership that it's got to this point. Not the worst display yesterday but we were never really in it.
The worst part for me is the the very real possible of fading into obscurity, could happen to any side but with our finances the way they are it worries me. Incidentally I think that's a big part of the doom and gloom on here, when it became apparent that despite 'smaller' teams than us spending and improving their sides we were looking at free agents, I think that permanently killed a lot of positivity. I reckon we'd do alright in the Championship and it'd be great to see us win some bloody games for once and potentially go back up with a solid squad used to winning and a good manager in Moyes and potentially less of the spectre of financial ruin looming over us if Bain etc can manage it.
Interesting a few people mentioning Villa. I think they're showing very fast progress. People underestimated the mess they were in, the toxicity of the club was something deep-rooted, IMO and now they look as if they've started to turn it around. I thought they could do a Boro and stay down there for a good 5 years, but maybe next season they'll be in the mix.
It's tougher than you'd think, it's certainly a tougher ride for us compared with last time we went down. We're only on top atm cos me managed to retain key members of our squad, sell the dross for extortionate prices (£30m for Sissoko!) and bring in good players who add a lot to the team. Both times we've gone down recently we've only just gone down in the 3rd spot, whereas you're likely to go down bottom, i.e. with the worst squad in the league and major changes needed. The likes of Defoe, Pickford etc would definitely go, and you won't be able to count on your permanently injured crocks, so could you form a decent squad from the rest? Surely significant funding would be needed which your owners seems reluctant to give you. Norwich and Villa's experience this season shows how tough the Champ is, the likes of Sheff Wed, Huddersfield, Reading, Leeds and Fulham are all very strong teams that shouldn't be underestimated.
Wasn't your owner the worst thing ever recently but now he's not? Can't work that out. I don't think we'll end up bottom TBH. I think we'll go down but, now we're getting players fit again, I don;t think we'll be bottom of the league. I am eternally optimistic though
We should not be in the premier league if not ambitious, the supporters certainly are. There is only 20 premier league clubs and millions of billionaires and a few who must want to own us, but know what we need. If I was I would spend massively £200m + take a gamble but with the right manager, say Wenger, but have talented young players coming through, plus sell on players like Henderson. Even if we did not win anything but finished high in the league at least that is better than this constant relegation misery.
Well he's slightly more tolerable now he's stepped out of the public eye somewhat and we don't get constant displays of him being a blithering idiot - wearing a king kev shirt in the crowd, trying to rename the ground, publicly giving out an email for people to buy the club, blah blah. But at the end of the day he's a corrupt stooge just using us to make money and his reign has already resulted in 2 relegations, so nah, he's definitely not a good thing. But let's not go down that path, my post was about how the Championship is a tougher league than some may expect, I don't know what that's gotta do with our owner.
You happened to mention our owner in your post - ergo I mentioned yours to make a point that we don;t actually know what the owners will do - Ashley didn't invest much in your squad and hasn't still from his own pocket - just profit made on players who sold for stupid amounts (How the **** you got £30m for Sissoko is beyond me!). We may have an owner who does the same - he might look at what are saleable assets (Pickford, Kone), make a tidy sum then give it to Moyes to get us back up - I don;t think he will if his previous is anything to go by but you never know!! Also - we might win the 8 "winnable" games we've got left and stay up!!!!! Also - I might win £15m on the lottery - I think the latter is shorter odds
I read in the Echo this morning that the Hoff and possibly Catts will figure in tonight's U-23 match, that for me is the best news I've had all season. Get those two back and we have a half decent chance IMO.
We are not gone yet. Let's wait and see what what transpires after the next few games. I still think there are many twist and turns yet
Ashley wants us the Premier league to rake in the money from being in there, but doesn't want us win things, as that would result in investment from his side. Thus we had a rather stupid business model of trying to finish lower-mid table every year, this was clearly not sustainable as it means we're regularly flirting with relegation, and lo and behold last year it happened. Although PR stooges like Pardew and McLaren put up with this stupid system, Rafa clearly won't and won't settle for being told to be mediocre, so this system has to change next season or Rafa will go. There has been investment to get us back up, but nowhere near the amount we received from sales, and we're already seeing Ashley been tight and limiting, ie.no signings were made in Jan to Rafas dismay. After the Keegan backlash, I don't think Ashley will dare infuriating the fans to such an extent again, so the system will change so we can keep Rafa. Your model is even more precarious - minimal investment, constant manager sacking and hoping to only just avoid relegation each season, so it's not surprising it's going tits up too. You're all saying the owner doesn't give a shot, but would he put up with being in the Champ long term, which will happen if he doesn't invest immediately?
