I'm still trying to be positive and enjoying the season Gaffer. Let's face it, two/three years ago we'd have laughed if somebody told us we were going to be playing Premier League football this season. I still remember those thankless, soul-destroying four years in League One playing Morecambe and Fleetwood away only to end up mid-table. And as cynical as it may seem, in this day and age - it's always preferable to take a season in the Premier League and get immediately relegated than staying in the Championship to 'build for another year'. Had we failed to get promoted last season, McKenna and Davis were more than likely to leave. Maybe a couple of others would've been poached by teams going up too. It would've set us back. At least this way, if we are playing Championship football next season - we come down from a position of strength with better finances, better security, and a better squad.
Totally agree, and in a strange way, I Iook frwd to seeing us winning a few games again, if we do go down!
I'm slightly more positive about this season....however I am cautious about relegation and what that might bring players motivation, lack of momentum and McKenna leaving. The yo yo clubs ala Leeds, Burnley, Sheffield United have done well but Luton have dropped like a stone. Like the challenges we've had this season it will need to be really well balanced and need as little disruption as possible over the summer.
I think we can all agree PTC that disruption and changes have affected our play. No matter how talented our coaches, to train 5 new players to our tactics, style, formation is a challenge. And to maintain positivity and morale when several players find themselves benched let alone knowing you are about to face Man City, Lpool and Arsenal!
We're not a yo yo yet, we need to get back into the PL and be relegated again before that name badge can be attached We had a great first season finishing 9th then it went downhill just avoided relegation 17th and went down in the third season, apparently if you survive past season three stats show it gets better. A quick return depends on what contracts you have given your new players, Leeds could only attract the ones we did with a stupid loan release clause, they had a choice, take the new wage that came with relegation or go out on loan for free and negotiate a wage with the club loaning them. I would imagine you wouldn't make that mistake as many of your signings came from the Championship anyway
What I probably meant to say was clubs who have had more than just 1 year in the PL recently and therefore benefit financially from it. If you look at the PL and the top of the Champ we are the only outlier. Last season Luton were also an outlier but look where they are now. Unless an established PL team have a particularly poor season I think it's going to be hard for clubs to establish themselves. Looking at Leeds, Southampton and Leicester last season their squad were significantly better than anything else in the Champ and given the points accrued at the top I thought those squads would be good enough to survive in the Prem. After watching it up close this season...how wrong was I, this league is a different ball game. Looking at last seasons Championship Team of the season there are what I would consider outstanding players in there. The majority are now in the PL and I would suggest none have flourished, in fact apart from Davis and Walker Peters none have been consistent starters and they're playing in teams in the bottom 2. As I said before after watching Summerville last season I fully expected him to go to a bigger club than West Ham, as I thought he looked that good but he's only made 7 starts in a struggling West Ham side, this league just swallows you up. So for all the disappointment recently we have to look at the context of the situation we are in and if we somehow manage to survive it would be McKenna's greatest achievement.
If you stay up, you can't spend £100m again next season, it's a really tricky situation. Stay up and you need to attract a player willing to join a team that will still be favourite for relegation, you can't afford to be signing more Jack Clarke type players. The Championship is really lacking anything better than you have already signed so where do you shop. I am expecting Leeds to go up, we are going to be in a similar situation, we will be shopping on the same shelf as many others. On a positive, we do seem to have some decent overseas scouts
Think they were unlucky Bigal2, our home game against them is going to be massive. ( along with the leicester away game) Mind you the BBC commentary did say Liverpool visibly tired towards the end. Wolves didn't have a midweek game.
