If we fail to become an established Prem club, does that show that what we are trying to do - playing attractive football as a self-funding club - is now an impossible way to try to break into the cartel? After all, I don't see how we could have done any better given the financial reality, and I can't imagine better people than Webber and Farke at the helm. Depressing if a billionaire owner is seen as the absolute minimum to join the elite, but maybe that's the name of the game nowadays. Only a handful of teams can win the Champions League, only a handful (or even fewer) can challenge to be champions of the various European leagues, and the gap between the top and second divisions throughout Europe seems to be becoming wider and wider. My second sport as a fan is badminton, and sometimes it seems to adhere to genuine sporting values so much more than the voracious oligopolies that dominate football.
I don’t think it would necessarily demonstrate you need a billionaire owner - but I think it would demonstrate you either need a billionaire owner or you have to sacrifice the quality of the football experience for a heavily structured, defensive and disruptive style, relying on set pieces for attacking threat.
With a caution that one season won't prove anything, this is an important question for a team like ours. Fulham's yo-yoing over recent seasons might be a better indicator given the money they have thrown at players without achieving survival in spite of a decent run in the PL before that. It was noticeable that many of the players we signed this window cited the type of football we play as a reason for joining. How many players really want to play the Burnley way? The Leicester and Arsenal games suggest that we're shaping into a team that can survive with the strength and depth we now have. Much depends on whether we can move on from the first four matches and start picking up points. If we don't, then our task becomes much harder as we fall further and further behind. The same is true of the clubs around us like Newcastle, Burnley and Leeds. Watford managed an opening day win but have struggled since. Southampton have 4 points, but they have to travel up to ManCity on Saturday. Even big money Villa are on 4 points courtesy of a home win over Newcastle and a home draw with Brentford, having lost 2-0 at Watford and 3-0 at Chelsea. Are they brimming with confidence now? We are committed to a long-term plan which has moved us to the brink of success. Playing like Burnley in the Championship wouldn't have done that.
