Angelic In recent times not backing GJ in that January 2008 window was a massive mistake we're still paying for today.
And for every season that passes, the MASSIVE mistake the club made in January 2008, looks more costly both on and off the pitch. We could, (ha!), be an established Premiership side by now. Equally of course, it could all have ended in tears and we could have plumbed the depths of L2, the same as happened the last time we reached the big time and it went tits up.
This is an interesting, thought-provoking statement. I'm not sure that GJ is the kind of manager that could actually handle 'big' players and their massive egos. I may be wrong of course, but GJ strikes me as the type of manager who's specialty is getting 'inferior' players to punch above their collective weight by forming a very close-knit band of brothers who would die for the cause (yes, even with his son in the side..!) - not THAT dissimilar, in principle, to Neil Warnock (although the STYLE of football is very different). I don't think either of them could handle a big budget and the dressing-room baggage that would result from it.
You may well be right. And I know it may sound like stating the bleeding obvious, but bringing in Adebola and Nick Carle we were never going to rip any trees up and grind out the results needed to finish in the top 2. It was a win-win situation for Lansdown (or whoever made the decision) to recruit the experience we desperately needed to get us over the finish line. They could have paid very good wages or even given backhanders to the right players on short terms contracts. And had we gone up then their position with a view to signing permanently could have been re-assessed at the end of the season. Had we failed they could have been released with just their wages having been paid for a few months. It should have been a gamble well worth taking. I just think it was the best opportunity to get up since 1976 and we bottled it whichever way we look at it.
