Is the league fun anymore?

When Steve McClaren resigned last week, it marked another low point in the recent history of Nottingham Forest. Rudderless on the pitch and off it, this once great club now stare down the barrel of a very tough season, and although it would be a huge shock if they were relegated, a playoff push certainly seems unlikely.

This is the same Nottingham Forest who only six months ago were ninety minutes away from an appearance in a playoff final. The old cliché of better the devil you know seems appropriate and you can guarantee Forest fans would be delighted if Billy Davies strutted back through the gates at the County Ground and rescued their tepid team from the slumber they have slipped into.

Two play-off finishes in a row were deemed a failure by the board and yes, of course, there were other reasons why Davies was shown the door, but the main reason boiled down to his failure to take Forest back to the Premier League.

Were the fans not enjoying watching their side anymore? Was Davies young, exciting and expansive side not enough for those paying their money to watch their team get close to promotion two years on the trot?

I’m almost certain that Forest fans loved last season and the season before; I imagine even the most level headed, realistic of them would have expected a similar result this season with a couple of canny additions to the squad. Instead, the pressure with which managers are under these days to produce the goods and get their clubs promoted saw Davies leave. You can guarantee the board regret that decision now.

But this isn’t just an issue which affects Nottingham Forest; it is symptomatic of a much wider issue in the Championship. Brighton, Southampton and Peterborough were all promoted from League One last season and two of those clubs now reside in the top six. For Brighton and Southampton to sustain their momentum will be surprising, but is nevertheless possible and we could well see one of them in the top flight next season.

Let’s say that neither get promoted this season though, what happens next year? Even a mild form of second season syndrome could potentially see them ‘languishing’ in mid-table and then what? The financial pressures that surround almost every single Championship club these days mean that failure to secure promotion to the Promised Land, the golden land of the Premier League is deemed as a failure however much fun or however enjoyable your season was. If Gus Poyet leads Brighton to a playoff semi-final defeat this year then a 12th place finish next season, his job will be under pressure.

How can this be? This league, the league which ‘gets harder every year,’ is becoming far more pressured than the Premier League; mysterious owners believe a change of a manager or yet another big money signing will finally crack the promotion code. While they instruct their accountants to transfer yet another couple of million pounds to their club they should sit back and do some slightly simpler maths.

There are twenty four sides in the Championship. Three of these can get promoted. Three of these can get relegated. That means there are going to be eighteen teams for whom promotion or relegation is not an option. The quicker they realise this, the better.

Yes, of course everyone can still aspire for promotion; but it should not be the absolute be all and end all. A friend of mine, who supports a Championship club, recently said to me, “why can’t we just stay in the Championship? I love it.” Of course if his team were to get promoted he wouldn’t complain, but his point is a good one – is the league such a bad place to be?

The quality of football can be very good, emphasised by Swansea and Blackpool’s recent promotions playing football The Right Way; there are some brilliant, old fashioned away days at historic football grounds like Elland Road, Portman Road and the aforementioned County Ground; the unpredictable nature of the results, when embraced, can make following your team a great experience – if you can stomach the home loss against the team at the foot of the table one week, the victory at the league leaders the next week is all the more sweet.

Then of course when that hallowed promotion does come along, it can be enjoyed so much more. It might even be a pleasant surprise rather than an “about time too” moment. There are exceptions to these rules and they come in the shape of big clubs who get relegated from the Premier League and face all sorts of (financial) problems if they don’t get back up sharpish – Newcastle and West Ham are the most recent examples.

And yet they also prove what a great league this is. Speak to Newcastle fans about their promotion season and they will say it was the best they’ve had for a long time – winning games was obviously a big part of this, but it was more than that. They enjoyed the feel of the league, they enjoyed the away days. They enjoyed it. And I think there are a lot of clubs who could take a leaf out of their books and start enjoying themselves again.

As for Nottingham Forest’s new manager? If he can get off to a good start, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t have a very good season. But that doesn’t mean promotion, and neither should it.