Just thinking about the League One clubs [and promoted Lge Two] that are not too far away. MK Dons [Could be up though] Brentford Bournemouth Leyton Orient Yeovil Swindon [It's practically nailed on] Torquay [Maybe, and that could be really nice day in August/Sept or April/May] Crawley [Possibly] Aldershot [Remote chance] Wycombe and [sadly] Exeter look like they could be heading for Lge Two. Charlton are pretty much heading up.
And another thing, stick with Appleton - good bloke, good manager. Pompey showed an awful lot of pasasion at St Mary's and if they can reproduce that, L1 will be right up his street. Transfer wise, you don't tend to have to spend much, but you will need to spend a bit if you have eyes on a quick return to the Championship. A good L1 manager is someone who can pick players up for peanuts, have faith in them and get the best out of them. It's not quite the non-league way of wining and dining players to sign for you, but it's closer to that than the fat cheques and briefcases loaded with cash that Pompey will be used to.
Appleton recently stated that the club needs to have a clear out, to start with a clean slate and that his vision for future of Pompey is to bleed homegrown players into the first team and build around youth both from Pompey's youth system, loans from the big premier league teams and a few transfers and that this will be his blueprint for the next two to three years or maybe even further. My kind of manager.
That can be a problem. If Appleton has set up his vision of Pompey's play in Leg One that you require a billiard table to achieve it, then you're in for a rude awakening. Part of the reason Saints didn't make it to the playoffs [apart from being 10 points down, that is] in the first season of Lge One was that we didn't learn to go to the bad pitches and mix it up. Yes, often our superiority took us through, but just as often it didn't. To a certain extent, that had to be Pardew's failing. Adkins knew what was required because he'd managed in that kind of situation most of his time on the touchline.
I have just sat through a very boring meeting with many colleagues being pompey fans. They banged on about winning the derby over 2 legs on away goals if it was a euro tie! I congratulated them on that, pointed out that it was the nearest they would get to Europe for a long time. i wonder how many away goals they will score against the likes of yeovil, Hartlepool ,Walsall etc ? But your right it is fun, enjoy it.
I found the refs quite refreshing. They let a lot go, on the principal that if you don't see what happens, don't guess. Although they are behind the play a little, at least they don't feel the need to blow every time there's anything resembling contact.
Good luck to him if that's the road he's going down. You might stay there a while, but at least you wouldn't have to worry about Admin Andy and the HMRC coming back.
It was a welcoming , sobering and also uplifting experience , better fans than the premiership anyway , football also as it should be .
Great fun down in League 1,as long as you dont struggle down there. Loads of Saints fans,and i also epect it will be the same for Pompey,felt that playing in the JPT trophy was beneath them when we first went down, but it is a good fun competition,that you will be one of the favourites for, and gives you the chance of a trip to Wembley. Bad things: Crap pitches. Prepare to have your forum boards invaded by Bournemouth and Swindon fans as they are desperate to find someone to call rivals,other than Yeovil.
I do in a sense miss league 1, FA Cup 1st round, NO international breaks(My favourite), losing 2-0 at home to Rochdale....ahhh those were the days....
Yeah,was positive they were going to go up after missing out in the play offs the year before. Hardly seen when they dropped down into the bottom half of the table, and disappeared completely when they fell into the bottom 4.
For me, our time in League One was enjoyable because we were rebuilding and the future seemed bright. It's a good chance to wipe the slate clean and build a new foundation, so long as you can find someone to save you from your financial peril. However you may not have the same experience that we did. You may have the same experience Luton did. That sound like fun?
Agree with all of the above but there is a big difference between our situation at that time and yours now. It's an important point because it determines how you view dropping into the third tier. We had just been taken over by a new owner and the very positve messages coming out of the club were uplifting. I had let our season tickets lapse after relegation from the Prem but actually felt encouraged enough to renew them for Div1. Our owners gave us a sense of belief but if you can't at least stabilise I don't see you enjoying your visit as much as we did. On the subject of away grounds.....some of them don't have roofs over the away section so remember to check the weather forecast for when you are inside the ground as well as getting to and from it.
Enjoyed League 1 because we had thought we'd go out of business..that will be one similarity between our teams. The difference is that we had been taken over by a wealthy man who knew nothing about football but then fell in love with Saints. We loved him and he loved us. The antithesis of him is our Chairman who dealt with the practicality of getting us to the PL within 5 years. If things can get sorted out, your fans will make you one of the bigger clubs in this league. You won't roll over teams in League 1 as they will treat you as a cup final, but you will win enough to put a smile on your face.
Bournemouth will think they are you rivals and start calling you Skates and making out both games against you are derby games. Like many other (notice the ommision of all*) Saints fans I found the fans of other clubs to be genuinely interested in football and to be loyal long time supporters of their team. I remember walking away from St Mary's chatting to a group of Gillingham supporters as if they were long lost friends. A Swindon supporter was happy to let me park my car in his driveway and then gave me a lift to the ground. * the use of the term "all" implies that everyone has the same shared opinion as the author and this may not always be the case. Therefore to avoid implying that someone holds a particular view when in fact they don't "many" has been used instead of "all" even though it is recognised that the pedantic reader may consider this inaccurate as well. If the use of the word "many" is also considered not truly accurate the author may use a blank in future postings so that the reader can insert what ever word he or she believes best reflects there opinion. As it stands at this time the above contribution is my opinion alone and in no way is it meant to reflect the views, opinions or personal prejudices of any other person. The reader may therefore edit the wording of this posting as she or he may see fit as I don't particularly give a fig.
