3 relegated sides are more or less a straight swap in terms of quality. I'm more relieved Newcastle stayed up (assuming John Carver doesn't stay as manager). It seems every summer we question the squads ability to improve again. Obviously we can't take anything for granted but there's nothing to suggest that Mick will prove all the doubters wrong again.
Why does everything have to turn into a nasty spell of name calling from both sides of the East Anglia divide? The OP raised very good points for discussion. Of course we will be better off in the Premiership because of the money involved. Last time the money cleared our debts - this time it will fund ground expansion. Which Club wouldn't want the huge sums of money involved? As for next year there are optimists who think we will finish high in the table. The realists/pessimists will accept that we will be amongst the group struggling to stay up. We should be better equipped to survive than the other 2 going up and there should be at least one more worse than us. Personally I would accept 4th from bottom now if it was offered. I watched the Cup Final. We can live with the likes of Villa but Arsenal? No chance!! As for you - good luck. McCarthy is not a muppet but has he taken you as far as he can unless a lot of money is made available? Time will tell but I for one would be happy to see you join us in the Premiership at the end of next season.
In all seriousness in terms of us getting promotion, a good thing. Norwich would have arguably won the Championship next season in my opinion had they failed. While I don't doubt Boro will be top 9/10 somewhere ( it's very hard to predict where ) Norwich going up will give us a far better chance next season.
I think Westlake has hit the nail on the head. It all depends on whether as an Ipswich fan you hate Norwich sufficiently to keep us down even if it lessens your chances of success next season. Realistically do you think boro' will be more of a threat? I think under Neil had we stayed down we would have every chance of winning the league which would reduce your chances of auto promotion by half and going up by a third. Good luck next season though. Just hope the next old farm is in the prem.
Norwich were so well equipped last year they had a guy who was scoring against juventus in the champions league on the bench! We are so far below that level at the mo it would have been painful had we gone up unles we viewed it as a case of go up, take the money, clear the debts, buy so,e decent players and come back down for a proper go the following season. I'm not sure it makes a lot of difference to us that they went up, they did, good luck to them and I only hope we join them soon so we have two Anglian teams back at the top table. With some clever free transfers and investment in paying wages for the best players rather than wasting it on transfer fees kick can build a team with a strong team spirit which is essential, it's what gave burnley a fighting chance, Leicester their survival and predecessors like palace, Stoke etc the ability to stay up, it's not about marquee signings, big transfer fees. The championship is defined by errors, that lead to goals more than quality of play that produces goals so eliminating these errors with players capable of doing so will provide a team that can avoid conceding too much, score enough and stand a chance of promotion,
If Norwich managed to keep all of their players for next season had they not gone up, I'd imagine they'd be well up there but whether they would have been able to keep those players is a different question, I think if they hadn't of gone up they may of had to have gone through some real major changes in personel.
" We are so far below that level at the mo it would have been painful had we gone up unles we viewed it as a case of go up, take the money, clear the debts, buy so,e decent players and come back down for a proper go the following season. " People will say Burnley are going down that approach, I don't think they'll be in the mix next season but that's my opinion. Disagree entirely you take promotion whenever you can get it. I don't recall us being in a great position back in 2000 but we clicked and it just happened.
Here is a different take on it. It's a good thing they got promoted, for the environment. Being prem clubs play 38 games rather than the Championships 46 it cuts Norwich's carbon footprint due to less travels away... Sorry that was bloody awful, and it gets canceled by QPR going down and having the extra fixtures so I will get my coat
Good post. It's staggering how much money there is in the prem now. My club got something like £65 million just for finishing 20th, this does not include parachute payments, it's absurd! If you did go up ready or not as you say SD and manage not to go silly with signings the money puts Ipswich in a much better place. Some clubs do the yo yo thing before getting established in the top flight again. Anyway I won't pretend to be an expert on this stuff and what's it all about anyway? Is there life on Mars?
Like you say mate, it's better to go up ready or not and take that cash to get tonked every week than stay in the championship. Some clubs need to do this a couple of times before they are truly 'ready' to stay in the prem.
Yes. Trust me your football mojo will take a battering seeing your beloved club getting tonked most weeks, but most sane footy fans want to see their club in the top flight! It pains me to say this about my club but we were and still are a basket case with no real plan. Most other clubs would have a better go of it! It just turns out that our £10 million ex Spurs signing Sandro played all his games for us without a valid work permit. I often wounder if this man calls the shots at QPR please log in to view this image
It's better for the club to go up and take a beating most weeks .....but is it actually better for the fans......I think I'd rather us being competitive in the championship rather than whipping boys at the top table.........not saying I don't want promotion just that I think the year getting promoted is probably better than anytime spent bending over for the almighty dollar......and I don't mean David van day.
I hear you Weighty, nobody likes losing every week but at some point you have to get promotion to gain the stupid financial benefits that come with it.
True, being beat most weekends sucks. However teams like Swansea or Southampton joined the prem party and managed to do it right and get established. Despite the pain of seeing my team cock it up big time I live in hope that some teams do get it right. I guess my argument is for the mid size or even smaller clubs like mine, mid table prem obscurity is much better than mid table Championship obscurity. This added to with the occasional big club whipping, against the odds QPR managed to beat Chelsea at the Bridge a couple of seasons back. Stuff like that is pure gold!
