Off topic - sorry lads H! Did you get my last e-mail about the fun league fixtures, Visio and Project?
The best way to build for next season would be to get promoted and use the PL money and parachute payments to build an excellent Championship side for the year after. If we did manage to stay up it would be a massive bonus. We'll compete with PL teams as we've shown at time this season. I don't go for the WH deserve it line of thought. They have had a MASSIVE gamble on spending their way out of this league and found it much tougher than they thought. If they fail, them and Leicester will stand as a warning to future chairmen/owners who think they can spend their way out of this league. It will be very interesting to see how WH's squad and finances deal with another year of Championship football. There'll be Fat Sam's severence package for a start......
Steve - I understand your logic, but once a club gets into the prem it is better to attempt to stay there. That does mean you have to blow a budget (Norwich and Swansea). Sure if we made it and got relegated so be it, but I don't think we need to consider it automatic that we would go down if MM made 5 to 6 canny wee signings. I honestly do not think our owners are the type to waste money anyway. They have not shown any sign of doing that as yet. I also agree that West Ham don't deserve to go up more than us. With the money they have spent they should be top not looking at playoffs.
Stevo - I'm not saying WHU morally deserve to go up. Whoever end up 3rd (and it could easily have been us) deserve it on the final league table position. Any club with cash on the hip from owners can attempt to buy their way to the Prem and as you say, Leicester are a prime example of how you can come unstuck. Let's be fair, we tried it down the borrowing route, and it went tits up. The money that WH have spent to get there is truly an indication of why parachute money is consistently voted for by the existing Premier clubs. Maybe the top half dozen clubs would prefer it dropped or reduced and added to the upfront payments on the basis that they would be unlikely to need it, but for the other dozen or more Prem clubs who stare reality in the face and run the risk of the drop, it would be like turkeys voting for Christmas to abandon it. Unfair advantage for WHU - definitely yes, but the 3rd place team at the end of 46 games should go up. Only my opinion.
On that bais I would agree with you Sparkey. I think it is Serie B in Italy who cancel playoffs if the team that finishes 3rd is 9 points or more ahead of the team in 4th. I would like the top 3 to go up automatically and then 4th place to play 17th in the Prem in a 2 legged playoff.
i see where you come from, but if the top 3 went up then that would give 15 teams in the league nothing to play for after christmas. I like that Serie B idea though
Siam - It could be argued that Norwich and Swansea have done exactly what I'm talking about. Don't buy SWP and Joey Barton. Look for Morrison, Graham, (the winger from Huddersfield who's name I can't remember!) These are Championship players who can maybe make the step to PL. If you bring them back down you know you've already got the tools to get somewhere near the right end of the Championship. Yes technically you can argue the 3rd place team deserves it more but football is first and foremost an entertainment business. This season would have been settled from a promtion point of view when WH and Brum drew over easter. Whereas right now the best (or worst) part of the season is just about to begin! Didn't WH achieve their last promotion via a 6th place finish?
There can be no argument that the playoff scenario effectively extends the season for many clubs who would otherwise have nothing to play for during the last dozen games or so if 3rd was an auto promo spot. It just seems an injustice for a team to creep into 6th spot, maybe a dozen or more points behind the 3rd place club, and pinch it at the death after a season long campaign. On the same "extend the season/excitement" basis, then maybe the powers that be should make the 3rd to 6th from the bottom of each division play off for the 3rd relegation spot? That would make a few clubs who now think they're safe shake it up to the death.
Personally I love the relegation playoff idea!! I suppose the counter argument is that the bottom end of the PL normally goes to the wire like that anyway. What it would do is give just about every side in each division something to play for untill the end. The playoffs possibly do produce a few outcomes that can be classed as unjust but how boring would football be if everything just fell into place the way it should. Maybe the Serie B idea is more 'fair' but we all know the rules at the start. If you're only 3rd best in the league then you have to enter the playoffs. If you're that far head and shoulders above the rest then they should be a breeze anyway......... It's Reading who have ruined WH's plans and, fair play, 46pts out of a possible 51pts in this division is an exceptional run fully deserving of the PL status they've achieved.
