Relegation

[stealthpapes]

How long did it take us to get back out of that league?

Four seasons, 1 under Burns, Pardew took over next season, losing play off final, champions.

At that point, we'd only played 6 out of a possible 56 post-war seasons above tier 3.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

I don't think we would struggle in League One

I remember being that naïve in 98 when we went down. I was fed up of a few years of struggle in Division 1, and I thought it would be 'fun' in Division 2 and that we would walk it, especially with our flash new stadium and knowing the 'little' clubs would be envious of us. How long did it take us to get back out of that league?

Look at Sunderland, Bolton, Wigan, even Leeds who were down there a few years. It's a tough gritty league, and we would be going down with a threadbare squad that needs mass recruitment whilst under strict restrictions to what we can offer players to play here.

We would 100% struggle in League 1. It would be a disaster!

It depends what you class as struggle. We would struggle to come back up at the first attempt, yes, but we wouldn't struggle in the division as previously suggested.

A lot of other clubs have bounced back at the first attempt, Rotherham do it every year, Hull did it last year, Blackburn have done it before etc. I don't think we would as we wouldn't have the squad of players to come straight back as a shed load are leaving, but I do think we'd be anywhere between 10th and 3rd. I could be completely wrong and we could win the league, or we could finish in the bottom half, but I do not believe we'd do either.

[tidus_mi2]

I'm very wary of our chances in League One should we get relegated, I feel we're more likely to go the way of Charlton, a similar sized team who are currently just outside the relegation scrap but should they keep up their current, terrible form, could get dragged into the relegation battle.

[Elm Park Kid]

In all honesty, I'd rather be in a division where we're competing for promotion than one where we simply can't afford to compete.

Nothing can change with our finances. There is no scenario in which we can start spending what's necessary to compete with teams who have parachute payments or higher incomes. Competing in the Championship is going to be a long hard slug of taking a group of lower-wage players and moulding them into a decent outfit. You can do it, but there's something to be said about starting it in a league where you can win games and then getting promoted with some confidence and winning mentality.

[Zip]

In all honesty, I'd rather be in a division where we're competing for promotion than one where we simply can't afford to compete.

Nothing can change with our finances. There is no scenario in which we can start spending what's necessary to compete with teams who have parachute payments or higher incomes. Competing in the Championship is going to be a long hard slug of taking a group of lower-wage players and moulding them into a decent outfit. You can do it, but there's something to be said about starting it in a league where you can win games and then getting promoted with some confidence and winning mentality.

The trouble is relegation would see us back to the lower divisions for the first time in two decades with no guarantee of bouncing back. Look at Ipswich, Charlton and maybe Sunderland.
We could even struggle in League One as a team very much on the way down.

If we get through this season and next the transfer embargo should be lifted allowing us more chance to spend but it has to be within reason.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

In all honesty, I'd rather be in a division where we're competing for promotion than one where we simply can't afford to compete.

Nothing can change with our finances. There is no scenario in which we can start spending what's necessary to compete with teams who have parachute payments or higher incomes. Competing in the Championship is going to be a long hard slug of taking a group of lower-wage players and moulding them into a decent outfit. You can do it, but there's something to be said about starting it in a league where you can win games and then getting promoted with some confidence and winning mentality.

In the long-term I could see that being the case where we can develop a young, hungry side who can compete, just like we did 20 years ago really. We have seen the likes of Blackpool and Luton do that themselves now in the last few seasons back in the Championship who have come back from the lower divisions, I wouldn't bet against someone like Plymouth doing similar if they came up as well.

[Snowflake Royal]

Lets be fair, even if we survive with the restrictions we will be under next season it`s very probably just delaying the inevitable, I don`t think I could stomach another season like this one, hell we`ve had plenty of practice though i the last 5 years.

I'm leaning towards this point of view as well really. I think next season could be even more of a struggle. I don't think it will be as embarrassing as this season, as I think there will be more of an understanding if we end up in the bottom 3 next season given what our budgets will be and what our squad could look like. We will have one of the smallest budgets in the league next season, we would do well to survive.

Nice to see a few more people coming round.

I'm just years ahead of the curve.

[Snowflake Royal]

I'm leaning towards this point of view as well really. I think next season could be even more of a struggle. I don't think it will be as embarrassing as this season, as I think there will be more of an understanding if we end up in the bottom 3 next season given what our budgets will be and what our squad could look like. We will have one of the smallest budgets in the league next season, we would do well to survive.

It probably will but the unknown is we simply do not know who may start on negative points, or get a deduction next year, plus business plans. There must be 4 or 5 teams in the frame for one. So we may find that we are better placed as in the summer, all though restricted, we can offer longer deals and potentially even pay the odd, but small, fee for a player.

Yes I think that is the saving grace for next season. The possibility of Rotherham and Wigan coming up who are likely to struggle, Hull are likely to struggle next season I think and maybe the likes of Bristol City, Middlesbrough and Stoke could all end up starting on minus points or have points off during the season. There will probably be another team or two that end up coming out of the blue under FFP restrictions, Huddersfield for example if they don't go up this season, maybe even Blackburn.

Birmingham are pretty shit most seasons.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

It probably will but the unknown is we simply do not know who may start on negative points, or get a deduction next year, plus business plans. There must be 4 or 5 teams in the frame for one. So we may find that we are better placed as in the summer, all though restricted, we can offer longer deals and potentially even pay the odd, but small, fee for a player.

Yes I think that is the saving grace for next season. The possibility of Rotherham and Wigan coming up who are likely to struggle, Hull are likely to struggle next season I think and maybe the likes of Bristol City, Middlesbrough and Stoke could all end up starting on minus points or have points off during the season. There will probably be another team or two that end up coming out of the blue under FFP restrictions, Huddersfield for example if they don't go up this season, maybe even Blackburn.

Birmingham are pretty shit most seasons.

I don't think they'll go down. Bottom half side though like they are now. I wouldn't be too terribly surprised if they were to end up getting dragged in. Either way, we've got bigger fish to fry than next season yet.

[Elm Park Kid]

In all honesty, I'd rather be in a division where we're competing for promotion than one where we simply can't afford to compete.

Nothing can change with our finances. There is no scenario in which we can start spending what's necessary to compete with teams who have parachute payments or higher incomes. Competing in the Championship is going to be a long hard slug of taking a group of lower-wage players and moulding them into a decent outfit. You can do it, but there's something to be said about starting it in a league where you can win games and then getting promoted with some confidence and winning mentality.

The trouble is relegation would see us back to the lower divisions for the first time in two decades with no guarantee of bouncing back. Look at Ipswich, Charlton and maybe Sunderland.
We could even struggle in League One as a team very much on the way down.

If we get through this season and next the transfer embargo should be lifted allowing us more chance to spend but it has to be within reason.

The EFL lifting the transfer embargo won't change how much we are allowed to spend - it just gives us more freedom in how we spend the small amount we have.

[RG30]

How long did it take us to get back out of that league?

Four seasons, 1 under Burns, Pardew took over next season, losing play off final, champions.

At that point, we'd only played 6 out of a possible 56 post-war seasons above tier 3.

Brighton were champions, we needed the final day point at Brentford to get up having bottled it the previous 8/9 games.

[Snowflake Royal]

How long did it take us to get back out of that league?

Four seasons, 1 under Burns, Pardew took over next season, losing play off final, champions.

At that point, we'd only played 6 out of a possible 56 post-war seasons above tier 3.

Brighton were champions, we needed the final day point at Brentford to get up having bottled it the previous 8/9 games.

Yeah, 10th, 11th, 3rd? 2nd wasn’t it?

All of them better the majority of our last 10 seasons.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

In all honesty, I'd rather be in a division where we're competing for promotion than one where we simply can't afford to compete.

Nothing can change with our finances. There is no scenario in which we can start spending what's necessary to compete with teams who have parachute payments or higher incomes. Competing in the Championship is going to be a long hard slug of taking a group of lower-wage players and moulding them into a decent outfit. You can do it, but there's something to be said about starting it in a league where you can win games and then getting promoted with some confidence and winning mentality.

The trouble is relegation would see us back to the lower divisions for the first time in two decades with no guarantee of bouncing back. Look at Ipswich, Charlton and maybe Sunderland.
We could even struggle in League One as a team very much on the way down.

If we get through this season and next the transfer embargo should be lifted allowing us more chance to spend but it has to be within reason.

The EFL lifting the transfer embargo won't change how much we are allowed to spend - it just gives us more freedom in how we spend the small amount we have.

Is it even a given that they will lift our embargo in terms of being able to spend money? They may permit us to be able to have a squad of 25 alongside having loans and free transfers allowed to be offered more than what they were this season but is it confirmed that it will be lifted somewhat so that we can actually spend money? Not that I think we will be spending millions again, but if we can coup a couple of players from League One then I'd be happy with that. That's where we need to source our players from anyway.

[Forbury Lion]

If we get relegated the problems we have at the club are not going to be fixed as a result of having less money and being forced to sell our better players (the ones that remain in contract), If the owners/people running the club don't know what they're doing in the Championship then they sure a hell won't have a clue in League One.
On the plus side, they might struggle to attract foreign managers with no experience of England and the English leagues to come manage at that level or players linked with certain agents who can do better elsewhere so we might luck into a decent managerial appointment and get a team of the right sort of players.

[Elm Park Kid]

The trouble is relegation would see us back to the lower divisions for the first time in two decades with no guarantee of bouncing back. Look at Ipswich, Charlton and maybe Sunderland.
We could even struggle in League One as a team very much on the way down.

If we get through this season and next the transfer embargo should be lifted allowing us more chance to spend but it has to be within reason.

The EFL lifting the transfer embargo won't change how much we are allowed to spend - it just gives us more freedom in how we spend the small amount we have.

Is it even a given that they will lift our embargo in terms of being able to spend money? They may permit us to be able to have a squad of 25 alongside having loans and free transfers allowed to be offered more than what they were this season but is it confirmed that it will be lifted somewhat so that we can actually spend money? Not that I think we will be spending millions again, but if we can coup a couple of players from League One then I'd be happy with that. That's where we need to source our players from anyway.

I think people just view the transfer embargo incorrectly in the first place. It's not a punishment, it's just the best way of getting us to reduce our losses to the allowable amount. Whilst we have such a high wage bill then there's no other way of limiting our losses other than not signing players and not renewing contracts.

So we just have to wait until enough of our higher wage players come off the books. At that point, yes, we'll have the freedom to spend how we want (as long as we fall within the overall restriction), but all we'll be doing is replacing players with cheaper versions. Maybe they will be better, maybe they won't. Just, if anyone thinks that we're going to go out and find a better CB than Moore, a better CM than Swift and a better striker than Joao for £12-14k a week you are probably going to be disappointed.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

The EFL lifting the transfer embargo won't change how much we are allowed to spend - it just gives us more freedom in how we spend the small amount we have.

Is it even a given that they will lift our embargo in terms of being able to spend money? They may permit us to be able to have a squad of 25 alongside having loans and free transfers allowed to be offered more than what they were this season but is it confirmed that it will be lifted somewhat so that we can actually spend money? Not that I think we will be spending millions again, but if we can coup a couple of players from League One then I'd be happy with that. That's where we need to source our players from anyway.

I think people just view the transfer embargo incorrectly in the first place. It's not a punishment, it's just the best way of getting us to reduce our losses to the allowable amount. Whilst we have such a high wage bill then there's no other way of limiting our losses other than not signing players and not renewing contracts.

So we just have to wait until enough of our higher wage players come off the books. At that point, yes, we'll have the freedom to spend how we want (as long as we fall within the overall restriction), but all we'll be doing is replacing players with cheaper versions. Maybe they will be better, maybe they won't. Just, if anyone thinks that we're going to go out and find a better CB than Moore, a better CM than Swift and a better striker than Joao for £12-14k a week you are probably going to be disappointed.

That's what I mean when I say do people think that it's a given that we will actually be able to spend again in this summer, even if it's only "a little" money. It will depend on what our accounts for this year currently show foe a start and I can imagine they will only allow us to spend x if we are significantly under the threshold for FFP rules again.

I don't think we will find better individual players than the 3 mentioned, but I do think we can find players that might be better suited to the club and a different set of players. I just do not trust our recruitment. Even without being able to spend anything, we've still managed to mess this seasons recruitment up by flooding our squad with wingers when it's clear we need defenders. When Seb Ewen, a disciple of the Kia Joorabchian agency, is head of our recruitment with no previous club experience, we are destined to fail. Every club who has had an involvement with this man has ran into trouble, so why we persist with this I don't know.

The mess will truly clear up with new owners or if wage caps and the 50+1 rule becomes the standard practice in the top two tiers of the EFL.

[Snowflake Royal]

If we get relegated the problems we have at the club are not going to be fixed as a result of having less money and being forced to sell our better players (the ones that remain in contract), If the owners/people running the club don't know what they're doing in the Championship then they sure a hell won't have a clue in League One.
On the plus side, they might struggle to attract foreign managers with no experience of England and the English leagues to come manage at that level or players linked with certain agents who can do better elsewhere so we might luck into a decent managerial appointment and get a team of the right sort of players.

Given one of our major problems is the size of our wage bill, letting the contracts lapse and selling the remaining high earners should actually more than compensate for the drop in revenue.

[Weymouth Royal]

Relegation is unthinkable. Everything SJM worked for, and we dreamed of, wasted. Also an £8m loss of Championship money, and possibly losing Cat 1 status with the academy unless Dai bankrolls it.

I can see Barnsley getting out of the bottom three and us dropping with Derby and Peterborough.

[stealthpapes]

How long did it take us to get back out of that league?

Four seasons, 1 under Burns, Pardew took over next season, losing play off final, champions.

At that point, we'd only played 6 out of a possible 56 post-war seasons above tier 3.

Brighton were champions, we needed the final day point at Brentford to get up having bottled it the previous 8/9 games.

Yes, quite right. Dreadful run-in after being miles ahead.

[Snowflake Royal]

Four seasons, 1 under Burns, Pardew took over next season, losing play off final, champions.

At that point, we'd only played 6 out of a possible 56 post-war seasons above tier 3.

Brighton were champions, we needed the final day point at Brentford to get up having bottled it the previous 8/9 games.

Yes, quite right. Dreadful run-in after being miles ahead.

My boss of the time was a Brighton fan. That was a little painful.