| Good Lordy this is a 'fun place' today 11:55 - Feb 27 with 2014 views | Keno |
A bit of perspective is needed that in the great scheme of things this season is a 'bonus' however it ends up.
We are a team that a few years ago was struggling in league 1 and have come a massive way very quickly. That momentum couldn't carry on but we are in a much better place than we could have ever expected to be when Gamechanger etc came along and the steady progress we all hoped for will continue but with more money, a better value squad and a higher profile than we could have dreamed of.
and who knows we may yet have the 3rd remarkable end of season on the bounce and pull this off. Who thought 2 years ago we win something like 13 of our last 15, who expected us to end up 2nd last season, who thought Keno could be the voice of reason
So lets all take a breath, remember we are all Town Fans and enjoy the ride!!
COYBS!!
and believe!! |  |
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| Good Lordy this is a 'fun place' today on 14:06 - Feb 27 with 248 views | positivity |
| Good Lordy this is a 'fun place' today on 13:58 - Feb 27 by Scuzzer |
I did.
Perhaps i'm a nobody? |
you *expected* 3 points? you're not a nobody, but not sure that you're a realist! |  |
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| Good Lordy this is a 'fun place' today on 15:11 - Feb 27 with 203 views | Smoresy |
Many may prefer to shut out the noise and wallow but you're not wrong Keno. This is going to be our best league finish in two decades, whether we finish 19th or a little above. That's a fact. We've spent most of this century outside the top 30, the Championship play-offs a pipe dream, automatic promotion beyond even the magic of dreams.
Zoom forward two years and we're in the Leicester and Southampton bucket, it's close to pinch-yourself territory. Many bristle at that: I'm one of life's winners, I deserve to be here, I don't make up the numbers, other such rhetoric. Our historic average league finish is 29th. Two-thirds of our history has been spent outside the top flight. Perhaps you chose the wrong club or your parents did you a disservice, but this is where we've come from. It matters.
Recent history couldn't be more relevant because it's the lens through which we're viewed by those who may make a difference. Why does our PL experience max out at a Ben Godfrey January loan move? Because of how we were largely perceived by players with PL experience. Why didn't we tap the foreign markets for better talent and value? Because the infrastructure wasn't there to avoid lottery-like punts. Why did we bother spending more than many locals ever thought possible in a season? Because the investors wanted to take a proper crack at it, despite arriving earlier than "dreamt".
I avoided writing "scheduled" there because EFL clubs don't predictably build their way up to the top flight anymore. A quick glance at Middlesbrough, Bristol, Derby, Wednesday, plenty of others, will show that the nearly men typically don't make it. They'll make a misstep in the market, hit their investment ceiling, and then they're hamstrung by FFP for a few years, or the owners aren't willing to sustain the losses, or occasionally they do everything right but are still outgunned by the unlevel playing field. The repeat offenders that consistently make it are those that already did so once, by hook or by crook, and that's what we achieved last summer.
We should, we will be fighting in the top cluster next season and that will be an alien feeling for those of us with shorter memories. Obviously we did so last year but it was a revelation. This time we'll start the gun as a top-seeded team, back to 2002-05 territory but without the financial bust. We missed out then and history may repeat itself, but it should be fun being a big fish in a serious league for one or two years; we've waited a long time to be considered that again.
And if we earn promotion again in 25/26 or 26/27, this period of time will later be considered a success. We took advantage of the new riches, converting ourselves into a top 25, top 23 team in the country for a period, having been a top 40, top 55 team in previous periods. Whether we make the leap into the top 17 is another challenge, the ceiling smasher. It took Fulham three successive promotions to do it; look at them now.
First accomplishment is to prove ourselves at least a capable yo-yoer, which would reflect a huge advancement in our club's fortunes and standing in the country. People laud Luton's shoe-string accomplishments of last season but the string has very quickly unraveled, no investment to keep its shape. People mocked Sheffield United's failures of last season but they invested to hold their shape. We will improve scouting, training infrastructure in the meantime, but PL experience will also be more receptive to a repeat visitor, as opposed to a guest that last visited before many residents were even born. All aboard! | | | |
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