| I get the disappointment with last night. 17:08 - Feb 27 with 948 views | TheBoyBlue |
I was disappointed. Bloomin' annoyed in fact. Not long after blowing three points against Southampton to then let Manchester United's worst team for decades, confidence on the floor and down to ten men off the hook really felt criminal in a footballing context.
However, this season really was a punt. There have been times when I thought we could and would stay up and if certain moments had played out differently then who knows. Ultimately though, as a newly promoted team the summer after the three previously promoted teams had been relegated we couldn't attract the targets that we needed and whilst we have made mistakes in recruitment (as you would expect with getting so many in) some of those have been affected by injury and suspension, especially Ogbene, but also Phillips and now Enciso.
I hark back to Gamechangers first full season. Not in a "look how far we've come" way, but because that fell below people's expectations. Most - myself included - were expecting a promotion but it felt like more of the same. That Bolton home game, Barrow away, Kieran who?, not getting anywhere near the play-offs. Yet the groundwork was laid. The players, the management, the style that was to lead to the success we have had.
Hopefully that is what is happening now. No one wants to get relegated and it has been depressing at times, especially recently, but it feels like the groundwork is being laid for the next ambition, which I guess will be getting back up in the next couple of seasons and being able to get closer to establishing ourselves in the Premier League. The players we've brought in are young but already proven at Championship level, we'll be more attractive to the players that we need to strengthen with (a striker when Delap goes, new midfield, right back, etc) and have the money to get them. The training ground project will be up and running and I suspect that the club will be trying to build the academy and our overseas scouting network, the latter pretty much from scratch.
Of course we may bomb like Luton, but everything about this club says it is on an upward trajectory. And personally I have mainly enjoyed this season. The players, the attention, watching Delap, the packed houses, the stadiums we've played in. It has whetted the appetite to come back and do better, with the above in mind. [Post edited 27 Feb 17:24]
|  |
| |  |
| I get the disappointment with last night. on 18:19 - Feb 27 with 753 views | Marshalls_Mullet |
I just hope we can finish the season with some more promising performances to build from next season.
We all thought Burleys team would walk the Championship (maybe still called Div 1 back then?) when we last got relegated from the Prem, but that didn't go as expected.
We need some performances that bring back some of the feel good factor. [Post edited 27 Feb 18:20]
|  |
| |
| I get the disappointment with last night. on 18:42 - Feb 27 with 684 views | TheBoyBlue |
| I get the disappointment with last night. on 18:19 - Feb 27 by Marshalls_Mullet |
I just hope we can finish the season with some more promising performances to build from next season.
We all thought Burleys team would walk the Championship (maybe still called Div 1 back then?) when we last got relegated from the Prem, but that didn't go as expected.
We need some performances that bring back some of the feel good factor. [Post edited 27 Feb 18:20]
|
That's my hope too.
I think the difference between the teams coming down and those already in the Championship is far bigger than it was when we went down in 2002. That's not say we are definitely going to go up, let alone walk it, but if Gamechanger and McKenna (or whoever replaces him if he goes) manage things as they have done so far then we should be right up there next season. | |
| |
| I get the disappointment with last night. on 18:44 - Feb 27 with 673 views | VanDusen |
| I get the disappointment with last night. on 18:19 - Feb 27 by Marshalls_Mullet |
I just hope we can finish the season with some more promising performances to build from next season.
We all thought Burleys team would walk the Championship (maybe still called Div 1 back then?) when we last got relegated from the Prem, but that didn't go as expected.
We need some performances that bring back some of the feel good factor. [Post edited 27 Feb 18:20]
|
No - I remember 2002 too. Different era. I think that's what we all need - to get with the programme. Football has changed immensely since those days - not for the better in my opinion. But the effects of FFP and the new 'Super league by any other name' along with a global audience that continues to grow (and may well do even more after USA 2026) are changing it even moreso now at a faster rate.
Obviously no promotion is guaranteed and has to be earnt. But back then the gap wasn't a patch on what it is now. Plus we were under immense financial pressure from ITV Digital's collapse which ultimately led us to declare bankruptcy halfway through the season, and we also even had a European campaign distracting us and delaying games to Sundays for the first three months. Now we have ambitious owners who have received an unexpected £150m+ windfall before they expected. It's a very different situation.
Look at what we did to Coventry the other week with what - bar Phillips and Godfrey - will very likely be a feasible line up next year. Away! And they're bang on for the playoffs in sparkling form at present.
Personally I would happily leave this corrupt and totally broken league for good as the best you can hope for in the modern game is mid-table anonymity as cannon fodder. EFL is far more fun and closer to football when I was growing up (no plastics - proper fans). But realistically I think we'll be back, and back stronger in a year or two.
Getting up last season was the bottleneck we amazingly got through to give us a massive advantage next year. | | | |
| I get the disappointment with last night. on 19:18 - Feb 27 with 567 views | TheBoyBlue |
| I get the disappointment with last night. on 18:44 - Feb 27 by VanDusen |
No - I remember 2002 too. Different era. I think that's what we all need - to get with the programme. Football has changed immensely since those days - not for the better in my opinion. But the effects of FFP and the new 'Super league by any other name' along with a global audience that continues to grow (and may well do even more after USA 2026) are changing it even moreso now at a faster rate.
Obviously no promotion is guaranteed and has to be earnt. But back then the gap wasn't a patch on what it is now. Plus we were under immense financial pressure from ITV Digital's collapse which ultimately led us to declare bankruptcy halfway through the season, and we also even had a European campaign distracting us and delaying games to Sundays for the first three months. Now we have ambitious owners who have received an unexpected £150m+ windfall before they expected. It's a very different situation.
Look at what we did to Coventry the other week with what - bar Phillips and Godfrey - will very likely be a feasible line up next year. Away! And they're bang on for the playoffs in sparkling form at present.
Personally I would happily leave this corrupt and totally broken league for good as the best you can hope for in the modern game is mid-table anonymity as cannon fodder. EFL is far more fun and closer to football when I was growing up (no plastics - proper fans). But realistically I think we'll be back, and back stronger in a year or two.
Getting up last season was the bottleneck we amazingly got through to give us a massive advantage next year. |
I think it is possible to go beyond just midtable obscurity, as Forest have shown this season and Brighton previously, although it is obviously heavily weighted in favour of the big boys.
Otherwise though, I entirely agree. | |
| |
| |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
