Do we actually want to go up ?

[Insel affe]

At the risk of sounding like a numpty....

I was thinking back to the Hereford game and one part of what I wished for came true that day, the other part of having our own ground, being a team in the Championship holding our own, with good cup runs etc has now come true. However we have it appears come to that point we were told would not come we are about to break through our "ceiling" and could possibly reach the Premiership.

Do we / you actually want that ?

I have always thought the Championship is our level, a good Championship team with "real" fans and a chairman that loves the club...

If we go up, if. if, if things will change big time...

Mercenary players on big wages would be linked with us and come to us at some point.

Would you be happy going straight back down, will we panic and get rid of Chris with three months to go and get big sam in or another firefighter in..

What is our aim, to establish ourselves as a Southampton style team eventually, lets face it Europe would never happen, this season the Leicester thing will never happen for another 20 odd years at least.

Matches changed and dictated at the drop of a hat by Sky.

Plastic fans.

Are there things you will miss in the lower leagues ?

A little but of me will be sad leaving the real world of Bovril football, and joining the rest of the Prawn Sandwich brigade....

Having said that....

Lets do it....

 

[Sussex Nomad]

I'm a bit confused, so NO! YES!

 

[pishhead]

Leicester.
Not saying it will happen but what is the point of a football club if not to compete at the highest possible level.
We are no longer little old Brighton.
Mr Poyet get your plaster ready as a ceiling is going to need a repair.

 

[Triggaaar]

The reason we've been able to see quality football and our team in the top half of the table is because Mr Bloom has been willing to spend £10 million on us every year. He doesn't want to do that, so our current position is unsustainable. We need to get promoted tp balance the books.

There's a good chance we'd come back down anyway, and you could enjoy some more Championship football in the future.

 

[CorgiRegisteredFriend]

Reading all that I would say we are half way towards that scenario.

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

Only to balance the books, not bothered otherwise.

 

[Dolph Ins]

I trust TB to do the right thing. Sky have been messing up our matches all season anyway. I will be happy to yo-yo between leagues. I don't think Europe is out of the question in the next 10 years. I quite like prawn sandwiches.

 

[Triggaaar]

Mr Poyet get your plaster ready as a ceiling is going to need a repair.

Clubs do have ceilings due to a number of things, particularly the finances available and the team that's been signed and taking up those finances, and to be fair to Gus, we had hit our ceiling. Fortunately Mr Bloom knew this too, so he raised the ceiling by firing Gus.

 

[pasty]

My take on it has always been, and still is, that yes, I would like to get promoted to the Premier League, but me-h, I won't lose much sleep over it if we never do.

 

[sparkie]

The reason we've been able to see quality football and our team in the top half of the table is because Mr Bloom has been willing to spend £10 million on us every year. He doesn't want to do that, so our current position is unsustainable. We need to get promoted tp balance the books.

There's a good chance we'd come back down anyway, and you could enjoy some more Championship football in the future.

Absolutely this.

I for one am not happy having to rely on Tony losing 10 million pounds every year.

So, yes - we want to go up.

 

[drew]

Leicester.
Not saying it will happen but what is the point of a football club if not to compete at the highest possible level.
We are no longer little old Brighton.
Mr Poyet get your plaster ready as a ceiling is going to need a repair.

Poyet could only see the suspended ceiling, couldn't see beyond that.

 

[studio150]

At the risk of sounding like a numpty....



Do we / you actually want that ?

I have always thought the Championship is our level, a good Championship team with "real" fans and a chairman that loves the club...

Would you be happy going straight back down, will we panic and get rid of Chris with three months to go and get big sam in or another firefighter in..

What is our aim, to establish ourselves as a Southampton style team eventually, lets face it Europe would never happen, this season the Leicester thing will never happen for another 20 odd years at least.

Plastic fans.


Having said that....

Lets do it....

Just picking up of a couple of the numpty points.

Why look to take dreaming away from the fans. This is surely one of the main selling points with football that there is a league system that allows teams to be promoted and relegated. If you decide to put a ceiling on ambition then you are effectively saying that results dont count and you may as well have a franchise system which removes both so that you just play the same teams over and over again and it doesn't really matter if you are good or bad.

Why is Europe out of the question. If that lot up the road can be a win away from European football I see no reason why we couldn't qualify in the future. Yes the aim when we go up would be to avoid relegation in the first season then build on that through a sensible transfer and wage policy.

Whether teams outside of the established big 4 can repeat the Leicester performance is to be seen. However with the TV money pouring in, I would like to think that the whole league becomes more even and teams such as Southampton and West Ham have a change to reach the top 4 within a shorter time frame than you suggest.

As for plastic fans I thought we had discussed that to death following the move from Withdean. You could make a case that other than the regular 2000 at Gillingham everyone else is a plastic fan. Yes we may have tourist fans and pitch adverts in Japanese but the core will still be present, and wouldn't it be brilliant for a whole generation of new Albion fans to grow up supporting a successful team.

 

[NooBHA]

Of course we want to go up.

The Championship is the BEST league to be in and I think that's because the big and small clubs in that division can actually compete fairly evenly with each other.

However, CH himself wants to manage in the Premiership again. And YES Brighton could sack him in 3 months if things don't go well if they go up but Chris and almost every Football Manager knows that as soon as they take a job that at some point in the future they will be sacked, or move on. The latter, less likely.

You also have to balance the negative points you highlight, and they are valid points. On the flip side the exposure the team and the city would get worldwide would totally outweigh the negatives.

The club would collate new fans all over the world and that can only be a good thing.

On the football side of things. If the manager gets at least 4 transfer windows (and I mean 4 transfer windows after reaching the Premiership), he should be able to put in place a squad which can compete at that level, so long as they continue to invest in the squad and the scouting system.

So YES there are negatives but you have to test yourself against the best if you want to become one of the best. That's what the Chairman wants and that's what the current manager wants.

 

[Sussex Nomad]

I trust TB to do the right thing. Sky have been messing up our matches all season anyway.

The irony of that is we'll probably be on Sky less if we hit the Prem.

 

[dingodan]

Nobody doesn't want their team in the PL. Fans, chairmen, players, everyone.

Sometimes, when people are afraid that they may not get what they really want, they convince themselves beforehand that they don't really want it. To avoid the pain if they don't get it.

All you people saying you are not fussed will all be p*ssing your pants and dancing around naked if we go up.

I find this kind of thread insulting to our players, who want nothing more than to play at the highest level. If only for them, we should want to go up. They deserve it, it's what they earn from winning. You might as well ask the question, "do we really want to win games? Perhaps it would be better to draw and lose afew, perhaps we would be happier that way?" - Give over.

There are things about lower leagues which in some ways are more romantic than the PL, that's fair enough to point out, but get some perspective please.

 

[Soulman]

The reason we've been able to see quality football and our team in the top half of the table is because Mr Bloom has been willing to spend £10 million on us every year. He doesn't want to do that, so our current position is unsustainable. We need to get promoted tp balance the books.

There's a good chance we'd come back down anyway, and you could enjoy some more Championship football in the future.

This.

 

[LamieRobertson]

Yes

 

[Trevor]

Yes, I would love for us to get promoted. The tough bits would be the struggle for points and the struggle to remain positive - we should enjoy the ride

 

[AmexRuislip]

At the risk of sounding like a numpty....

I was thinking back to the Hereford game and one part of what I wished for came true that day, the other part of having our own ground, being a team in the Championship holding our own, with good cup runs etc has now come true. However we have it appears come to that point we were told would not come we are about to break through our "ceiling" and could possibly reach the Premiership.

Do we / you actually want that ?

I have always thought the Championship is our level, a good Championship team with "real" fans and a chairman that loves the club...

If we go up, if. if, if things will change big time...

Mercenary players on big wages would be linked with us and come to us at some point.

Would you be happy going straight back down, will we panic and get rid of Chris with three months to go and get big sam in or another firefighter in..

What is our aim, to establish ourselves as a Southampton style team eventually, lets face it Europe would never happen, this season the Leicester thing will never happen for another 20 odd years at least.

Matches changed and dictated at the drop of a hat by Sky.

Plastic fans.

Are there things you will miss in the lower leagues ?

A little but of me will be sad leaving the real world of Bovril football, and joining the rest of the Prawn Sandwich brigade....

Having said that....

Lets do it....

Were you drunk, then had a speedy sobering up.
A big YES to promotion

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Never understood attitudes such as OP's. If you don't wan't your team to play at the highest possible level, why even bother going? What's the point of even having league tables? Or promotion or relegation or play-offs? You might as well go support your local non-league team where you can drink beer on the terraces to your heart's content and be home in time for tea.