Where are we; where are we heading?

[Stat Brother]

You are assuming that the renewal will be for another 5 years, it may only be for one?

That'll tell us everything about how the club view the current band of lanyardistas.

There's definitely something in what your saying.
I'd hazard a guess there isn't much more that can be squeezed from us 'mortals' (he writes hopefully) in this division.

 

[nwgull]

As a side note. If (which is looking likely) B'muff go up; then they are quite likely to be back in the Championship pretty soon. That's another club with parachute payments that we can't compete with financially.

Doesn't seem to help much where it counts though: on the pitch. When was the last time a relegated club finished top 2? This year looks to be no different with Norwich, Cardiff and Fulham all having unspectacular seasons.

The parachute payments seem to be swallows up by honouring the big contracts of players that are no more than average Championship standard. Players like Keith Andrews.

 

[smudge]

Doesn't seem to help much where it counts though: on the pitch. When was the last time a relegated club finished top 2? This year looks to be no different with Norwich, Cardiff and Fulham all having unspectacular seasons.

The parachute payments seem to be swallows up by honouring the big contracts of players that are no more than average Championship standard. Players like Keith Andrews.

That's true, which is where good management is required. I think a club like West Brom have had it right, up until recently, certainly on the financial side anyway.

 

[matbha]

Does it matter what we do on the pitch, ?not sure anymore ,TB is a fantastic chairman, but seems like he would rather build a new hotel ect than build a prem bound team ,hope im wrong !!

 

[chaileyjem]

Does it matter what we do on the pitch, ?not sure anymore ,TB is a fantastic chairman, but seems like he would rather build a new hotel ect than build a prem bound team ,hope im wrong !!

He's so far spent £205m of his own money on transforming the club, its players, and its infrastructure. He travels by train to watch away games with fans, left his family behind on Xmas Eve in Australia to appoint a new manager and sack one of his most high profile appointments following the disappointing first half of the season and said this only two weeks ago...

My investment in the club starts and ends with being a fan. I am proud to be able
to contribute to the community in which i was raised and in which my family still lives.
As a supporter , and chairman, my burning ambition remains to see the Albion return to play at the highest level. Rest assured, and it know it won’t be easy, i do intend to realise this ambition

”

Still want to accuse Bloom of losing interest ?

 

[Publius Ovidius]

Personally, I think hugh ton and his staff have been sold the club based on the academy coming through in a few years time. If we cannot complete with the parachute payments teams then the only way to progress will be loans and our academy players.

Maybe this is what we will have to look forward to, who knows.

People are right...in our history we have only been in the top flight for 4 years and one losing fa cup final. We really do need to get our expectations right and a fabulous new stadium does not guarantee anything as a lot of the clubs in the 2nd division/ championship have shown.

Whilst we are in this division, we should remember..these are the good days.

 

[Fred Oliver - Legend]

League 1 bound

 

[*Gullsworth*]

As 70% of our history has been spent in the bottom two divisions, I would suggest that a decent run in the Championship is pretty good going. The trouble is that we now have a newer fanbase who do not have the depth of experience to put our present position into prospective.
We are competing with a number of clubs at this level who have a far more distinguished pedigree than ours and thus have even greater desire to recapture past glories. The following would all consider themselves to be bigger than BHA and more worthy of higher status.
1) Derby, Middsboro, Ipswich, Nottm F, Cardiff, Blackburn, Norwich, Fulham, Wolves, Sheff Wed, Birmingham, Leeds and Bolton.
Charlton over the years have tended to out perform us and Huddersfield and Blackpool's rich past is quite a long time ago, but they too have tended to finish above us. That leaves Wigan, relative newbies but a very good recent pedigree.
That only leaves 6 clubs and I would place 5 of them on an historical par with us.
2) Bournemouth, Brentford, Reading, Millwall and Watford. That only leaves Rotherham, as a club with a smaller pedigree than us.
So, the last three seasons have really been ones of over-achievement, considering the strength of our competition. I'm not saying we can't compete ( Bournemth, Brentford and Watford are proving that ) just that our current situation needs to be put into proper perspective. We will get stronger under CH but lets not get too far ahead of ourselves.

I agree and must admit this is the most level headed, sensible post I have ever read on NSC for years.

 

[matbha]

Not sure hes losing intrest just seems to want a prem ground ect with hotel ect but not botherd if were in lge 1 !

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Does it matter what we do on the pitch, ?not sure anymore ,TB is a fantastic chairman, but seems like he would rather build a new hotel ect than build a prem bound team ,hope im wrong !!

If part of the revenue stream from the hotel goes towards the playing budget we'll attract better players.

 

[Machiavelli]

If we cannot complete with the parachute payments teams then the only way to progress will be loans and our academy players.

Who are at the top? Derby, Bournemouth, Middlesborough, Brentford, Watford -- are they parachute payment teams?
How are those with the highest PPs -- ie those that got relegated last season: Cardiff, Fulham and Norwich -- doing this year?
How are those that got relegated the previous season -- QPR, Wigan and Reading -- doing this year?

I think it's far more about patience, a long term plan, managerial and player stability. With a bit of luck, we've got those now (it's no surprise that our recent buoyant period coincided with these factors), alongside a great stadium, academy and training facility.

 

[Kent Seagull]

As 70% of our history has been spent in the bottom two divisions, I would suggest that a decent run in the Championship is pretty good going. The trouble is that we now have a newer fanbase who do not have the depth of experience to put our present position into prospective.
We are competing with a number of clubs at this level who have a far more distinguished pedigree than ours and thus have even greater desire to recapture past glories. The following would all consider themselves to be bigger than BHA and more worthy of higher status.
1) Derby, Middsboro, Ipswich, Nottm F, Cardiff, Blackburn, Norwich, Fulham, Wolves, Sheff Wed, Birmingham, Leeds and Bolton.
Charlton over the years have tended to out perform us and Huddersfield and Blackpool's rich past is quite a long time ago, but they too have tended to finish above us. That leaves Wigan, relative newbies but a very good recent pedigree.
That only leaves 6 clubs and I would place 5 of them on an historical par with us.
2) Bournemouth, Brentford, Reading, Millwall and Watford. That only leaves Rotherham, as a club with a smaller pedigree than us.
So, the last three seasons have really been ones of over-achievement, considering the strength of our competition. I'm not saying we can't compete ( Bournemth, Brentford and Watford are proving that ) just that our current situation needs to be put into proper perspective. We will get stronger under CH but lets not get too far ahead of ourselves.

Spot on. All I would add is that we now have a great stadium with decent crowds and a training facility that is the envy and talk of virtually every club in the country. Tony is building a club that will be capable of sustaining itself at a high level for many years. Building a business doesn't happen overnight but with the income from big crowds, revenue from the hotel (when it's built), and the cream of young players coming through our acadamy, our time will come. Patience will surely see the Albion as a top championship club at the very least for many many years to come.

 

[Hampster Gull]

We are doomed i tell you, doomed

 

[albion1972]

put your fingers up your arse and sniff them

 

[1066familyman]

Where are we; where are we heading?

So many questions...

[yt]LNSQZpnsoN0[/yt]

 

[sir albion]

Poor recruitment is why we've slipped and those million and millions will never be seen again...Best start improving that side of things if we want to progress.

 

[perseus]

After 50+ years of watching the Albion we are in exactly the same place as when I started.

I thought we would do well this season even without Ulloa (who I expected to go). I though Forest and Derby would be the teams to beat, with Norwich failing in the play-offs. I thought Bournemouth would be in the play-offs but I had no idea Brentford would do so well or Wigan quite so badly.

I thought we would keep Buckley (mistaken) and resign Stephen Ward. I thought with Bruno and Greer we had the right mix between experience and youngsters. I realised that we would miss Bridcutt but I thought we could find a replacement. Also, I thought the new training facilities would be worth an extra five points.

Now it has all changed. Bruno and Greer are getting on a bit too much now and although I think both would be good enough for the Championship next season, these important players might not have the pace or stamina for the Premier League.

I was dubious about Chris Hughton as I thought he was both too old and might gradually erode our passing game. Pleased about the signing of a younger Colin Calderwood (best signing so far).

The next three games are very important. Not so much for the Albion (unless we get less than 4 points) but to see how the other stragglers get on as they have interesting games.

The Amex was actually better than expected, but the trains much worse.

The only other time we got out upwards out of the second tier, we had a strong spine of the side. I never thought we have had this in the last three years.

Most important was the covering central defender in Mark Lawrenson, a playmaker in Brian Horton, a striker in Peter Ward, a midfielder in Peter O'Sullivan who did not lose the ball. Left back wasn't so important back then but we had a fine full back in Gary Williams.

Back then, we could hold on to players and they did not rush off to bigger clubs at the first opportunity. Was this the recession or because we paid higher wages? Probably the TV money.

Pertinent that Derby were able to keep hold of their best players this season.

Also, the Goldstone was a real fortress. The away games could be poor though.

Our future next season will be dependent on signing the 28 year old experienced players of the right quality, with the right mindset (not QPR rejects) and this will mean paying high wages. It would better if we get younger players but then a transfer fee will be involved.

 

[Seasidesage]

Jury is well and truly out for me. Poor season on and off the field this year, but if we survive, the summer will dictate our future for several years to come IMO. This squad is both getting on in years defensively and lacking in quality further forward. The appears to be more and more apathy in the stands and attendances are falling even if tickets sold are not. If we conduct a major overhaul of the squad, buy some quality and lower the average age then we may well start a new period of challenging for promotion. Recruit poorly and we could struggle with falling ticket sales, 1901 renewals and a squad who could be in even more trouble next season.

Positives are that we have a good manager, a fan for a chairman and a couple of decent Academy prospects who are only going to get better...

 

[smudge]

I don't know how anyone could say that TB is losing interest, we couldn't wish for a better Chairman. Everything is in place, just need to get it right on the pitch.
As others have said, decisions made by Burke, & the appointment of SH (who knew how badly that would turn out?) have put us back. I'm sure that TB will be doing everything to get us back on track. If anyone heard the comments made by Adam Virgo on Albion Roar about Mr Burke, then the atmosphere at the club, especially in the dressing room can only now be more positive; this can only be good news.
If I had to point the finger at anyone for causing the stall in our upward curve, then it would be the same man who put us on that trajectory.
I wonder if Gus ever thinks how much higher his stock would be if he had finished the job he started? So desperate he was to be in the spotlight though, his ego became too big for us. I just can't forgive him for how it all ended, even though the football at times was sublime.
We need to get back on track & I know that TB wants the same as the rest of us.

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

Since the move to the Amex we seemed to be the team heading for promotion eventually, just a matter of when, not if. Then things changed.
Now I feel that the most unlikely teams have overtaken us, although how long their day in the sun will last before their best players are cherry picked is open to question. Looks like Bournemouth have hit gold with the right manager & some great player recruitment, good luck to them. Brentford also, have that right mix which is doing the business for them.
Then you have all the "big" clubs in this league, Forest, Leeds, Derby, Ipswich, Bolton, Blackburn etc. Ok, some not so big as they were, but some established clubs that may have been managed badly. You only feel it's a matter of time before one or some of them get back on track, looks like it's Derby's year this time.

I'm already looking down to L1 to see what could be heading our way IF we stay up. We know from exprerience that when you come up from L1 to this league, you have done so with a fairly decent team, riding a crest of optimism that can take you a long way.

So, where does that leave us? Mid table mediocrity for a few years, fighting to avoid relegation, or pushing for the play off's? I certainly can't see us being contenders for any automatic spots. Christ knows how Bournemouth are doing what they're doing, if they do it, you have to hand it to Eddie Howe.





Just hope CH does the business for us. Obviously I've got way too much time on my hands & I'm worrying far too much about all this!

Div 1 mate and back to reality , seen it all and to be honest it isn't important to me any more, been there got the t shirt
regards
DR