Question Are we currently better or worse equipped for the Championship than 2005/2006?

[Napster]

I think we've got momentum on our side for this season and the core of the side are good enough for the next level. I think we would need a CB, a winger and maybe a CM.

The wage hike would have been hedged in the existing contracts.

 

[monkwell]

We'd need changes, no doubt about that, but we are better equipped. We are less reliant on superstars (particularly Freddy) and there have been a string of clubs that have got promoted two seasons on the trot (or twice in three seasons) and then fallen flat immediately, particularly in the Championship. We are more settled now and have done our time in league 1. We'd struggle but we'd survive in the Championship. A new keeper would be key

 

[Napster]

A new keeper would be key

There's a young kid at Brentford.

 

[manor15]

Our squad now is probably better, yes. But all the teams in the Championship and top end of League 1 are better now too. If we'd had the likes of Bolton or Sheffield United in League 1 in 05/06, would we have managed it?

Worth remembering as well that the likes of Thompson, Ferdinand, Wordsworth, Atkinson all have deals which expire at the end of the season.

 

[NZamba Legend]

Gerard Nash? Don't remember him at all.

 

[WoodhamShrimper]

Gerard Nash? Don't remember him at all.

REALLY??????? was a legend

 

[ExiledShrimpa]

Not a reason not to go up, but i do worry that RM can not afford to take us into the Champ. The players we have will no doubt want a wage rise. How will we attract the players we will need to stay up on our wage structure. Anyway, it will be fun trying to do it.

I agree but both our forays into the championship have probably helped to create the financial situation we are in now. I would love to see us back there featuring more on TV etc. Football needs money we'd certainly get more TV revenue etc but the club that I benchmark us against are often Rotherham, they are struggling badly and its mainly as they do not have the budget to compete with the likes of Sheff Wed / Leeds, Cardiff even Barnsley.

Sheff Wed recently ploughed 10 million into Jordan Rhodes, thats the type of stuff we can only dream of!

I wouldn't want us bankrupting ourselves in the pursuit of a badly financed / underfinanced charge into the Championship. When our accounts are published for July 2016 they are unlikely to show the recent player sales but I'm not too confident that we won't have bucked the trend of losing up to 1 million per season. That will grown into 2,3-4 million in the Championship.

The players we have will no doubt want a wage rise.

yes if we don't the ones that we don't want to lose will become targets for the bigger clubs!

 

[WESTY_SUFC]

My main concern isn't so much the squad and staff which I agree are the best they have been for some time, my fear is the finances, we don't make any money in either L2 or L1, we have shifted some players and received about 1.5 million ( I presume not all paid yet) but that merely eases our large indebtedness.

Moving to the Championship will heap more pressure on our finances and with gates of say 10k you only have to look at clubs Like Rotherham, Brentford and say Burton to realise we won't be matching the likes of Leeds, Sheff Wed, Norwich etc.

So unless we can significantly improve our takings / capacity I'm apprehensive about getting promoted if it means heaping more financial misery. Afterall the fallout from 2006/7 lasted many years of free transfers and embargoes etc. I can recall the first season with Luggy when we had about ten signed players in July wiht the season about a month away!

Agree with this. In my opinion our best option if we were to go up (big if) would be to try to scrape survival on a budget and pocket any extra revenue and put it towards the new stadium. We cannot compete in the Championship at Roots Hall long term. The club infrastructure needs drastic improvements for longer term success on the pitch.

 

[WESTY_SUFC]

One thing i hope if we get there is that people realise it will be a far more difficult task staying up in the Championship than getting there. The bookies would have us down as favourites for relegation. Anything better would be an amazing job.

 

[leeblue]

For what it's worth my list of players who could play in the championship.
Ferdinand....his hamstring may say otherwise
Coker
Lenny
Wordsworth
Cox
Ranger
Mcgaughlin
Possibly Thompson if his development carries on.
Some serious wheeling and dealing would be required if we went up that's for sure...as for roots hall it's barely fit for league one aspirations let alone higher.

 

[mrsblue]

To gain promotion would IMO be a miracle..to survive in the championship would be a bigger miracle.

It would be great fun watching though.

 

[Mad Cyril]

I think our current squad would be better in a fight at a flat roofed pub.

 

[* ORM *]

Bugger me we've only just avoided relegation. What is this heady talk?

 

[Jai]

Agree with this. In my opinion our best option if we were to go up (big if) would be to try to scrape survival on a budget and pocket any extra revenue and put it towards the new stadium. We cannot compete in the Championship at Roots Hall long term. The club infrastructure needs drastic improvements for longer term success on the pitch.

Agree with this. IMO Burnley have done things the right way in the Prem. They went up, but they were wise and decided not to try and blow the budget to survive, but took the attitude that if they went down, the parachute payments would ensure they'd be able to battle for promotion again. Their careful financial management has paid off and probably has set them up as a top end Championship side/bottom end Prem side for years to come.

If we went up, we'd be wise to learn from last time. We hardly spent big but our revenue streams are so insignificant at that level that it was still enough to give us problems for years.

IMO we'd have to gamble that if we went up, largely the same set of players would have to keep us there. If they couldn't, so be it, we'd pocket the extra TV money and be a lot stronger for it the following season.

Rotherham are as small as us yet they've been up there for a couple of years and IMO they'll be challenging for promotion next season because they'll be able to outmuscle the majority of clubs at this level purely on the money they've made from being in the Champo for a couple of years. The gap is now that big.

 

[AndyT]

I think our current squad would be better in a fight at a flat roofed pub.

Love that expression! :smile:

 

[Gary Essex]

I share the concerns of others here in getting promoted while being financially under-resourced. Roots Hall is clearly below par for Championship football. I went to the Brighton v Ipswich game (1-1) earlier this month and the Amex is a truly fantastic stadium, but just remember Brighton were previously playing at the Withdean running track - and comparatively recently.
BTW, first match: SUFC v Bournemouth August 1963
I also attended Sheff Wed v Southend in May 1976 when we got related to Div 4. Don't recall seeing a single other Southend fan at Hillsborough that sad night. I'm sure someone will come on here to say they were also there.

 

[RHB]

I share the concerns of others here in getting promoted while being financially under-resourced. Roots Hall is clearly below par for Championship football. I went to the Brighton v Ipswich game (1-1) earlier this month and the Amex is a truly fantastic stadium, but just remember Brighton were previously playing at the Withdean running track - and comparatively recently.
BTW, first match: SUFC v Bournemouth August 1963
I also attended Sheff Wed v Southend in May 1976 when we got related to Div 4. Don't recall seeing a single other Southend fan at Hillsborough that sad night. I'm sure someone will come on here to say they were also there.

If they were there, why wouldn't they?

 

[Shrimpers are Magic]

Probably better equipped but still no chance - parachute payments have changed everything.
We will never be a established 2nd tier club IMO without a huge influx of capital.

 

[Thundersley Blue]

We are not any worse off than before. The squad has probably more depth than before but I am not sure we have anyone that would walk straight in to a top half Championship side. Last time we at least had players like Maher, Gower, Eastwood and Flahavan who were more than good enough. 2 of Tilly"s buys did work Peter Clarke and Steve Hammell. Simon Francis was a Tilly buy too but didn't work out too well for us but Bournemouth aren't complaining !

Think we could survive if Brown can pull a few more rabbits out of a hat to supplement what we already have.

 

[SeaSideDoughnut]

Roots Hall may be limiting but Bournemouth are in the Premier League with gates of 11k so I don't think our ground is the problem - it's how the club is run - other clubs mentions such as Burton are also examples of this.

Burnley had an interesting approach to the first Premier League season - bank the money and come back stronger. I don't know why this isn't an option. Okay, they would've liked to stay up but they were prepared for relegation from day one because they didn't take an uncalculated risks they couldn't manage in the Championship. Brighton are another club that bounced from League One to the Championship over and over before they were strong enough to hold their own - look at them now - they've got their new stadium and they're knocking on the door of the Premier League. Sometimes the long game isn't just a ten or twenty year plan but a case of allowing failure into the equation.

As for the squad, there wasn't much depth then and there isn't too much now. I'd say we were on par. Tilly [as thankful I am for what he achieved] was out of his depth by the time we made it to the Championship were I think Brown is just coming into his. I still have concerns about his man management [examples like Worrall, mind games etc]