Question Would a couple of seasons in League 2 be the end of the world ?

[CC51DAS]

Quite a few of us on here have seen a fair bit of League 2 footie and supported the Blues though thick and an awful lot of thin.

So if the unmentionable happened would the club really fall off a cliff ?

It seems to me that with the current financial crisis threatening to take its toll, survival is the key and if that means hanging on to the pennies and weathering the storm, I for one would rather see us do that and have a club to follow, than face oblivion.

Lets face it, the salaries we offer are not attracting in the cream of this level's crop. Even with decent gates we struggle to make ends meet.

Judging by the progress of players we have let go , e.g Charlie Mac, Lewis Hunt , Matty Harrold etc, it is reasonable to assume that the nucleus of this squad would do very well at the level below . PLUS, we have some very promising youngsters working their way through to establish themselves at first team level. Blooding them in League 1 is likely to be more difficult than them finding their feet in the League below.

If this club is to survive, it will depend, not only on the new stadium, but also on the success we have in developing our own stars.

Personally, I would like to see us have a big clear out this season of a number of under-performing and, I suspect, relatively well paid, players.

In return we would hope to secure the services of a couple more experienced professionals who could guide a very young squad.If descent into League 2 helps us to acheive this it might not be such a bad thing .

And as for Tilly ? Well funnily enough, although I hold some doubts about his ability to take us back to the Championship and keep us there, he would be exactly the right man for this particular job.

If we droppped down, re-organised, developed the youngsters into an exciting up and coming unit and then got promoted back into League 1 the season after next, hopefully the momentum would be there to see us pushing for the Championship again at the point when the new stadium comes on stream .

And as for support, people generally are happier following a successful side at the top of the league than watching a stuggling side at the foot of the table.

So maybe it won't all be doom and gloom after all ?

 

[Andy_S]

We'd be fecked. It's not an option IMHO.

 

[maninasuitcase]

We had a clear out at the end of last season, and have gone from the play-offs to 16th.

A drop to league 2 would probably cost us 2000 on our average league attendance, I don't see how this would help.

 

[MK Shrimper]

It would be catastrophic in so many ways.

 

[Sherif H]

Would be a disaster of Herculean proportions....this kind of post smacks of the attitude some fans seem to have toward that evil word, and relevant parallel, 'consolidation'.

Any relegation is a disaster....for this Club to grow (new stadium or not) we need to be challenging on the pitch on a regular basis.

 

[Yer Blues]

yes

duh!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Ayrshire Blue]

Although we're on slip at the moment I can't see us getting relegated.

 

[BrettieAngell]

Is this thread for real?

 

[CC51DAS]

Would be a disaster of Herculean proportions....this kind of post smacks of the attitude some fans seem to have toward that evil word, and relevant parallel, 'consolidation'.

Any relegation is a disaster....for this Club to grow (new stadium or not) we need to be challenging on the pitch on a regular basis.

Sherif , you know I always respect your views and this is no exception .

Just to clarify where I stand, I would obviously prefer us to go onwards and upwards but what I am saying ( not advocating ) is that if the worst came to the worst, all would not be lost.

And in this current financial climate - and the likelihood that it will be some years before the new stadium will be completed- I for one will settle for that.

 

[sufcalways]

If you look at the teams around us we are better than them individually. I know it matters as a team, but because of the individual skills of the players gives us enough breathing space to stay clear of relegation imo

 

[Somerset Ex-TTB]

Lets face it, the salaries we offer are not attracting in the cream of this level's crop. Even with decent gates we struggle to make ends meet.

This is the crux of the problem. We have decent gates, highish prices (compared to other League one clubs), a very good commercial side of the club, an absolutly tiny squad (about 16 senior players), yet we still find ourselves with apparently no money?

Surely other clubs should be worse off than us? Colchester, Tranmere, Stockport, Oldham, Hartlepool and Scunthorpe all have bigger and better squads than us, yet have less attendances, smaller fan bases, no rich benfactor, and therefore should have less income than ourselves?

So what is going on with the finances?

 

[CC51DAS]

Is this thread for real?

Valid question fella - given my previous form - but I suppose what I am saying is we've seen worse times before and maybe we should be getting ready to rally round and support all concerned at the club -rather than keep on thinking that a bad season means the end.

Impulsive financial behaviour could on the other hand signal an early demise in these difficult times - who needs a new retail park right now ?

 

[Yer Blues]

should we ever go back down to divsion 2 in the current climate with the loss of people through the gates i legit wonder if we would ever come back up

 

[CC51DAS]

should we ever go back down to divsion 2 in the current climate with the loss of people through the gates i legit wonder if we would ever come back up

Well that is the rub , but if we reduced our playing staff costs by getting rid of an awful lot of 'not quite good enoughs' and developed the kids we can save on running costs and still stand a good chance of being in the top 7 in the League below. Gates could still be around the 6,000 mark, imho, as people enjoy watching successful teams at all levels.

Unless, RM brings in a new partner who injects a large wad ( which that person is not worried about getting back ) we simply don't seem to have the wherewithall to crack it in this league

 

[Rootshalle]

Going down to L2 would be bad news but not the end of the world though I don't think we will be relegated. I don't go for this having to go down to rebuild lark, neither do I believe in this getting promoted too early (not that I think will do that this season either). It is possible to rebuild in the close season.

 

[Colchester and proud!]

This is the crux of the problem. We have decent gates, highish prices (compared to other League one clubs), a very good commercial side of the club, an absolutly tiny squad (about 16 senior players), yet we still find ourselves with apparently no money?

Surely other clubs should be worse off than us? Colchester, Tranmere, Stockport, Oldham, Hartlepool and Scunthorpe all have bigger and better squads than us, yet have less attendances, smaller fan bases, no rich benfactor, and therefore should have less income than ourselves?

So what is going on with the finances?

We have Robbie Cowling as our rich benefactor, he has put several million into the club already, and has said to the manager there is more money in the kitty if he needs it, this is great until he gets bored with his new toy and leaves!

There are several players at WHCS who have fallen down the pecking order who you guys could get on loan probably, it would be an easy commute so you are more likely to get them. I know you will all say you dont want Col U cast offs but to be honest many of them are very good players, we just have too many to give them all a game, or Lambert does not rate them as highly as Williams did.

 

[steveo]

should we ever go back down to divsion 2 in the current climate with the loss of people through the gates i legit wonder if we would ever come back up

I think the issue here Bobby is would we stay up. In the same way the championship is so hard to get promoted from, league 2 is a dogfight to avoid relegation.
Would be difficult to contemplate life in the Conference.

 

[weststander]

This is the crux of the problem. We have decent gates, highish prices (compared to other League one clubs), a very good commercial side of the club, an absolutly tiny squad (about 16 senior players), yet we still find ourselves with apparently no money?

Surely other clubs should be worse off than us? Colchester, Tranmere, Stockport, Oldham, Hartlepool and Scunthorpe all have bigger and better squads than us, yet have less attendances, smaller fan bases, no rich benfactor, and therefore should have less income than ourselves?

So what is going on with the finances?

Colchester have the 7th richest man in english football supporting them.

Stockport are having the kind of season that we had when we came up from league 2 last probably still paying League 2 wages like we did.

Scunthorpe are just down from the Championship and like us last season are still flying. Lets see what happens if they dont go back up this year.

Hartlepool are only 2 points above us having played one game more than us and have played 13 out of 25 home games, we've only played 11 out of 24 soon to be 25 games.

Oldham have always been a good league one side, the kind of team that if honest i'd like us to become, always in the top half looking for promotion with the occasional season in the Championship.

Also as i see it these clubs are not still paying for shoddy management dating back to the 90's leaving them with huge debts and no stadium ??? Remember, since Ron took over out debts have reduced from £8million to around £2million, not too shabby !

BUT, how do we know that these clubs are not chasing the dream and not spending large amounts of money that may come back to haunt them.

 

[Rayleigh boy]

this sort of thing does my head in .... looking orward to forcing our way onto the play offs - six points fromthe next two games for a start

 

[Sean 2]

"Oldham have always been a good league one side, the kind of team that if honest i'd like us to become, always in the top half looking for promotion with the occasional season in the Championship."

Please may we never get stuffed 5-0 home or away to Hereford!!