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If we were in the PL next season...


reddogkev

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Let's say that somehow we make it to the top six, win in the final, and flood College Green with an ocean of red, what next?

Even though it seems unlikely, it's bloody exciting that the chance is there of this happening.

What would need to change at the club in just one summer?  How much cash should we spend?  Should we be cavalier, or cautious?

Do we all expect to get relegated and accept a season of struggle, or do we expect to survive in our debut season?

Final thought - I fear our inexperienced management trio won't be able to keep the club up; should we look to hire an additional coach with PL experience?  Would LJ be sacked if we were in the bottom three come Christmas, or would the club give him the full season, no matter what may come?

Anyway, thought I'd post this today, before Derby potentially spoil things tomorrow (not that I can see it, I reckon we'll win 2-1).

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Thought provoking post. Personally I don't see the club going berserk and spending cash hand over fist like Fulham. We'll spend on areas where we are "light" and let things take their course. 

Do I accept we'll get relgated? I'd like to see us "do a Bournemouth" and there is no great reason why we shouldnt as long as recruitment is right. Will we get relegated? There's a pretty fair chance we will. 

Do I see LJ lasting the season? Absolutely. 

Prediction for tomorrow? City have a habit of chucking in a surprise result occasionally. I'll go 2-0

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To answer some of the above, which I kind of forgot to do in my haste, I would look to sign at least 5 or 6 quality players, and wouldn't baulk at the club spending in excess of £35million.

A few PL loans would also be good.

Would certainly avoid the Fulham route of doing business!

 

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4 minutes ago, Sweeneys Penalties said:

Thought provoking post. Personally I don't see the club going berserk and spending cash hand over fist like Fulham. We'll spend on areas where we are "light" and let things take their course. 

Do I accept we'll get relgated? I'd like to see us "do a Bournemouth" and there is no great reason why we shouldnt as long as recruitment is right. Will we get relegated? There's a pretty fair chance we will. 

Do I see LJ lasting the season? Absolutely. 

Prediction for tomorrow? City have a habit of chucking in a surprise result occasionally. I'll go 2-0

Yep, just thought the same regards Fulham, as you'll no doubt see above, and would hope we almost copy Bournemouth to the letter.

They really should be the BCFC template.

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12 minutes ago, reddogkev said:

Would LJ be sacked if we were in the bottom three come Christmas, or would the club give him the full season, no matter what may come?

He'd be given time. Even if that was a tacit acceptance of us going straight down with all the money and hopefully coming back stronger a la Burnley. 

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I was wondering the other day how the club would handle away tickets if we went up - It would really annoy me if the regulars who have attended virtually all away games for years suddenly struggled to get tickets. I hope the club have thought about this.... but I won't be surprised if they haven't.

On the pitch I think we would need to invest in at least 6 or 7 players to finish 17th. I'd like to think that we would try and carry on down the same sustainable route that we currently follow - But with the added bonus of being seen as a more attractive proposition to players.

I certainly don't want to see us go shit or bust and blow huge amounts on average players a la Fulham.

 

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58 minutes ago, CyderInACan said:

He'd be given time. Even if that was a tacit acceptance of us going straight down with all the money and hopefully coming back stronger a la Burnley. 

Whilst I agree with the sentiment, it seems a case of the heart ruling the head.  If City were in danger of the drop, there is probably a strong business case for changing the manager and trying to stay up where possible, it sounds harsh, but at least Lee would receive a large pay-out and his profile would be very high.  Securing a top Championship job would be no problem for him.

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19 minutes ago, santibello said:

Personally i think we should invest very little, maybe 20m max. 

If we do that and go down, we still have money to spend and a foundation to build on. If we do that and stay up , we're laughing 

Santibello, I must say that yours is a name I don't recognise, I must have missed your posts on other threads.  Are you Italian, out of interest?

Anyway, in a moment of over-reaction, I'd be livid if the club only spent £20million, call me greedy, but I'd want SL to invest a bit more money to fight for survival.  At least £10million on a new striker, just for starters - perhaps finally tempt Andre Gray to the club.

 

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45 minutes ago, cider-manc said:

I was wondering the other day how the club would handle away tickets if we went up - It would really annoy me if the regulars who have attended virtually all away games for years suddenly struggled to get tickets. I hope the club have thought about this.... but I won't be surprised if they haven't.

On the pitch I think we would need to invest in at least 6 or 7 players to finish 17th. I'd like to think that we would try and carry on down the same sustainable route that we currently follow - But with the added bonus of being seen as a more attractive proposition to players.

I certainly don't want to see us go shit or bust and blow huge amounts on average players a la Fulham.

 

Can't help but feel an "away Season Ticket" of some kind could be utilised, guaranteeing holders first dibs on away match tickets.

No idea how clubs currently in the Premier League do it though

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31 minutes ago, reddogkev said:

Whilst I agree with the sentiment, it seems a case of the heart ruling the head.  If City were in danger of the drop, there is probably a strong business case for changing the manager and trying to stay up where possible, it sounds harsh, but at least Lee would receive a large pay-out and his profile would be very high.  Securing a top Championship job would be no problem for him.

Didn't work for Fulham! SL wants sustainability and continuity. I can't see your scenario happening 

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If we go up, I would use it as an opportunity to sign the best young players from the Championship that are currently out of our reach along with a top midfielder and striker. With the parachute payments, you can afford to increase wage bill by 50% and spend £50m as long as the contracts you give are not over 3 years in length.

If we did go up and signed the likes of Kalas, DaSilva, Maupay, Pearson and Bowen I would be semi confident we would stay up.  I think LJ would approach things differently to the likes of Cardiff, Huddersfield and Brighton which is defence first.  LJ would give it a go and I think we could possibly survive.  Recruitment would be so important though.  Sign 6 players and you need to get at least 4 of them spot on which isn't easy. 

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37 minutes ago, CyderInACan said:

Didn't work for Fulham! SL wants sustainability and continuity. I can't see your scenario happening 

Realistically, I can't see any of this scenario happening, even the promotion, but hey you never know.  Stranger things have happened...

No offence to Jamie Mac or Dean Holden, but before the season began, I would explore the option of a more experienced number 2 to work alongside LJ.

To clarify, certainly wouldn't sack Jamie or Dean or force them out of the door, they've been fantastic this season.

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41 minutes ago, RedDave said:

If we go up, I would use it as an opportunity to sign the best young players from the Championship that are currently out of our reach along with a top midfielder and striker. With the parachute payments, you can afford to increase wage bill by 50% and spend £50m as long as the contracts you give are not over 3 years in length.

If we did go up and signed the likes of Kalas, DaSilva, Maupay, Pearson and Bowen I would be semi confident we would stay up.  I think LJ would approach things differently to the likes of Cardiff, Huddersfield and Brighton which is defence first.  LJ would give it a go and I think we could possibly survive.  Recruitment would be so important though.  Sign 6 players and you need to get at least 4 of them spot on which isn't easy. 

Bloody good idea.  Agree with your points.

Whatever happens in the next 3 or more games, If I was SL I'd move heaven and earth to sign Maupay in the summer, do or pay whatever it takes!

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1 hour ago, reddogkev said:

Whilst I agree with the sentiment, it seems a case of the heart ruling the head.  If City were in danger of the drop, there is probably a strong business case for changing the manager and trying to stay up where possible, it sounds harsh, but at least Lee would receive a large pay-out and his profile would be very high.  Securing a top Championship job would be no problem for him.

I think it would depend on where we were in December, if we were in the bottom 3 but not cut adrift I would tend to stick with him, hoping that some shrewd January business got us safe.

Alternatively, if we were say 9 points off safety I suspect the owner would look at alternatives, one option would be to bring in an experienced manager that could potentially get us out of the mess but then again they may not be the right person to get us back up should we eventually be relegated.

I do think if we go up we need to appoint an experienced manager as a D0F to give LJ a sounding board and some football support - MA is not that man.

Coming back to the present day, if we do go up, and it was my decision, I would spend some decent money on the key areas we need to strengthen to give us a fighting chance but certainly not do a Fulham.

I think we would have to accept the likelihood that we would get relegated but with a load of cash in our pocket to 'go again' and also work towards self - sustainability.

In that scenario we would become one of the 'rich' clubs in the Championship that are much maligned on here as have a distinct advantage - which is completely correct.

Burnley are a very good example - although they have had a rocky season this year - of how to do it.

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Staying up would be a miracle to be quite honest.

As long we didn't embarrass ourselves and had a good go at it I wouldn't be too disappointed with coming straight back down.

I'd like to see us stick to the model and look for good young talent rather than splash money like Fulham did.

I would stick with LJ, unless someone with pedigree became available that had a real chance of keeping us up or improving us.

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I actually think with a good transfer window, we'd give it a pretty good go. I'd like to think we would be in a similar position to Cardiff, with a hope of survival with a few games to play. I'd expect we would have a similar problem to this season in the sense that we would keep things tight at the back and nick the odd goal. I imagine we'd mainly dip into the Championship when recruiting and buying some of the best available players. 

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3 hours ago, cider-manc said:

I was wondering the other day how the club would handle away tickets if we went up - It would really annoy me if the regulars who have attended virtually all away games for years suddenly struggled to get tickets. I hope the club have thought about this.... but I won't be surprised if they haven't.

On the pitch I think we would need to invest in at least 6 or 7 players to finish 17th. I'd like to think that we would try and carry on down the same sustainable route that we currently follow - But with the added bonus of being seen as a more attractive proposition to players.

I certainly don't want to see us go shit or bust and blow huge amounts on average players a la Fulham.

 

Would you include Joe Bryan in that?

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3 hours ago, santibello said:

Personally i think we should invest very little, maybe 20m max. 

If we do that and go down, we still have money to spend and a foundation to build on. If we do that and stay up , we're laughing 

If we only spent £20 million on players we would need someone recruiting who had a real talent for spotting undiscovered players, ala Teemu Puuki, we wouldn't have to spend a fortune but think we wouldn't get away with spending as little as that unless there are already players at the club that could really step up their game. 

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If we went up I hope/expect the club to take a cautious approach remembering our history with big contracts. I certainly do expect us to be spending £100m.

Whether we go up or not there are areas we need to strengthen, we need a striker who is going to get 20+ in the championship (probably half that in the Prem). Central Mid is another area where we lack numbers and a creative player (maybe that's Palmer).

It would be a difficult season and statistically we would do well to avoid the drop. 

LJ whatever happens would be given the whole season and probably the one after as well without any help.

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41 minutes ago, CHIPLEY RED said:

If we went up I hope/expect the club to take a cautious approach remembering our history with big contracts. I certainly do expect us to be spending £100m.

Whether we go up or not there are areas we need to strengthen, we need a striker who is going to get 20+ in the championship (probably half that in the Prem). Central Mid is another area where we lack numbers and a creative player (maybe that's Palmer).

It would be a difficult season and statistically we would do well to avoid the drop. 

LJ whatever happens would be given the whole season and probably the one after as well without any help.

The key is to not pay stupid fees on gambles.  Try to find players with history of playing in the Prem, or the pick of players from the Championship.  You can spend £30-50m sensibly and upgrade your squad.  Have they got the DNA to want to play in the Champ for you should you get relegated, i.e. not a Kone at Sunderland.

Also, ensure you tie them to sensible contracts, with relegation wage reductions.  Any existing players who you give new deals to, fall into the same rules, i.e. relegation reduction.

As a club factor in, coming straight back down, and therefore only 2 years parachute payments, not 3 years.

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4 hours ago, reddogkev said:

Santibello, I must say that yours is a name I don't recognise, I must have missed your posts on other threads.  Are you Italian, out of interest?

Anyway, in a moment of over-reaction, I'd be livid if the club only spent £20million, call me greedy, but I'd want SL to invest a bit more money to fight for survival.  At least £10million on a new striker, just for starters - perhaps finally tempt Andre Gray to the club.

 

The amount of money spent means bugger all if it's not used wisely.

I'd much rather we spent £15m on carefully indentified players than chuck over £100m at it like Fulham did. 

I don't believe there's much between the bottom Premier League sides and the top Championship ones, our own results against Premier League sides over the last few seasons, while not a perfect comparison, would back that thought up. So should we go up I don't think it would take a radical overhaul to form a squad capable of stating up. But what is important is we stick to a style of play our players are used to, instead of changing it to a "try not to lose" mentality that so many bottom Prem teams utilise.

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Promotion with this side, where it is hard to impossible to point to Prem standard players, fills me with dread.

LJ as head coach in Prem fills me with even more dread

When we go up we need to go up with at least six/seven players of Prem quality.  In particular a creative midfield player, a striker, and a goalkeeper. The other four/five players can be bought or loaned in.

Hoping we go up this season but very worried should we manage it, as this team is far short of our last promotion team to top division, and standards at top of Prem are far higher than when we were promoted to old division 1

I know the argument that one season would be fun for fans and we could regroup in Champ with money.  But those of us old enough remember last time we were relegated from top flight.  Not every club is a Burnley or Newcastle.

conclusion: we need development and investment at Champ level first

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4 hours ago, RedDave said:

If we go up, I would use it as an opportunity to sign the best young players from the Championship that are currently out of our reach along with a top midfielder and striker. With the parachute payments, you can afford to increase wage bill by 50% and spend £50m as long as the contracts you give are not over 3 years in length.

If we did go up and signed the likes of Kalas, DaSilva, Maupay, Pearson and Bowen I would be semi confident we would stay up.  I think LJ would approach things differently to the likes of Cardiff, Huddersfield and Brighton which is defence first.  LJ would give it a go and I think we could possibly survive.  Recruitment would be so important though.  Sign 6 players and you need to get at least 4 of them spot on which isn't easy. 

Yes, yes and yes! 

 

The above is exactly what we should do. Sprinkle in a few loan signings (Abraham, Reece) from our good buddies Chelsea and I'd be confident we could stay up, and if we didn't, would have the right players to jump straight back up again. We need to be smart and learn from Cardiff and Fulham's mistakes. One didn't bring in the right quality, the other just chucked money at it and ignored the players that got them there. We need to have faith in the boys that worked their socks off to get us there, give them a chance to prove themselves but also bring in the right quality to help. I'd be more than happy with Webster and Kalas as the CB's and we'd have great back up in Baker and Wright, it's just up top we're very lightweight, fam and andi would struggle some players like Bowen, Maupay, and Abraham would be great additions. 

 

Also 4-1 tomorrow...

 

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1 hour ago, Ivorguy said:

LJ as head coach in Prem fills me with even more dread

When we go up we need to go up with at least six/seven players of Prem quality.  In particular a creative midfield player, a striker, and a goalkeeper. The other four/five players can be bought or loaned in.

I'd agree with you on the players. We would certainly need to strengthen the spine of the team.

On LJ's abilities in that league...I don't know. There's an argument to be made that he has proved in the cups that he is the equal of many Premier League managers. The counter to that is of course that those are one off games, often against a less than first XI and therefore you can't use those results as a predictor of form over a 38 game season.

My own opinion is that we are very unlikely to be promoted with LJ at the wheel. That doesn't mean I want him gone, I don't. It also doesn't mean I wouldn't give him his chance in the Premier League should he prove me wrong.

In answer to the OP, I suspect we'd spend modestly in the hope of surviving that first season. You only need 10 wins, 7-10 draws and can then lose the rest. We'd likely get the odd surprise win over a top team but would regularly be pummeled by most. We'd also be brilliantly patronised by every journalist and pundit.

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