Our situation

We've gone from JPT and playoff final winners, carrying momentum into the championship and largest home gates for years to relegation threatened and talk of unrest behind the scenes.

Easy to think we just lacked ambition or were just poor at doing business, maybe both are true? Very easy to feel badly done to when you see all your best players disappearing without much of a fuss.

There must be loads of clubs that have done similar over the years though. Swindon, Notts County, Oldham, Oxford, Bradford and Charlton all clubs that fell away badly after being in the top tier. Some of them don't ever look like gracing the championship again.

Other clubs like Wimbledon, Coventry and Pompey who had real off the field turmoil and have been down there for a fair amount of time - could be soon adding Sunderland to that list.

Suppose what I'm thinking is yes, the club managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, and as a result we're all on a downer, but we're not up to our eyes in debt , have a decent fan base to call on, and our new owners have yet to make their presence felt, apart from in the toilets.

Things aren't good, we're 50-50 for relegation, but I think we'll be OK going forward.

Keep the faith.

 

Agree with the toilets - got a cathiter bent down to empty it and got a head full - ha ha - west stand - and agree with the sentiment - reckon we are in transition and need a bit of luck - hope we get it - uuuuuuurrrreeeeeedddddssss

 

As ***** as we are - and we are - you'd think that we should get back up either first or second time.

I think this season is done, but we are in as good a financial position as we have ever been in. Player-wise, Moore is a goal-machine at that level; as is Bradshaw. Moncur scored 14 goals from midfield!

 

Can't argue with any of that.

 

I was literally just thinking about our change in circumstances in a short period, just this morning.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, as long as it's used for betterment, and not for bloodymindedness. The new owners have a very big job on their hands and I think they've bought a club that had lucked out on 5 or 6 very good signings all around the same time.

Since then, we've failed spectacularly at acquiring players that could suit us, and I wonder if hubris is part of our downfall. Excessive self confidence in a formula whereby any acquisition could be polished for sale and profit.

I think the most difficult thing is that we now look at the club and the connections, the heroes, the talisman, they've all gone. We've nothing left to hang our hopes on except a loanee striker who won't be ours, and a soon to be out of contract full back likewise.

It's a big fall. But one I hope prompts the question from the new owners as to what they need to do. Don't look at what they've inherited. Work from what you want it to be and piece it together, bit by bit. Irrespective of where we find ourselves come May.

 

This squad is stitched on for relegation and imo it will be a disaster . Not sure why folk seem to think we’ll go down and come straight back up ? This squad of players have average ability bar one or two who won’t be here nest season anyway . It’ll be bloody awful and all these folk saying “ ah well it’ll be good to go to new grounds see a few wins “ etc are assuming we’ll just come back stronger . Be careful what you wish for , cos it may come true .

 

You would hope that last January came a year too early, and that the new guys would have jumped on it had they been in charge at the time.

 

Again, no one is wishing for anything apart from staying up.

What people are doing is preparing themselves for alternative and trying to think positively, otherwise what's the point?

Our whole future doesn't hinge on what happens over the next 8 games or even next season. The club was here long before we were born, and will be there for us to scatter our ashes.

I'm just trying to lighten the mood and add a bit of perspective.

 

I'm not sure hope is out best sentiment any longer, simply because it hasn't served us well since the grand departure of the previous January transfer window.

Very little has been said from our new owners since they took the club over, that really has to change in the summer. I fear if not (and this was my biggest concern when they were announced) many may lash out at the ownership, and I'm not sure that's going to do anyone any good.

The season isn't over yet. It just feels like there is a choir of rotund ladies warming their vocal chords.

 

If we go down then we will need to recruit again for sure and better than last time. We could struggle again I'm sure Sunderland thought the same. The main reason I want to stay up is to see if the new owners intend on trying to push forward or if it will be more of the same.

 

No-one has a divine right to be anywhere, regardless of history, it's just frustrating that the club relied on a flawed model - I thought the idea was to develop talent, sell on when the money was right and then reinvest the money to level the club up...the trouble is there's been no desire to increase the wages on offer or target better players...pretty obvious we were going to struggle this year, maybe signing McBurnie when we should have might have made things a bit better but a extra goals and points would just have been delaying the inevitable.

Really hope we do manage to stay up as the summer transfer busy will give us a real sense of where these owners want to go, doesn't have to be anything "crazy", as they put it, I just want to compete in the Championship. The #teamslikebarnsley hashtag after the odd win is getting a bit boring now.

 

There is a chasm between the Championship & L1. That is why we are in the predicament we are in, expecting a whole squad pretty much to step up together in one season. Also the reason why, with a pre-season in them, they should be set to bounce back in 1-2 seasons at most. Bolton & Millwall both did it & Wigan are looking like they will do it for a second time in 3 seasons. The money of teams dropping out of the Premiership & the promised land it financially promises enticing big city clubs, like Wolves, Leicester to splash the cash to get there have made it a million miles from L1. You need 4-5 quality players in your team, or you are in trouble in the championship. We have 2 really in Yiadom & McBurnie & that ain't enough. A lot of the lads have shown promise, namely the centre halves & I'd say Potts too is getting near being a decent player, a-la Marley Watkins (not there yet). Mallan can hit a dead ball well, just needs to get up & down the park a bit & keep his concentration.

 

It's blind faith . We missed a wonderful opportunity to kick on 18 months ago but let that opportunity pass us by . It could take another 5/6 seasons to create another team like we had . But when we do , you know what ,We'll sell them all , and here we go again . Some people seem happier when we're in the third division but for me it shows lack of ambition . I'm totally dissolusioned cos like many I give my heart , sole and weekends up for nothing in return .

 

I don't think the plan is a flawed model . It's a pretty simple plan that can and should work but quality recruitment is absolutely key to make the plan work .

 

Let’s hope they can recreate that form of it comes to

Moore could be a one season wonder. I don’t feel comfortable relying on Mr Moncur

 

I just mean the flaw is not following through with their own plan, we're just pressing the reset switch every season like before, the only difference being the annual accounts look healthier...I can't say that gives me much comfort though when I'm bored out of my mind watching them not have a clue what to do, at least the older heads could change things up a bit whether it worked or not.

 

Indeed & that is subjective. I'd still say we have bought more good 'uns than bad 'uns (main bad buy being Mowatt & maybe McGeehan, but I've only seen him play twice). Problem is you still need a few quality pro's amongst the kids. A lot of the great teams of the past in England did the same thing. It's not new. History is how you learn how to make the future. Look at the Fergusson kids at Man Utd. They still had the old pro's. Clough did it at Derby & Forest. Bobby Robson used Mick Mills.

 

No one wants us to go down , the difference in the quality of the football & the atmosphere of the games between the championship & division one is enormous but if the inevitable happens it happens , its not life threatening , to hear some people its like the end of the world is nigh , its a game of football , simple as that , there are far more important things in life & if people cannot accept it then its time to take up another pastime because its simply not worth getting upset about

 

All comes back to not getting the players on better contracts in the summer after we was promoted - we had championship standard players on league 1 wages, innevitable another club would come in offering much better wages and get taken from us for very little money considering the players were top championship players. Hourihane, scowen, winnall and roberts wouldnt look out of place in any of the top championship teams imo.

 

I really don't want us to invest in so called ' older heads ' they can spout what they want but in reality its a final pay cheque . We can easily pick up 24/25 year olds with 150-200 games behind them, that's plenty of experience with the added sell on value. Alternatively we could buy a 28 year old for 500k with 250 games behind him keep him for 3 years and he's worth nowt.