The best of all worlds is to be a yo-yo club again, but only if we give it a real go when we get up, rather than being paralysed by a fear of losing, because being relegated with a decent squad and with parachute money actually isn’t so bad, as we are seeing now.
We used to be viewed as a model medium sized club in the Premier League, as were Charlton before us. I guess Southampton, and now Watford and Bournemouth, have that title now, possibly Burnley as well.
But for probably 11 or 12 of the 14 “other†clubs in the PL (Everton, West Ham and arguably Leicester) there is negligible chance of getting into Europe and, as Burnley showed (and Stoke before them), qualifying for Europe is actually a poisoned chalice as it increases the chances of relegation. So it’s all about survival, playing low-risk football, and hoping to scrape 40 points. That’s as good as it gets, which is what I said 2 seasons ago when we nearly got into Europe.
Yes, a return to the yo-yo years would be fine with me. Survive one or two seasons in that PL but run a sensible budget. Little point in gambling recklessly just to finish 7th or 8th as that’s quickly unsustainable if there’s a downturn.
People talk about losing £100m. But think about it. That money goes on transfer fees, on wages and in transfer fees. If there’s anything left over, the owner might make some money. The money makes no difference to the fans. We get to see the so-called big 6 in the flesh but so what - it’s vastly overrated especially when our goal is to scrape a 0-0 or try to keep the scoreline respectable.
We had 5 great months under Steve Clarke, a similar period under Roy Hodgson and another 4 great months under Pulis. The rest of our time in the PL was pretty dire and unenjoyable.
A league made up of the other 14 plus 6 from the Championship would be a fantastic league and would still be one of the top 4 of 5 watched leagues in the world. I can’t wait for the big 6 to sod off to join their peers in a Super League.