I genuinely can't understand the mindset of being ok with being relegated and out of the top division. What's the point of competing in the Championship if promotion isn't something you want?
Ask fans of all the other league clubs if they'd rather be in their league or in the Prem, the vast vast majority would swap places with us.
It's all down to results - if we win fans will be happy, if we struggle, they'll be unhappy. If we were struggling in the Championship the fans would be as unhappy as they are now.
Of course they would, but ask fans of teams who've been in the prem for 6,7,8,9 years, doing nothing but finished 8th-17th. They'd say yeah i'll swap with shrewsbury for a year and play in League 1, go to all the obscure proper football stadiums around the country.
If you ask me, it's exciting when you go on a run and you're safe by march and you can just enjoy the football, but then you'll go on a bad run and it feels like 'what's the point?'
I suppose you could just hope you stop in the prem for decades and attract the next generation of football supporters in the region and you start getting 40k+ every game without having to play a local derby or a top 4 club. Then you can maybe (MAYBE) step up to attract the better calibre of player and you flirt with europe and have a good run and you manage to do it for a few seasons and then nothing because leeds, newcastle, everton and fulham did that and all of them are in worse positions.
Maybe i sound cynical but when you step back and look at the league structure and football on a whole, it's just boring after a bit. Bring on the 'European Elite League' so the likes of us can push for a top 4 finish and compete with everton and southampton for the league title.