Just been thinking. If this season were to be repeated for the next few seasons - forgetting finances, with the lure of PL money - with the matchday experience in terms of football played and atmosphere, I'd be more than happy.
Reinforced the idea to me that it is the matchday experience, not the division you are in, that is all important to me as a fan. Of course I'd love us back in the PL, but that would largely be down to the one off slice of the PL money, than the experience that the likes of what Norwich etc are going through every now and then in that division. I know, as a club, you can't stand still - but if we had to, I'd take standing still as we are now. Loving it at the moment!
I said to my son the other day that in terms of the quality of football that we have played and also because there have been so many good games, this has been one of the standout seasons for me (and I have seen a lot of our seasons!).
Just been thinking. If this season were to be repeated for the next few seasons - forgetting finances, with the lure of PL money - with the matchday experience in terms of football played and atmosphere, I'd be more than happy.
Reinforced the idea to me that it is the matchday experience, not the division you are in, that is all important to me as a fan. Of course I'd love us back in the PL, but that would largely be down to the one of slice of the PL money, than the experience that the likes of what Norwich etc are going through every now and then in that division. I know, as a club, you can't stand still - but if we had to, I'd take standing still as we are now. Loving it at the moment!
if we had seasons like the last few years in perpetuity I'd be more than happy.
BUT, our finances are still precarious and so for that security I'd want to get promoted, even if we had the expectation of getting relegated. Fear is it would ruin momentum and destroy confidence, and of course many fans after that taste would not be happy to come back down and just be a good Championship team.
Of course ultimately I'd love to see us be at the very top level and completing for trophies, but that's only going to happen with some sort of oligarch owner and I don't want us to be some soulless toy for the super-rich, even if they were willing to put in billions.
I haven't actually asked any of them but I bet we're the envy of many a club what with our manager and the way we try to play football , the excellent team bought on a small budget , the fan experience and the fact we're on the up.
Got to agree with the original post. There's clearly a huge jump in terms of matchday experience between the lower two divisons and the championship.
But the jump from championship to Premier League is barely recognisable, save for the very top teams. There's arguably a more inspiring set of fixtures currently in the championship than the bottom half of the Premier League, especially if you're competing well like we are.