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Becoming an Established Premier League Club

Presently there are only 9 points between 6th and 16th which shows that the middle ground has widened and the bottom part narrowed so that a lot of teams in the middle part have similar ability to beat others and could finish anywhere near the top or bottom of it.
Next season a poor start like Wolves could put us or others under pressure so I hope we lose non of our main squad and if possible supplement it with a bit more offensive quality.
Good post.
It's really difficult to see what the right strategy is, but I'm sure someone who knows more about football than me is working on it within the club.

The fans want progress, but:
1. You get into Europe and your squad is too small and league form suffers
2. You develop players and Man City swoop in and take them and your league form suffers
3. You focus on the league and a decent cup run, players that are ambitious look to leave

What's the right balance and a good outcome?
Get into Europe, so you're a bigger pull, and expand the squad by spending astutely, using the big cash from Man City swooping in and paying a boat load for a couple of players. This allows you to continue improving your squad (accepting you lose a couple of stand outs each season) enabling you to be competitive in the league and have a decent cup run.

Easy.
 
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There's nothing 'stale' about competing in the best club league in the world when the alternative is visiting random places I've just listed.
Bizarre you can't see that marra :lol:
Of course it can go stale. If you end up neither pushing for Europe or fighting relegation, things can go stale
 
Increase the home ticket prices
Build more corporate facilities

Bus/fly in affluent people from Harrogate, Richmond, Hexham, Switzerland, Scandinavia etc.

Change the badge to a wildcat thingie.

Decide once and for all whether we were formed in 1879 or 1880. We can’t be classed as being ‘established’ until this is done.
 
There's nothing 'stale' about competing in the best club league in the world when the alternative is visiting random places I've just listed.
Bizarre you can't see that marra :lol:
If we were comparing to lesser leagues I'd have to agree. But no one is. At all. Which again is bizarre that you've randomly decided to. More than once :lol:

As said, threads across the weekend talk about a drop in energy and enthusiasm in the stands due to us being in a position where we won't go down or challenge. And that's in our first season back.

We have others already bemoaning a lack of goals and creativity.

A poster on this very thread recognises the challenge of keeping fans engaged when we "hit our ceiling".

But aye, it's all good and will never be an issue if you just randomly decide to compare it to lesser leagues (although even then loads of people on here said they'd take challenging for the top of the championship over year upon year of floating about just above the drop zone in the Premier league so even your random comparison argument has some flaws).
Of course it can go stale. If you end up neither pushing for Europe or fighting relegation, things can go stale
Think he's tasted too much ale.
 
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Saw an interesting statistic the other day which outlined that 47% of newly promoted teams end up getting relegated in their first PL season.

Of the newly promoted teams that do stay up in their first season, only 11% subsequently get relegated in season 2, which shows you've got a very strong chance of getting to season 3 and well on your way to establishing yourself as a feature at that level given the advantage you have over the upcoming promoted sides at the very least.

Still early days in the Championship and a lot to play for, but at the moment the 3 coming up could be Coventry, Boro and Ipswich who would obviously start a million miles behind us in terms of squad talent, finances, ability to attract players, etc.

There's teams like Palace and Bournemouth who have lost key players and/or a manager, and sides like Leeds and Forest who (if they stay up), with respect, are probably going to be in the mix at the bottom half of the table too.

My only slight concern is that players like Roefs and Sadiki will already attract serious interest in the summer based on their performances this season. We'd obviously bring in massive money if they were to go and you'd be foolish to back against us replacing them well, but if we could hold on to our core 15-ish players and add 2-3 players of next level quality, the sky could be the limit.

Not to take anything for granted mind as we're all long enough in the tooth to know how quickly things can go wrong, but it just feels like everything is lining up really nicely for us to become a real fixture at this level. God knows we deserve it!

Can't believe we're looking ahead to next season, in January mind. What an unreal season we have had :lol:
Good post…complacency, confidence, anxiety all in the mix when considering the future. Makes a strong case for simply enjoying/ content with what is in front of us now .. and what we are experiencing now is just quite staggering. Just stand back and smile and let the hierarchy on a professional level to do the work necessary to stabilise and grow.
And a final point…. Having players coveted by others is something to be celebrated.
 
We’ve been told the model is to produce real talent, sell, then repeat.
That suggests players like Sadiki and Roeffs will be off.
However if KLD can see the potential in this group of players (with a couple of top drawer additions in the summer), it would make sense to keep them together next season and shoot for the top!
Top players want regular European footy and will (depending on the stage of their career)be off to clubs that can provide that!We need to develop into a club that has regular european footy (not easy to do obviously)and thats going to take smart trading of players and recruitment and a significant investment from KLD..... But for the first time in the long years of supporting SAFC i have hope that for once we have might just have owners with the acumen to match our wonderful supporters!
 
With the financial rules in place, most PL teams are only a couple of bad recruitment decisions away from serious problems - you can now ruin 2-3 seasons with one window of risky expensive signings. We got it very right in the summer, but need to be measured in what we do next (which seems to be the case, and we thankfully have a very astute management team).
 
If we were comparing to lesser leagues I'd have to agree. But no one is. At all. Which again is bizarre that you've randomly decided to. More than once :lol:

As said, threads across the weekend talk about a drop in energy and enthusiasm in the stands due to us being in a position where we won't go down or challenge. And that's in our first season back.

We have others already bemoaning a lack of goals and creativity.

A poster on this very thread recognises the challenge of keeping fans engaged when we "hit our ceiling".

But aye, it's all good and will never be an issue if you just randomly decide to compare it to lesser leagues (although even then loads of people on here said they'd take challenging for the top of the championship over year upon year of floating about just above the drop zone in the Premier league so even your random comparison argument has some flaws).

Think he's tasted too much ale.
We're at the beginning (and I mean really early) of a fantastic journey. Each twist and turn, each performance, each rumour (transfers in and out), each commercial development, every bit of news is absolutely fascinating. We are the talk of the season not just domestically but internationally too.
I want to see us established in the PL for a couple of seasons as a starting point for further progression and that certainly includes regular European participation. The infrastructure and the club organisation suggests they are preparing for this too. Talk of staleness is nonsense. Even in consolidation there is fascination in where it can then take you.
 
I reckon the big money bids won't come in (of they are to) until clubs have season if the players can do it more consistently. Don't think one season alone is proof of that. We shouldn't be in a hurry to offload just yet either. Use those players and our successes as a pull to attract better players.
There's only a finite number of clubs who can offer better than what they already have (as a total package) as well. People need to chill out a bit and just enjoy the ride.
 
Good post.

Get into Europe, so you're a bigger pull, and expand the squad by spending astutely, using the big cash from Man City swooping in and paying a boat load for a couple of players. This allows you to continue improving your squad (accepting you lose a couple of stand outs each season) enabling you to be competitive in the league and have a decent cup run.

Easy.
See: Crystal Palace
 
We're at the beginning (and I mean really early) of a fantastic journey. Each twist and turn, each performance, each rumour (transfers in and out), each commercial development, every bit of news is absolutely fascinating. We are the talk of the season not just domestically but internationally too.
I want to see us established in the PL for a couple of seasons as a starting point for further progression and that certainly includes regular European participation. The infrastructure and the club organisation suggests they are preparing for this too. Talk of staleness is nonsense. Even in consolidation there is fascination in where it can then take you.
Agree with all points until we reach the point about staleness. But possibly because you've misunderstood what I, and others on the thread are talking about and why you've brought up other leagues and short memories etc.

The point about how things can become stale, in the eyes of supporters, is across several years, where you have repeated years of not being in a battle for relegation or trophies/Europe.
 
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Saw an interesting statistic the other day which outlined that 47% of newly promoted teams end up getting relegated in their first PL season.

Of the newly promoted teams that do stay up in their first season, only 11% subsequently get relegated in season 2, which shows you've got a very strong chance of getting to season 3 and well on your way to establishing yourself as a feature at that level given the advantage you have over the upcoming promoted sides at the very least.

Still early days in the Championship and a lot to play for, but at the moment the 3 coming up could be Coventry, Boro and Ipswich who would obviously start a million miles behind us in terms of squad talent, finances, ability to attract players, etc.

There's teams like Palace and Bournemouth who have lost key players and/or a manager, and sides like Leeds and Forest who (if they stay up), with respect, are probably going to be in the mix at the bottom half of the table too.

My only slight concern is that players like Roefs and Sadiki will already attract serious interest in the summer based on their performances this season. We'd obviously bring in massive money if they were to go and you'd be foolish to back against us replacing them well, but if we could hold on to our core 15-ish players and add 2-3 players of next level quality, the sky could be the limit.

Not to take anything for granted mind as we're all long enough in the tooth to know how quickly things can go wrong, but it just feels like everything is lining up really nicely for us to become a real fixture at this level. God knows we deserve it!

Can't believe we're looking ahead to next season, in January mind. What an unreal season we have had :lol:
I think next season is Sunderland test. I say that because it could mirror our entry into the Championship. We made the playoffs first season only to have a 2nd half claps in 2nd season followed by our amazing run to the PL in 3rd season.
 
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Saw an interesting statistic the other day which outlined that 47% of newly promoted teams end up getting relegated in their first PL season.

Of the newly promoted teams that do stay up in their first season, only 11% subsequently get relegated in season 2, which shows you've got a very strong chance of getting to season 3 and well on your way to establishing yourself as a feature at that level given the advantage you have over the upcoming promoted sides at the very least.

Still early days in the Championship and a lot to play for, but at the moment the 3 coming up could be Coventry, Boro and Ipswich who would obviously start a million miles behind us in terms of squad talent, finances, ability to attract players, etc.

There's teams like Palace and Bournemouth who have lost key players and/or a manager, and sides like Leeds and Forest who (if they stay up), with respect, are probably going to be in the mix at the bottom half of the table too.

My only slight concern is that players like Roefs and Sadiki will already attract serious interest in the summer based on their performances this season. We'd obviously bring in massive money if they were to go and you'd be foolish to back against us replacing them well, but if we could hold on to our core 15-ish players and add 2-3 players of next level quality, the sky could be the limit.

Not to take anything for granted mind as we're all long enough in the tooth to know how quickly things can go wrong, but it just feels like everything is lining up really nicely for us to become a real fixture at this level. God knows we deserve it!

Can't believe we're looking ahead to next season, in January mind. What an unreal season we have had :lol:
Nicely summed up and it does feel different this time to our last promotions. We have managed to attract some of the best players in World football who are still gelling as a team. A few more tweaks and this side is destined for good things, a cup run and top 8 will be an unbelievable achievement. However I'm greedy and want more.
 
Saw an interesting statistic the other day which outlined that 47% of newly promoted teams end up getting relegated in their first PL season.

Of the newly promoted teams that do stay up in their first season, only 11% subsequently get relegated in season 2, which shows you've got a very strong chance of getting to season 3 and well on your way to establishing yourself as a feature at that level given the advantage you have over the upcoming promoted sides at the very least.

Still early days in the Championship and a lot to play for, but at the moment the 3 coming up could be Coventry, Boro and Ipswich who would obviously start a million miles behind us in terms of squad talent, finances, ability to attract players, etc.

There's teams like Palace and Bournemouth who have lost key players and/or a manager, and sides like Leeds and Forest who (if they stay up), with respect, are probably going to be in the mix at the bottom half of the table too.

My only slight concern is that players like Roefs and Sadiki will already attract serious interest in the summer based on their performances this season. We'd obviously bring in massive money if they were to go and you'd be foolish to back against us replacing them well, but if we could hold on to our core 15-ish players and add 2-3 players of next level quality, the sky could be the limit.

Not to take anything for granted mind as we're all long enough in the tooth to know how quickly things can go wrong, but it just feels like everything is lining up really nicely for us to become a real fixture at this level. God knows we deserve it!

Can't believe we're looking ahead to next season, in January mind. What an unreal season we have had :lol:
I can’t believe that I’m rooting for teams at the bottom end of the table to beat sides going for champions league and other European places. It’s crazy to think it’s only a couple of seasons ago we were being walloped 6-0 at Bolton who were at the time on a terrible run themselves in league 1.
 
There's only a finite number of clubs who can offer better than what they already have (as a total package) as well. People need to chill out a bit and just enjoy the ride.
Agree Moo. Each to their own but I find it baffling we already have people bemoaning a lack of creativity and goals for example. I'm over the knot with how we are going about things this season.
 
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At the minute we're like flavour of the month. Everything is fresh and buzzing bit like Wolves a few years ago. The hard part is going to be avoiding the trap of being permanently mid table, things getting stale and trying for a change for the sake of it and end up like Wolves, Stoke, Charlton etc
 
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