This potentially getting promoted 'too soon' debate...


I cast my mind back to losing to Charlton at Wembley in 1998. Utterly devastating at the time, after a great season. But hindsight suggests staying down a further season then storming to the title stood us in better stead going into the Premier League.

I wonder if potentially going up this year, despite the blatantly obvious financially lucrative benefits, might be similar? We now already have more than a nucleus of a very good side. Another season in the Championship with most of these players (with Ekwah, Hume, Cirkin, Hume, Neil, Ba, Michael potentially and others) gaining another full season of experience, along with bedding in hopefully two or more new strikers, might mean we go up stronger.

The 'danger' is that going up now and potentially coming straight down again might result in this exciting young team (that could spend several years developing and improving) being dismantled sooner. Yes we would be in the Championship with loads of money, in a 'better' state to have another go, but who knows?

All hypothetical anyway since we might get knocked out tonight or lose at Wembley, or we might go up and stay up!

Part of me just feels that should we not go up this month, next season could see us having a storming season with this current crop (with reinforcements) being much stronger and being better equipped for the top flight when we get there.

Of course, we could miss out now and be floundering mid-table in the Championship next year and be thinking we could have had £100+ million when we had a great chance. Who is to say how tough the Championship will be next season and we could rue a rare opportunity to 'sneak' promotion this year and regret it for years?

Or a meringue?

In the end, I can't help willing the Lads to get promoted and face what comes, but I have a niggling feeling we could miss out on seeing this team storming it next year with these current players ramping up another few notches. I suppose we should/can trust the recruitment team to utilise any Premier League income and potential parachute payments (should the worst happen) and we could do a Burnley in two years from now...

All ifs and buts but curious to know the thoughts of the wise SMB. I would wager the majority thinking 'F**k it, let's get up and worry about it later and have a good f**king go!'

If we had went up after the Charlton game we would have still been tremendous. Keeping the likes of Clark, Bridges, Johnston etc.
 
OP will get slated but maybe the context should be the consolation of it might not be the worst thing to happen.

I don’t think we’d lose Clarke, Cirkin and certainly not Roberts. We would lose Diallo (might anyway) bit we’d get another brilliant youngster from a top club and hopefully see a big impact from the likes of Bennette, Lihadji, Ba etc. the likes of Hume, Ballard, Cirkin, Alese, Ekwah, Huggins etc would come on massively with another 12 months (hopefully) tearing it up next season in this division.

But of course promotion is by far first choice
 
Can we book promotion in 2025, PL champions in 2029 and CL winners in 2032 please?
That timeline would be the most suitable imo.
 
If we had went up after the Charlton game we would have still been tremendous. Keeping the likes of Clark, Bridges, Johnston etc.
I agree, in fact I’d go so far as to say we’d have done even better if we’d gone up that season rather than the following one.
 
in the charlton play0ff days the financial gulf between the prem and champs wasn't as great, some decent teams will come down this season, gotta take ya chances while they are there.
 
Got to grab this chance while we can. What an opportunity.
Amad is obviously leaving and if we remain in this Division I reckon Stewart and Clarke will have to be replaced. It will be even more difficult to gain promotion next season.
Got to go for it irrespective of it maybe being a bit to soon.
May not get a better opportunity for a few more years

HTFL
 
Four years in league one screams at you that you have to take this opportunity to get promoted....Come on lads and lasses let's all get behind this team tonight and smash Luton
 
I’ll be honest .

Before the season started my hope was , stabilise, then build . As it became clear we were doing better than expected I was still “ calm
Down , it’s too soon”.

Now
I’m fuck that let’s do it !!!!!!!!!!!
 
Stepping away from all the talk and speculation over how we might fare next season and the season beyond, and balance sheets and models and planning.

Football is about moments and memories. West Brom was one, Preston was one, Saturday was one.

Win tonight and at Wembley and there’s another 2 in the vault to tell the grandkids about when you’re old.

Great post. That's what it's about, you could say that life is like that too, we're always looking ahead to something whether that's worry or excitement and we often don't focus on the now. This season has been class and it's good to be able to hold our heads up high again. If we go up we should really cherish the moment. If we don't then we've done class and I'm confident next season will be more of the same.
 
When the season started I wanted a boring season , firmly entrenched in the middle order of the league.

I sharp forgot that nonsense and I`m all in for promotion now.

The main worry being we have alerted the mid to low end prem teams about how good our players are and I worry they`d get picked off over the summer if we failed.
It's a silly opinion. You don't pick and choose when you go up. If you don't take your chances you might not get out of the league for years and years.

We're going up, enjoy it instead of thinking of negatives for no reason.

Look at Huddersfield, narrowly defeated in the final last year and then a relegation battle this
 
Great post. That's what it's about, you could say that life is like that too, we're always looking ahead to something whether that's worry or excitement and we often don't focus on the now. This season has been class and it's good to be able to hold our heads up high again. If we go up we should really cherish the moment. If we don't then we've done class and I'm confident next season will be more of the same.

I pay into my pension

Then spend the rest on stuff I want to do 🍻 ⚽🕺🏻
 
I still don’t think we’ll go up . If we do we’ve earned it. On a good day we could beat Burnley or Sheffield Utd so that makes us only mildly less ready than them. I’d also be happy of us to keep an upgraded version of our current model and risk going down so we develop cumulatively and I think most would feel the same.
 
I cast my mind back to losing to Charlton at Wembley in 1998. Utterly devastating at the time, after a great season. But hindsight suggests staying down a further season then storming to the title stood us in better stead going into the Premier League.

I wonder if potentially going up this year, despite the blatantly obvious financially lucrative benefits, might be similar? We now already have more than a nucleus of a very good side. Another season in the Championship with most of these players (with Ekwah, Hume, Cirkin, Hume, Neil, Ba, Michael potentially and others) gaining another full season of experience, along with bedding in hopefully two or more new strikers, might mean we go up stronger.

The 'danger' is that going up now and potentially coming straight down again might result in this exciting young team (that could spend several years developing and improving) being dismantled sooner. Yes we would be in the Championship with loads of money, in a 'better' state to have another go, but who knows?

All hypothetical anyway since we might get knocked out tonight or lose at Wembley, or we might go up and stay up!

Part of me just feels that should we not go up this month, next season could see us having a storming season with this current crop (with reinforcements) being much stronger and being better equipped for the top flight when we get there.

Of course, we could miss out now and be floundering mid-table in the Championship next year and be thinking we could have had £100+ million when we had a great chance. Who is to say how tough the Championship will be next season and we could rue a rare opportunity to 'sneak' promotion this year and regret it for years?

Or a meringue?

In the end, I can't help willing the Lads to get promoted and face what comes, but I have a niggling feeling we could miss out on seeing this team storming it next year with these current players ramping up another few notches. I suppose we should/can trust the recruitment team to utilise any Premier League income and potential parachute payments (should the worst happen) and we could do a Burnley in two years from now...

All ifs and buts but curious to know the thoughts of the wise SMB. I would wager the majority thinking 'F**k it, let's get up and worry about it later and have a good f**king go!'

GIVE YOUR HEAD A SHAKE, WHY BOTHER IF THE GOAL ISN'T THE PREMIER ASAP!
 

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