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


The rationale is rubbish. Like it or not, we played better football in the play off season than the one afterwards. We’d have hit the PL with Clark, Johnston and Bridges all in the squad (plus any signings). Personally I think that if we’d gone up that season then we would have got over the line for Europe the following season and never looked back.

Interesting perspective
 
I think everybody wants to be promoted but that doesn't stop the worry for next season.
Would hate to see this inspirational team get their hearts broken by regular hammerings.
 
Think our owners weren't too keen to go straight up, that's the reason we didn't push for a centre forward in January when we were in no danger of relegation.
 
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.


Look at Huddersfield, narrowly defeated in the final last year and then a relegation battle this

So what? It was Huddersfield's first ever season in the PL. I'm sure they won't have been thinking it was too soon to go up. It's a daft thing to say imo.
 
Think with one or two quality signings and the energy of these lads, they could keep us in the Premier League next season.
Then just keep adding 2 or 3 so long as they improve the squad each summer.

On the plus side we only need 34 points to go with our 6 from the Skunks 😉
 
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What’s more it’s self evident the quality in the squad. Likewise the mentality. Look they will have to bring in at least 3 senior proven premiership players who are leaders at Centre Half, Central Midfield and Striker. Maybe players around 30 whilst the model catches up. In the Reid days it was likes of Bould, Shwarz and Quinn.
Is Henderson outside our reach ? Jonny Evans is probably to old now and I don’t like the idea of players from relegated teams. But you get the idea

I think some people get carried away by the "quality" in the squad. They're a great bunch with a lot of talent who are playing well. Theyre good players, but the PL is a huge step up. They're a good side at this level, they've shocked everyone (myself included) but how might they handle the PL? I don't know.

But it's the "never say die" element that's most encouraging for me. If they can keep the attitude, and (like you say) add a little experience, I genuinely think we can comfortably stop up.

But we need to be there, and personally... I'm prepared to say I was wrong by thinking consolidation and a slow build was right.

Haway the lads!!!!
 
You've got to take your opportunities when they come.

No guarantee at all we'll be in contention again next year.

*If* we were to be promoted this season, then even if we come straight back down, so long as we are sensible about it it should leave us stronger in the long term.
 
To be honest, until very recently I was firmly in the ‘too soon to go up’ camp. I felt the squad wasn’t strong enough to survive and the memories of us stinking out the bottom of the Prem year after year lingered strong.
I am coming round though. There’s no guarantee we’ll be in this position next season and the Lads are playing some marvellous football. I do think we could hold our own enough to survive and strengthen if we do go up.
I still have reservations about promotion this year mind. I can’t see how next season will be as enjoyable as this one, plus from a selfish exile standpoint, we’ll not be on Sky as much!
 
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!'

I keep seeing people wanting to debate this but I don't see anyone actually saying it.
 
Finishing bottom next season would give the club a cash injection of more than the club was recently sold for. It’s not rocket science. Plus the bottom half(if not, more) of the Premier League is awful. We would have a decent chance to survive.
 
As I said on another thread I don't think the quality of the bottom half of the Prem is as strong as it once was and going up is no longer as daunting as it once was.
 

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