If we miss out on promotion - will you be bothered?

[It's Character Forming]

I have incredibly mixed feelings about the Prem.

I've certainly enjoyed this season a lot more than last season but that's not surprising.  Looking back at the 3 seasons in the Prem ;

Lambert's year it was great to be playing at the big boys again - let's not forget that before Lambert got us promoted, we'd only had one season in the Prem, the year under Worthie, since the early 90s.  And what's more, under Lambert we gave it a real go and won plenty of games including away at Spurs.  Was the Lambert approach sustainable ?  My guess is not, but we'll never know.

Hughton's first season had its high spots such as beating Arsenal and Man U but overall the move to a very defensive brand of football gave us many dire performances (Reading away probably being the low spot).  At the end of his first season we were all thinking that we had a solid defence so with a record budget to spend on attackers Hughton should be able to strengthen the squad so we could push on and consolidate in the Prem.  With hindsight IMO Hughton was found out as a manager because (with Holt being allowed to go for reasons that with hindsight I still think were valid) he spent that record budget on strikers but wasn't able to setup a style of play which was effective for them or for the team.  We'd have been better off IMO with our strike force this season rather than our actual strike force last season.  So he failed to keep our solid defence together while up front we were much less effective with our expensive new strikeforce than we'd been with Holt.

So, am I bothered if we miss out on promotion back to the Prem ?  Yes, partly because the lack of money means we'll struggle to keep our squad together if we stay in the Champ next year (although hopefully with parachute payments we can keep most of the players for at least another season) and also because we should be aiming as high as we can.

If we get back into the Prem I believe AN wouldn't adopt the overly negative approach of Hughton, so I wouldn't mind the fact that we couldn't expect as many wins this season as long as we're willing to have a good go at it.

 

[Suffolk Canary]

At least with AN now in charge, we know our players will always go out there with a great work ethic and will give it 100% which is more than could be said in a last year or two in the premiership.  So if we were to get promoted, it should be better than it was when we left the league. 

Even though there are so many things I've enjoyed being back in the championship, we need to be in and around the best teams in the country if we are going to improve. Hopefully some of that top-quality will rub off on us

 

[Baggie192]

Thing is the longer you stay out the more likely it is for your best players to leave. Then it becomes harder to come back, plus Championship is harder than the last time we (WBA) were in it. You've got a chance to get out take it. there's no gaurantee that you won't finish mid-table next time

 

[It's Character Forming]

Sorry but I think wba are an example of what I don't like about thePrem - not that I have anything against wba as such but it's one of quite a few teams who's realistic ambition at the start of each season is to survive (and statistically it's only a matter of time till you go down again) and that to me is just depressing.

 

[SussexYellow]

Yes the Championship is a more even division and we can go into every game with a reasonable anticipation of a victory. It is probably a more fun league for supporters. But what makes it interesting and exciting is the goal of getting to the Premiership. So yes I would be bothered if we miss out because we would not have achieved our aim.

The Sky money will bring the club greater financial security, and provide the opportunity to improve the squad albeit with players who are likely to be not quite good enough. Yes it will mean that ambition will probably be limited to survival and we know that for a club like Norwich sooner or (hopefully) later a bad season will come along resulting in relegation to the Championship.

I am proud to be a Norwich supporter and this is the reality of supporting Norwich. I always want the club to do the best it can and if being a yo yo club is that reality then so be it.

 

[Din]

I love the Championship, and if there was more of a guarantee that we could sustain ourselves in this division should we not go up this season then I wouldn't really mind too much. However it is difficult to sustain yourself in this division. Look at the bottom 8 or 9 teams in this division, and you see Blackpool, Wigan, Reading, Fulham and Leeds. All teams that have been in the Premier League very recently, and there's also numerous examples from the lower divisions. The drama and competition in this league is so much more exciting than that of the Premier League though.

Plus I suppose the whole point of the Championship is for teams to try and get into the Premier League, so it'd be a bit strange to not want to do well in this league and get into the Premier League.

Also, it'd be much easier to get a stream for away games! 

 

[Boyerboy]

We all know that life in the Prem would be grimmer and less enjoyable than this season.  However, life in the Championship as Leeds or Blackburn would not be any more fun.

I want my team to be the best it can be and if that means scrabbling about in the lower reaches of the Prem with all the heartache and occasional embarrassment that that involves then, sobeit.

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

Yes the Championship is a more even division and we can go into every game with a reasonable anticipation of a victory. It is probably a more fun league for supporters.

Think you've nailed it there. Fans (all fans) can follow their team anywhere, against anyone and know that a result is a reasonable expectation. Even the bottom teams can go to the top teams with supporters feeling there is every chance their team could do well.

Yet far too often in the Premiership, the bottom teams go to the top teams and have very little hope of doing anything other than stemming the tide.

For me this is why maybe Championship football is better. Games are more like games, rather than a one-sided seige

 

[It's Character Forming]

Very true.  I remember (was it last season?) when Sunderland got a 1-0 win at Man City by being completely defensive and relying purely on the occasional breakaway/set piece to have a chance to score.  Man City weren't able to break them down and Sunderland took one of their few chances.  It's not much fun to watch.

We took the same approach to Arsenal a couple of seasons back and thanks to good defending (and some poor finishing by them), we managed to take the lead with a Turner header from a free kick.  As the game wore on, they were struggling to create anything when the officials awarded them a very dubious penalty, otherwise it was looking like we'd have also won that one.

Ironically when teams like Arsenal play Barca in the CL they adopt exactly the same approach.

So the Champ is definitely more fun to watch, more exciting generally. The downside is simply that if you stay in the Champ, the quality of your squad declines and this is just going to get worse now the FFP rules have real bite. 

So I'm starting to think that the club yo-yoing between Prem and Champ maybe isn't such a bad thing ?

 

[Boyerboy]

But isn't that just how Ipswich beat Watford a few weeks ago with an added time breakout and how Charlton and Wigan beat us?

I think that there is some romanticising going on here.  The Championship is freer but not a different animal.

 

[It's Character Forming]

True, it's a difference of degree rather than a total difference.  Also what's tedious in the Prem is that you know at the start of the season which teams are competing for the title and which are going for the PL places and it doesn't change much.  In the Champ a team can come up from L1 and be up there at the top of the Champ in its first season, conversley a team like Forest can be top of the table in October and end up not even in the play-offs.

 

[eatonparkboy]

This post reflects one of the main reasons I have stopped contributing in the last three months. And of course I would be bothered if we didn't gain one of the three promotion places.

While my love of all things NCFC has not diminished one iota, my love of football is waning rapidly. And the Premier League and everything that it has come to stand for is responsible for much of that.

Whilst FIFA and UEFA and their appalling beliefs and decisions haven't helped, the giant of the football world on my doorstep is the main issue. And of course, while I would love my club to eat at the top table, I would have mixed feelings about their involvement in this awful league.

The latest reason for my dimished love is the hypocrisy of WHU pretending they are so benevolent to the game and their supporters while we all know it is the only way they can find the extra supporters to fill the ground that the rest of Britain, and people who don't even enjoy football, are having to refurbish for them. And they will just pay a measly £2M a year rent! So that is about the equivalent of 80 years worth of new stadium.

The litany of my despair is too great to list but the usual headliners of wages, agents, foreigners, behaviour, treatment of the national team still exist and some obviously have become even more revolting than when we were last in that division. So much so that I very rarely watch a PL or CL game and now prefer to find the results and performance of Truro City and Lowestoft Town than have to listen to the bilge of characters like Minit serty sree Mourinho.

Yes, City, win both games, and let's get promoted but I really feel it's Hobson's Choice.

 

[SussexYellow]

Sorry but I think wba are an example of what I don't like about thePrem - not that I have anything against wba as such but it's one of quite a few teams who's realistic ambition at the start of each season is to survive (and statistically it's only a matter of time till you go down again) and that to me is just depressing.

I would have thought with your moniker ICF you would have been up for the hard knocks of the Premiership!

Perhaps you were having a bad day. Other posts suggests so.

So I'm starting to think that the club yo-yoing between Prem and Champ maybe isn't such a bad thing ?

 

[Beauseant]

I think its a question of kudos and cash against entertainment. Life in the Prem would once again be one of scrapping for survival, although I think we have a much better squad than when Lambert took us up, but £120 million is a lot of money.

There is no question that I have enjoyed this season much more than the previous three and would have no qualms about another in the Championship if we were competitive (as I suspect we would be with Neil bringing his own players in and having a full preseason to really get those stamina levels up).

 

[GazzaTCC]

There's no doubt that the Championship has been an exceptional league this season.

I can't help but feel that the standard of football has generally been somewhat weaker than our last campaign at this level. The fact that Ipswich are fifth underlines that to me.

Whilst I've enjoyed our rollercoaster ride this season, the sheer number of games, with 11 midweek games also in the mix, makes it something of a bind to retain interest at times.

Call me a sucker for punishment, but, given the choice, I'd take a season in the Premier League every time, rather than a season in the Championship. So, yes, I'd be a bit pi55ed if we miss out.

 

[bloodwagon]

To be honest, i love Champ games. thing is its far more exciting than prem games, but without the money or coverage.
this season I have been on the edge of my seat, in the prem you don't get that.
But every player in football wants to play in the prem. So I don't mind being a yo-yo club. (that's me personally ) Unless we have a team that will get into Champs league and make it worth while. And i really cant see that happening as refs (in the prem) are all about the big teams, and dont like or help teams like us. (small)

 

[splutcho]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx2xdThWV0E

Yep. No exciting games in the PL. I wasn't entertained once.

 

[splutcho]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApAsCZwHqh0

Honestly, the whole thing was sh*t

 

[splutcho]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPV51bVJuKA

This Championship though, it really is something.

 

[splutcho]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEYdAthBdgY

Constant all out, edge of your seat action.