Firstly, footballers like to win, and winning promotion is an achievement, something for them to be proud of and remember. They'll also want to improve and hope they are good enough for the PL, but even if they would then have to move on, it would hopefully be to another decent club where they can challenge again.Agree with all the positive comments about how great a bunch of players we have.
I sometimes wonder how some of them actually feel about possible promotion. There are a few who will certainly stay in the team if we go up, but not that many. It's a weird situation for some of the squad players where success might mean they don't make the squad and may not get a new contract.
It's a strange one, and suggests a couple of things to me: 1. Hughton's management skills are fantastic as others have said; and 2. maybe footballers aren't all selfish money grabbers after all, and do genuinely want the glory of success, even if not in their own long term interests...
People didn't think Barnes was good enough for us in the Championship, but no doubt he believed in himself, and he's been proven right. If we are promoted, the players that we don't want to keep will probably feel the same.