Mickey Adams asks "Do we want promotion?"

[Ex Shelton Seagull]

From the Argus:

"I was very impressed," he said. "They are trying to play the right way and they looked very organised but my doubt about them is there are a lot of youngsters and they are going to need time and encouragement.
"Are they good enough to get promoted? I would say not at the moment but they have got to decide if they are looking for player development or promotion.
"If there is not a lot of money then player development is the obvious way forward and there is no better coach than Dean but the fans are going to have to be patient.
"They seem to understand that anyway."

Is player development our main aim for this season? I must say that I prefer seeing us compete on equal terms with other teams as opposed to being outclassed by them on a regular basis. No matter how well the boys may be playing at the moment I still think that over the course of a Championship season they would get more than a few beatings. The Championship is very strong at the moment, watching that Barnsley game yesterday brought home just how strong a league it is. Barnsley are real strugglers yet they had a number of very good players and played some excellent stuff, they’d certainly out-play us if we played them right now.

But then Mark McGhee reckoned it was far better for the young players to play in the Championship as they would improve quicker playing against a better class of opposition. I suppose the success of Colchester this season could give hope to us all. How much did they spend in the summer? Not much was it and yet they’re up in 8th place just outside the play-offs. Layer Road is a stadium on a par with Withdean and their new stadium will only hold about 1,500 more than Withdean does now. If they can succeed than maybe this team could as well?

 

[Seagullible]

If you look back to the double championship side, I think the reason we did the double was because we had a mid table season the year before during which the side became stable and those areas with weeknesses were strengthened. If we have a similar season finishing just outside the play-offs, I can see us having a great season next year and hopefully be stroong and experienced enough by then to hold our own in the Championship with Falmer confirmed as on the way allowing further investment in the team

 

[tricky]

Problem with that - is that clubs will then find it easier to poach our best players. Even the youngsters are ambitious and want to play at the highest level.
I'm just not sure that a year in div 1 will make us stronger at all.
I feel that success breeds success and so would want us to go up - even if I fear that we might yoyo again.

 

[Goodfella]

I absolutely dont want us to go up this season for that exact reason, that as talented as our young side is, we need to establish ourselves at least another season in league 1,
If we get falmer, then i'm sure this will be an extra incentive to then start to push for the championship.

The future looks bright.

 

[Dave the OAP]

but you are never guaranteed that are you.

I had this discussion with a guy who was on the phone in on Saturday, where he reconed we ought not to be looking at going up as he had had enough of yo yo seasons and just wanted some stability, with next year being the year to push for promotion as the kids would be a year more experienced.

My counter argument to that is look at the teams who have made the pay-offs, fail, and the next season they are awful - Swindon, Huddersfield, Bristol City, mansfield..... we are not guaranteed anything so my argument is to take whatever you are given and go with it!!!

 

[bristolseagull]

FFS,

i'd take promotion no problem, think we'll always be a yoyo club till falmer is sorted, if we can make the playoffs this season i'll be uterly stoked- sod the stability bollocks, that comes from behind the scenes- like i said till falmer is a yay- we have no stability, players will always come and go-

you must aim as high as possible- otherwise whats the point?

 

[crodonilson]

Of course I'd take promotion, if we don't who is to say other clubs wouldn't cherry pick our better players and we'd have to rebuild another side to compete. If the oppotunity is there we have to take it, we would get more TV money, and gate revenue and that is vital to the future of the club.

I can't beleive anyone would not want promotion.

 

[Rookie]

I'd love promotion, get more money from TV etc and far more chance of keeping the better players in the championship rather than asking them to play another season in League 1

 

[Icy Gull]

I want us to push for promotion get in the playoffs and lose before the final as losing there would be gutting. Draw against WHU and a replay at Withdean, then anything is possible.

Get to the Final and win the tin pot trophy

Now that would be an excellent season and I could easily take the disappointment of not getting promoted whilst being entertained and thrilled to the last day of the season.

I would however DEMAND the Championship of league 1 the following season by a record number of points allied to the eventual irrefutable granting of Falmer permission.

Incidently Micky we are doing better in our division than you are doing in yours, maybe you should be questioning the Coventry Directors rather than the Albions, must be time for another flounce from you surely

 

[smudge]

f*** me not this old chestnut. I pay to watch the team try & win a game a football. If I thought the club were thinking, "Let's drop 3 points today lads, we're getting a bit close to those play off places", I would stay at home.

Surely we can develop players with a winning habit & the better the level of football, then the better the players will be.

It's f***ing obvious really.

 

[clippedgull]

Our players should be going out to win every game.

If we get promoted, so be it

 

[dunno]

FFS,

i'd take promotion no problem, think we'll always be a yoyo club till falmer is sorted, if we can make the playoffs this season i'll be uterly stoked- sod the stability bollocks, that comes from behind the scenes- like i said till falmer is a yay- we have no stability, players will always come and go-

you must aim as high as possible- otherwise whats the point?

agreed - better to be a yo-yo than a no-no!

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

If you look back to the double championship side, I think the reason we did the double was because we had a mid table season the year before during which the side became stable and those areas with weeknesses were strengthened. If we have a similar season finishing just outside the play-offs, I can see us having a great season next year and hopefully be stroong and experienced enough by then to hold our own in the Championship with Falmer confirmed as on the way allowing further investment in the team

Well said, you can go up to soon.

 

[Gully]

Ask the same question of the players and management, I don't think you will find many who would prefer us to miss out on promotion, that is a crazy notion. At least there is never a dull moment when we are doing the yo-yo, the nails and nerves suffer, it is what I love about the Albion.

 

[London Irish]

But then Mark McGhee reckoned it was far better for the young players to play in the Championship as they would improve quicker playing against a better class of opposition. I suppose the success of Colchester this season could give hope to us all. How much did they spend in the summer? Not much was it and yet they’re up in 8th place just outside the play-offs.

The trouble with that example is that they are the exception to the rule, and you will always get those, but they don't last long. Colchester have got together a great little midfield that works for each other - but the better names will move on. Whatever they achieve this season, they will start next year as relegation favourites again, and rightly so. Luton, last year's Colchester, are beginning to feel the gravity of class and are drifting towards a relegation fight.

If we did get promoted, under the current financial regime it would be a case of not if we went back down, but when. We might last a couple of years like last time, we might last a little bit longer like Gradi's Crewe did. But we may very well do a Southend.

Despite all that, I would still love us to go up this season. For the simple reason you can never take for granted getting out of League 1 even if you have a decent team, look at how many years it has taken Bristol City and they are still far from guarenteed this season. You must take all opportunities, if we have a sniff of the play-offs this season, we must go for it hard. The idea that we would better prepared the following season is flawed because of one great unknown - we might not be. Take all chances when they come, now.

And there is some sense in what McGhee said about player development. Hinsh looks good now because of that hard experience he had in the Championship. Ironically Lynch looked a better player last season than he has this, the drop in class has not suited him, he doesn't look as focused. Dean Cox is going to go up the leagues before long, let it be with us rather than another team, he is too classy right now to be told to wait too long to be playing on a stage his rich talents deserve.

 

[Gully]

Exactly, I can remember feeling gutted after we missed out in the play-offs in 91, despite a feeling that we would struggle badly in the top division and come straight back down (A feeling that some of the County fans I spoke with shared, and they did). However, you just never know, if we had gone up would some investors have appeared to provide funds to strengthen the team, would we have stayed at the Goldstone or moved to a new stadium earlier...too many unknowns, I am starting to sound like Donald Rumsfeld...and where is he now?

 

[227 BHA]

Of course, the other hing promotion guarantees is that at the very least we'll still be in Div 1 in 2 years time when the Falmer situation will be surely sorted one way or the other.
In other words, it ensures we can't drop to the bottom flight if things go pear-shaped