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bazforest

How very familiar

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Hi Folks,Just thought I''d pop on and wish the best for next season. I''ve been viewing the forum for the last couple of weeks, but haven''t posted or anything.We know how you feel, when we went down in 2005 at Loftus Road - the feeling of despair was evident beyond belief. Abuse was hurled at the players, the board, the management and probably Terry the kitman.It took us longer to come back than most thought, the realists amongst us knew it wouldn''t be easy and nor would it be a cakewalk. Teams would raise their games by 100%, they would relish coming to play football in an arena like the City Ground, and I''m sure it will be something similar to what you guys will encounter.At away grounds, they''re small and horrible (yes they form part of English footballs history), but thats no consolation when your being beaten 5-0 at Oldham Athletic and the like. As I mentioned above, supporters get right behind the team against you and sometimes, players of clubs like Forest, Leeds, Wednesday etc go missing - because they aren''t good enough to deal with it.I''m sure you will be humble about going to grounds like Victoria Park, The Memorial Stadium, The Bescot et all - but take solice in the fact that your not the first and nor will you be the last club of a good size that has found themselves flogging in front of 5000 people at the Bescot on a Tuesday evening (3000 of them being away supporters).There really are no plus''s to being in League One. Yes, people will say you get to see the other side of it, going to smaller grounds etc, but lets be honest - thats just trying to make a little positive out of it. That''s why we''re so relieved to have got out of the mire eventually. It really is an horrendous league, and incredibly tough to grind out results - and get used to lesser players playing for your club, with all duerespect to them.18k+ season ticket holders shouldn''t be watching League One football, but as they say ''thats football''.I was really hoping you''d survive and that Barnsley would go, but sadly it appears your players bottled it when the pressure was really on.I do wish you the very best in trying to come bacl straight away, I hope you do - but you only have to look at ourseleves, Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds to find out just how difficult it is.All the best for the summer and next season, I''ll be keeping an eye out for your results - you are a good club with a good tradition, hopefully you''ll be back soon.

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Cheers mate, good luck next season to your lads too.It didn''t hit home until I saw a thread on a hartlepool united message board which said "Hartlepool v Norwich City, I didn''t think I''d ever see the day."  Kind of how I feel too.

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Indeed mate, we had exactly the same thing. We were the butt of everyones jokes, playing in front of full grounds all around the league - which brings it''s own problems.And it was incredibly difficult waking up on a Saturday morning ahead of a home game vs Cheltenham, compared to a home game vs Derby. I had a season ticket all three years in League One and went to 90% of away games - trust me, it''s hard work. But hopefully, as a club we''ve come out the other end and maybe better for it. It''s the stark warning what can happen if things aren''t done properly, like whats happened to you.And prepare yourself for constant chants of ''''Your not famous anymore''''.The plus side for you, if there can be one - there are also Southampton and Charlton going down too - which may take some of the pressure off your players as you won''t be the  only big fish in the small pond.

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Thats a few fans that have said you will hear chants of ''Your not famous anymore'', I cant recall hearing this, this season, maybe we weren''t famous enough :(So you probably wont hear it either...

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[quote user="bazforest"]There really are no plus''s to being in League One. Yes, people will say you get to see the other side of it, going to smaller grounds etc, but lets be honest - thats just trying to make a little positive out of it. [/quote]I think our relegation was the best thing that has happened to our club in it''s recent history. The "Five year plan" coupled with selling off all our assetts and "We''re serious about promotion, are you?" campaign immediately after we escaped relegation the season prior took the piss. Employing fat and players nearing retirement and paying them huge sums of money has been constant since our demise from the premiership - Matrecano, Mannini and Petrachi ring any bells?Since then, we suffered three years in league one yes, but now we have assembled a youthful squad that are prepared to do everything for the club. Our board have learnt from the mistakes of the past and now we look in a position to push on. This wouldn''t have happened had we not got the reality check of relegation to the third tier.Man City, Sheffield Wednesday and now ourselves have come back stronger after relegation. Leicester will do so this season. Norwich I''m sure will follow suit.

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