Is it almost inevitable for our size club?

[Bradwell canary 109]

There is no doubt in my mind, and most other supporters, the the past five years have been the most exciting and interesting 5 years in our history. None of us will ever for those Lambert years.

But let''s face facts, is almost inevitable, particularly in the PL at this moment, with many clubs having almost endless money, that we can never survive in the long term. Whoever the manager is, he has an almost impossible task. Our record signing cost about the same as we got for Dean Ashton several years ago, which put things in perspective.

Now before everyone jumps on my back for being negative, I am trying hard to be realistic .

Like everyone here I dearly wish us to stay up, and I hope we do, but in the next season or so we go down, you only have to look at the Div below us, and the names down there, some huge clubs who were gracing this Div not long ago.

I HOPE I AM WRONG

.

[BroadstairsR 2,136]

Only about eight side in the Premier League can virtually be continuous guaranteed Premier League survival.

Some of the rest might or might not have a bit more money at their disposal but not really significantly enough to make that much difference. Other factors then come in including the overall management of the club, it''s support'' it''s youth programmes and so on.

[clarkey1972 0]

We are going to get relegated at some point but I don''t think it will be this year.

We have to man up and get stuck in, fight for every point and get better organised thats what keeps you in the division.

There is very little to choose between all the 12 lesser teams on their day. The ones that can perform more consistently will stay up.

[Reggie Strayshun 0]

[quote user="clarkey1972"]We are going to get relegated at some point but I don''t think it will be this year.

We have to man up and get stuck in, fight for every point and get better organised thats what keeps you in the division.

There is very little to choose between all the 12 lesser teams on their day. The ones that can perform more consistently will stay up.[/quote]

Agree with this Clarkey. To a certain extent the OP is correct, but there really is nothing to choose between about a dozen clubs in this league. Are you really saying that Stoke, Cardiff, Fulham, Palace, Sunderland, Hull, WBA, West Ham etc are better equipped than us to play in the Prem. ?Southampton and Swansea are having their 15 mins in the sun just now, but they will soon revert to type.

The key in our first season was picking up a good deal of wins against these teams. Lambert realised that and made it happen . Already this season we''ve failed the test v Hull , Villa and Cardiff. A potential 8 pts down the swannee. It was the same last term, and only the unexpected points we got against the big boys kept us up.

[Michael Starr 519]

To a degree it''s inevitable, but that''s football. The more we develop, the less chance we have of dropping.

[BOO 0]

It''s not inevitable that we will be unable to keep our prem league status.

There is a bit of this defeatist talk creeping in, almost as an excuse to keep an under performing manager.

The way the finances are currently structured, the longer we stay the better chance we have of continuing in the league.

The devide between the have''s and the have not''s gets bigger every season, with good management we should be quite capable of staying here.

[Dubai Mark 0]

Good question, and very difficult to answer, but when I think about it.......YES is is almost inevitable. The margins between success and failure for the majority of clubs in this league are very small, and there have just been so many examples over the years to see that you can go from relative comfort to being dragged into the bottom three within a few months, weeks even. This is a tough league to compete in and being consistent with a high level of performance is the most difficult thing to do when you have limited funds available, and thats the main reason why we have been struggling. Sure occasionally one or two clubs of our size crack it for a season or two, but then more often than not they too end up back in the mix as sustaining it is almost impossible unfortunately. Its so very different to the early seasons of The Premier League when we were challenging.  

[GenerationA47 746]

I differ there slightly Mark. While I agree it''s likely at some point in the future, I think it is definitely more than a season or two that clubs of our ''size'' can stay in the Prem.

[Jack Flash 13]

I think the key difference in our current plight, is that when/if we drop out of the Prem, we will be in a vastly better position to return quickly, compared to last time with Worthy, given we are financially so much stronger, with another huge wedge of cash at the end of this season to come; the windfall sums are substantial and the squad is stronger, even if one or two jump ship. Having watched some Championship football on the TV, the standard is dreadful. I don''t want us to drop, but we should be well capable of a quick return if it happens.

[Levi Stubbs 0]

[quote user="Jack Flash"]I think the key difference in our current plight, is that when/if we drop out of the Prem, we will be in a vastly better position to return quickly, compared to last time with Worthy, given we are financially so much stronger, with another huge wedge of cash at the end of this season to come; the windfall sums are substantial and the squad is stronger, even if one or two jump ship. Having watched some Championship football on the TV, the standard is dreadful. I don''t want us to drop, but we should be well capable of a quick return if it happens.[/quote]There are loads of clubs that consensus would have expected to bounce straight back after relegation,that haven''t managed to do so,and very few that have.There is no particular reason why people should expect us to waltz through the Championship next season should we end back there at the end of this!