Promotion

[st albans fox]

Depends what floats your boat 

if you want us to get back to being an established PL club then we need money and promotion delivers that - even if we drop back again. It’s all part of getting the club on a solid financial footing where we can spend enough on promotion to be competitive. 

 

if you just want to enjoy watching the team play and winning/losing isn’t everything then staying down doesn’t matter. 

[filthyfox]

34 minutes ago, Pliskin said:

There is such thing as a transfer window you know….

Does Jon know that?

[Blueman1967]

Must be our aim to get to the Premier League, then the squad would have to be strengthened.

[Spanner73]

1 hour ago, Levi Port said:

I do as it gives us our best chance of keeping our best players. Fatawu won’t be here next season if we don’t go up, he probably will if we do. Monga won’t stick around down here forever either. 
 

I understand why people think we need to build, but the longer you’re down here, the more pressure you are under to sell your best, and the harder it is to attract decent players. 
 

You can build whilst getting promoted, look at Sunderland, that team wasn’t ready for the prem. But one good window has them competitive and if they’re relegated, their squad value is much higher and will give them a good shot at bouncing back. It’s changed their trajectory, we can’t fall behind. 

Sunderland as a club clearly have a team ethic, good culture, desire, work rate and a fighting desire on and off the pitch to get where they are today and how much work has been put in over a period of time can’t be underestimated. 
 

The contrast between us and them are oceans apart and we all know why !! 
 

No point in promotion as our owner is bone idle - end of !! 

[Spanner73]

1 hour ago, Levi Port said:

I do as it gives us our best chance of keeping our best players. Fatawu won’t be here next season if we don’t go up, he probably will if we do. Monga won’t stick around down here forever either. 
 

I understand why people think we need to build, but the longer you’re down here, the more pressure you are under to sell your best, and the harder it is to attract decent players. 
 

You can build whilst getting promoted, look at Sunderland, that team wasn’t ready for the prem. But one good window has them competitive and if they’re relegated, their squad value is much higher and will give them a good shot at bouncing back. It’s changed their trajectory, we can’t fall behind. 

Sunderland as a club clearly have a team ethic, good culture, desire, work rate and a fighting desire on and off the pitch to get where they are today and how much work has been put in over a period of time can’t be underestimated. 
 

The contrast between us and them are oceans apart and we all know why !! 
 

No point in promotion as our owner is bone idle - end of !! 

[Spanner73]

1 hour ago, Levi Port said:

I do as it gives us our best chance of keeping our best players. Fatawu won’t be here next season if we don’t go up, he probably will if we do. Monga won’t stick around down here forever either. 
 

I understand why people think we need to build, but the longer you’re down here, the more pressure you are under to sell your best, and the harder it is to attract decent players. 
 

You can build whilst getting promoted, look at Sunderland, that team wasn’t ready for the prem. But one good window has them competitive and if they’re relegated, their squad value is much higher and will give them a good shot at bouncing back. It’s changed their trajectory, we can’t fall behind. 

Sunderland as a club clearly have a team ethic, good culture, desire, work rate and a fighting desire on and off the pitch to get where they are today and how much work has been put in over a period of time can’t be underestimated. 
 

The contrast between us and them are oceans apart and we all know why !! 
 

No point in promotion as our owner is bone idle - end of !! 

[MPH]

In some ways I’m a bit perplexed that we have to discuss this question, but i do understand why.

 

surely it is morally wrong for a sports team to enter into a competition without  the clear intention of trying to win every game they play. 
 

also, I think our best chance of either keeping our best players or at worst selling them for the best price, is to get promoted.

 

i also think the prem TV money is likely to be massive in securing our financial stability for the foreseeable future especially as we seem to be finally understanding that overspending is no longer something we can do.

 

if it takes a couple of seasons to yo-yo in and out of the prem to secure our future then yes, I do want us to go up.

 
 

last season, going up to the prem.. as painful as it was watching , has probably saved our bacon financially

 

it does also seem that it’s finally sunk in that we have to build a team instead of buying a team but I do understand it can absolutely crush the spirit of a young player to be in a dire relegation battle.. which brings me back to the first point… 

[dmayne7]

Going up is massive. If we had a good long term plan then this time round, I could get the argument that not going up may be beneficial, but there is absolutely no evidence that is the case.

 

Very early but look at the start Sunderland have made. They were starting from a much weaker position than we were last season, yet have managed to recruit brilliantly despite being a smaller club or rather, less attractive given our recent achievements, so there is no excuse for us not to be able to compete. So better to have the PL money with no plans compared to being in the championship with no plan.

Edited 28 September 2025 by dmayne7

[sm1]

Obviously the aim is promotion, but when you look at the 3 teams promoted in 2024, and then see the team that missed out, Leeds, who's in a better position to sustain PL football. Staying back for Leeds that extra year meant they could plan and build a better team, whereas us, Ipswich and Saints were just making up the numbers in the PL. We know Rudkin and Top are completely useless, they can't do want Sunderland and Forest did, and bring in 15-16 new players. They'll end up giving guys like Vesty, Faes and Soumare contract extensions, if we get promoted. Long term, unless the DoF goes, we're always going to be in trouble.

[Bert]

What’s the point of playing the game if you don’t want to go up and play at the best level? 

[ClaphamFox]

3 minutes ago, Bert said:

What’s the point of playing the game if you don’t want to go up and play at the best level? 

Exactly. Actively seeking failure is an insane take for a football fan, but apparently one that some of our fans have. Very, very weird. 

[Pita]

46 minutes ago, Blueman1967 said:

Must be our aim to get to the Premier League, then the squad would have to be strengthened.

We got too many bit part players on big wages who just are not good enough for the championship let alone the premiership 

[bovril]

11 minutes ago, ClaphamFox said:

Exactly. Actively seeking failure is an insane take for a football fan, but apparently one that some of our fans have. Very, very weird. 

It's not that insane any more. Elite English football is totally broken and although I want us to go up because it's good for the club and ultimately for the fans, the prospect doesn't get me that excited. If we can get back somewhere near where we were then great, and obviously promotion is the first step, but just treading water in the PL isn't that fun as a fan. 

[Sly]

Wanting to stay in the Championship is a weird perspective. 
 

As we’ll potentially get worsen as every season goes by. 

 

[demon_dog]

No point in playing if you don't want to win/ be the best in the league.

It's a no brainer.

[MattFox]

2 hours ago, Gamble92 said:

We need Sunderland and Leeds to dispell this myth that no one can ever compete when going up again. 

 

Pundit were pretending to be bothered by it but it was a perfect scenario playing out for team Super League. Glad it looks like new teams will go down this time. Hopefully the red scum.  

Forest stayed up less than 3 years ago despite being complete horse shit too

 

The myth has only been a reality for two seasons

[Spanner73]

13 hours ago, Bezzanator89 said:

No, we shouldn't go up. And we shouldn't have gone up last time, we all saw what happened there and rightfully choose to pretend it never happened. It was the season of nightmares, caused by incompetence across the club and a very premature promotion.

 

If we somehow get promoted, this side would get absolutely annihilated, and there are no guarantees about investment in the squad. A couple of seasons in the Championship wilderness, is sadly what this club needs.

Exactly this ! 
We seem to have a board that think if we get a poor man’s Pep then we’ll win the league comfortably. 
Ask them to put in any hard yards in terms of running the club well and we’ve seen clearly over many seasons that they can’t be bothered. So you get out what you put in.
 

It has to happen on and off the pitch to see rewards and like it or not we’re a lazy football club and that will tell come the end of the season 

[Torten]

12 hours ago, Dahnsouff said:

Rushing to the finish line are we? Come back in May.

They may still go down but you cannot ignore the fact that Sunderland (the team that won the play-offs no less) have amassed more points in their opening 6 games than any relegated team last season managed to get in their first 14.

[Stuntman_Mike]

Surely we're the only fanbase that sees promotion or success as an issue 

 

Of course it's better to get promoted as soon as possible, it shouldn't even cross someone's mind to suggest otherwise. 

[Dahnsouff]

2 minutes ago, Torten said:

They may still go down but you cannot ignore the fact that Sunderland (the team that won the play-offs no less) have amassed more points in their opening 6 games than any relegated team last season managed to get in their first 14.

No, I do not dismiss how well they have done, and it is fabulous to see.  

Hope they keep it up all season, guess I am just used to the steamroller by the fat clubs!

So my bad!

[Spanner73]

8 minutes ago, Torten said:

They may still go down but you cannot ignore the fact that Sunderland (the team that won the play-offs no less) have amassed more points in their opening 6 games than any relegated team last season managed to get in their first 14.

It’s not rocket science ! Good Culture that been created, Good owner, hard work on and off the pitch, good honest players, good recruitment, with potential for young players to grow. 
 

Their Everything we are not !! 

 

[jonthefox]

12 hours ago, filthyfox said:

Does Jon know that?

I think so 

[Pliskin]

It’s a bit of a myth staying in this league will allow you to rebuild….. well, this won’t necessarily be the case…… the longer you spend in the EFL the worse you can get, especially if you’re a club that has over exerted, the likes of Bolton, Stoke, QPR act as a reminder of how this can happen. 
 

 

You need to rebuild in the premier league, because there’s more allowance to do so. 
 

The EFL financially is worse, you won’t be afforded the same kind of financial clout needed to do a full rebuild. And one season becomes 2 which becomes 3 which becomes 10….

 

 

The best way to become stable is what the likes of Fulham and Bournemouth have done, go down a couple of times and come back up… a few years yo-yo-ing won’t harm you provided you do some good business. 
 

 

In my eyes we have to get up again this season, we’ve had a good summer window and have more or less reset the PSR clock, so next season we should be in a position to do what Sunderland have done to some degree.

 

In a nutshell, it’s a bit of a myth that you can build at this level, you can’t really, you can if you’ve had recent PL exposure and have the benefit of those finances. 
 

Plus, this league of ****ing awful, the football is dross and it’s so ****ing depressing being crap at this level. I’d rather be average in the premier league than crap in the championship. 

[jayfox26]

We can't afford not to go up. If we don't go up this year, it won't be a case of rebuilding and going up next year. We will be down here for many years if we don't go up this season. 

[murphy]

Promotions followed by relegations keeps us in touch.  It's the best we can hope for at the moment until we are  able to build a competitive team and become financially more secure. 

 

The alternative is a slow heat death as we sink into becoming another West Brom