It does beg the question

Having watched QPR come down with a bump,Norwich get a point off a team that will probably struggle again this season and our neighbours slaughtered the question is-would we have fared any better?Its fair to say that the promoted sides had a better work ethic than us but what about this years side?Suppose we get promoted-Teams like blackpool,burnley have done well in recent seasons but ultimatley failed because,because in my view,they didn't have the financial muscle to cope.It seems to me that even if we skate this league Malky would have to dissassemble our current side and invest heavily just to keep us up there.I'd like to think that this side of ours will keep improving and so WHEN our turn comes we can have a real go at it.

Also,even after this great start we've had I find myself wondering when the wheels are comming off and I have to constantly remind myself that my mind has been conditioned by the past two or three seasons when,invariably, they did.

I think we would've done shite. I'm kinda glad we didn't go up, don't get me wrong though, I would've loved to go up, but now with a new manager, staff, a new set of players and tactics! We would do better in the prem with this squad than last season squad. Thats how I feel anyway.

its hard to say, i have to be honest the 3 clubs that went up have spent and signed f**k all and unless they do they will all be back down.

5 years ago promoted clubs used to go up and spend milllions to stay up and often worked. now teams just bank the cash and prepare for relagation

its hard to say, i have to be honest the 3 clubs that went up have spent and signed f**k all and unless they do they will all be back down.

5 years ago promoted clubs used to go up and spend milllions to stay up and often worked. now teams just bank the cash and prepare for relagation

Sounds similar to what this country are doing.

Stoke is the model for promoted teams.

A passionate home crowd, good manager and a team built on steel down it's spine. It is not untrue to say that most Premiership teams don't like going to play Stoke on their own ground and that is the example we would need to follow.

Stoke is the model for promoted teams.

A passionate home crowd, good manager and a team built on steel down it's spine. It is not untrue to say that most Premiership teams don't like going to play Stoke on their own ground and that is the example we would need to follow.

Agreed. >>>IF<<< we get promoted, we should turn the CCS into a fortress with a hostile atmosphere.

Stoke is the model for promoted teams.

A passionate home crowd, good manager and a team built on steel down it's spine. It is not untrue to say that most Premiership teams don't like going to play Stoke on their own ground and that is the example we would need to follow.

Its ironic that Pulis got out of this division with a team full of loan players

Stoke is the model for promoted teams.

A passionate home crowd, good manager and a team built on steel down it's spine. It is not untrue to say that most Premiership teams don't like going to play Stoke on their own ground and that is the example we would need to follow.

I listened to an interview with Tony Pulis on Talksport last week and he made the point that Stoke had improved year on year over the last 5 years and that he couldn't think of another team that had done that. He talked about the loyalty of Stoke fans and how they accepted the way the team had played in the past and how he was working to develop their "Style" but organisation and commitment remained fundemental to their ethic.

This is something that we as a club need to adopt orgainsation, commitment and sheer hardwork needs to replace the "Precious" attitudes of some of the players who have worn the blue shirt in the last few years. I agree that following the Stoke City model would be a good starting point.

Bolton are another example of a club that went up and stayed up (after a couple of yo-yo's).
Stoke seem to be following the Bolton plan, because for several seasons they were the club that the others hated playing,
(just think whining Wenger), but now that they have consolidated in the EPL, they have been able to refine and adapt their
playing style to something (a little) easier on the eye.

it dont always pay off to spend millions , look at leicester city ?