We cannot compete in this league (not)

[jerryatricjanner]

I've said all season it will be an even tougher league next season if Pompey, Bolton and Derby come up and Rotherham, Huddersfield and another go down.
I do think the three coming down will not be as strong this time but it is the other end of the table that concerns us more.
The extra tv money will help us considerably as would a massive transfer fee for MW and I think the playing budget for salaries will have to increase by a fair bit.
Hopefully a few points deductions and a couple of poorly run clubs will help our cause. Likewise some new investment

 

[Lancastergreen]

Hopefully a few points deductions and a couple of poorly run clubs will help our cause. Likewise some new investment

That's our reality, points deducted for others and someone to plough money in

 

[Argyleloyal]

I've said all season it will be an even tougher league next season if Pompey, Bolton and Derby come up and Rotherham, Huddersfield and another go down.
I do think the three coming down will not be as strong this time but it is the other end of the table that concerns us more.
The extra tv money will help us considerably as would a massive transfer fee for MW and I think the playing budget for salaries will have to increase by a fair bit.
Hopefully a few points deductions and a couple of poorly run clubs will help our cause. Likewise some new investment

Even if we did get some new investment soon it won’t be completed probably till Christmas judging by what Simon said the other week

 

[Lancastergreen]

Even if we did get some new investment soon it won’t be completed probably till Christmas judging by what Simon said the other week

I think he meant he wanted it by Christmas gone

 

[Harry]

I feel the odd good win is not competing, it is surviving. I hope we stay up but next season is going to be tough and avoiding relegation is the main goal as things stand.

The more seasons we stay up the more we will be viewed as a genuine championship side so maybe that will help to attract players? Also securing a second meaningful option up front (new player or development of current player) would likely have a big impact as presently our squad looks really unbalanced in this area. Otherwise despite all the talk of outsmarting others, if we do not develop an improved budget in relation to others, we will only get away with this for so long.

Indeed this "outsmarting others" make me cringe at times. Yes there are some clubs that seem dysfunctional and waste their resource advantage (Stoke?) but I would expect many of the clubs are either run well or well enough to get the advantage from their bigger budget. David can beat Goliath on his day but as my Dad used to say "a good big un will beat a good little one".

I think there are going to be some challenging seasons but if new investors come in and we develop the club, and yes make good/smart decisions, we could be in a far better place in years to come.

 

[slingsbypobble]

Respectfully I disagree, we've had a threadbare squad without depth since January and the 'recruitment' then was a disaster.

Staying up (still not guaranteed) is partly a result of spectacular self-implosions at other clubs.

On paper our squad ranks 23rd or 24th out of 24. We can't expect to huff and puff our way through 2024/25 season without some serious investment in the summer.

Luckily the club is well-run which offsets the squad disadvantage a bit.

If you disagree, ask which of our players could walk into A. N. Other Championship club:
- Coops
- Mumba
- Whittaker
That's it.

 

[Judge]

That's our reality, points deducted for others and someone to plough money in

The Blades will be relegated and will start on -2 points therefore the Championship could be slightly easier, but not much!

 

[JackPP]

If we stay up, and we should, it will be by a handful of points at most.

Teams coming up look financially bigger then Rotherham and Huddersfield.

We will be in a more difficult league again and need to find ways to increase our playing budget. We must aim for mid table and not simply avoiding the drop.

If you have around the bottom 6 long enough you will eventually be relegated.

 

[Mark Smith]

I'm afraid I agree re the clubs coming up; I had been waiting until the end of the season to say it, for certainty all round.

Ipswich clearly built for much more than just survival while they were still in League One. Much though we liked to poo-poo their claim about them being the best team in League One last year, they have clearly been far better than us over the two years. And let's be honest, they were a big club stuck in the third tier.

Same with Derby. I'm pretty sure they and Pompey will hold their own in the Championship, with big budgets, and Bolton or Barnsley/Peterborough will not be odds-on for relegation, either.

Assuming we stay up, our five-year plan will hinge massively on what happens this summer in terms of finding a new manager and boosting the playing staff.

 

[Rogue]

After the wobble this season, assuming we stay up - which I believe we will - I think we're probably looking at another season like this one. Just staying up. If the recruitment is particularly good, I don't see why we can't push for mid table, but it'll hinge on that, IMO.

Bali, Morgs and Finn, don't forget, were loans at the start of the league on title winning season. There's no reason to think it's impossible to do similar again. And that's before a penny has been spent on any permanents, or free transfers.

If the recruitment is average, then I could see us having a very similar season. That wouldn't be great for my finger nails, but securing a 3rd year in this league would be excellent for the club.

 

[Stbkk]

I'm of the opinion that if we stay up (from our current position, we should now, of course), a good result would be a comfortable below mid-table finish next year. As has been mentioned elsewhere the league seems to split into 3, and from the likely ups and downs, I see the top 2 parts increasing in size, and 'Little old Plymouth' (like it or not, in budget terms it is 100% true) falling into a smaller 3rd part. the increase in TV revenue will be the same for all championship teams, so relatively speaking won't improve our budget competitive position at all. that means we will once more need to be even smarter to stay in the same place, without significant new investment. But, I think we can do it!

 

[KR749]

Respectfully I disagree, we've had a threadbare squad without depth since January and the 'recruitment' then was a disaster.

Staying up (still not guaranteed) is partly a result of spectacular self-implosions at other clubs.

On paper our squad ranks 23rd or 24th out of 24. We can't expect to huff and puff our way through 2024/25 season without some serious investment in the summer.

Luckily the club is well-run which offsets the squad disadvantage a bit.

If you disagree, ask which of our players could walk into A. N. Other Championship club:
- Coops
- Mumba
- Whittaker
That's it.

Surely Galloway, one of the players of the season

 

[jimsing]

Hopefully we will survive this season and so we will be looking for a new head coach for this division in the summer, who will want to bring his own men in. The retained list will be interesting.

The extra tv money will prove to be a big help in recruitment from the division below. There might even be a possibility of recruiting from the relegated Championship clubs.

However, we will have to pay higher wages so we may still be looking for little gems as well.

Who we will be able to hold on to and who will be sold in the summer will also affect our recruitment, but our players, other than Burton, Miller and Galloway (who I would like to see back next season), have all got a further year or two on their contracts, so money will have to change hands if they are to go elsewhere.

Extending contracts will also have to be included in the negotiations.

 

[Balham Green]

Respectfully I disagree, we've had a threadbare squad without depth since January and the 'recruitment' then was a disaster.

Staying up (still not guaranteed) is partly a result of spectacular self-implosions at other clubs.

On paper our squad ranks 23rd or 24th out of 24. We can't expect to huff and puff our way through 2024/25 season without some serious investment in the summer.

Luckily the club is well-run which offsets the squad disadvantage a bit.

If you disagree, ask which of our players could walk into A. N. Other Championship club:
- Coops
- Mumba
- Whittaker
That's it.

Gibson and Galloway. Forshaw also.

 

[Green Flash]

Serious question, what are peoples expectations for next season? ( if we stay up)

There can only be a difference in ambition depending on whether we get an investor onboard by the summer.

A new manager will take some time to implement his style. What happens if he doesn't alienate the dressing room but the results are still poor leaving us in & around the bottom 5. Most likely our budget will still be that of the bottom 3.

Whilst the league might not have a Leicester or Leeds. It won't have a Rotherham & maybe not a Huddersfield. In their place with be billionaire owned Pompey & most probably Derby, who will be heavily backed.

If we survive this season, l imagine next season will be just as tough.

Without a new investor it will be another relegation battle, and if Whittaker is sold and the money not re-invested wisely in the squad we could be in a Rotherhamesque position Sorry to sound negative at a time of general joy, but that is realistically how I see it. We have relied on Morgans goals (which hugely outperform XG) massively this season.

And lets not kid ourselves beating Leicester does not mean we are genuinely competitive with them, it was a cup tie result in a cup tie atmosphere where everything went our way. We lose that game 9 times out of 10.