Summer clear out.

[andrew1957]

If we don't go up Lita, Harper, S Hunt, Doyle, Bikey and poss Marek will leave along with Coppell.

It almost doesn't bear thinking about as we would have a new manager and probably half a new side. We would then officially be "in transition" with some muppet like Dowie or Taylor at the helm and a load of new signings attempting to gel whilst sliding into Norwich/Saints/Ipswich/Coventry post prem obscurity.

Wow! I was in a good mood til I typed that?!?!?!

I fear you may be right which is why it is so essential that we gain promotion this season. If you look at the current bottom three it says all you need to know about what happens if you don't make it back to the PL quickly.

Quite possibly Charlton, Southampton and Watford could all be relegated this season as they have gradually lost their better players and are now struggling for survival let alone promotion.

The only hope I have of avoiding this is that we do have an excellent crop of Academy players that have come through (Kelly, Sigurdsson, Henry, Pearce, Karacan, Robson-Kanu etc) and this may just save us going the same way as the others have done if we do fail to go up.

[Ian Royal]

Kes
Harry Carry

[Tails]

Old bike
Broken CDs
My old gun that keeps misfiring
An my old arts and crafts set as I dont feel as creative as I used to be.

[brendywendy]

loads of old paper work
including my MOT certificate
doh!

alot of my old gecko stuff

and half my wardrobes old clothes

[Sun Tzu]

The only hope I have of avoiding this is that we do have an excellent crop of Academy players that have come through (Kelly, Sigurdsson, Henry, Pearce, Karacan, Robson-Kanu etc) and this may just save us going the same way as the others have done if we do fail to go up.

Are you Rupert Lowe in disguise ?

The Saints Academy seems to have produced players at least as good as ours. And it doesn't seem to be helping much !

[zummerset]

Cheer up you miserable lot- a win on Saturday and all w'till be fine and dandy!!

[Ian Royal]

Cheer up you miserable lot- a win on Saturday and all w'till be fine and dandy!!

one result doesn't make things fine and dandy and if Cardiff, Wolves, B'ham, Bristol, Preston & Swansea all win at the weekend it's no real change (bar 3 fewer points available).

But talk of a summer clearout is a typical HNA? over-reaction.

[bootboy]

The only hope I have of avoiding this is that we do have an excellent crop of Academy players that have come through (Kelly, Sigurdsson, Henry, Pearce, Karacan, Robson-Kanu etc) and this may just save us going the same way as the others have done if we do fail to go up.

Thus making the assumption that none of these players will go the same way as Simon Cox.

[SCIAG]

The only hope I have of avoiding this is that we do have an excellent crop of Academy players that have come through (Kelly, Sigurdsson, Henry, Pearce, Karacan, Robson-Kanu etc) and this may just save us going the same way as the others have done if we do fail to go up.

Thus making the assumption that none of these players will go the same way as Simon Cox.

What, League 1?

[bootboy]

[/quote]
What, League 1?[/quote]

Apologies should of been clearer. I meant out of the club to progress their careers be it Div 1, another Champ club or who knows in some cases possibly Prem club. Especially as Pearce & Henry I am reliably told are attracting a lot of scouting attention at the moment. Its not a foregone conclusion that we could lose 1 or 2 who may choose a different path if they do not get enough football here like Cox chose to do.

[Sun Tzu]

Apologies should of been clearer. I meant out of the club to progress their careers be it Div 1, another Champ club or who knows in some cases possibly Prem club. Especially as Pearce & Henry I am reliably told are attracting a lot of scouting attention at the moment. Its not a foregone conclusion that we could lose 1 or 2 who may choose a different path if they do not get enough football here like Cox chose to do.

Some will, inevitably. They won't all make it as first team regulars and if they don't show enough to get into the first team moving on is the best thing for them. I would think if all bar a couple come through to be first team regulars that will be an exceptional result and chances are it will be fewer than that.

We know other clubs come and watch them - pretty obvious in the case of Henry because he's already turned down moves elsewhere and both have had lots of exposure in their time on loan.

[mx]

Kes
Harry Carry

You know what? That's exactly what I was going to say.

Fingers crossed eh?

[The Faith Healer]

We'll have some money, but possibly just enough for old rope....

The question of whether/how much to invest has been a big problem after our recent history. The advance under Pardew, hiatus, then further substantial progress / consolidation under Coppell has taken us to the situation where the rewriting of the business plan each year has probably been a bigger exercise than at most clubs. (Albeit with more positive overtones than at many). The strategy for youth progress / development must also have been a bit of a nightmare.

As far as they can, the board should be protecting the future of the club, even at the cost of apparent immediate gain and its attendent risk. Broadly they seem to have done that so far while not compromising too much the stuff that we want to watch on the pitch.

Something went horribly wrong towards the end of last season, but little in the present side suggests they are better equipped to survive than the side that came down.

I hope we go up. Recent dross doesn't mean we're overall less able than any of the rest this year, although long term, we've still got a huge task to earn out the "big club" tag of others, many of whom are at least temporarily lower down the slopes.

Whether we go up or not, some big decisions will have to be made about the club's ambition in the current climate. Personally I'll still be supporting even if we're losing 4-0 at home to Bury with George Jones' son scoring a hat-trick. Again.