Thetownend.com

are we preparing for league 2?

i think we are and think it could be a good thing.we are offering longer contracts now and in my eyes a team with peacock,roberts,the two smiths,o,hanlon,platt shakes etc will be a good strong team in league two..if we stay up then thats great but then what?another struggle after .sometimes its good to regroup and start again.if we are pushing for promotion attendances will be up and the feel good factor will be back...

just my warped opinion ..feel free to discuss

Not sure how we do but I'll still support the team as much if not more than I do now. Closer games aswell.  :beers:

I disagree actually. I think relagation would be VERY bad financially for us, so i wouldn't have thought longer contracts would be advisable (ie P Cock). I think this might be one last throw of the dice by Iffy to try and keep us up. I pray it works.

Its difficult to read the runes from Newbury.....but the short contract, lots of loans policy is what's got us in the shit in the first place, but it should have the advantage of if relegated the players can be cleared out and a side more in line with the income of gates of probably, <3000 can be constructed.

Going down is always a no-no. I remember 6 years ago, we were being told how it would be good for us to go down, get to play a load of local derbies with bigger gates, and start again - well that worked didn't it. We must not prepare for league 2, until it is certain we are there. Until then everything must be done to ensure we don't end up there.

I think we are preparing for league two, by signing these players on 2 year deals they cant go for free, which should mean we have a good chance of pushing for promotion back to league one next season, which will bring back supporters.

Its always better to be near the top of a league, no matter what league

de ja vu - they are trying not to make the same mistakes (12 month contracts, non playing contracts, loans) they did before. All the short term stuf is what got us in the shite in the first place.

 Good point, although I always feel when we're in the second tier its more or less only a matter of time before we drop.....that's 4 I've seen now.

 And you can get to the point where there's little enjoyment because we're so crap.....in this league even this season at this point in time we are at least semi competitive, so its not generally so painful.

I think in a way I have kind of accepted that we will most likely be in league two next season. I just worry that we will find ourself struggling near the bottom of league two, once your down there your stuck there and its extrememly hard to get out of it.
But then I look at the positives like red macca pointed out - pushing for promotion and attendances etc. Also all the local derbys  8)  Cheltenham,rovers and the big one!!

How ever There is a small part of me that thinks we could still get out of this. Who knows what the signing of lee peacock and the others could do? Nobody knows - We could go on a superb run or we could go on a bad run. Just have to see what happens.

i have accepted it, if we stay up, brill. if we don't then im expecting a few seasons in league 2 cause we definitely won't have half the squad we do now.

 I'm looking forward to a trip to Accrington....going to be quality.

 Its a little known fact that Peel Park, the home of Stanley when  they left the league, had a stand just like the old Shrivenham Road, which they also got from the Aldershot Tattoo showground.

That is true, the last season under Quinn was especially dire, and that was a forgone conclusion even at the point of the season then, that we are at now.

However, I would always rather be in the highest league possible, and moreso this league as it has be shown that teams can turn from one season just escaping relegation to be promotion fodder the next (also on a shoestring budget, i.e. Brentford, Colchester, Chesterfield etc). While we are in this league there is always the chance that next season we'll not necessarily come close to a top 10 position but have a steady season with an improving squad looking to build - much like what happened under King.

If we were to go down, my biggest worry is the same will happen as it did 6 years ago and we'll be flirting with relegation of the 4th division I could honestly see that being the death of the club, so while we still have a fighting chance in this league we must not see any talk of 'league two'.

I know what you're saying Sade, but technically, it should be easier to get out of.....4 promotion places you see

Good point village!

 I concur

  This div is our spiritual home, if we've fallen so far we can't sustain a place in it, then the rot truly has set in and I'm afraid you're right, can't imagine the club having the motivation to get out.

i disagree reg..it was not so long ago you thought the reason we were offering 1 yr deals was because we WANTED to fold..if we stay in this league and struggle next year attendances will drop further..i feel if we are pushing for promotion and having a good season this will help on all fronts new stadium etc..to say the club has no motivation to get out is harsh

Don't start that again! :D

 All I ever say is that it is difficult to read the smoke signals coming from Newbury.....the policy of only year contracts, needed some sort of explanation and Holt's answer to my question at the AGM about the CVA, was that there was no contingency to pay the CVA, unless progress was made on the ground....should it not look good on that front then closure was a possibility.

 This a board member placed on the public record....it didn't take too big a leap of the imagination to think the two might be connected.

Thing is, if we go down, then i'm pretty sure attendances would drop at least initially (depending of success on the pitch) and it's not a given they would be too much greater if we were doing well. This would also raise the issue of ticket prices. They would have to come down to try and get any similar level of support to what we currently have, as i'm sure £21/23 tickets for 4th Division football would see many 3,000 or sub 3,000 attendances. If there was a few quid off the current prices just to keep a similar level of supprt then we'd still be worse off than we are now, and this would then obviously affect the wage budget as it would have to be slashed even further. Although you could argue lower standard players would come cheaper, but it would be these standard players that would most likely leave you to stagnate in the bottom division.

Its probably no coincidence, that Hull and Swansea, slopped around in the nether regions of Div 4 for some years until, they got some impetus from a new ground either finished or built.

  We look unlikely to see anything on that front so stagnation would be a reasonable assumption.

fuck you all, we're staying up  :beers:  :\/

http://www.fotosearch.com/comp/corbis/DGT260/DCO2043.jpg

i'm going to be positive for the next 4 months as this board is fucking depressing me, if i read another DV post i may just have to close this forum.

:D

Im always positive about stuff,just read my posts they are the bestest anyway. :P

join the staying up gang, just get pissed up and be happy, you seem pretty good at it already  :D

Ok im in 8)

can i join despite being miserable and sober? :--

i still think we'll stay up. saturday did make me question that but i'm still feeling relatively confident about the future.

HOWEVER, if we do go down i'm in two minds. my head says it'll be the end of the cluband it'll be a disaster but my heart says we'll have a few good derby games to look forward to and we'll do well and bounce back, maybe even like we did in 85/86.

VD ranted at me on his way out that that was it, and I agree sadly.

If we do a Stockport we're mega fucked.

i'm in the staying up gang.

until it's mathamaticly imposible we are staying up.

that's why attendacies are low cos everyone seems to think we are as good as down.

WBA didn't last year and no one had stayed in the prem after being bottom at christmas. they didn't give up and neither should we

 :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Your right,during that season the fact that we were going down was fairly obvious,i don't feel quite so negative about this season.I still think we could stay up and there is always a chance when you've got plenty of games left to play.
I fear though that if we go down we'll do a Stockport,who look like they are going to go down twice in a row....hhmm sounds familiar :( Plus the idea of playing Accrington :shock:

I don't think that relegation should have to kill us financially. I thought that relegation into this league would be a financial disaster which would kill the club in a couple of years but actually before we were relegated we were losing £2 million + each season even after getting £1 million for players like Ndah, which was unsustainable,  apart from the ridiculous Brady era although we're still losing money in this league, we're not losing as much as we were then.

Agree, our finances are incredibly linked to our gates, which have shown to be fairly healthy in all leagues provided we stay close to the top.

I don't think we can compare ourselves with Stockport who simply hit the skids and haven't stopped yest, much like our collapse in the relegation season which was followed by another season of touch and go.

I've knocked the board in the past, but at least the contracts being offered suggest a learning curve is evident.  I think they went with a high risk strategy to slash the bills one last time in an attempt to stem the losses.  It backfired but the transfer activity suggests they learned from the mistake.  The Walsall wage issue suggests others may gradually be falling into line with us, rather than us having to go back to offering more than we can afford.

my thoughts are well documented, when the pressure is on we bottle....

I honestly think we will stay up with the signings that Iffy has made.

If we could just manage 3 straight wins to get out of the relegation zone I think we could even finish lower mid-table.

We need positive vibes at games - the performances at the end of the king era show how the atmosphere at games can affect the players

I refuse to believe Iffy has a defeatest attitute and is taking measures to stop the rot next season. Yes we have been shite this season but it's do or die time. Heroes are not born by cowardice and by bringing in new players Iffy is showing the players they must find some steel and not crumble under the pressure.

do you write speeches for a living?

 :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:
I just read that back!

Are you Churchill in disguise?!

We will fight them on the terraces, we will fight them on the streets!

I will bring a megaphone on saturday and shout it from the town end

im getting fed up of all this negative we are definately down talk. yes we are in the relegation zone but if we drew the last game i think everyone would still be positive. we lost but its only 1 point lost( or 3 if u thort we would win).

town have some massive fixtures: still to play gillingham, rotherham, tranmere, yeovil, hartlepool, Franchise, and city.  5 out of the 7 of which are at home. these are games we can certainly get points out of and teams which are still in touching distance. we seem to be the only team out of those listed that seem to be making signings and strengthening.

last 12 games
Franchise- lost 6 drew 4 won 2
Rotherham- lost 7 drew 3 won 2
Blackpool- lost 5 drew 4 won 3
City- lost 5 drew 3 won 4
hartlepool- lost 7 drew 3 won 2
scunthorpe- lost 5 drew 6 won 1

swindon have lost 2 out of 12 and won 3 drew 7.  with the exception of city which seem to be clawing away even though are still in the thick of it, swindon are performing the best and are adding to the squad.  id rather be a swindon fan in 23rd than a scunthorpe fan in 18th and slipping fast.

a long post put i hope iv got the message across.

say we are staying up :beers:

I have far from given up.
From the limited viewings of the Town so far this season I would say that on our day we can perform, and as has been mentioned, just a few good results could see us keep climbing

IF
we were to go down then it is good to see these players on longer contracts as they could be important. A season haging around the play-off places would be perfectly acceptable and who knows, if we could keep a large core of the squad together we could till be a strong side. Just imagine a core of Evans, Seano, Ifil, Migs, Gurns and Fallon in League 2  8)

yeah i would agree with this banter! two year contracts sez it all i'm afraid..but there is still hope at the moment.........i hope!  :|