Thetownend.com

What are your predictions for the next ten years?

Will we reach the prem?
Stay in league 1?
Drop to non League?

No
no
no

I would love to reach the prem, but cant see it happening

So what do you think?

mid table championship mediocrity :)

yourself?

I agree with the layabout firefighting fucker Tans.

I'd be quite happy bein a mid-table Championship team in ten years time. We're on the right tracks, with a good foundation, so we'll see!

yoyoing between CCC and L1.

cheeky fucker

I believe that we will still be League one maybe pushing for the Championship

Promotion to the Premier League won't be easy, its even harder when you're in League One. But I don't think you can rule it out as plenty of clubs our size (or a bit bigger) have made it; Stoke, Burnley, Bolton, Reading are all good examples of that and what we could achieve.

By the end of the decade I can see us being a top half Championship team in a decent stadium with increasing attendances, making occasional challenges for the Premier League. If we do make it to the summit we'll go straight back down again as Fitton will keep the purse strings tight and use the extra money to build the club up gradually - a la West Brom.

 I hope we'll be pottering mid-table in the Championship with sustained support and a solid infrastructure at the club.

As far as the Premiership is concerned Burnley are the perfect example.  In 96 they we're in this league with an average attendance of 9k and not long before that they had similar gates if not less than Town had.

They built that figure up to 13k last season and if I remember they were actually concerned at the start of last season that attendances had dropped.  A series of clever managerial appointments through Stan Ternant who got them out of League one to Owen Coyle has seen them progress at just about the right pace with a level of support that Town should be able to achieve.

They haven’t broken the bank on wages this season and have a reasonable squad of players.  Chances are that Coyle buggering off has upset the apple cart and they’ll now really struggle but if and when they go down they’ll have a fat wedge in their pocket and be better equipped to mount another attempt at the Premiership. 

Bolton on the other hand would be utterly fucked if they went down so it’s a brave move for Coyle to make.
 

10 years is an eternity. We could in theory be a premier league team come May 2011 (extremely unlikely I know!)

The way things are going with other clubs, we could quite easily leapfrog those who have mis-managed their finances, due to the prudence and responsibility of our new board. If, as to be believed the County Ground redevelopment starts next year -2012, then by 2015 we could quite easily be an establisted CCC team.

If we do reach the Championship, I can only see the board ultimately aiming for the Premier League (eventually).

JPT winners!

I was about to post something similar. A lot of clubs are likely to get in to financial difficulties some time soon which could really work in our favour, as they hit administration and drop down the leagues. We've got four big teams that should be in the Championship in League One this season and there is likely to be lots more doing it in the future.

Championship pushing for playoffs...

Be a whole load of new players everywhere then

Being a 3 year season ticket holder I am very keen to see us get promoted this year and then again next.

After that I'm not really bothered :)

Established Championship Football
An Academy
Amusement at the implosion of all the "big" clubs around us
Decent Team
Improved Fanbase both in size and intelligence
Better coffee

I'd like to think we'll establish ourselves in the Championship, it may yet take a yoyo period before we achieved it, as we have no idea what the board's reaction would be financially should we go up. For a club this size to make it to the Premiership and stay there would be asking a lot. Burnley have made it, as have Hull, and fair play to them for it. It's very difficult to sustain that success though, and I think we'll see just what lengths they went to financially if they get relegated.

Not sure either is desirable....too many big bastards stood in the TE and I wont be able to see.  More intelligent fans would make the quizzage more difficult to win. :)

Same as always. A Division 3 team that yo-yos up and down between Div 2 and Div 4. Our natural level.

It keeps the plastics away and ensures we endure heartbreak and pleasure in equal amounts.

Top Half championship with Gary Speed as gaffer. Who leaves us to join a bottom half of the table Premier League side (Sheffield United) as manager, which sees us sitting just above the CCC drop zone before we drop back into League One with Calderwood as boss. We will lose the JPT final in the next 10 years but never see L2 again for atleast 10 years. Fitton and crew will be gone after CG redevelopment fails and we will be on sound footing with local investment although we are still playing in the CG will recently re-newed rent terms with the Council.

In 10 years time we will be in the FA Premier League 2

Agree.

We will be a club like Watford, but with better finances.  We will have good years and bad years, flirt with promotion and relegation some years but all in all be a solid mid table championship side. 

That simply cannot be allowed to happen.  If we don't get a ground redevelopment underway during the next few years, we will be playing second fiddle to Reading and Bristol City not just for the next decade but for good.  I'm not sure what this 'local investment' is you're referring to, but we need Fitton & Co to stick around much longer if we are going to make noticeable strides forward.  The consolidation/ship steadying phase of their ownership is now largely complete.  The interesting bit is just ahead (I hope).

Edit: And to answer the original question, my ambitions for the club extend to establishing ourselves in the Championship and no further.  I'd be happy with that.  And we have to be realistic and accept that, in terms of resources, we simply would not be able to compete at the top level without taking massive financial risks (as Portsmouth have done)...which I would not want to see us do.  By 2019, if we were playing clubs like Wolves, Ipswich and Bristol City on a regular basis and attracting crowds of 12,000-15,000, I'd be happy.  And I'm really very keen to see us remain at the County Ground.  Watching football on a sterile retail park like they have to in Reading would not do it for me...no matter how good the football was in the ground.

I'd be extatic with that! Also being in the Championship means we could dream of a dip into the Prem, even if it never happens.

The worrying thing is, even with crowds of 12-15k we'd be hard  pushed to be competative on a financial basis with most of the other clubs in that league.

Anyone else find this thread strangely depressing?

established chamionship side, a few good cup runs here and there, prob a few play off campaigns here and there too. but thats about it.

I be happy with that considering only 3/4 seasons ago we were in league 2!

We will either be in the same league, or a higher (Or lower) one.

Or we may be not here at all.

Ten years is a long time in football. I wonder what Leeds fans would have answered to the same question in 1997?