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Football has gone mad – and that’s coming from one it its own.
Darren Pratley admits the Championship is unrecognisable from the division Wanderers exited just 447 days ago.
Back then, Fulham’s £11million purchase of Ross McCormack caused jaws to drop. This summer, we have seen Middlesbrough supplement its front line with £30m of talent and Wolves shell out £15m on Ruben Neves.
Allied to new salary caps for clubs, like Wanderers, in embargo which restrict them to paying just £4,500 a week for new signings until the transfer window closes and you have got one almighty uphill task for Phil Parkinson and his team.
Wanderers were not ‘supposed’ to get promotion from League One last season. But by beating the embargo, they have set themselves up for a huge challenge this time around.
“We deserved to go up,” Pratley told The Bolton News. “We did well when nobody thought we would do. So we deserve to be back up. But it is a completely different division than the last time we were here. I think it will be a lot harder. We have to be prepared.
“You look around and it’s crazy the money being spent. Personally, I don’t think there’s anyone worth £20million who should be playing in the Championship. If you’re worth that sort of money, normally you should be playing in the Premier League. Paying that sort of money just shows you the football world has gone crazy.”
Wanderers, and Pratley, have gone a full circle in five years. When they toppled out of the Premier League they were the team getting envious glances from their rivals in the second tier, and back-handed comments about the merits of the parachute payment system. Now they are one of the rank outsiders to stay up.
Pratley remembers being the ‘big dogs’ in the Championship, as the likes of Boro, Sunderland and Aston Villa are now.
“We were expected to go straight back up but it didn’t happen. And here we are,” says Pratley with a quick look to the sky.
“I’d played in the Championship a lot before we got relegated so I kind of knew what to expect.
“I knew it wasn’t automatic just because you’d been playing in the Premier League you had some right to go straight back up.
“Aston Villa had a big budget last year and they struggled and the teams who came down last year won’t necessarily have it all their own way.
“Will being an under-dog help us out this time? Maybe it will.”
On the face of it, Parkinson has bought well despite the shackles of an embargo limiting him to loans and free transfers.
It has been hard to ascertain just what the Wanderers boss considers to be his ‘best team’ with the rebuilding job seemingly still half-done. But tomorrow’s visit of Stoke City should give fans a clue.
“It is difficult and no-one knows what the team is going to look like at the moment because there have been quite a few trialists about,” Pratley said. “Pre-season has been alright. The boys have only really played one 90 minutes each, so the Stoke game is going to be vital to get more minutes into them.
“The new boys we have brought in, Sammy and Will Buckley, will give us something different than we had last year.
“We’re looking forward to it. We know it’s tough – and I think first and foremost our main aim has to be to stay in the league – but it’s been a while in League One, so we’ll enjoy the challenge.”
Pratley was one of the senior players included in a mish-mash line-up at Stockport County in midweek but now he is looking forward to reacquainting himself with the team who sealed Wanderers’ Premier League fate back in 2012.
“Saturday will be different.,” he said. “We’re the under-dogs and most people will think we’ll get beat, apart from ourselves. I think there should be a better tempo to the game. It’ll be nearer to what the gaffer wants.”
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Darren Pratley admits the Championship is unrecognisable from the division Wanderers exited just 447 days ago.
Back then, Fulham’s £11million purchase of Ross McCormack caused jaws to drop. This summer, we have seen Middlesbrough supplement its front line with £30m of talent and Wolves shell out £15m on Ruben Neves.
Allied to new salary caps for clubs, like Wanderers, in embargo which restrict them to paying just £4,500 a week for new signings until the transfer window closes and you have got one almighty uphill task for Phil Parkinson and his team.
Wanderers were not ‘supposed’ to get promotion from League One last season. But by beating the embargo, they have set themselves up for a huge challenge this time around.
“We deserved to go up,” Pratley told The Bolton News. “We did well when nobody thought we would do. So we deserve to be back up. But it is a completely different division than the last time we were here. I think it will be a lot harder. We have to be prepared.
“You look around and it’s crazy the money being spent. Personally, I don’t think there’s anyone worth £20million who should be playing in the Championship. If you’re worth that sort of money, normally you should be playing in the Premier League. Paying that sort of money just shows you the football world has gone crazy.”
Wanderers, and Pratley, have gone a full circle in five years. When they toppled out of the Premier League they were the team getting envious glances from their rivals in the second tier, and back-handed comments about the merits of the parachute payment system. Now they are one of the rank outsiders to stay up.
Pratley remembers being the ‘big dogs’ in the Championship, as the likes of Boro, Sunderland and Aston Villa are now.
“We were expected to go straight back up but it didn’t happen. And here we are,” says Pratley with a quick look to the sky.
“I’d played in the Championship a lot before we got relegated so I kind of knew what to expect.
“I knew it wasn’t automatic just because you’d been playing in the Premier League you had some right to go straight back up.
“Aston Villa had a big budget last year and they struggled and the teams who came down last year won’t necessarily have it all their own way.
“Will being an under-dog help us out this time? Maybe it will.”
On the face of it, Parkinson has bought well despite the shackles of an embargo limiting him to loans and free transfers.
It has been hard to ascertain just what the Wanderers boss considers to be his ‘best team’ with the rebuilding job seemingly still half-done. But tomorrow’s visit of Stoke City should give fans a clue.
“It is difficult and no-one knows what the team is going to look like at the moment because there have been quite a few trialists about,” Pratley said. “Pre-season has been alright. The boys have only really played one 90 minutes each, so the Stoke game is going to be vital to get more minutes into them.
“The new boys we have brought in, Sammy and Will Buckley, will give us something different than we had last year.
“We’re looking forward to it. We know it’s tough – and I think first and foremost our main aim has to be to stay in the league – but it’s been a while in League One, so we’ll enjoy the challenge.”
Pratley was one of the senior players included in a mish-mash line-up at Stockport County in midweek but now he is looking forward to reacquainting himself with the team who sealed Wanderers’ Premier League fate back in 2012.
“Saturday will be different.,” he said. “We’re the under-dogs and most people will think we’ll get beat, apart from ourselves. I think there should be a better tempo to the game. It’ll be nearer to what the gaffer wants.”
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