Staying up could be bad for us!

If we beat Villa and scrape enough points together to stay up it could have the sorry effect of smoothing over the cracks in the BWFC cement.

Like in the other topic about the fans and the passion. If we came up with the goods and got enough points and knew we were staying up on our last home game - I don't think there would be the same kind of party atmosphere that would be going on at Wigan and QPR or whoever else scrapes clear.

Our management, our fans and our players would all semi-smugly believe that we were maintaining our rightful place in the top division. In turn this will lead to more dad atmospheres next season, further apathy from players/fans/managers and a downward spiral.

Survival could mean that the right questions are not asked. We would fail to act on what needs to be done. Coyle would write the season off as an unlucky one that won't happen again. People will remember it as a survival and therefore "good enough in the end".

And when I say we would ignore what needs to be done I don't even mean sack Coyle. I mean we wont buy the players we need to buy. We won't spend the money. We won't improve the standards. We won't look at our coaching staff and methods with a critical eye - we will just continue in the same vain.

In the long run it will be very bad for us. Or it could be. I could easily be wrong and the club will really get focused and demand better, I just doubt it.

I might feel differently if there was more passion shown on the pitch and in the stands but as it is I don't like the outlook.

Trust me, if we stay up, someone will be on here saying we could get into Europe.

An interesting idea but I don't buy it.

If we stay up we keep the Prem money and prestige and play all the top clubs. Unfortunately we also keep Coyle and we will definitely struggle again next season.

If we go down we have less income and smaller crowds. Even worse we keep Coyle and will struggle to achieve anything next season.

So in the short term it is definitely better to stay up. In the long term it is only better if we get a good manager as a replacement for Coyle and he gets us back into the Prem. Given Gartside's track record since Allardyce I see no reason to expect Coyle to be replaced with anyone better and of course there is no money and no mad billionaire is going to buy the club. So I'm praying we stay up whilst believing that we will go down.

Staying up = good news
Going down = bad news

Going down could mean a complete rethink of the club from top to bottom - as that has been the problem. the top not knowing what the bottom is doing, due to being encased in ivory towers and presuming our rightful claim in the Premiership whilst the bottom not knowing from one day to the next as to what is going on. To be fair, I would believe that their is a complete lack of complete truthful communication at all levels at the club and too many yes people!

The only people who think our 'rightful place' is the PL are younger fans who haven't known any different. I'm sure if I had been bought in 1994 I'd think the PL was our rightful place.

Although we have spent more time in the top flight of English football than our of it, most fans remember battling through the divisions clearly enough to think we don't have a false sense of entitlement. Maybe Phil Gartside does, but sod him.

Do Bolton fans really think we have a "right" to Prem status? I thought only fans of big clubs (and Newcastle) thought that.

If we can be stay up then is good luck not bad luck.

largehat wrote: I'm sure if I had been bought in 1994 I'd think the PL was our rightful place.

No one would buy you Largehat

Natasha Whittam wrote:

largehat wrote: I'm sure if I had been bought in 1994 I'd think the PL was our rightful place.

No one would buy you Largehat

You're right, they wouldn't

I thought I had, and intended to type, 'born'. Multitasking and let my usually impeccable prose standards slip. Not so gifted after all!

Its easier to stay up now than try to get promoted from the championship by far.

If we stay up, it's because our team has shown that they're premiership standard by amassing the requisite points so we'll be here by rights next season. We have invested in 6 or 7 young players who are considered to have the potential to be premiership standard and staying up will allow them to gain premiership experience and be put to the test. This investment was partially made at the expense of "doing the bleeding obvious" i.e. spending the money on experienced has-beens who will keep us up but will have no long-term future and will cost more thereby increasing our debt and with it our prospects of improving as a club - a risky strategy but one which might just pay off. The experienced players we want to keep like Holden (others? not sure) may not fancy life in the Championship and we could go backwards instead of forward. Worst of all, if we end up changing managers all the investment will have been wasted and we'd start again but from a worse staring point.
As much as I'd like to think relegation might be a good thing, there is no way it could be - it would be an unmitigated disaster.

largehat wrote:Staying up = good news
Going down = bad news

Four legs good, two legs bad. Just thought I'd share.

Keegan wrote:

largehat wrote:Staying up = good news
Going down = bad news

Four legs good, two legs bad. Just thought I'd share.

Thanks George. Or Eric.