Destination Championship ?

[turnbull for england]

Would be a step too far for Wigan and no doubt many others, if fans aren't happy with mid table Division 3 football, why would it be any different struggling in the 2nd Division ?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/42542010

[ian1980]

So reading that, it looks like last year they made a £4.2m profit which included their final £17.7m parachute payment.

Next years accounts could be quite interesting for them then.

[andysly]

Shouldn’t every club strive to achieve the best they can.
Yeah it was difficult in the Championship but it was great ruffling a few feathers as TLO Doncaster.

[sheffield exile1]

Barnsley sold key players to Wendies and Villa, I assume to balance books, and are now just above the relegation places and in all likelyhood will be in them come the end of the season. Rotherham are dabbling with a return but when that arrogant tosspot returns to Ipswich they will lose their key striker, major blow at key time. Very difficult for smaller clubs in SY with Blades on the up and no doubt Wendies due a revival not to mention Donny Whites, we had a good run and I enjoyed every minute in the Championship years, days out at Newcastle and West Ham, but any return in the immediate future is unlikely...yes we can dream but reality is not yet......

[Campsall rover]

Barnsley sold key players to Wendies and Villa, I assume to balance books, and are now just above the relegation places and in all likelyhood will be in them come the end of the season. Rotherham are dabbling with a return but when that arrogant tosspot returns to Ipswich they will lose their key striker, major blow at key time. Very difficult for smaller clubs in SY with Blades on the up and no doubt Wendies due a revival not to mention Donny Whites, we had a good run and I enjoyed every minute in the Championship years, days out at Newcastle and West Ham, but any return in the immediate future is unlikely...yes we can dream but reality is not yet......

Disagree with you. Why can’t we make a return to the championship in the short term.
Yes this season in all probability is unlikely but not impossible.
Next season our youthful players will have had valuable game time and experience from this season.
With probably 4 quality additions to the team in the summer we can have a serious impact on this league no question at all in my mind.
Let’s face it only Wigan this season have outplayed us and I think DF got his line up and tactics very wrong that night.
The reality is if you seriously have the desire to be successful then you can be.
DF didn’t take the Rovers job just to tread water in league 1. Not a chance.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Not sure about Wednesday's being due a revival, they could have easily had it and blew their chances at Wembley. They may be on the wane right now.

If we were lucky enough to develop the same talent as Barnsley then no doubt we'd be picked off too. They could easily survive yet, their new owners are a bit of an unknown but don't appear to be here to asset strip.

The Championship is still achievable but once there, the finances have to be managed so efficiently and the manager has to get outstanding value from the players on the pitch, be lucky with injuries and be very smart with loan players.

[drfchound]

If we ever do get back to the Championship it will be very difficult for us to ever be better than a bottom half club.
I would snatch your hand off to have that though.
That first stint there was brilliant, even though we invariably lost more than we won.
There were some very special days and it was good when we won against a team who most thought we should be steamrolled by.

[Campsall rover]

If we had Billy Sharpe in season 2008/09 our first one of that era, we could quite seriously have been a play off contender.
From the Forest away match on Boxing Day to the end of the season we were the 2nd best team in the league on points gained. FACT.
Don’t tell me we can’t compete on a long term basis in the Championship because we can. If the will is there the it is achievable.
Take a look at Brentford. They are a smaller club than us and are competing year on year with an outdated 10,000 capacity stadium.
Look at Burton Albion a minor miracle of a club. 4,500 gates and may stay up yet again.
We can become a club similar to Preston N E no doubt in my mind. Our owners want us to become an established Championship club. They are using building blocks  ( no pun intended with ref to Keepmoat ) to build the club.
Spending money sensibly and therefore creating a sound business model.
I predict the best times this club has ever had are not in the past but in the future. The near future.

[Bentley Bullet]

I've said exactly the same regarding had we had Sharp in that period. I believed then and still do now that we were one piece of the jigsaw missing, and Sharp was tailor-made to fill the space.

[sheffield exile1]

I would really like a return to the Championship like all of us, but my point is when. Yesterday we played excellent in build up play but our finishing meant we were in danger of getting nothing, which would have been a travesty given Peterborough's poor showing. Any return will depend on who else is in that division as realistically we would need 3 sides worse than us. I suppose logically Wolves and probably Sunderland prove that even big clubs can nose dive 2 divisions in succession, even if they have much bigger resources, and Birmingham are perennial hangers on. When we have  squad capable I am 100% behind another push....

[andysly]

That first 3 seasons in the championship we had a definite top 6 side. However, we didn’t have all the best 11 together at the same time.
Very much like Leicester had that one brilliant season when all the stars aligned, we were just the odd one missing a couple of times.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

The fun is in getting there and then kicking some illustrious arses occasionally but being prepared for some beatings. Defying the odds is great to experience.

All we can ask of the manager and the players, is they give everything and leave no stone unturned in gaining whatever advantage we can.

Looking at the smaller clubs who have been successful, their work rate and desire has been exceptional.

[anne honemous]

That first 3 seasons in the championship we had a definite top 6 side. However, we didn’t have all the best 11 together at the same time.
Very much like Leicester had that one brilliant season when all the stars aligned, we were just the odd one missing a couple of times.

In the first two seasons we had a good enough 11 to challenge higher up the table.

The issue was when we lost 1/2 players to injuries, it started to fall apart and from January 2011 onwards we looked a beaten team whenever we stepped out onto the pitch.

[Bentley Bullet]

Baz, not wanting to cause controversy but the smaller clubs success has been down to the determination of their owners to have a shot at the big time.

I'll believe we have that desire when I see it.

[Campsall rover]

Baz, not wanting to cause controversy but the smaller clubs success has been down to the determination of their owners to have a shot at the big time.

I'll believe we have that desire when I see it.

B B if they don’t have the desire, please can you tell me what their motivation is on owning the club in the first place. They are business people and all the club has done is cost them millions of pounds up to now. Why bother. Of course they want success.

[Bentley Bullet]

I believe they want to put something back into the town. Exactly how much they are prepared to put back is the question.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

However owners stretch themselves financially, it's down to the mangers and players to deliver once they cross the line. We have seen many clubs throw money at it and still fail year on year.

It's not necessarily the amount of money but how you spend it. All I'm saying is, there's a number of clubs who've defied the financial odds. That doesn't happen though luck.

[Bentley Bullet]

Baz, which clubs have defied the financial odds?

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Which clubs do you think for their relative size?

As you said earlier, for the kick of a ball, for injuries to key strikers, we were close to being one of them.   

[Bentley Bullet]

I said had we signed Sharp at that time we could have been playoff contenders.

We didn't!

[Colemans Left Hook]

funny how nobody has mentioned what a brilliant job Burton are doing again this season yes they might go down and yes they are stuffed with loans but that is obviously how Rovers would have to go should it happen

[Campsall rover]

Mentioned Burton in my post at 9.48 pm last night.

[andysly]

We defied the odds for 2years, year 3 we capitulated. Burton are doing a decent job of it again. Rotherham gave it a go. Scunthorpe & Peterborough both tried but went down straight away both times. It’s very tough to bridge that gap as a smaller club. Of those mentioned we deserve massive credit.
I can’t count Bournemouth as they had huge financial input.

[BillyStubbsTears]

I said had we signed Sharp at that time we could have been playoff contenders.

We didn't!

Who would you have dropped to play Sharp that season?

[Chris Black come back]

What was interesting as a case study was how we had comparatively little investment in Championship, and were not too far off being a play off side - when anything could happen. For some money men looking for a cheap punt at Premier League, we must have looked good.

If we had signed Shackell and Ward, maybe taken JET on season loan along with Mason, we would have been in with a decent shout. Couple of million max?

Not saying this was what we wanted, but a little extra external money could have produced goods for someone.

Happy with JR and the KM2 mind.

[since-1969]

Wigan’s Jackson said: "Many Championship clubs sustained huge financial losses in their pursuit of promotion to the Premier League. It is an extremely difficult environment to achieve success without significant owner investment.

I feel that sentiment applies to us , for last time we dipped our toe in that pond we ran up huge unsustainable wage bills and lead to our relegation and worse . I’m fairly certain holding back the ambition of players isn’t easy when your trying to build a competitive young team but it’s only going to re-run if our ground isn’t full each week and we’re not discounting our season ticket prices . So we may not see a challange beyond just survival if we every get back up to the Championship.

[Bentley Bullet]

I said had we signed Sharp at that time we could have been playoff contenders.

We didn't!

Who would you have dropped to play Sharp that season?

You're dying for me to say Heff's, aren't you!

I'd have dropped whoever wasn't performing.

[RoversAlias]

If this is the 2008-09 season you're talking about Heffernan didn't even get into the team until around Christmas did he? I may be imagining it but in my memory our terrific winning run was sparked by Heffs getting into the team and scoring lots of goals. We had persisted with either Darren Byfield or Gareth Taylor up to that point with resulting in 0 goals most weeks.

[Bentley Bullet]

Exactly!

[IDM]

I said had we signed Sharp at that time we could have been playoff contenders.

We didn't!

Who would you have dropped to play Sharp that season?

Probably Lewis Guy..