[cite]Posted By: Saga Lout[/cite]Somebody asked me recently who I thought would win the Premiership this year. I answered "I can tell you it won't be Stoke"! That, to me, sums up the problem with the Premiership - as had been said by several other posters above, it's predictable - there are the "big 4" or 6 or whatever and everyone else is just clinging on, trying to survive.
True it is quite predictable, but is having a big 4 or 6 worse than most other leagues? A team who finished around 15th in Spain, Germany, Italy or France won't win the league this season either. You'll never have 10 teams who could win the title in a top division.
Sco, Bursaspor, of all teams, won the Turkish league. In spite of their big 3, sometimes 4. In Germany, Wolfsburg's title was quite extraordinary and there are numerous examples of teams abroad with no chance whatsoever who have succeeded. It's also possible in England. Statistics say I shouldn't have much left in the tank but dreaming of witnessing our team's return to the top tier and even doing a Bursa makes me go to bed smiling
[cite]Posted By: ValleyGary[/cite]I would imagine Burnley, Nottingham Forest, Man City at one point, were all thinking the same. It will happen again soon. Believe!
You said that England would win the World Cup this year too.
At the moment, it looks so far remote that we will ever be in the top tier again, its ridiculous. Having said that, once a team gets into the championship, anything can happen, just look at some of the sides that have made the prem in recent years, blackpool the most recent example.
I find it astounding though that some of our fans prefer not to be in the prem, the highest footballing stage in the country and that some actually enjoyed last season in the third division! However, if playing league matches against the likes of exeter, rochdale and yeovil is your cup of tea, and you also like visiting grounds with whole sides closed off, watching pony level football and being no.3 in South London (football league status only!), then fine, each to their own...
[cite]Posted By: Ketman[/cite]What is this obsession with the Premier League, it really is uncompetitive & ultimately has landed us in the current trouble we are in. Personally I'll be happy as soon as we return to the Championship which I think will be withing the next two years. Historically we are a Tier Two Club, that is where we belong.
You have an aspect right, in the first instance. The 2nd is spurious though, considering the club made the choices of managers, not the Premier League. Besides, I'm sure you weren't complaining too much, when we were there.
Personally, I don't aspire to the 'Tier Two Club' business/nonsense-(sorry).
Why should we belong there? Why shouldn't we have ambition for higher?
I would settle for a 'Lennie-esque' scenario, where we are the minnows in the Top Flight, & we have a relegation battle or several, some 'Yo-Yo' years maybe, but ultimately more oop top than not. With a team of gutsy, spirited fighters, like we had back then.
Sure, those battles caused a bit of heart strain, but safety was our prize.
There was little nuggets of 'glory', such as beating Man Utd on several occasions(not quite the team they became, but not far off), putting Chelsea in the Play-Offs, & then thrashing them a couple of years later, the Leeds Play-Off victory, a Wembley trip, staying up with 2 games to go, rather than 1, Leaburn scoring, & more, in our '80s dance with the big boys.
These were all fantastic in their own way, & what the underdog dream is all about. (I'm sure Blackpool fans know they are on a hiding to nothing this year, but wouldn't change a thing!)
Without overspending, & getting ourselves in the shite that we are in now, & others have gotten themselves into, over time, why couldn't we do it? If we had the odd season with a top half flirtation, then that would be a joy too, but I'd take the former in a heartbeat!
Much rather struggle in the Top Flight, than in the 2nd Tier, or be the big fish where we are now!
As an Overseas Addick I am desperate for us to get back in the top flight. The lack of coverage and chances to see your team on TV is a nightmare.
I gave up listening on the radio due to the poor quality of the commentary and now rely purely on the updates on here.
I think being a supporter of a lower league team is hard when you are away from home, as apart from the Internet you have 0 press coverage.
Do I think we will get back to the prem?? realistically i think it will take at least 5yrs and probably a significant amount of money. However we have done it before on a shoestring so why not again!
We were never going to win the Premiership but it was sometimes interesting when we had a say in who did win.
When we took points off Arsenal or Chelsea it really hurt them as games against us were supposed to be points in the bank.
I was really annoyed when we left the Premier League but I was convinced it was only going to be for a season.
Now I think it might be another 2 seasons before we get to leave tier 3, (if things go well) and then another 3 or 4 before we have a realistic chance of the Championship play offs.
Regardless of the division we are in, I still enjoy the games and I much prefer being able to get into away grounds for less than £40.
Unlike some fans I never thought we were punching above our weight in the Premier League, maybe in 1998/9 I felt in awe just to be there but by 2000/01 I felt we were a decent side who had a chance of competing reasonably and by the time Di Canio was playing for us I felt we were a good solid outfit at that level.
The fact that we had no serious relegation flirtations until 2006/7 and never looked remotely like flirting with the drop until then suggests to me that we were a mid table top flight side and were shoe ins to remain so for a while. Sadly one bad appointment followed another and we were in fast decline. I think if things had panned out differently the presence of Charlton Athletic would be no more shocking in this years top flight than that of Fulham, Wigan, Birmingham, WBA, Wolves, Stoke, Sunderland and Blackpool thats 8 clubs that the well managed Charlton of then could comfortably finish above.
In answer to the question though, I think we can be back at the top table by 2016, if we can claw our way out of this frankly poor league- I believe that in the Championship Charlton can really begin the task of rebuilding and given the history and fan base and enhanced investment potential we would have we would be amongst the best 8 to 10 clubs in the league,rebuilding substantially is not a feasible in League 1,our only quest here is to escape through the sun roof as quickly as possible!
I believe that the nature of sport is that you should try your damnedest to compete with the best and in football the Premier League is the best, it's the hope of competing there the following season that keeps the Championship interesting, it's not the be all and end all that the English media make it out to be but it's the top of the tree and any serious football club should be aiming for it.
Another Lifer said on here last week (and correctly in my view) that Charlton Athletic are amongst the top 30 sides in England in terms of history, fan base, size and desirability. With that in mind I believe that we will rise again and it won't be long before the natural order of things in South London is restored.
Comments
are numerous examples of teams abroad with no chance whatsoever who have succeeded. It's also possible in England. Statistics say I shouldn't have much left
in the tank but dreaming of witnessing our team's return to the top tier and even doing a Bursa makes me go to bed smiling
You said that England would win the World Cup this year too.
I find it astounding though that some of our fans prefer not to be in the prem, the highest footballing stage in the country and that some actually enjoyed last season in the third division! However, if playing league matches against the likes of exeter, rochdale and yeovil is your cup of tea, and you also like visiting grounds with whole sides closed off, watching pony level football and being no.3 in South London (football league status only!), then fine, each to their own...
You have an aspect right, in the first instance. The 2nd is spurious though, considering the club made the choices of managers, not the Premier League. Besides, I'm sure you weren't complaining too much, when we were there.
Personally, I don't aspire to the 'Tier Two Club' business/nonsense-(sorry).
Why should we belong there? Why shouldn't we have ambition for higher?
I would settle for a 'Lennie-esque' scenario, where we are the minnows in the Top Flight, & we have a relegation battle or several, some 'Yo-Yo' years maybe, but ultimately more oop top than not. With a team of gutsy, spirited fighters, like we had back then.
Sure, those battles caused a bit of heart strain, but safety was our prize.
There was little nuggets of 'glory', such as beating Man Utd on several occasions(not quite the team they became, but not far off), putting Chelsea in the Play-Offs, & then thrashing them a couple of years later, the Leeds Play-Off victory, a Wembley trip, staying up with 2 games to go, rather than 1, Leaburn scoring, & more, in our '80s dance with the big boys.
These were all fantastic in their own way, & what the underdog dream is all about. (I'm sure Blackpool fans know they are on a hiding to nothing this year, but wouldn't change a thing!)
Without overspending, & getting ourselves in the shite that we are in now, & others have gotten themselves into, over time, why couldn't we do it? If we had the odd season with a top half flirtation, then that would be a joy too, but I'd take the former in a heartbeat!
Much rather struggle in the Top Flight, than in the 2nd Tier, or be the big fish where we are now!
I gave up listening on the radio due to the poor quality of the commentary and now rely purely on the updates on here.
I think being a supporter of a lower league team is hard when you are away from home, as apart from the Internet you have 0 press coverage.
Do I think we will get back to the prem?? realistically i think it will take at least 5yrs and probably a significant amount of money. However we have done it before on a shoestring so why not again!
When we took points off Arsenal or Chelsea it really hurt them as games against us were supposed to be points in the bank.
I was really annoyed when we left the Premier League but I was convinced it was only going to be for a season.
Now I think it might be another 2 seasons before we get to leave tier 3, (if things go well) and then another 3 or 4 before we have a realistic chance of the Championship play offs.
Regardless of the division we are in, I still enjoy the games and I much prefer being able to get into away grounds for less than £40.
but we did have them and be thankfull we did, many clubs /fans never have.
The fact that we had no serious relegation flirtations until 2006/7 and never looked remotely like flirting with the drop until then suggests to me that we were a mid table top flight side and were shoe ins to remain so for a while. Sadly one bad appointment followed another and we were in fast decline. I think if things had panned out differently the presence of Charlton Athletic would be no more shocking in this years top flight than that of Fulham, Wigan, Birmingham, WBA, Wolves, Stoke, Sunderland and Blackpool thats 8 clubs that the well managed Charlton of then could comfortably finish above.
In answer to the question though, I think we can be back at the top table by 2016, if we can claw our way out of this frankly poor league- I believe that in the Championship Charlton can really begin the task of rebuilding and given the history and fan base and enhanced investment potential we would have we would be amongst the best 8 to 10 clubs in the league,rebuilding substantially is not a feasible in League 1,our only quest here is to escape through the sun roof as quickly as possible!
I believe that the nature of sport is that you should try your damnedest to compete with the best and in football the Premier League is the best, it's the hope of competing there the following season that keeps the Championship interesting, it's not the be all and end all that the English media make it out to be but it's the top of the tree and any serious football club should be aiming for it.
Another Lifer said on here last week (and correctly in my view) that Charlton Athletic are amongst the top 30 sides in England in terms of history, fan base, size and desirability. With that in mind I believe that we will rise again and it won't be long before the natural order of things in South London is restored.