Relegation - Silver Linings

[Barrie]

We can get excited about the FA cup third round draw again and getting a tie with a premier league club.

[King_Crud]

knowing your game is 3pm Saturday

[Baszab]

I am just so fed up that we have been mis-managed and thrown away our seat at the top-table --  and I can't agree with there being any positives in being relegated -- but I suppose I will still be there in the pi$$ing rain to watch Brentford at home next year

[jarv]

I said on the other thread, in summary, we had a good 2nd division team in the 70s and it was always fun watching Fulham.

[fulhamfever]

Plenty of local away games for me!

And me Burnley, Bolton, Blackpool, Blackburn, Wigan, Sheffield Wednesday, Doncaster

[DiegoFulham]

The cups all of a sudden become romantic again as instead of being potential giant killer targets we can do some giant killing of our own.

dont think beating QPR could really be called a giant killing as we are the bigger club...

[Aaron]

I was thinking about the supposed financial implications of relegation a bit there.  I'm wondering if it really matters..  Is it maybe even a blessing in disguise to a degree?

Isn't financial standing the sort of thing that's more relative to the company you keep?

It has been apparent for sometime that we are, at best, "sustainable" in the Premier League.  We can't ever spend the sort of money that would mount a title or European challenge so basically we spend what we think we can afford to in order to effectively stand still.

Now we find ourselves coming to the realisation that the amount of money being invested into keeping the club in the Premiership has been insufficient and relegation looks like a more likely outcome than not.  While the transfer window is still open I'd say we're unlikely to do enough business to keep us up.  Even if we do, we're going to need another capital injection at the end of the season to have any real chance of staying up next year.

People are saying that we can't afford to get relegated, but at the same time people are saying that as a Premier League club we're sustainable at best or not capable of generating a significant profit even in ideal circumstances..

So is it a case that rather than not being able to afford the cost of relegation, we're actually unable to afford being in the Premier League?

If I were a billionaire and associated with other billionaires, things like the acquisition of a football club, a 200ft super yacht would be high on my priority list as that's what all my billionaire friends would be doing.  What if I was a lowly multi-millionaire though and had to try and keep up appearances with my billionaire friends?  I'd have to budget very careful to make sure that I could really afford to buy that Super Yacht.. What happens if the yacht sinks?  I can't afford to buy another one, but they can..  So ultimately if I want to play in the billionaires club I need to put all my eggs in one basket and hope like hell nothing goes wrong.

Wouldn't I be better if I kept the company of other millionaires and worried about buying something I could actually afford?

Is it not ultimately the same deal with football? 

We're a debt free club now if my understanding is correct and so far as I am aware Championship clubs aren't going bust left right and centre.  It seems the teams that all get themselves into administration and crap are either corrupt or have stretched beyond their means while in the Premier League.

If we got relegated, presumably we wouldn't be looking at 15m Euro signings from Olympiacos but £500k signings from Leyton Orient.  We've been in the Premier League for 13 years and have established a decent fan base (although admittedly we're yet to see quite how fairweather that fan base will be) and have a decent sized ground is this not the main source of income for a Championship club?  Instead of paying £80k a week in wages to a player who looks like he can't be assed half the time we'd be paying £8k a week to a young go-getter who kisses the badge everytime he scores a goal?  Roses tinted glasses mebbe?  I dunno.

In short, rather than go bankrupt and cease to exist.. Wouldn't we just find a level we could compete at?

Maybe I'm missing the point, but it can't be as simple as relegation = doom, because if it did we wouldn't have a Championship, League 1, League 2 or whatever..