You make a good point about League 1 . That is why I think it is good we are gradually rebuilding the club because if we get there we want to be competitive. I think Crawley will really struggle next season although the other 3 should just about be ok. If we get there I hope it is as one of the top 3 and that the youth system is beginning to produce some talent to tap into because on our gates we will find it difficult to survive.
Agree with your point about L1. I think there is a chasm developing between L2 and L1. If we were to get back there we would struggle to stay. The chasm isn’t as great as the one between L1 and the Championship but it is there all the same. I haven’t done a comprehensive study, as some do on here, but the likes of Port Vale and Cheltenham have only managed a season or two and are back with us. Cambridge were head and shoulders above everyone in L2 when they went up but have struggled to stay up. Looking at the sides in the upper half; Bolton, Peterborough, Barnsley, Blackpool and Wigan are all potentially Championship contenders. They have been joined by Blues and Huddersfield. Then there are the clubs such as Lincoln, Wycombe and Rotherham who have been well run and are competitive. At the moment we are way off.
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Let’s wait around forever and a day until we think we are ready for League 1. We will never be ready. We can’t even get a team to finish in the top 10 in League 2 at the moment.
I’d take a promotion even if I knew 100% we were coming back down. It doesn’t have to be a disaster, and quite frankly this club needs something good to happen to it before we start losing supporters.
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Who is taking about waiting for ever!!! I am in my late seventies and want to see us in League 1 but I want to see us competitive at that level not struggling to survive as a fair number of the recent promoted teams have done. I don’t want to come straight back down again so it is sensible in my view to have built up the off field activities as we have done and to continue doing that.Hopefully the new CEO will have further innovative ideas to help build our Club.
I have posted elsewhere I want to be in the top 3 next season and if not that then in the play offs as my expectations have increased with Trivela soon to be into their third year.
Exactly this 
Fair enough, but what I don’t understand is what will be different in 12 months times compared to now in regards to off field activities that ticks the box for you to say “now we are ready to be competitive in League One”?
You mentioned the youth system producing players. That won’t have changed in 12 months, in fact given the root and branch review it has had I’d be surprised if we see much come through it in the next few years.
In your view what are those tangible things you will point to and think now we are ready?
Well there has been ,in my view, good off the field improvements. The Locker, great atmosphere etc, the various events in the undercroft and much better communication with the fan base. Surely you will have seen these things for yourself anyway .There was also a distinct improvement on the pitch…as well as the some dross we had some very good matches.
All this has led to more people coming to games and despite what you see on here more fan enthusiasm which is very important.
As for the Youth system the previous mismanagement of that was one of our biggest failings of the last decade but reading about the improvements we have made I would hope by the end of next season we shall see some young lads taken on as professionals.
I’m not sure. I think if there is a chasm it is between clubs that are well-run and efficient, and others. Shrewsbury have clung on in L1 for a few years, and Cambridge have survived, Lincoln finished 7th this season, Stevenage 9th, Northampton and Exeter and Wycombe were all comfortable. Even Cheltenham managed three seasons. These are almost all similar to us in size and history, and one or two we would think ourselves bigger. And Burton made the Championship for two seasons, and still remain in L1.
In the 80s we played Derby, Sunderland and Wolves at that level, Pompey were around for a while, Sheffield Utd too, and the likes of Bolton, Notts County and Brighton had all played in the top division at the end of the 70s or start of the 80s. Plus, of course, Preston and Burnley who never stopped telling everybody how mossive they were.
In 98-99 we had Fulham spending money on Premier League players, plus Man City and Stoke, Wigan and Reading with wealthy new owners, plus, of course, Preston and Burnley with big money signings and still telling us all how mossive they were. But we did OK.
I’m not sure it’s that different now to how it has been in my time following football, I think perhaps it looks different because we are so crap and have had years of being badly run, with poor appointments in key areas and poor recruitment of players. I can’t see League One as some huge mountain that is impossible to climb, but it will remain so until we improve.
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I’m not disputing those things haven’t happened and that isn’t the question I am asking.
You have stated……
So do you think we are in that position now or are there still things to change and if there are what are they?
Totally agree.
The jump between League 2 and League 1 is tiny in comparison to the Jump from League 1 to the Championship, that is a really tough transition as it always was. Despite the fact we got relegated the first time Sir Ray took us up, and were always likely to despite Gradyon’s best efforts, would we really want to delete that from our history?
Promotions are special, we haven’t had all that many and the memories last forever. We can worry about League 1 if and when we get there. As a club we really need something special to happen.
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I agree. Give a me a bit of yo yo over fourth division stagnation. Joy, tears, highs and lows. Big games at the top and the bottom. Big occasions, great atmospheres at home, big away days.
In fact I’d prefer that life as a fan to being say Crystal Palace or dare I say Wolves.
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The biggest thing to change is the need for some additional quality in the team. This should lead the the gates improving more as I think people like me can then say to friends come and watch the Saddlers.Things are getting better (something I have not said for at least 5years!!). I think that the last few months might have given the owners the incentive to really go for it. I hope so because momentum is something that all clubs crave for…if we can get that then we will do well.
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Thanks for that, so essentially what you are saying I think is off the field is there or thereabouts, however there is always room for improvements and innovation, which is what Ben Sadler has been brought in for.
Now is the time to invest in the squad, set out the stall from preseason and have a real good go at promotion next season.
The next few months will be interesting, I had this thought the other day of whether Trivela will look to break our transfer record (£319k for Makris) on a marquee signing. I don’t think they will while we are in League Two, but it certainly would be a statement of intent.
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I think you have summed up my position correctly. Not sure about record transfer fees but certainly good wage offers to good performers at this level.
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