Catalancs wrote:The crowds aren't irrelevant as they play a big part in the amount of money the club has to spend, just ask Whelan. I'd imagine it's much better for the players to be playing in front of 25,000 each week rather than 16/17,000.
Which makes it more of an achievement that they keep managing to stay there, I know it frustrated the hell out of Paul Jewell that he couldn't attract the players he wanted to try and take them to the next level, but I just wonder when the view changed that clubs punching above their weight were seen as a joke, because in the past they'd always command a bit of respect for the achievement.
Catalancs wrote:When you speak to quite a few of the lifelong Latics fans they'll tell you it was much more enjoyable outside the Premier League when they had a chance to finish top half, go on a run or simply start the season full of hope. When they start each season hoping to finish 17th, I can understand why they talk about the pre-Premier League days so often.
That's something I can empathise with completely, it's unlikely to happen anytime soon but I really wouldn't want Bradford City to get back into the Premier League - it was fun for a year but going into games just hoping you didn't lose is no fun, and there are now too many teams for me whose only hope is to stay up - probably every Premier League team outside the top 7.
That's only likely to get worse with the way money now flows into top level football, so I think we should be happy to see the likes of Wigan and Burnley in the Premier League while we can.