Originally Posted by
Longshortandtall
Theres little to compare between us and Charlton. A team that knew how to see out games and won a lot 1-0 in their promotion year, nothing like the free flowing football we played in League 1. They may have been close to the play off in their first season but were never realistically in with a shout and not top of the league in November. Man for man our squad was better.
What they were better at was getting money in for their players £11 million for a youngster to Everton when we got a paltry £1.5 million for ours.
Yes they had a Belgian owner and yes they brought in Belgian managers and players who made a mess of running the club but does that mean we should never have foreign ownership. For every Charlton there's a top end championship and premiership club benefiting from foreign owners.
If we're going to look at teams who have gone up from League 1 in recent seasons then Bournemouth have to be the benchmark. They finished 10th in their first season back in the championship in 2014 and with investment next season got promoted to the Premiership.
Huddersfield Town, who a lot including KM likes to quote as an example to aspire to, finished 19th, 17th, 16th, 19th in their first four seasons back in the championship flirting with relegation each year. Only when they brought in a foreign manager and gave him some money to spend did they take off.
If we are to progress as a club we can't keep burying our head in the sand adopting a little Englander attitude saying we don't like change and lets keep looking in the bargain basement. What this season has shown is that enthusiasm and work rate are not enough to mount a serious promotion challenge. You need two quality players in every position and that costs money.
Our two owners don't have the money to compete at the higher level so we are currently in limbo and all the indications are we will struggle next season unless either of the two owners finds a money tree.