End of the dream.

[The Bedlington Terrier]

"Dare to dream" has just gone up in smoke.

Can we, will we, arrest the slide?

[alfinyalcabo]

It's been a good ride the last few years ,I'm glad I've got to see it at my age as I never expected us to be in the Premier for so long.
It looks like it's coming to a sad end this season barring a miracle or two.
They can't take away what we've had though and I think Dyche has done an unbelievable job for us with what's been at his disposal with no money etc.
What has saddened me though is the type of football we have had to play to maintain our position in the Premier, it's terrible to watch.Just hope when we go down that we can try and play a bit more of an expansive game instead of the hoofball we have had to play.
UTC...KTF

[kritichris]

I've enjoyed our Premiership status and our 7th position and Euro excursion but the rest of the time, barring some exceptional wins, it's been backs to the wall and fight to avoid relegation which does get wearing in time. I enjoyed getting promotion both at Wembley and then as champions far more than what's been going on the last few years so dropping a level may be a blessing provided we can build a new team and start playing football again.

[alfinyalcabo]

The worrying thing Kriti is we won't have a decent squad and it could be a backward spiral to even lower divisions ..🤔

[sinkov]

The worrying thing Kriti is we won't have a decent squad and it could be a backward spiral to even lower divisions ..��

This my worry as well Alf, all these clubs have been relegated from the Championship into League One in the last few years, Sunderland, Wigan, Portsmouth, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Charlton, Bolton, PNE and Blackpool, they may yet get away with it, but it looks like Derby will be in League One next year as well.

We can all shrug our shoulders and say it won't happen to us, but I am honestly trying to think of a good, hard, rock solid reason why it cannot also happen to us. And I cannot think of one.

[ClaretinBudapest]

Last season it was the Happy Place.This season it is the Sad Place!

[Swissclaret]

This my worry as well Alf, all these clubs have been relegated from the Championship into League One in the last few years, Sunderland, Wigan, Portsmouth, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Charlton, Bolton, PNE and Blackpool, they may yet get away with it, but it looks like Derby will be in League One next year as well.

We can all shrug our shoulders and say it won't happen to us, but I am honestly trying to think of a good, hard, rock solid reason why it cannot also happen to us. And I cannot think of one.

That is my concern, sinkov. The Championship is not a walk in the park. I can see Cornet being attractive to another PL team, but the others? We need to raise funds to overhaul the squad. Where we do have younger players, like Collins, they should retained. The others, with grateful thanks, should be jettisoned so that we can build a team that can compete in the lower divisions.

What is the point of having players in the squad, earning good money, when they never get a game? How good are Vydra, Long, Collins, Bailey Peacock Farrell, and some of the U23’s that we have let go? We don’t know because they have not had a chance. If they are not really good enough, fair enough, but why then keep them then in the first place?

How must Collins and Vydra feel when they see either a litany of defensive errors and a strike force that can’t score with an open goal? Yet the same players get game after game.

To be honest, I would rather see my team playing attractive winning football in a lower division, than clinging on in every match, being dominated by other teams, hoping against hope that we can finish 17th because there are three teams worse than us.

I am also tired of the mantra of “taking positives”, we are”not far off”, that “we lacked the edge”. The truth is that we are simply not good enough. SD has said many times that a lot is asked of our midfielders because they are almost always two against three. So change the bloody system so it is three against three! That may help the defence who are left exposed, but will not stop the lapses that we now see in defence.

Cornet has demonstrated an eye for goal, as well as pace. Why not Vydra upfront with Cornet as a No 10? Can it be any worse than the current options of Woods, Rodriguez and Lennon/ Brownhill.

All the pundits agree on one thing - defenders hate players running at them and being turned. Can Woods, Rodriguez and Barnes do that? Does Dyche, as a former defender, not know that?