It's becoming pretty clear that if GA stays in charge there is a 90% chance we'll go down. Some would say the 10% chance we don't is generous :-)
I personally am unconvinced we've done anywhere near enough to get inside FFP. Selling Dickie and Dieng for a couple of mil combined and replacing them with Begovic, Cook and Colback on likely bigger wages feels like robbing Peter to pay Paul. I doubt we'll get enough e.g. for Chair in Jan to make it under unless there is a huge pickup in form.
So my guess is we may well be facing a points deduction and possible transfer embargo, regardless of what we do this season. Which would pretty much seal the departure to league one.
Against that background... the sustainable route back out of league one to the champ has been well demonstrated by Sunderland and Ipswich. Young squad, progressive manager, build while you're down with the writing off debt against equity by owners, even if it takes a couple of seasons. Don't do a Sheff W.
Would planning for that path already make sense? Probably means seeing if a suitable manager can be lured already safe in the knowledge that (1) give it a good try but you'll gets a pass this season if we do go down; (2) we're probably screwed on FFP anyhow, so we're not going to let you blow the bank in Jan but we're ok for you to do some smart young signings in prep for league 1. Might make more sense than trying another ST fix to try and get through the season when the odds are against us (a la Harry Redknapp) and more sense than sticking with GA who I'm not sure fits the profile for the "sustainable" route out of league 1.
Problem is it relies on our board having foresight and getting the right person - which history suggests is unlikely. And we still don't have a DOF to help. |  |
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