We are at a bit of a crossroads really

If we don't get back up in the next two seasons then we are most likely going to be down in the championship for a prolonged spell. The squad will break up and we will have to rebuild with a lower wage structure and are likely to find ourselves unable to compete financially with even the likes of Bristol City and Sheffield Wednesday let alone the sides receiving parachute payments. No doubt by then Forest will have been taken over again along with a couple of others.

All of this is why it was so crucial that we really did all we could to stay up last season and we didn't. Its why its really important we do all we can to go straight back up again this season.

The question is really do the club, the board and the fans want it enough? We have nice owners, well meaning people who have put in their own money but our current model of ownership, without prem tv money or parachute payments is becoming uncompetitive in the modern football world. However they seem unwilling to sell and are not really put under any serious pressure to take a gamble to secure promotion by a set of fans who snap up season tickets regardless of performance and who give standing ovations to teams and managers (and board members) who have delivered a pretty pathetic relegation (not the first time after the relegation "parties" at Fulham and Charlton. Our fan base is a huge strength in terms of its loyalty and commitment but also a weakness in terms of the apparent willingness of the majority to accept mediocrity or failure with a shrug of the shoulders.

Many fans possibly do not want to be an established premier league club and are happy to have a competitive, community, championship level club to go and watch every week regardless of the division they are in. If that's the case then fine but perhaps we should stop pretending the ambition is anything more, adopt a different transfer strategy and bring through more players from the academy.

Posted By: Jim, Aug 2, 16:13:57