Yeah relegation was pretty good for us in hindsight as it allowed us to clear out so many poisonous characters, I had started to despise so many of our own players that watching football was joyless. Losing is bad enough but when you know so few people put a shift in, like in that last game against Villa it is really soul crushing. Maybe Wigan's death or glory fights are easier to take, I suppose they are, but arrogantly I would like to think my club would never be at that level.
I guess if Wigan bounce right back up they haven't really lost anything, my worry is that, for the next couple of years at least, becoming entrenched in the PL is absolutely vital. With the rise in TV money - and if financial fair play came in (it won't, but it might have a slight effect) then those already in the league will continue to get stronger and it will get harder and harder for championship clubs, especially those without a sugar daddy. Given how frugal we've been under Ashley I definitely feared that if we went down again he would shut up shop and without any investment we'd be struggling in a division which is being bought out. But fans of every club are passionate and ambitious, it's the right way to be, but with Newcastle I do feel a lot of people want too much too soon. We aren't what we were 10 years ago yet and even then we didn't win anything.
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Originally Posted by Christian Benteke
The trophy count comes into it for me though, Villa were the 2nd most successful when the PL started (4th on leagues, 1st on FA Cups, 1st on League Cups + the European Cup win too...). I can remember them winning both League Cups and challenging for the title in '99. Too many clubs have overtaken us or are getting close and I don't want to see Villa getting left behind, so that's my reasoning.
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Yeah I guess that makes sense if it's about trophy totals, but a cup here or there won't prevent those with financial backing from surpassing anyone with a decent history. I guess ideally I'd hope for some at the top to implode as Liverpool nearly did a few years ago so that Newcastle would be in a strong position to fight out for the top 4 and steadily whore out our brand to the global fan base who jump on the bandwagon in order to accumulate the wealth required to fight for the big trophies. It's hardly glamorous or ideal but that seems to be the way football is now in England. We've come close so many times in the recent past to the title that I would love to win it, but I can't see it ever happening without drastic changes in the next 30 years and that is a depressing thought. Cups in England have lost a lot of their magic recently it seems but I would love to win the FA cup or win the Europa League in a final against sides I liked as a kid, like Milan, Juve or Ajax. Going abroad for matches like that would be immense.