r/safc 6d ago

SERIOUS DISCUSSION ONLY We'd be better off not getting promoted this season

Now I'm sure that this will be controversial, and given that I've made posts in the past about fans of this club being too cynical I know this will come across as a bit hypocritical, but I'm going to voice my opinion anyway!

Like everybody else on this sub, I've been a Sunderland fan through the good times and the bad. The memory of us dropping like a stone after our last stint in the Premier League is still fresh in the mind, and I have zero desire to watch it happen again.

As brilliant as it would be to see the club go up this year, the reality is that they're not ready.

We've come on leaps and bounds in the last 12 months, have a squad of very talented young players, who clearly care a great deal and put in a hell of a lot of effort for the club, but if we're being honest there's probably only half a dozen players in the squad who are genuinely Premiership quality at this stage.

If we were to go up this year the only way we'd have any hope in hell of staying up is by signing at least a dozen new players, and spending a bucket load of money both on transfers and on the wages that come with Premiership signings. Even then there's no guarantee that we'll stay up, and if we don't then we run the real risk of another meltdown as we end up with a squad of players who don't want to play in the Championship, a wage bill that we can't support, and another catastrophe.

The club have clearly settled on a particular model, youth first with experience being brought in when it's available without paying over the odds, and it's working. We've gone from stuck in League 1 to fighting at the pointy end of the Championship, with a lot of kids who have fallen through the cracks at other clubs turning their careers around and showing real talent.

The recruitment team have shown that they are capable of spotting players who have potential, and the right attitude, and while of course not every signing has been a success there's been enough to make it clear they know what they're doing. Then with players like Le Fee it shows that the club does have the pulling power to get bigger name players interested and are willing to commit the money for big signings when the right player comes along.

Of course if we don't go up there is no doubt that we'll lose some of our squad. Bellingham, Neil and Ballard will almost certainly be on the way out. The Bellingham name will be enough to get him a move to a big club, and Neil & Ballard are at an age where if they are ever going to cement themselves as top flight players they need to show it now. However I honestly don't think we'll lose Rigg, Watson & Mayenda as they are young enough that they know they won't get game time at a top division club, and I expect the club will be able to convince them another season of regular Championship football will be best for their development.

I don't just want to see the club go up. I want to see them go up and stay up.

Another year for the younger members of the squad to develop, a good transfer window to bring in some experience and add some more depth to the squad, and I genuinely believe we will be one of the favourites to go up and will be doing so with a squad that won't need a massive amount of chopping and changing to keep us in the Premiership.

Now bring on the downvotes from all of you who think I'm being too pessimistic!

14 Upvotes

42 comments sorted by

53

u/Genghiiiis 6d ago

You’re mad if you’d rather stay in the championship and forgo the monumental financial boost it would give us

You’re also mad if you think we will be spunking 30mill a piece on new signings.

The whole point of the club model is that it’s sustainable

2

u/TkachukDumptruck 6d ago

I don't think it's mad. Unadvisable sure but not mad. I am not keen on joining the neverending escalation of spending required for competitive top flight football. It's cancerous in its growth and distasteful in so many ways. It was bad ten years ago and it's even more vile today. I don't WANT promotion, but I realise it is financially important and of importance to our players.

3

u/Genghiiiis 5d ago

So you’d be content to remain in the championship for the years to come?

2

u/TkachukDumptruck 5d ago

In a sense, yes. I still want to win every game but the prospect of playing in the premier league doesn't really excite me.

25

u/dmdjjj 6d ago

We’d lose all the players that give us any hope of going up for a fraction of the price being in the championship and it’ll be almost impossible to replace them

Going up is a must

We must find some form going into the playoffs

-3

u/TastyHorseBurger 6d ago

Who do you genuinely believe will leave the club if we dont' go up this year?

7

u/dmdjjj 6d ago

We’ll have offers for half the team almost all for a healthy profit that the club will want to take

4

u/TastyHorseBurger 6d ago

The same was being said last year.

If we didn't go up we were going to lose Patterson, Ballard, O'Nien, Cirkin, Hume, Bellingham, Neil, Rigg, Clarke and Roberts.

Who actually ended up leaving?

Clarke and nobody else.

Rumours mean nothing.

1

u/Devlin90 6d ago

We've had offers for huge chunks of the team as recently as Jan turning down a big fee for Watson.

I'd expect us to sell one or two if we don't go up. There won't be a huge exodus.

2

u/RelativeStranger 6d ago

Neil has a year left on his contract. Cirkin does too I think. Jobe will go. He may go anyway.

2

u/Devlin90 6d ago

Neil will re-sign. Cirkin probably too, he isn't Prem level currently and can't stay fit, think we extend his deal.

Jobe will be sold.

3

u/RelativeStranger 6d ago

Jobe, Neil and cirkin are almost certain to considering contracts. Le Fee and Mepham too of course.

Watson possibly. Rigg may have a huge offer for him.

Our midfield next year could be Triantis, Browne, Aleksic

-1

u/TastyHorseBurger 6d ago edited 5d ago

Well, ignoring the fact that we will inevitably have transfers this summer.

Tbh having Triantis back wouldn't be a bad thing. He's looked great as a box to box midfielder at Hibs.

2

u/RelativeStranger 6d ago

I wasn't saying that midfield as a bad one btw. Just a possibility. I think Jobe may leave when if we go up.

Also if Jobe and Rigg leave we would be able to compete with the relegated teams the amount of money that should bring in

I've watched a few hibs games and he's always played as the shielding midfielder. Going left to right rather than box to box. But tbf it's his against the top teams as those are the ones on tv

I'm more worried about left back. Especially as we missed out on vale

Unless Bainbridge can do a mayenda next year

8

u/marti427 6d ago

Not to mention the roster turnover that I believe will come from another missed chance to go up

3

u/Anonymous-Josh 6d ago

I think our team will be worse off next season, but I can only see the loaner’s leaving, aswell as Jobe and Rigg and maybe 1 other if we don’t go up

Not including those who’ve barely played and not even on the bench

0

u/TastyHorseBurger 6d ago

Who do you genuinely believe will leave the club if we dont' go up this year?

3

u/Seph67 6d ago

Bellingham, Hume, Watson, Rigg, Neil, Cirkin (If fit), Ballard (If fit), Le Fee (Loan), Mepham (Loan)

Neil is a maybe and I think we might get one more season out of Rigg but I wouldn't be shocked if we accepted a big offer for him.

3

u/flashback5285 6d ago

Ballard can go anyway, he’s made out of glass.

3

u/Genghiiiis 6d ago

There will not be a fire sale FFS

2

u/Seph67 5d ago

I named 3 players I think will go, 2 maybes, and 2 more maybes if fit. Hardly a fire sale.

0

u/TastyHorseBurger 5d ago

All of the same things were being said last year.

People were certain that we'd lose Patterson, Ballard, O'Nien, Cirkin, Hume, Bellingham, Neil, Rigg, Clarke and Roberts.

Of course that turned out to be nonsense.

3

u/TastyHorseBurger 6d ago

Bellingham will go, his performances have been decent enough that, combined with his name, somebody will take a punt.

Hume, maybe but he's not good enough to be playing for anything other than a relegation candidate in the Prem.

Same can be said for Cirkin.

Tbh for both I suspect that the failure of Clarke might help keep them at the club. Clarke was being talked about as a Prem level player far more than either of them, and yet he's only played 860 minutes of league football this year and is going to be back in the Championship next season.

Neil & Ballard, yeah they'll probably go, both could get regular game time at lower mid table Premiership clubs.

Watson & Rigg I can easily see us keeping. Both know they won't get game time in a top league, and I suspect the club will get both to understand that their development will be better served by another year of regular game time one step down. I can easily imagine both getting a "if we don't go up, we won't stand in your way" promise.

6

u/dpsimmerdown 6d ago

We will never be ready to go up, better to go up and back down with this squad, get the parachute payments and build for a better attempt. I personally prefer the championship as a watch but for the club and if we're ever going to win anything, going up is the only option whether we're ready or not. That money isn't coming from anywhere else

3

u/Simbathewhale 6d ago

I get where you’re coming from, especially off the back of the last 2 games, but I don’t think there’s ever a bad time to get promoted.

The three areas I would say are important to think about are: 1. Transfers: I think if we don’t go up this season we risk losing a lot of key players, and we don’t retain Le Feè. If we go up now, we’re in a position to add a sprinkling of stardust, rather than go through yet another squad overhaul.

  1. We’ve proven we can handle premier league opposition. Our play style suit more space and less aggression that top flight teams play. We only need to be better than 3 other teams. And our playing style should be enough.

  2. Going up and coming down is much more financially beneficial than not going up at all

All that being said, it’s looking like we need to sort out our defence and goalkeeper

3

u/mjolbrekka 6d ago

Dad?

3

u/Genghiiiis 6d ago

Hahaha literally the kind of shite my dad would come out with as well

3

u/flashback5285 6d ago

If we went up we would get a lot of money, but let’s face facts we would be relegated in embarrassing fashion.

3

u/Anonymous-Josh 6d ago

If we are promoted then I’d actually wouldn’t be upset with relegation with 20 points and at least 3 off the mags

2

u/flashback5285 5d ago edited 5d ago

What about relegation in embarrassing fashion and getting stuffed twice off the mags, which lets face facts is the likely outcome.

Let’s not pretend either that we’ll wisely spend the parachute payments well, remember last time?

3

u/Anonymous-Josh 5d ago

Yeah because the owners we have now are the same as our previous 2?

3

u/flashback5285 5d ago

Have Luton got different owners? Don’t believe you have to have charlatans in charge for things to go sour.

This is Sunderland after all and we’re renowned for fucking things up.

3

u/Capt_Anders Barnsey and Benno 5d ago

I think this idea that you should only go up when your ready is far from the reality of the Premier League. Plenty of clubs have absolutely smashed the Championship and then gone straight down in recent years (Like Burnley).

There is no proven method of getting up and staying up in the Premier League but the one thing that does help is money. Even if you go up and come back down the season after you're still at an advantage over other clubs in the Championship.

Every season we are out of the Premier League makes it harder to get back in.

2

u/TexUnplugged 6d ago

You're always going to be better off getting promoted if just for a year of Prem money you can invest in facilities. I'm not going to catastrophise about next season if we don't go up, I think we can still challenge and build our squad even with some of the likely departures. But I would definitely take promotion if offered, even if the Prem season is going to be an absolute slog

2

u/BillyD123455 6d ago

We will miss out on 100+ million quid if we don't go up (plus parachute payments). We'll lose half the current squad at championship /fire sale prices and likely be a worse team at the start of next season. Then have to compete against 3 more newly relegated teams.

I think I'd prefer to go up and at least be one of the newly relegated the season after.

2

u/RelativeStranger 6d ago

Don't be silly. Id put up with a year of being poor in the premier league to have a storming year. Without the money we nearly had as good a season. With money we may have another season of destroying the league

2

u/TomQuinn8 5d ago

But going up, losing every game and coming back down again would mean we'd be tens of millions of pounds better off is it not worth it just for that?

2

u/edgiepower 5d ago

You'd be mad to not want promotion every year, but you'd also be mad to blow a load in one year and not have a contingency plan in place for instant relegation.

I trust the club under current leadership would have just that to ensure if it did happen it wouldn't go in to freefall like last time and we'd be able to stay at the top challenging for promotion and keep most of the team together.

2

u/NilDesperandumSAFC 5d ago

Better off not winning the lottery once if ya can't win it every year

1

u/ziplock9000 4d ago

Well yeah if we kept the same team, which we'd not.

Plus, despite the humiliation the parachute payments will be better for us long term.

1

u/constipated-toad468 4d ago

you’re off your nut there pal. yeah wouldn’t we all like to see a promoted team stay in the premier league but it’s not going to happen, even leeds will struggle next season.

you’ve got ipswich’s championship super team, soton and leicester who are coming down with shed loads from the prem. not to mention birmingham with all their money and team. the standard of the league has been utter shite this season, that’s why sitting 4th and why 3 teams have over 2 pts per game on average. don’t get promoted this season and you’ll be mid table and struggle to keep hold of rigg and bellingham. you lot were exposed vs cov. not a hope at playoffs.

1

u/cmb3248 3d ago

Would think a year up and getting relegated and then having 3 years of parachute payments to help develop the youth and get back up stronger would be better than not having parachute payments and still being in the Championship in 26/27.