Would you miss the Premier League?
Saturday afternoon. It's a time for football, is it not?
Unless you're in the Premier League, in which case anything goes. Monday nights, Sunday tea-time, Saturday lunchtimes, Tuesday, Wednesday nights. Covering Albion, as opposed to Man City for instance, means that Thursday nights are at least still sacred and free from travelling and more football. Villa fans will know what I mean now they are out of the Uefa Cup.
All of this got me thinking...will Albion fans miss the Premier League if relegated? Sure, the lure of the top flight makes it the place to be for players and managers, not least because of the exposure and kudos. But it means inconvenience - you may recall the Albion fans stitched up by Sky's decision to move the Newcastle game several times before settling on a date after supporters had made travel arrangements and hotel bookings. Or the fact that the Baggies have no game next weekend but must travel to east London for a game against West Ham on Monday night.
Throw in the fact that a club of Albion's stature can probably expect to win far fewer games, score a fraction of the goals and concede so many more compared to a promotion season.
This was further stirred by a radio phone-in on Saturday. A Wolves fan contacted the station to say he actually wanted his team to stay DOWN because he didn't want to see one win per month, didn't wish to pay extortionate prices at matches or be inconvenienced by constant changes to the fixture schedule. He felt happier in the environment he was familiar with. After all, if you've been there once - or four times in Albion's case - the novelty of a trip to Old Trafford soon wears off.
That's the conundrum.
Is it the Premier League - fewer wins, fewer Saturday games, but more TV exposure, massive financial rewards just for being there, better players, quality football, Premier League kudos, nicer stadia and all the spin offs that come with it?
Or
The Championship - more victories (potentially), more games at 3pm, less financial reward, less chance of keeping your best players, little interest from the national broadcasters, 'meat and potatoes' football, and missing out on the global circus of the Premier League?
So which do you prefer? Where is it more fun to be a fan? And, if it's the Championship, does that fun come at the expense of credibility and progress to the club you support?
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Chris Lepkowski - Mail man Chris Lepkowski’s view of what’s going on at West Bromwich Albion FC.
It's sad that we nowadays have to debate this. Going up as champions used to mean you had a good enough squad to challenge in the next league up - now it doesn't matter one bit if you don't have the finances to bring in enough players up to Premiership standard. I personally would rather be in the Premiership, but the silver lining of relegation is of course that you will almost certainly see more morale boosting wins in the Championship. The way Albion are run means we never have to sell our best players for cheap if we go down just to get them off the wage bill, meaning we are always likely to have a squad that can challenge for promotion. But when we go up again, if we don't find some investment for the club to have more funds, then we'll struggle to survive once more, and the whole cycle will happen again and again and again and...