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Are we better going up or staying down?
Views: 786
The question sounds mad, but I'm just preparing us for either eventuality.
The obvious answer feels like, of course, it would be better to go up. Given how short-term our contracts are, do we face the danger of inflated one-year contracts if we go up? I feel like even with the extra money the Championship brings, we'd struggle financially as a club, and that's without any major push to stay up.
The flipside is if we don't go up can we stabilise at this level or do we risk slipping back down the table and eventually into League 2 again?
The emotional side of me says it would be brilliant to go up and experience football at that level.
The pragmatic side of me is torn. Going up brings benefits and risks. Staying down could stabilise us or see us drop away altogether.
Both are extremes, and the reality is we could easily go up and come out of it financially better, even if we came straight back down, or if we stayed down, we could stabilise as a mid-table club that makes the occasional foray into the playoffs.
I don't think anyone on here thinks we're Championship-ready, so any promotion would be a brief one (or two if we're being insane) season adventure.
Whatever happens on Wednesday night, I am so bloody proud of this team and club. I have supported Stevenage for 21 years, 9 of which have sadly been from afar since moving up to Scotland. I can remember away days at York City, Gravesend, and Grays. I look back on those days now as a distant childhood nostalgia. I still keep pinching myself that whatever happens next season, we'll be surrounded, once again, by former Premier League giants with average attendances 4 to 5 times our own.
Those on here who can remember way back to the start of it all will probably feel this even more so.
How far we've come in 50 years!
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Re: Are we better going up or staying down?
Views: 605
I think there's a difference between being Championship ready and being able to compete in the Championship. It will be unlikely we are able to stay up but I think Phil said himself we are now more ready for the Championship in terms of infrastructure and systems. Obviously there would need to be further changes which we will be in a position to make now if we need to.
Back in 2013 or whenever it was, we weren't ready and if we had gone up that could have been more long term damaging. Hell we even nearly fell out the football league completely as we weren't particular ready for League One.
So my answer is yes it's better to go up but no big deal if we don't.
Edited by Sev at 13:44:46 on 11th May 2026
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Re: Are we better going up or staying down?
Views: 695
So long as we don’t make financially crippling decisions then going up. I doubt PW would make financially crippling decisions. Either way the club is in a great place. Now’s the time to focus on Wednesday and no further ahead.
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Re: Are we better going up or staying down?
Views: 681
PW would keep us stable if we went up. We're lucky to have him.
It's extremely unlikely we'll go up, though.
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Re: Are we better going up or staying down?
Views: 675
I think the safer route, and the one Revs has in mind, is to consolidate with greater confidence and renew the squad so we can try to do this consistently without flying by the seat of our pants with last minute winners so often. But the fact is we just don't know when, if ever, this opportunity will present itself again.
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Re: Are we better going up or staying down?
Views: 610
But the fact is we just don't know when, if ever, this opportunity will present itself again.
This is in line with my thinking. Wage inflation in L1 is crazy. Im not sure either whether Phil can, although I think he can,or whether he will continue to throw money at us at the level required to sustain a good L1 squad.
At some point he will want to secure his family's financial legacy and balancing that against his football legacy isnt an easy one for him.
The easiest way to turn someone with £70m+ into someone with £5m is to sell them a L1 football club.
We aren't going to get the revenue we need to compete from gates. The odds are against our recruitment continuing to identify signings like Pidge, Goode and Dan Phillips at affordable prices no matter how attractive our training ground and manager are, and we won't turn up a Ben Wilmott or a Ryan Doherty more than once every 5 years or so. This is not a criticism, its probability and reality.
We really need a backer with a spare £20-30m+ over 5 years to sustain top end L1 football.
Edited by BALDOCKBORO at 11:35:08 on 11th May 2026
Edited by BALDOCKBORO at 11:40:08 on 11th May 2026
Edited by BALDOCKBORO at 11:40:33 on 11th May 2026
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2 people
Re: Are we better going up or staying down?
Views: 655
I'm starting to see that 5-year contract in a more pragmatic light. It probably wasn't with promotion in mind, but stabilisation. After the collapse we had out of League One, almost getting relegated entirely, then the meteoric rise under Evans, perhaps we needed the boring tactical rigidity and pragmatism that Revell has shown.
This has to be one of the toughest, grittiest, ugliest (and I don't mean physical play), teams we've ever had, and I can honestly appreciate that.
90% of the Wigan game, and 75% of the Stockport game were hard to get through, but that's exactly why we are where we are.
We're tight at the back, uninspiring going forward, and face constant accusations of being "anti-football". Honestly, I'd take 4 more years of that if it keeps us at this level or takes us even higher.
I think since we came up from the conference, we've not found our natural level. We shot up into League One but always looked like a little team riding a wave and punching above its own weight. Then we slipped down into League Two and looked like we were slipping back to the non-league.
Honestly, I think the target for the next 4 years (if we don't get up) should be mid-table stability, however ugly and boring that is.
Establish our natural level as League One. I think Revell is the man for that, despite honestly having some doubts during our mid-season slump.
He's also a young manager, so who knows, he might develop into something more exciting that could see us punching still higher. For now, though I'll take a dozen or more 1-0s in a season, I'll take 0-0 slogs most weeks, I'll take "anti-football" because honestly who the hell would have thought back in August 2010 that we'd be looking like a team that could park itself in League One for years to come!
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Re: Are we better going up or staying down?
Views: 507
GW and Big Steve are the yardsticks Revs will be measured against. Both played pragmatic football, as does Revs. The difference is that Revs isn’t driven by ego in the way you could suggest the other two were. There’s no “he’s a c*** but he’s our c***” with Revs. That’s where people (our fans and others) underestimate him.
We’ve got to the play-offs and we’re very much in the tie (one error aside we’d be level) and people are still whining about him. All he has shown since his return as manager is that he is constantly evolving and as a result we are evolving with him. I really hope we see him to the end of this contract and beyond. If we do I think we’re in the midst of what will be regarded as a very special time for this club in years to come.
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Re: Are we better going up or staying down?
Views: 649
With all the conversations about the greatest ever players and managers we've had I always wonder about the debate about the most important people in our history.
I don't think anyone takes PW for granted (well, anyone who has followed us for more than a few years).
He's got to be up there as the most important person, at least since he took over.
I don't know enough about Victor Green or who else came before, so I can't say if he's the most important person in our club's history, but he's been the owner for over half of our existence and, as you said, we're bloody lucky to have him!
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1 person
Re: Are we better going up or staying down?
Views: 544
For Victor Green was a " clunt ",not really interested in club ,drove around in a Bentley with Brazilian bimbo half his age in tow.The people prior to this were great and lots were the founders of club.
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Re: Are we better going up or staying down?
Views: 471
You're just jealous he had a Brazilian bimbo half his age.
And a Bentley.
Which is understandable.
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Re: Are we better going up or staying down?
Views: 435
Half right , don't drive .
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Re: Are we better going up or staying down?
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The wonderful Jim Briscoe is one of the people for whom we should all be thankful.
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Re: Are we better going up or staying down?
Views: 473
Does the JBT have a sponsor? Has it ever had one?
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Re: Are we better going up or staying down?
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No and no ?
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Re: Are we better going up or staying down?
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As I remember it, Victor Green asked the council for a rent reduction on the ground as they had no money and this is just after the big cup run and selling Barry Hayles to Bristol Rovers for £250k. That was when £250k was a lot of money!
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