Three times bigger than Blackpool
Darragh jumps the gun.
Yesterday Michael finished with the sentence “Of course knowing our luck we will get promoted….” briefly touching on a point that I’ve been worrying about as the Championship table has started to take shape. It’s been said over and over in the past few weeks how open the Championship is this Season but seldom has it been said how hindering this could be for anyone promoted. In a division where the general standard of most teams is so similar, nobody has questioned to what level that standard is actually at or more so the gap of the standard between that, and that of the Premier League. The fact that no team maybe with the exception of Cardiff or possibly QPR (although I wonder how long their run will last) stand out on paper as a team that are “too good” for this division could be a problem for any potential promotion contenders. Any of the competitive teams in question, Leeds most definitely included, would have a serious problem next season as they are thrown into the deep end in a league that’s a huge step up from anyone they will play this Season.
Taking Leicester and Swansea as relatively recent examples, both were teams that were deemed “too good” for League 1 respectively. Both went on then to establish themselves in the Championship the Season after without a huge amount of spending, all because they left League 1 after already establishing half of the team needed for the next tier. The same could be said about ourselves and Norwich last Season, although the second half of ours would beg to differ but still the fundamental point stands that if you want to establish yourself in the next division, your promotion better have been done on merit and not luck, although once again the second half of our Season would beg to differ. Thus brings us to our problem then that Leeds don’t have a team that will take this League by storm and I think even the most optimistic fan would agree with me. If we were promoted it would most likely take another 14 signings for us to stand a chance of staying up which is the point Michael was making yesterday, all be it a bit drastic. I’m jumping the gun a bit yes but with the playoffs looking a possibility with performances like that against Millwall and a division where anything can happen, it really could be a possibility come May. If for some reason we did earn promotion though I would be genuinely worried that 14 freebies and rejects wouldn’t be enough to keep us up and I fear we would quickly develop into a yo-yo team and the West Brom’s of this world (and God knows if he’s still around by then that Ken Bates wouldn’t be willing to lend a financial hand)! As conservative as it sounds we need a season to settle in the Championship and to develop that team that takes the division by storm. That being said we are hardly doomed if we do get promoted. I just feel it would be a big ask to establish ourselves in the Premiership at the first time of asking with an altered very average Championship side and that goes to many of the potential promotion candidates.
Coming back to the present then and I’m starting to worry about the wage bill for the first time in a while. Going by the official site we have 28 players in our squad including loanees who are not out on loan at the moment. With the potential signings then of 4 more players and a dinosaur our squad size and wage bill is slowly starting to worry me. Now I suppose Bates isn’t the type of person to let a wage bill run away with itself but you have to wonder whether Lubo, Robinson and Sheehan fetching no bids at auction was factored into his master plan. Having potentially 33 players is not just unnecessary for a Championship side but also hindering financially. Until a couple of contracts run out next Season I imagine we are running very close to our wage limits and if in the meantime we need essential maintenance work on our squad then I really do wonder if we could be in trouble. There is no need for 8 strikers in a 4-4-2 or possibly a 4-3-3 and that clearly need addressing. I suppose for matters on the pitch they say it’s a good dilemma for Grayson to have but one has to worry about the books. People like McCormack and Davenport are going to demand higher wages and you have to wonder who’s supplying it if Bates admits he hasn’t put a penny into the club.
God knows how I’ve managed to take both our promotion ambitions and our potential good signings and shone a pessimistic light on it all but it seems I’ve gone and done it again. I realise by May I will probably have contradicted myself and will be calling for one last push towards promotion but I suppose that’s a long way away. Until then it will be interesting to see how these 33 or so players settle and gel together in a season where a clichéd “anything can happen”.
Darragh Mullen.
