T
Tyhee_Slim
Guest
northroadwest1":1hcg0ecz said:
which is kind of why I keep harping on about it. Why is never Argyle?
I would have much preferred for us to have made it to the top tier back in the days when it could be done by simply building a very good team, as I think that Argyle are one of the few 'smaller' clubs to have done it then, just maybe, managed to sustain the level of support to a decent degree. I think we have a far more 'sustainable' model than Bournemouth, though perhaps not as much of one as that the club of our welcome visitor from Brighton (above) - in fact I'm really surprised that they're not up there yet.
Of the smaller clubs that I can recall 'making it' over the years, there are quite a few who have just had their one, brief spell (just one season sometimes). In the pre-Prem era, there was Northampton,, Leyton Orient, Carlisle, Swansea (the old Swansea if you like), Bristol City, Brighton, Luton, Millwall, Palace, Notts Co, Oldham and a few others. Of those, I would say that I am slightly surprised that Bristol City and Brighton didn't do better, what with the potential support in sizeable cities, although they have both maintained good levels I think.
These days, of course, it's a very different ballgame, although you can still get there by just sneaking into 6th place in the Championship and then fluking your way through the play-offs. Can't say I like the concept myself, though I sort of like the idea that it can sometimes stop one or two clubs blatantly buying their way in.
With regard to Argyle, my concern and frustration is that, in my opinion we not only had the chance to at least give it a go - we should really have been in the play-offs under Holloway but for that disgraceful January sale - but we, as a club, should really be able to attract a level of investment that would at least allow us a chance at it. Unfortunately, the longer we wallow in the mediocrity of this division, and become more and more peripheral to the game in general, the less chance there is of anything like this happening and, in my opinion, we, a a club, are more to blame for this than anything. It would have great to have done it more 'organically' but the board(s) who tried to sell us this dream (then blamed us our lack of loyalty) obviously failed in the worst possible way, and porky-pied while they went about it, so the only option is to at least try to give off an air of ambition.
