League One is a great league

tonyw

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This is not me lacking ambition, or saying I don't want to get promotion this season. I do - I think it would be great to take a crack at the Championship......

......but I do think that right now, League One is an excellent league and a lot of fun to play in.

There's this unique mix of genuinely big and historically top division clubs (Sunderland, Ipswich, Portsmouth, Coventry, Bolton) and tiny teams that get by with minimal support and a lot of grit and good management (Accrington, Rochdale, Burton).

It's incredibly competitive - we have the best team this season that we've had in more than two decades (Appleton's promotion team possibly excepted - although even that's an argument), and there's still eight good teams above us (but no more than 9 points ahead of us, so if we go on a run now they're all there to be tracked down).

But there's still some real dross, so we get the odd thrashing like Tuesday. Which is a nice relaxing game to enjoy in the midst of the top-of-the-table tension.

As I say, I hope we go up. But it's still worth taking the time to enjoy where we are! It won't be the end of the world if we're in the same league again next season. And we'll have a couple of games against the scum to enjoy as well........
 
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Agree. We are probably where we should be right now if you take everything into account. Would rather grow organically than try and rush promotion.
 
Totally with @tonyw with enjoying League 1. Big teams, small teams, four relegation places and three promotion places. It’s a proper rough and tumble league and the football is far easier on the eye than the ploughed fields hoofball of League 2. Seven new teams to play season after season always makes it fun - that’s a good proportion of the league that is ‘new’ each season.

There’s glamour to the Championship, I’d admit. Playing Nottingham Forest and West Brom has more appeal than Burton or Rochdale but as Oxford United we’d be a tiny fish in a massive pond at the second tier. As it is, we’re at our level and we’re good at it. Winning more games than you lose is always a pleasure and even more so at League 1 when you have enjoyable results like today’s against previous European Cup Winners Cup winners Ipswich Town.
 
It is certainly a step up in quality of football from League 2 without being stupid money like the Championship.

In a decent position to go on cup runs as bigger teams underestimate you.

I too like League 1.
 
I do think though that the novelty of seeing virtual same sides season after season soon wears off.

what happens if say Sunderland coventry and pompey go up? Bolton are gone and those coming down as it stands are Luton Barnsley and Wigan and coming up Scum Crewe and Exeter hardly big glamour sides to replace them (with respect to them all except 1 )
 
Agree. We are probably where we should be right now if you take everything into account. Would rather grow organically than try and rush promotion.

unfortunately though you don't get to pick and choose so when the chance comes your way you have to embrace it.
The mindset of there's always next year is never ending when you could as easily struggle as be pushing near the top.
You also have to factor in our model of encouraging the we wont stand in your way scenario as once Jan approaches players and their agents are hawking their next move.
 
This is not me lacking ambition, or saying I don't want to get promotion this season. I do - I think it would be great to take a crack at the Championship......

......but I do think that right now, League One is an excellent league and a lot of fun to play in.

There's this unique mix of genuinely big and historically top division clubs (Sunderland, Ipswich, Portsmouth, Coventry, Bolton) and tiny teams that get by with minimal support and a lot of grit and good management (Accrington, Rochdale, Burton).

It's incredibly competitive - we have the best team this season that we've had in more than two decades (Appleton's promotion team possibly excepted - although even that's an argument), and there's still eight good teams above us (but no more than 9 points ahead of us, so if we go on a run now they're all there to be tracked down).

But there's still some real dross, so we get the odd thrashing like Tuesday. Which is a nice relaxing game to enjoy in the midst of the top-of-the-table tension.

As I say, I hope we go up. But it's still worth taking the time to enjoy where we are! It won't be the end of the world if we're in the same league again next season. And we'll have a couple of games against the scum to enjoy as well........

This post is actually quite zen.

Unfortunately alot of fans seem to spend so much time worrying about what player will go, whether a manager will go, how much the board are spending etc etc there is no actual enjoyment of football anymore.
 
We get 2 games against the scum if we dont go up!
Tbh I really don't care if we ever play them again in my lifetime because I enjoy the pure satisfaction of seeing and hearing the country cousin's happy clappers smarting in their own indigestible wallow. By playing them again may (probably not) threaten this double decade of hilarious fun house times. Long may this continue - God save our team.

Let's go up and enjoy some big games - and a reminder to the robin's (what a hilarious nickname) to mind the gap!

Coyy's
 
I’ve been really enjoying this season. Depending on the time of year, games are on 11pm- 1am or 10pm-12am, and there have been times in recent years I have had to force myself to stay up given strong chances of a dull or disappointing game. Of course things have got better with video over the last couple of seasons, but this season 11pm Saturday is a highlight of the week and I look forward to what we are going to do. Long may it continue.
 
I do think though that the novelty of seeing virtual same sides season after season soon wears off.

what happens if say Sunderland coventry and pompey go up? Bolton are gone and those coming down as it stands are Luton Barnsley and Wigan and coming up Scum Crewe and Exeter hardly big glamour sides to replace them (with respect to them all except 1 )
What if you get to the Premiership? No teams coming down, you’ll get sick of losing to the top four and is it Everton yet again? Or Southampton or Watford?
 
What if you get to the Premiership? No teams coming down, you’ll get sick of losing to the top four and is it Everton yet again? Or Southampton or Watford?

ok so let's for a minute forget regular fans, which games are the much needed new fans going to be more attracted to?

it was only recently that many were stating we could look forward to gates of 15.000 in the Championship, stay in League 1 and be similar to an Oldham and you're left with gates of 4.000 home fans.
As a fan you have to have hope and dreams that we can go higher or what is the point?
mid table obscurity season after season really?
 
ok so let's for a minute forget regular fans, which games are the much needed new fans going to be more attracted to?

it was only recently that many were stating we could look forward to gates of 15.000 in the Championship, stay in League 1 and be similar to an Oldham and you're left with gates of 4.000 home fans.
As a fan you have to have hope and dreams that we can go higher or what is the point?
mid table obscurity season after season really?
You’re right that you need to have aims and to keep moving on. If you don’t, rather than staying in the same place you will be overhauled by others. But we’ve had so much disruption and tension in the last twenty years I’m happy to be enjoying a good season.
 
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