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Perils of Relegation


Scouser2

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Know it seems a long way away at the moment as we are in the middle of an incredible run of results and looking up the table rather than down ...but was not so long ago in those many seasons we just hanging on to a top league place and had so many poor results with little pleasure in watching our team --- when some fans voiced thoughts that "dropping down a league would be fun" -- or "might do the club some good" etc 

But as has been shown over past decade or so -- relegation can prove just the start to a long list of further problems and most clubs struggle to "bounce back " quickly --- just look at likes of Dunfermline - Falkirk etc and now in recent times the problems Dundee Utd have faced and money wasted - in trying to get back up --- ICT also now struggle to make any impact in the championship 

 

Much rather we clung on in the top league and hoped for better things to come along -----or as has been shown a decent Management team !!

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I never at any time thought or even suggested that relegation could be a +ve thing.

As you say, look at how well the Arabs are doing. How long did it take Hibs to recover? St Midden had almost dropped out of the Championship before they managed to turn around and Dunfermline almost went bust.

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Spot on, I'll put my hands up however and due to what was happening off the field and the constant season after season scraping by I thought it may be the only way to get rid of MJ and revitalize the club.

Thankfully it didn't happen and seems like a stupid idea now but I had thrown in the towel.

Step forward Clarke & Bowie and we thankfully didn't need to go down to resurrect the club!

 

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3 hours ago, Scouser2 said:

....some fans voiced thoughts that "dropping down a league would be fun" -- or "might do the club some good" etc 

It seemed to just be a selfish viewpoint - so they could visit different grounds and watch new opponents.

I doubt many people felt that way.

 

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1 minute ago, skygod said:

It seemed to just be a selfish viewpoint - so they could visit different grounds and watch new opponents.

I doubt many people felt that way.

 

agree. if you find yourself there - like the old div 2 campaign - by all means make the best of it - but never wish for it

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I agree Relegation would most likely have been brutal, but I don't think we should dismiss other peoples opinions as fanciful/mental/selfish

St Mirren went dangerously close to relegation to the 3rd tier last season, which would surely have been disasterous for them, but look at them now.

Their attendances this season are 10% up on the season they got relegated from the top flight and 18% up on last season.  I bet there's a buzz around Paisley not to dissimilar to the buzz around Rugby Park right now!

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2 hours ago, skygod said:

It seemed to just be a selfish viewpoint - so they could visit different grounds and watch new opponents.

I doubt many people felt that way.

 

Only benefit I could see (and for me personally it's a big one) was playing different teams and visiting different grounds. 

Playing the same team a minimum of 4 times a season is extremely tedious. I know it's the same in the lower leagues but it would've given us some initial variety. 

Not saying I wanted to see us relegated by any means, just making the point I can see why people might have thought at one point it could've been more interesting than the tedious s**te we were being served up against the same old teams. 

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The developmental economist Paul Collier calculated that for democracy to be considered a success, per capita GDP had to be above $2,500. Any lower and kleptocrats could use the system to entrench power. Above that level and it can lead to sustained benefits. 

It's probably a similar situation with relegation. If you are a club the size of Hearts, Hibs, Rangers, you can potentially come back stronger. If you are a Dunfermline, St Mirren, Falkirk, you risk years of oblivion. 

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I remember the years before Fleeting came in, when we were relegated to the First Division and threatened to go back up but just didn't quite make it. The standard of player at the Club eventually dropped, the crowds dropped and then we dropped. It was a bad time in the Clubs' history and even though we had a great time visiting 'smaller' teams grounds, we all wanted a saviour and a return to the big time. Thankfully we got our wish but I, for one, wouldn't fancy going through that scenario again.

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7 hours ago, angus said:

Went to see Dundee United v Dunfermline on Saturday.

Sad sad place .

No atmosphere, terrible football,no support.

Just shows what happens when you sell three of your best players to a rival.

I felt Dunfermline really needed to win on Saturday to make the play-offs. I hope AJ can get them there still. 

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26 minutes ago, Squirrelhumper said:

Having seeing pics of the crowd, I think they are counting free tickets handed out and not used. No chance there was nearly 6k there!!!

Probably. I read last week that their recent gates were lower than the number of STHs. 

 

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1 hour ago, Squirrelhumper said:

Having seeing pics of the crowd, I think they are counting free tickets handed out and not used. No chance there was nearly 6k there!!!

No way there were nearly 6K there. You could hear a pin drop for most of the game.

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