by walmai » Mon May 20, 2013 9:01 pm
Hilarious that QPR went down and should serve as a warning that Portsmouth and their 'business model' can't sensibly be repeated. I know that every fecker (OK nearly everyone) operates on an overdraft, but it was insane for them to be able to spend so much money, with such a tiny ground and tinpot support.
I have to say that I had a weird numbness about Wigan going down. Never been a fan of their chairman, to say the least, and, on the balance of defensive inefficiency, this season was the season they simply had to go - you can't stay up and concede that many, so frequently. But, on the other hand, they and Villa have a refreshing approach to the game, giving young blood a chance to carve a name for themselves.
Reading? Say who?
Cardiff's new ground is a bit of a joke, tbh, but its always nice to welcome a new face to the Premiership, even if its as ugly as their fanbase. The drawback is the daft 'bubbling' that the club inflicts on most big supports visiting them. We were obliged to collect away tickets from a service station some miles out of the centre, to prevent people rocking up in the town centre just past dawn and getting battered. They're going to need to spend big to compete, mind. When we were there, they were patchy at best and I didn't see many big names in their squad in the one that just finished.
Hull? See Reading.
I'd prefer Palace to come up, mainly because I live a bus-ride away from the ground (once went there incognito amongst you lot as it happens. You had the whole of the Arthur Waite stand under a low roof. Great noise, especially as news came through that we'd won at OT, Defoe 0-1. You were in the 2nd division then, in old language.
Watford look like their on shaky foundations and I don't know how many of their present team can stick around, if loan rules for the Prem are different than for the 2nd tier. As much as Vicarage Road isn't far from London (and has a decent pub or three nearby), its a shockingly basic ground, more befitting the third tier.
Oh and one last point. Sheffield United, after £25M being paid to them since we 'cheated' to stay up are still marooned in the 3rd division. C'mon the mighty Yeovil!!
