if you put a 2 million bonus in a managers contract to stay up and then spend a million securing Ince on loan; assume it comes with a garauntee to start. That is short term!

If premier football comes at the expense of seeing the next generation coming through then for me it is wasted ; and it becomes irelevant whether we stay up. Williams loan pretty much confirms that outcome for me

Really football is too short term for managers to be successful, except where they are kept on because of success (Wenger, Fergie). Think of a manager suggesting a larger stadium to accommodate larger gates to get bigger receipts, to pay attractive wages. Then, the team gets relegated and within a few years they are out of the league (Luton). What is his incentive to improve the stadium? Apply the same set of facts to improving the academy, getting in more scouts, buying better players. With the trap door nature of our leagues there is no incentive for anyone to do more than the most conservative things for fear of losing it all. Maybe we should be looking to set up the game in the American manner. Then all those factors mentioned in this thread could be pursued with confidence.

Well they have a system of two main league that all the major teams buy a franchise into. This costs them quite a bit each season, but it's based on a team owning at least one 40,000 stadium, getting full houses, having to sign players from minor leagues, veterans or in rote for the best college players. No one team can buy all the 'top' players and wages are controlled as part of the club turn-over. The only way a team loses its place in the league is due to not providing the above thresholds. Teams can move to places where they can sell more 'seats'. But its agreed on a league basis, taking all members into account, no two teams in a town that couldn't support the two. And each team will get some success in due course. It takes a bit of the giant-killer out of it, but it does make the sport much stronger. When you watch the Super Bowl, every player is a millionair. There are rebates for teams at the season end if they have reached the figures of business adequacy.

If we end up relegated at the end of the season Pulis will still have done a good job considering the position we were in when he took over. At the time I couldn't see us overtaking Derby's record low points tally. I would question why Bannan is no longer considered good enough but apart from that if we finish on 35 points or more it has to be considered a massive achievement..

@pompeyeagle

And not just because of where you were at the start of the season, but because objectively, the club is so under-resourced compared to the teams you are now competing with, and regularly taking points off.

Too often over-performance like this doesn't get the credit it deserves.

well Joniesta was not involved when he was here. The point was about short termism - becomes long termism in terms of youth developement. Saints proved yesterday that you have to be committed to it. Yesterday we ran aound being hard to beat but created very little again. Cameron Jerome is hampering the progress of Dwight Gayle, and even playing Kai Kai would give him vital experience for next season if we stay up. Saints is the way!