Good post. If we set up the way we do every game , at home v the top 6 and away against the top 10, but actually had ago at the attacking the rest of the games , this thread wouldn’t exist.

Give me an example of one team who on a limited budget went from solid but uninspiring to entertaining, free flowing football; and stayed up.

I’ll put my 2 cents in. I used to buy into the thinking that the Championship was better/ more enjoyable. More wins, cheaper games and more academy players. But I can’t agree with it anymore having thought about it.

Our exposure is so much better. I’ve got family and friends abroad who watch the games. We’re on MOTD and are talked about more in general football conversation. I can pretty much watch any game I want through various means.

Another thing I thought about is that I remember more games in our current era than when we were in the championship. Wins against the big clubs mean a lot for bragging rights and there are usually a number of them each season. We arguably have a better shot in cup competitions as the team is of a better standard (not that we ever do actually do better)

The infrastructure in the ground is much better. We are a much more professional club than before we came up. Getting the academy upgraded will help loads and hopefully the new stand will eventually get built. It won’t happen if we are in the league below.

The players are better too and we don’t consistently sell them. In the championship we had maybe 2 or 3 decent players, whereas now I enjoy waiting to see which players are going to play in international teams and competitions. I’m also not worried during the transfer window that any decent player will get snapped up by teams in the league above.

I’m not in the Hodgson our camp, but I can’t help but wonder if we should be future proofing. We should identify the sort of the manager we want, post Hodgson, and if the opportunity arises, we should go for it. If Dyche is the manager we want and he become available then we should go for him. I thought we should have gone for Brendan Rodgers before Leicester got him. The advantage of having Hodgson is that we have time. We can really look at how we want the club move forwards and keep our ears open for a manager who maybe the right fit to become available. I see Roy very much as a caretaker manager at the moment as I can’t see him staying more than one season after this one.

It's Red and Blue that unites us

No, we are only going to have this conversation when we play boring shiite football at home against average teams. Funnily enough that covers the last 3 years.

Good points, and well made. ^^^
It just seems that today, football is following business models.(and there are different business models out there to choose from).
And the manager can only work with what he's given and under instruction from The Board. Something fans aren't privvy to.
It's like being sent to a scrapyard by your boss. What is the brief ? to build a Formula 1 car , or to build a go-kart ?

I disengage, I turn the page.

‘there are tens of teams who have come up and stayed up playing far far better than we do now’

Who exactly? I can hardly think of any? Sure there’s clubs that have come up and played nicer football, but stayed up for any length of time

During our years in the premiership there are hardly any clubs that have stayed up apart from normal top 6 and Everton

If you can think of any, then I imagine they may have spent a lot of money. Hodgson has hardly had any

He may have a more talented squad than previously , but the competition has as well, as generally speaking others clubs have been given money

Comparisons to Pulis and Allardyce have been mentioned, but they were given money

Hodgson is doing a great job with very little support

Keep Roy. He is a legend.

Kayla did Anfield & Old Trafford

I would like to see a future without Hodgson although I can recognise that the club hasn’t spent large sums in the market and he has worked within limits so it seems reasonable to cut him some slack.
What doesn’t seem reasonable is to call him a legend who can do no wrong.
I still have seen no cogent argument for why he plays the same defensive way in every game , even against the weaker teams.
Surely even his most fervent supporters would like us to be a tad more adventurous against the likes of Burnley, Brighton and Bournemouth.
Hodgson was at it again yesterday in the press conference yesterday saying we need someone to put away all the chances away that we create.
He must be watching a different game to me as I can’t see all these mysterious chances.

I personally think that Roy is doing the best he can with the players he has at his disposal. He has not really been supported with investment money to improve the squad and that has to be down to Parish & Freedman. when we have spent big on players (Benteke & Sakho) they have not really lived up to expectations. In most instances Roy gets given older players in the twilight of their careers or loan players neither of which are long term team investments. We were lucky with Cahill, he still has quality but probably only came to us because he did not want to move out of London. I do not know why but both Freedman and Parish seem incapable of coming with an investment plan for the teams future. Unless the latter improves then relegation is a real possibility in the 20/21 season as the last two matches have clearly demonstrated.

Allardyce took far longer to turn things round than expected and the football at home apart from Arsenal and Hull was total dogsH1t.
I remember beating Boro and Watford at home in consecutive games having mustered one shot on target over the 180 minutes.

I still think both Allardyce and Pardew did a good job overall but l agree we should’t forget how much money they spent and how uncomfortable it was. I thought we were gone at more than one point that season.