We would get absolutely rinsed in league one.....

[Legohead]

I do think the quality of League One is not quite so much better than League Two as it has demonstrably been in the past.

Of course it's better, but by how much?

Did anyone see Lincoln beat Shrewsbury today? One of the top sides from each of the divisions. Was there a noticeable difference in standard between the two sides? (Apart from the fact that Lincoln were better?)

Only one game, of course. But looking at the FA Cup this season, there were sixteen ties featuring one team from each of the two divisions. The results? Nine wins for League Two against seven for League One. Not conclusive evidence of anything, of course, but maybe an indication that the gap is not that large.

As John William says, league handouts are larger in the league above (it was about 50% more two or three season ago). Our budget could also be augmented by a decent tribunal result.

I enjoyed our football last season more than this, but despite the reduction in entertainment the results are comparable. Quality is not always about passing teams to death. This season we seem to have other attributes to compensate.

I for one would not fear League One were we to get there.

Good post.

 

[sign of the chimes]

For the record I don't think we should fear league 1, my point is about how we are generally as a side, i.e. the negative tactics, sitting back early on in games waiting for things to happen and the lack of pace throughout our side, these aspects would have to change for us to compete.

Depends on what you mean by 'compete'. If you look at the top of the division then two of the three sides up there have budgets that dwarf most sides (both Wigan and Blackburn are reported to have wage budgets around £10m [vs. an average of £3-4m]). Shrewsbury, who are up there with them have a much more modest budget but are competing by playing tactics similar to those you mention, with strong organisation. If you're suggesting that you wouldn't be able to go up to L1 and boss other teams then I think you're probably right - but not many promoted sides would expect/aspire to?

 

[sign of the chimes]

Fair to say the current team or squad would struggle in league 1 - given we've lost 13 at league 2 level you would imagine we would lose more at a higher standard - but we wouldn't be alone

You're right. There are nearly nearly always some crap/basket case sides in League 1 which is why not too many promoted sides go straight back down.

 

[IndoMike]

This season the promoted sides have all done well in Div 1. Considering Luton didn't make it and City had a better team last season, the conclusion is that Div 2 is not so good this season. We have lost a lot of games and certainly are not generally winning with ease. Therefore the current players will struggle to survive. The big question is if the club will want to invest a considerable amount of its transfer profits in new players.

 

[MJP_Exeter]

I've always felt that the bottom 8-10 of league one, league 2 and the top 8 of the conference (national league) aren't to dissimilar in overall quality. I for one think we do need to. Improve the squad for next season especially if we get promoted

 

[Avening Posse]

This season the promoted sides have all done well in Div 1. Considering Luton didn't make it and City had a better team last season, the conclusion is that Div 2 is not so good this season. We have lost a lot of games and certainly are not generally winning with ease. Therefore the current players will struggle to survive. The big question is if the club will want to invest a considerable amount of its transfer profits in new players.

Not sure about the others Mike, but Argyle improved their squad. They probably would have struggled without doing that.

 

[IndoMike]

Not sure about the others Mike, but Argyle improved their squad. They probably would have struggled without doing that.

But will we be able to strengthen, AP?

 

[Avening Posse]

But will we be able to strengthen, AP?

Dunno, but nice dilemma to have. If the Amps situation is still unresolved I imagine we could borrow (assuming funds are not currently available). It will be fantastic to get into league 1 again, and the teams in the bottom third are probably on a par with us anyway, so I think it depends on the 1st season objective. I would expect it to be staying up with a view of building, but that wasn't the objective last time, it seemed to be the exact opposite of going for it, not quite reaching the summit, and then going for survival the season after

 

[Colesman Ballz]

Dunno, but nice dilemma to have. If the Amps situation is still unresolved I imagine we could borrow (assuming funds are not currently available). It will be fantastic to get into league 1 again, and the teams in the bottom third are probably on a par with us anyway, so I think it depends on the 1st season objective. I would expect it to be staying up with a view of building, but that wasn't the objective last time, it seemed to be the exact opposite of going for it, not quite reaching the summit, and then going for survival the season after

Au contraire AP. In 2009/10 (our first season) we did try to survive whilst building, finishing 16th. It was 2010/11 when "we went for it" and finished 8th. However we lost several key players at the end of that year and had overreached ourselves financially in our efforts. So in 2011/12 we had a reduced budget and a weaker team, ending up 23rd and being relegated.

 

[Avening Posse]

Au contraire AP. In 2009/10 (our first season) we did try to survive whilst building, finishing 16th. It was 2010/11 when "we went for it" and finished 8th. However we lost several key players at the end of that year and had overreached ourselves financially in our efforts. So in 2011/12 we had a reduced budget and a weaker team, ending up 23rd and being relegated.

Thanks Colesman, my memory is a bit rusty !