League 2 relegation thread 14/15

[rudebwoyben]

When we were down there you still had 5 or 6 part-time teams down there. When we played Farnborough at home and beat them 7-0 some of their players had been in their regular jobs that morning and then travelled up to Carlisle. For the players these home games against such lowly opposition were almost like training days, allowing us to rejuvenate and focus more on winning the big games. However these days there are no part-timers in the conference.

There are still plenty of part-time teams in the Conference: Woking, Halifax, Alfreton, Welling, Dartford, Nuneaton, Braintree, Southport, Altrincham, Chester, Telford and Dover are all part-timers.

 

[Chasing Rainbows]

Tranmere will be seen as a big day out in the conference, little shit teams coming to a big ground like that and playing out 0-0's then celebrating like they've won. It's going to be tough if you drop.

 

[Tom_CUFC]

It's sounds a bit strange but I think the most important thing is "accepting" that you're a non-league club as quickly as possible. You need a manager and players that are best suited to the league, and most of the time that means plucking players from that division or lower and not signing "big" names from the Football League. I think that's part of the reason Bristol Rovers have done well this season, the manager had a lot of non-league experience and they've signed a reasonable amount of players who have played at that level. The reason that Stockport ended up in the mess they are now is because they kept appointing people like Hamann, and some random Serbian bloke, trying to show they were a big fish, and it was probably why it took Luton so long to get out when they should've coasted it really, it was only once they got Still in that they did what they should have done in previous seasons. Of course that's not a guarantee, Wrexham had a go at that this year and it hasn't worked, but certainly when I think in recent years about ourselves, Luton, York, Mansfield, Newport (slightly different) getting promoted, it was from largely following that approach.

There really are no words that can prepare you for it though, it is absolutely horrible. You will see more double digit away followings than not, you will play in front of crowds of less than a 1,000, you will get beaten heavily by a team you've barely ever heard of, you will draw 0-0 at home to someone despite them not venturing out of their own half for the entire game, your fixture list will be poorly compiled and heavily backlogged by the end of the season, you'll play on just about every day of the week for a multitude of reasons, you'll really appreciate the JPT once you've played in the FA Trophy, and you will play in facilities which are barely fit for semi-pro football, let alone a national, mostly professional division, and pay pretty much the same price as you're paying in this division.

The key is patience, which is extremely difficult when you're sat somewhere between 7th and 19th in your first season desperate to get out of it, but what will make it worse is doing stupid things in the hope of getting out quicker. Definitely a club like Tranmere, and Hartlepool as well, if they do it sensibly will spend no more than 3 seasons there, what keeps the likes of them, and all those teams I mentioned above in there for longer than that is that they panicked and made the situation worse for themselves. With us it was grossly overspending, unlike those down there this year we went down on the brink of extinction so were a lot more tolerant, I think we were expecting 4 or 5 years, and after a close flirt with relegation in the our second season we then got to two playoff finals in a row, which we lost, on the back of unsustainable spending. This, coupled with a, in hindight, poor appointment of Martin Ling (a manager with no Conference experience), finally lost the fanbase, and the two seasons prior to us getting promoted were dire, the club had lost all of its life, we had a good half dozen sub-2,000 home crowds, and everyone had seemed to have given up the ghost, there was no anger, just no pulse. Luckily, we had a chairman and our now chief-exec who had turned the club around off the pitch, made a good appointment on it and between them built a great squad which allowed us to finally get out of after nine years, but the damage done in years 3 and 4 set us back another 5 years, that is why you need to be patient and remember that it is very rare to go straight back up.

The only positive? Most of the "big" clubs who go down, come back stronger. Compared to how we left League Two a decade ago, it's remarkable that we're still alive first and foremost, but we are in incredible shape compared to when we went down, the club has learnt a lot of lessons and there is a sustainable plan going forward, of course that is part of the reason why a lot of us were getting agitated in the last couple of months and we couldn't win a game and were getting ever closer to the bottom two, because to have to go through all that again would be difficult, both for the club, and for the supporters, but when all is said and done we are a much better football club than we were when we went down, and I think most of the others (except maybe Mansfield?) can certainly say the same of their first few years when they get back in the League.

The Conference can be a death sentence but it doesn't have to be.

Edit: The bit I missed out, there really isn't another relegation like it, I think it is psychologically the biggest gap between two football divisions in the world.

 

[White Army]

Adams officially gone, assistant manager Alan Rogers and academy manager Shaun Garnett to take charge for the last two games.

 

[Chasing Rainbows]

Walked or pushed?

 

[Murphy]

I was gunning for Ian Goodison.

As I've said a thousand times, can't believe Adams couldn't do it there. Thought it was a great fit.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

I think if Tranmere are going down in reasonable financial shape they could have a relatively short stint IF the crowd sticks with them. A huge thing that held us back was people's unrealistic expectation and the whole negative atmosphere that created for everyone, it took us way to long to sort out all that bollocks, now we have I think we are A better club now.

You could probably write a book about the psychology of Lutons fans reaction to the conference and our time in it but here's my 10 cents, hopefully might make Tranmere fans feel a bit better as it's not looking good for you at the moment.

A lot of people here are highlighting how bad it is and yeah it's shit and don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to go back. I'm glad we never have to play fucking Braintree and I'll never forget how I felt after we lost that first playoff final on penalties, probably my lowest moment as a fan.

However I can't deny I did enjoy some aspects of it, winning the league by 19 points is never not fun for instance, some away days where nice and relaxed, a lot of the smaller clubs have very good natured fans who are just happy to be playing you rather than the usual spiteful shite you get.

It was also a vitally important time for us to basically reset as a club and get a different attitude about the place. Obviously ideally you'd love to not have to go down to do that but
maybe that's what it takes, i geniunley believe we are stronger for it.

Basically what I'm saying is yeah it's shit and you have shit days in that league, but any relegation is shit and being in a league where you as fans feel "you don't deserve to be" is going to be shit, so get over it faster than we did, accept that yeah you are going to lose some games to some random team and set about putting things right, the sooner the better. It's really what you make of it.

**Full disclosure that please bare in mind that this was written having come out the other side of some shit, having finally "pissed the league" as we'd promised. If we were on the precipice again I might be saying something different, but just wanted to provide a differing view.

 

[AtaturkOzgutson]

Conference 101

Nail. Head.

 

[The Terminator]

Very suprised Adams couldn't do it there. Feel for Tranmere, they've been ruined off the pitch.

 

[Duffy]

Adams officially gone, assistant manager Alan Rogers and academy manager Shaun Garnett to take charge for the last two games.

Just amazing really. I see one or two on the Tranmere forum are blaming Palios for appointing him but why would he not. He came with a terrific record at lower league level and just about every other club would have taken him including us if you had listened to the fans. Wilcox was seen as the cheap option for us when many felt we should have gone for " the safe choice" in Adams.

 

[1884 Belmont]

Very suprised Adams couldn't do it there. Feel for Tranmere, they've been ruined off the pitch.

Next season could be brutal. Asset rich, cash poor.

 

[Laker]

I think if Tranmere are going down in reasonable financial shape they could have a relatively short stint IF the crowd sticks with them. A huge thing that held us back was people's unrealistic expectation and the whole negative atmosphere that created for everyone, it took us way to long to sort out all that bollocks, now we have I think we are A better club now.

You could probably write a book about the psychology of Lutons fans reaction to the conference and our time in it but here's my 10 cents, hopefully might make Tranmere fans feel a bit better as it's not looking good for you at the moment.

A lot of people here are highlighting how bad it is and yeah it's shit and don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to go back. I'm glad we never have to play fucking Braintree and I'll never forget how I felt after we lost that first playoff final on penalties, probably my lowest moment as a fan.

However I can't deny I did enjoy some aspects of it, winning the league by 19 points is never not fun for instance, some away days where nice and relaxed, a lot of the smaller clubs have very good natured fans who are just happy to be playing you rather than the usual spiteful shite you get.

It was also a vitally important time for us to basically reset as a club and get a different attitude about the place. Obviously ideally you'd love to not have to go down to do that but
maybe that's what it takes, i geniunley believe we are I said to my friend earlier, "I'm staying in tonight watching that film Fight Club."
He said, "Oh, what with Brad Pitt?"
I replied, "Nah, just by myself mate."

Courtesy of Sickipedia.org: http://www.sickipedia.org/#ixzz3XTeSTT46 for it.

Basically what I'm saying is yeah it's shit and you have shit days in that league, but any relegation is shit and being in a league where you as fans feel "you don't deserve to be" is going to be shit, so get over it faster than we did, accept that yeah you are going to lose some games to some random team and set about putting things right, the sooner the better. It's really what you make of it.

**Full disclosure that please bare in mind that this was written having come out the other side of some shit, having finally "pissed the league" as we'd promised. If we were on the precipice again I might be saying something different, but just wanted to provide a differing view.

This is pretty accurate. Luton took a lot of stick from a hell of a lot of supporters of clubs in both the Conference and the league when they went down and much of that was due to this perception that they had a right to be back in the league. We had an element if fans who had this belief too when we came down.

But it doesn't work like that and it's a league that needs to be respected. Everyone has their "moment" in the Conference when you have a shocking result to a club half the size or smaller than you. We had loads - losing 5-0 to Crawley, 5-0 to Histon in the FA Trophy, 4-0 to Bath. There's many more I've tried to forget. But if happens and it humbles you and your club. It's how you react which is important, feeling sorry for yourselves or vindictive just doesn't work.

It's a tough league to get out of and certainly harder to get out of than it is to avoid the drop from League 2, and we've found this division bloody tough this year. I always said failing to be promoted from the Conference felt like a relegation from League 2. My 3 most depressing days as a Cambridge fan were our relegation from this division in 2005 and our 2 Conference play off defeats.

But we're now a better club than when we went down. We've got better owners, a more streamlined club and a promising future despite this season being tough. Our fanbase has taken a beating and it'll be interesting to see how our attendances stack up next season once the "novelty" of league football and the euphoria of the Man U game have died down. But I'm fairly confident our attendances won't be much different to when we came down so all in all we'll be a better club. Sometimes it takes that relegation to fix the wrongs at the club.

 

[WAP]

Reading the Tranmere forum and the majority don't think Adam's going and Rogers taking over will make any difference.

 

[1884 Belmont]

Reading the Tranmere forum and the majority don't think Adam's going and Rogers taking over will make any difference.

It won't. We are 100% down.

 

[Habbinalan]

Oh and losing players to pointless internationals,not just a premiership problem that happens to us in non-leagueland England 'C' games take your best players, just before important games of to malta and such like.

At least that irritation may be gone. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...ke-looks-ways-fund-grassroots-masterplan.html I don't think anyone will miss it - apart from Paul Fairclough. I'm sure Dyke will find another way of getting up or noses to compensate.

 

[Conker]

I think getting a manager with experience down at that level is vital to have a decent first season in the conference, you need a certain blend of players. It's a incredibly hard league to escape (via promotion) but by all accounts the standards have fallen since we won the title.

 

[Gashead]

Reading the end of this thread after yesterday's events is quite frustrating, every word true though!

The key is adapting to relegation, both on and off the pitch. I'm convinced Darrell Clarke would have pulled us up the table this season if we had stayed up on that infamous day, but it has helped having somebody who had just been promoted from Conference South at the helm. It took our fans a good number of weeks before adapting to 'Conference life', but it is true that there's quite a gulf in ability between the bottom 6 or so and everybody else. Where as anyone could beat anyone on their day in League Two. Having a billy big bollocks attitude gets you nowhere in this league, treating part-time teams like full-time teams and respecting the opposition is a big starting point.

The key, for me, is getting in hard workers. That should be the foundation of any team that wants success at this level. We got rid of a tonne of players who just didn't work hard enough last year, and players like Tom Parkes and Ellis Harrison were told to buck up their ideas, get fit and get mentally prepared for the challenge ahead. I'm grateful to the manager for that as well. We replaced the others with players who aren't necessarily blessed with huge levels of ability, but their work ethic is second to none. I now understand why 'crap like Accrington and Morecambe' stayed up and did well each season despite their budget - they had players who gave everything.

I'm hoping for a role reversal of last season on Saturday for us, wishing the best of luck to Pools, Cheltenham and Tranmere over the next couple of weeks. My money is on Pools to stay up though, they've dwindled a bit but Tranmere's fixtures aren't kind and Cheltenham just haven't got going since sacking Yates. Awful decision that was, for me.

 

[WAP]

It is exactly like last season just with Tranmere and not Bristol Rovers, I wonder if we will have a huge influx of Tranmere fans joining if they go down like we had last season with the Gas.

 

[Richard Cranium]

Cheltenham have Shrews who can be promoted next week I think and Tranmere have got Plymouth and Bury to play. I'll be surprised if either of them win any of those games. Cheltenham's final game is away to Wimbledon, A point would keep them up providing Hartlepool lose to both Exeter and Carlisle.

I think Tranmere are down now, If they win either of those games then they will deserve to stop up. I fancy Hartlepool to get at least a point out of those 2 though.

It's been a fucking awful season, We have been involved in this scrap since about October. Good luck to all 3 still involved!

 

[Duffy]

It won't. We are 100% down.

Surely that's Carlisle ?

 

[Optogas]

What I think is shocking is the sheer amount of league 1 clubs that never recover in league 2 and either drop straight down or struggle for several seasons have a managerial super market sweep before the final drop down. What i always saw as Rovers problem was going for league1/ Championship free's on big wages but who hadnt played regularly for seasons big names, big attitudes no loyalty, no end product shafted us financially and hindered every managers ability to change the team.

 

[Soup Ladle]

Just logged on for the first time since yesterday afternoon and it's been great reading I must say. So many interesting perspectives on life as a non-league club from intelligent posters. Well done to you all

It seems like the Conference next year is going to be harder than usual so it's vital that we stay up as we probably in all honesty, under current ownership, wouldn't have a prayer of promotion.

Did I just feel a sudden bowel movement?

 

[Optogas]

Do you know im beginning to think this is the most exciting end of season battle with so many bigger clubs keep contriving to get involved forget the battle between London money bags toy V Northern money bags toy for the Premiership. The most intriguing battle now seems to be " What the hell were going to be non league v We cant be non league were to big v You used to be non league so please go quietly and let us survive".

 

[Soup Ladle]

I wouldn't say it was exciting as we're all doing our utmost to get relegated. We are three absolutely terrible sides who would really struggle in the Conference

Must say, my heart felt for you when Dover scored yesterday

 

[1884 Belmont]

Do you know im beginning to think this is the most exciting end of season battle with so many bigger clubs keep contriving to get involved forget the battle between London money bags toy V Northern money bags toy for the Premiership. The most intriguing battle now seems to be " What the hell were going to be non league v We cant be non league were to big v You used to be non league so please go quietly and let us survive".

I think I've sussed which of those is Cheltenham, but can't place us and Hartlepool.

 

[Soup Ladle]

Bit of both but neither of us are the biggest who've ever gone down. I think a better tag might be 'never been non-league and the thought absolutely petrifies us'.

 

[Optogas]

Thought we could all vote on who is who but still think its accurate, last season Northampton were the first, The Gas the second and Wycombe the third. No matter how long a once small club is in the league they never quite shake the non league snobbery. Aka Crawley, Stevenage, Wycombe, Daggers and Cheltenham etc most clubs look down on them.

 

[LondonOrn]

I don't quite agree about this relegation battle being one of the more exciting, mainly because it seems clear that whoever survives will "achieve" it by dint of limping over the line and two others being even worse. I'd say that the battles at the bottom in the last two seasons and in 2005/06 (especially the latter, when any one of seven teams could have gone down on the final day) were much more intriguing, as many of the teams that could/did go down were in very good form and a high points total was needed to survive in all three of them.

 

[SamScfc]

Could Tranmere be 'doing a Stockport' as some of their fans have mentioned?

 

[Soup Ladle]

Think we'd be the more likely to do that.