Quote Originally Posted by Citizen's Nephew View Post
I honestly think it's over with Tan and there won't ever be another push. I think we've had our chances and blown them. I'm completely at odds with current thinking and see us as a club in decline. This wasn't just about losing Murphy, this was about no buzz or excitement for the fans (or prospective fans) on the final day of the transfer season. I'm not embarrassed by this reaction as I think there's too much groupthink about our current situation and I'm very comfortable being at odds with the majority (that's never bothered me). I've said before, we're a spreadsheet now and not a living breathing club. There's money. There's just no will. What we're doing will never work out well. Football doesn't play by City's and the board's rules.
You could easily be right with Tan, but he obviously still has an interest in football, he now owns 3 clubs again.
There aren't too many times over the past few years when investing more in us would have been worthwhile. We could easily have spend an extra 20-30 million and still have been favourites to be relegated in the premier league, and spending 10-20 million more in the championship probably wouldn't have made us favourites to go up in any of our seasons here. Of course it could have worked but it's leaving a lot to chance and gambling isn't a good way to run a club in the long term.

IF and it is a big IF, we get rid of the big wages, and some of the youngsters fulfil their promise then we can use that as a basis to rebuild.
At the same time if we are buying players who's value is likely to increase then that makes it a easier investment for Tan even if we aren't promoted.

The current managed decline of the team is inevitable given the reduction of income - I think it shows good leadership by the board that they are taking steps to address it, rather than doing what fans would do and going for boom or bust re-promotion with a squad that clearly isn't good enough. How many big sides have we seen try that over the years and end up getting relegated to league one?

It takes a bit of readjustment in the mindset of fans, but I think I'll be able to enjoy this season and feel positive about the future.