Looking to the future....

[ozzjim]

Lets say we drop...

Who do you think we will be able to hang on to and who do you think will go?

I reckon Ireland, Given, Hutton, Bent, Benteke, NZogbia and Clark would go

I reckon someone will take a punt on Clark for some reason.

Notable stayers I think would be Gabby, Vlaar for a season to try and get us back up, KEA because no one will have him, ditto Bannan!

Fighting off interest in Wiemann and Westwood.

[wolfman999]

It'll come down to wages I suspect so anyone earning more than minimum wages will shown the door.

[PeterWithesShin]

I wouldn't be shocked to see Benteke and Zog stay. Assuming we want to keep them. Just a feeling I have.

[curiousorange]

Benteke will go almost immediately, to a club where he sits on the bench after failing to settle in the first ten minutes of his debut.

[ozzjim]

Benteke and Bent will essentially fund the loss of income I would imagine.

[SoccerHQ]

Benteke and Vlaar would be off, both are currently first choices for their countries so in world cup season neither would want to risk losing their places by playing at a lower level.

Let's see.....Guzan would stay and would be very good at that level, hopefully move Given on and get a cheaper back up or promote Siegirist.

Defence....well Bennett and Lowton have experienced at that level obviously so you'd hope Bennett wouldn't look out of his depth. I think Baker would be fine as o.k he struggles against movement but in the championship it's more physical and long ball but again we would still need an extra head alongside him at that level.

Midfield....N'zogbia and Ireland hopefully off, as mentioned KEA and Holman would stay as both have been poor so wouldn't expect lots of bids to be flooding in expect from dutch clubs. Would get rid of Bannan, Albrighton and Delph just to freshen it up in that area and bring in 3 players including a wide player.

Stikers...Benteke off, Weimann hopefully staying to lead us back with 20 goals. I get the feeling at a reduced rate of 5m, the likes of Stoke, Fulham and Sunderland will all be in for Gabby tbh.

The key when you go down is to keep a decent spine and sign players who'll excel at that level, the common dominator with Newcastle and West Ham both coming straight back was Kevin Nolan basically taking the piss scoring 15 + goals for each so we do need to find someone in that midfield area who can get into double figures in the championship to help the strikers out.

No-one can defend in the championship so that will make the woes at the other end a bit easier.

At the start it will be humilating not being in the big league and we'll never hear the end of it if SHA are still in there but if we can look like we're in shape for promotion straight away then maybe that will mean some home wins and some positive momentum at long last at Villa Park.

I'd still rather stay up and rebuild but it's looking a lost cause.

[davisa]

It's not about who stays in my opinion it's about who comes in.

The championship is one hell of a physical league and those players would get bullied week in week out.

Vast championship experience would be needed, we would HAVE to keep hold of Weimann, and i genuinley believe Baker, Clark, Lowton and Herd would be very good Champo players too.

The obvious players would go i.e Bent, Benteke, Given, someone will take Gabby and IMO Vlaar too else he'd have no chance of maintaining his place inthe Holland team.

[PeterWithesShin]

Perversely I think going down could be good for us. The younger players would benefit from winning matches, building confidence etc. We as fans may actually see some goals and wins for us at VP for a change. Despite only missing a few games, i've seen us win a whopping TWO league games at home in nearly 15 months.

That said, before anyone starts the making the "you're just making excuses" argument, i'd fucking hate with a passion us going down.

[Chipsticks]

I'm gonna cross-post myself from another thread.

I don't think our side would be that much different if we went down to be honest. I could see us losing Given, N'Zogbia, Bent, Ireland, Benteke and Vlaar but that's not really too different from our line-up this season anyway. I still don't think we'll go down but if we do we'll come straight back up.

Bannan, Lowton, Clark, Weimann, Gabby, Westwood, Delph, and Guzan would be outstanding at that level.

[curiousorange]

I don't think the going down argument stands up (if that makes sense). Newcastle dropping was the best thing to happen to them at the time - too many timewasters and big earners. But we'll drop because we don't have those big players in any depth. We can't shed deadwood we don't really have, and you're expecting kids who have taken a battering all season to shoulder the burden of expectation from their own fans and the pastings every other club wants to dish out because we're on our uppers.

[SoccerHQ]

Our home record has been a disgrace for a long time now. One thing's for certain we have no chance of staying up without some home wins between now and the end and I can't suddenly see us turning 2 home wins all season into say 4 home wins from our last 6.

It wasn't much better under MON tbh but at least we were drawing the games instead of losing them.

The fans at VP have been shortchanged for a long time now so with 23 home games in the championship you'd hope to win a few more.

[Californian Villain]

I wouldn't be shocked to see Benteke and Zog stay. Assuming we want to keep them. Just a feeling I have.

Benteke will be gone the minute he gets a chance, even if we stay up. And good luck to him. YUltimaelty the players that stay will do so because they're not good enough for the top division (most of the team) or because they get paid too much (Ireland, Bent, Zog etc) or both (Given).

[tomd2103]

Would do everything to keep Vlaar, Westwood and Weimann and would build around them if we go down.  Any money we could get in would be used to bring in solid partners for those three.  I wouldn't be keen on the likes of Clark and Baker being starters even at that level, but they would be decent squad members.  We desperately need some wide options, so that would be another area wich we would have to invest in.  Basically, we are talking about a total overhaul of the team. 

[tomd2103]

I'm gonna cross-post myself from another thread.

I don't think our side would be that much different if we went down to be honest. I could see us losing Given, N'Zogbia, Bent, Ireland, Benteke and Vlaar but that's not really too different from our line-up this season anyway. I still don't think we'll go down but if we do we'll come straight back up.

Bannan, Lowton, Clark, Weimann, Gabby, Westwood, Delph, and Guzan would be outstanding at that level.

Don't know about that Chipsticks seeing as the likes of Bannan have already been on loan at Championship teams and couldn't even secure starting places at that level.  We would really be looking at a total rebuild of the side.

[Californian Villain]

Our home record has been a disgrace for a long time now. One thing's for certain we have no chance of staying up without some home wins between now and the end and I can't suddenly see us turning 2 home wins all season into say 4 home wins from our last 6.

It wasn't much better under MON tbh but at least we were drawing the games instead of losing them.

The fans at VP have been shortchanged for a long time now so with 23 home games in the championship you'd hope to win a few more.

Actually it was a lot better. The difference between three consecutive sixth places and the bottom three is not just a few draws!