You have a valid point, I don't think we will have targeted players such as George Milton, and as you state, that is clearly a process that occurs.

Don't agree that we don't target players that we want. There's somebody at the club that keeps tabs on players outside the club, and that includes contracts and availability.

From the lists of available and potentially available I'd be hard pressed to believe that we don't target players that we feel could improve the squad.

I just doesn't make sense to not be proactive about developing the squad.

Laithwaite, I stand corrected. I hope he signs. Good player approaching his prime.

Laithwaite is on loan from Toronto, isn't he? Has it been said he may be available, or have I missed it?

That is the one thing which is definitely to our advantage. If we do achieve the promotion I can hardly see that support base dropping, which is why I feel we will have a chance of making a decent go of it. It certainly isn't enough for us to compensate for the kind of money such as Toronto and Toulouse bring to the table, or indeed probably any relegated SL club, but it will put our income into the top end of the championship, so I can see no obvious reason why we would be struggling.

Conversely though (and I do hate to get all "belcki" here) , if we don't get promoted I can see a huge fall in ST sales; and therefore funds, unless there is a rapid repricing plan. And even then it is going to be a really tough sell...

Not that it is going to happen. We will deffo be going up. Right?

If we manage to screw up promotion then all bets are off. It is unthinkable but revoltingly plausible. The consequences are unknowable but range from financial problems to players opting not to come. Would Webster really join us if we were still in League 1 for example?

Darryl Griffin was available at short notice, just the sort of player who would have stood up as a seasoned campaigner!

Agreed. Makes me sick to think if we don't get promoted.

John Bastian said to some academy graduates this week that if they don't make it, it's because they chose not to. I think the same applies to the first team earning promotion. Not in a sense in terms of effort or that Workington for example want it more than our players. I think our players want it the most due to where we can go as a club. But we're a better team than Doncaster, Workington, and Oldham. We're 8 points clear of the nearest challenger and have a 400+ better points difference. They will all be at home too. Workington got smashed by 50 against Newcastle, and didn't exactly thump Skolars at home depsite Skolars having 3 men sin-binned. If we don't get promoted then we've beaten ourselves mentally. Yes we've lost to Workington twice, but Kears selection was diabolical and we had an atrocious ref which Workington took advantage of. We didn't. We'll know what game to expect amd hopefully have a more competent ref and Kear gets his selection right. That is if Workington beat Doncaster which i'm not a 100% convinced they will. 9 wins on the bounce for Donny. Plus its at Donny. Also aggregate score for us V Donny is 88-20.

If we don't get promoted it's because Kear tried to be clever putting a back on the bench again, or we beat ourselves with dropped balls every set. It really is down to us. Which is why I'm nervous

Absolutely. No doubts.


That said, I do agree with Bull Mania's post above - if we don't go up it'll be our fault, our attitude, our slackness and not becasue we aren't good enough. We've done the hard work - it's just that last 'big push' time now.

Oldham at Skolars with Whitehaven knowing full well they have to beat York to get a playoff spot as No-one can see Skolars turning Oldham over?

Or am I misreading it? Hopefully desperate cumbrians save us?

It's so frustrating that it has come down to this. Two sloppy performances vs Worky and that abysmal first half vs York (who thoroughly deserve top spot for being more consistent)could cost us promotion if we don't have our act together in the playoffs. Another season in League 1 could have us worse than back to square one - crowds down to 2,000, players leaving, another financial crisis? Would Chalmers and Kear really stay for another season in League 1?

Hopefully we can use the threat of oblivion to spur us on. I'd feel better if we were looking like we were peaking performance wise. Think the biggest factor is getting a fully fit pack of forwards out. Hopefully Egodo isn't out for long too.

Well Oldham could be without 3 players for the play-offs. Hooley, Nelmes and Davies all charged.

Nelmes is a goon. Was the same when he was at Underbank total tool

Hooley was one of ours. I was disappointed we lost him.