Levelling Up

Well, clearly it's not an 'official' thing and I used the term 'tier' on the spot while I was thinking about the idea... I'm not trying to 'rename' or coin a new phrase... I was simply trying to explain my thought.

Positions do change frequently, and like you say, Peterborough were bottom not that long ago (although with a decent squad as I think Khela is another point in case as he made the grade with us as a tier 5 side last year and joined a tier 3 side over rejoining us).

However, there's only two timeframe's in which players can join a club - pre-season and the midway point. And it's at that time when clubs and players make their decisions and I'm certain that the 'tier' (or whatever you want to call it) plays a big part.

You mention football is over-analysed now. But that's precisely why I'm sure it's a major factor. Of course, not all transfers will be done this way, but I think because of the analysis, it's just as important to consider the level a player will compete at, and unless you consider all L1 teams as equal or you highlight only a handful of them on reputation or history then, you need to have a sway to measure a team. We always say the league table doesn't lie, so even though it's tight... it's a way of interpreting whether which clubs have more potential.

Anyway, it's not exactly a proven theory so you might be right but I just think there's divisions within the divisions. It makes sense why we could only sign inexperienced players from L2 - that's more obvious because you know a team is in a higher division. But most promoted clubs from L2 either struggle or go back down within a few years and it makes a little sense when you frame it like that, because forget money as that's a completely different matter altogether... however, it's not a stretch to think they struggle because the best 'picks' choose the higher tier teams from the division and therefore they end up with the lesser quality.

We can all play FM and say "sign him or him", but the reality is, not all players are available to sign for every club. In some cases it will be the parent team of a player they're loaning and they want their asset to grow as much value as possible, or it's the player who wants to compete at the highest possible level.

I just think it essentially creates 6 divisions rather than 3, and unlike so many L2 teams who fail to kick on once promoted, we've managed to break through the barrier already which is why we have better options at our disposal.

 

I agree. I'm not trying to suggest they're gonna be guaranteed hits or that they'll help us win promotion. I just think the more you know about a player, your system, and their characteristics... the more you will make good choices rather than bad.

Instead of having to sign players with hardly any experience which is essentially signing them blind, we know that he got promoted from this division to the Championship with Derby, playing on the left. And we also know (or the recruitment team will) that he's got certain qualities that our system needs.

We've still got to wait and see... and cross our fingers, but at least we have a lot more information and reference points to analyse.

 

I suppose tier 2 teams will be up against Championship players and if you got the offer then I think more often than not, a player or his club will want the highest possible level.

Of course, there are other factors too like you mentioned that come in to play. And maybe a promotion in a lower division is more attractive than a struggle at the bottom of a higher league.

It's not a black and white theory but it does help to illustrate how all those teams struggled after promotion and either failed to break into the top half of L1, or got relegated back down.

And I think that's significant because this would obviously factor into decision making before the season starts, and now, at the midway point. If you're a player and newly promoted Port Vale come in for you along with established Stevenage... then assuming location isn't a problem and the money is near enough the same, then I'm pretty sure the majority would choose Stevenage purely because they re viewed as a safer bet.

There are so many variables involved that I wasn't trying to suggest this was the only way players select a club, but if players didn't try to figure out who would fare better, then the leagues would be more open like back in the day when you could take a division 2 team and win the European Cup within a couple of years.

Today, there's more money the higher up you go and so you want to choose the vehicle most likely to take you there which is why so many teams go back down... the best players available choose the top half teams, so the bottom half need to sign players of less quality and therefore the league plays out the way most of us expect. There are always exceptions, and this year that appears to be us and all of a sudden, we have access to players that were out of bounds back in August.

 

I'm not actually French... or from Bordeaux.

'bordeaux et ambre' means 'claret and amber'