If you had the choice now for us to…

A) Win the League Cup but be relegated to the Championship.

Or

B) Finish 17th and win nothing.

Which would you choose and why ??

For me I’d take the cup win, I like many will have never seen Burnley in a major cup final and it would be brilliant if we actually won some silverware. Afterall football is about winning things.

Surviving season after season in the Prem is boring as hell, we are just here to make up the numbers we are never going to better the 7th place finish especially as the rich keep getting richer.

So for me it’s 100% to lift that cup at Wembley then I’ll see you at Oakwell on a Tuesday night.

Relegation could be fairly disastrous this time round...

I'd choose staying up...definitely. I agree that we will never again finish 7th but I still enjoy seeing us take on the top teams and Championship football, in front of smaller crowds, is not what I want for our club. We are a small fish in a pool full of sharks and whales so staying up IS a massive achievement in itself if we manage it. The financial implications of going down could be very serious and I'm also not sure we would not sack Dyche if we did go down, which I think would be a big mistake.

I'd like to say win the cup but the memories I have of that Palace win away last season will live with me forever and I often wonder if we'd have played all our big guns in the FA Cup against Bournemouth then maybe that win at Palace might never have happened.

Devils_Advocate wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 18, 2021 6:20 pm

I'd like to say win the cup but the memories I have of that Palace win away last season will live with me forever and I often wonder if we'd have played all our big guns in the FA Cup against Bournemouth then maybe that win at Palace might never have happened.

Memories will live with you forever of a game played behind closed doors?

randomclaret2 wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 18, 2021 6:11 pm

Relegation could be fairly disastrous this time round...

The longer you're in the prem the harder it will hit.

So what you have said will be on repeat till the end of our reign.

Staying up every day of the week.

Cup win definitely. Barring some miraculously shrewd transfer business over the next few seasons we're going to get relegated anyway. If it's not this season it'll be the one after that or the one after that.

ElectroClaret wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 18, 2021 6:31 pm

Staying up every day of the week.

Same for me too. Apart from the fact that I want to see us playing at the highest level possible, I fear that our fall back money should we go down is no longer there.

Before this year I'd have said win a cup. Now I'm not sure how we'd cope with relegation with our new owners.

Prem football all day long, watched championship on sky and its awful.

Stay up there are some shite teams in the Championship. Bournemouth and the media darling Scottie Parker are top,that says it all

Staying up ... this thread gets rehashed every season ... yes we want a cup run but never with relegation ...

Barlickclaret wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 18, 2021 6:47 pm

Prem football all day long, watched championship on sky and its awful.

Which season did you prefer. Last season or the last two in the Championship?

PadihamThickNeck wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 18, 2021 6:07 pm

If you had the choice now for us to…

A) Win the League Cup but be relegated to the Championship.

Or

B) Finish 17th and win nothing.

I joined a new Walking Football group earlier today. I was wearing a white Burnley shirt (we'd been told bring white and blue tops). At the end of the game the coach who was running the session said he was awarding me MoM "because Burnley never win anything." I'll take that all day long at my age.

Being in the Premier League is what matters. Some season we may get cup success as well as maintaining our Premier League status.

Where are Portsmouth and Wigan these days?

UTC

We’ve had this kind of debate before. If it was in the same season probably stay up but if relegation was in a later season then win a cup for me. Winning a cup is an ‘honour’ and goes in the records for future generations. Coming15th, 16th or 17th isn’t despite it being an a achievement for a club such as ours.

A cup win and bounce back at the earliest opportunity.

Win a cup for me, imagine the excitement that would generate throughout the whole town, and the stark reality is we're likely to be relegated at some point in the next season or two anyway.

100% Survival all day long ...

Cup win….

fidelcastro wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 18, 2021 6:25 pm

Memories will live with you forever of a game played behind closed doors?

Yes it will be one to tell the grandkids about. When we're back in the lower leagues I'll recount how we once won 3-0 away at Crystal Palace and got 3 points and they'll reply with my then worn out catch phrase "exciting times!!'

Cup win every day of the week.

It'd be talked about for decades and decades, and go down in history.
Who talks about a 17th place finish?

And just because you go down doesn't mean you'll never het back, and let's be honest there's a high chance we will go down one day anyway, may aswell be with a cup in the trophy cabinet.

Winstonswhite wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 18, 2021 7:07 pm

Which season did you prefer. Last season or the last two in the Championship?

Them seasons in Championship were good Coz we were winning, but ask sheff utd fans where they would prefer.

Only one choice
Stay in Premier League
No Brainer

Question for the oldies on here. Would you give up the 61/62 FA Cup Final for not getting relegated in '70/71?

we've finally got owners that look like they are going to invest, we need to stay up by hook or by crook. Stick the league cup

B

And it ain’t even close…

Cup win and Europe next season and championship beats just scraping enough points to stay up knowing we will go down sometime in next few years.

Mate of mine who supports Wigan still says now he wouldn’t swap the cup win to still be in the Prem.

MACCA wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 18, 2021 8:49 pm

Who talks about a 17th place finish?

No one, but many will talk about the time we played in Athens and Istanbul.

Barlickclaret wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 18, 2021 6:47 pm

Prem football all day long, watched championship on sky and its awful.

No it isn’t. It’s very good. And the league itself is arguably the most competitive in the world. How you can say Championship football is awful while watching over paid millionaires throw themselves to the ground clutching their face after a tap on the shoulder is beyond me. The best thing that could happen to football here is a complete overhaul with regard to the way the PL is run. It’s a money making circus that lost site of football ten years ago.

Devils_Advocate wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 18, 2021 9:12 pm

Question for the oldies on here. Would you give up the 61/62 FA Cup Final for not getting relegated in '70/71?

What a daft question. Those things happened…in the past. Nothing can change that. And considering they were ten years apart makes it even more silly.
But then you are the Devils Advocate.

Spijed wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 18, 2021 11:24 pm

No one, but many will talk about the time we played in Athens and Istanbul.

But that wasn't the question, it was 17th OR a cup, not 7th and Europe OR a cup.

2 very different questions then...

Surely until the debt is paid off the only answer is stay in the premier league.

MACCA wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 19, 2021 7:36 am

But that wasn't the question, it was 17th OR a cup, not 7th and Europe OR a cup.

2 very different questions then...

It is but a cup win brings Europe and so must be factored in

PadihamThickNeck wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 18, 2021 6:07 pm

Win the League Cup & be relegated

Really?

Dy1geo wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 19, 2021 7:59 am

It is but a cup win brings Europe and so must be factored in

So surely makes a cup win even more of a pull and the better option then?
Far more memories made and history written, something a 17th placed finishes dont.

Newcastleclaret93 wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 19, 2021 7:54 am

Surely until the debt is paid off the only answer is stay in the premier league.

So we're existing in the PL purely to clear our debts, is it any wonder some fans are becoming weary and the interest is dwindling, if all our ambitions are is to finish 17th each season, where's the excitement to attract the younger fans.

Football used to be about actually trying to win honours, now it appears coming in the top 4 and simply surviving in the top flight is deemed success for most.

We've only ever lifted 3 major honours during our entire almost 140 year history, so if we could somehow win one of the domestic cups it would be remembered for decades, whereas although our PL tenure has had memorable moments, they won't go down in our history the way actually winning silverware would.

MACCA wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 18, 2021 8:49 pm

Cup win every day of the week.

It'd be talked about for decades and decades, and go down in history.
Who talks about a 17th place finish?

And just because you go down doesn't mean you'll never het back, and let's be honest there's a high chance we will go down one day anyway, may aswell be with a cup in the trophy cabinet.

THIS.

houseboy wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 18, 2021 11:45 pm

What a daft question. Those things happened…in the past. Nothing can change that. And considering they were ten years apart makes it even more silly.
But then you are the Devils Advocate.

I dont think its a daft question as this thread is about comparing a cup win to a relegation. If Burnley was to say win the FA Cup it would be a historical moment that will be remembered forever. I understand in the present its hard not to see staying up as the primary objective (I feel the same) but in 20 years nobody will really care if it was 2022 or 2024 we got relegated.

The comparison in my post sounds daft because when looking back it is no contest between that 61 cup final and staying up instead of being relegated. I think in the modern world of football fans have lost that perspective of what special occasions mean to a football club and its fans and too often are just focused too much on the now and the instant gratification (as is the case right across society in general)

Id suggest my post might make some a little uncomfortable because the people who are are quick to say Premier League survival over cup win might when when forced to look at the choice in a different way find their reaction to be somewhat contradictory to their reaction to the initial question

I dont know what my user name has to do with it but I thought my question was a good one to provoke a bit of inward thought on the subject that can only be good for a healthy discussion

Cup and Europe all day and throw in a big “ back to the prem” season what’s not to like ?

We’ll probs have more than enough to stay up ( injury free with 1 top addition )

Devils_Advocate wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 19, 2021 6:19 pm

I dont think its a daft question as this thread is about comparing a cup win to a relegation. If Burnley was to say win the FA Cup it would be a historical moment that will be remembered forever. I understand in the present its hard not to see staying up as the primary objective (I feel the same) but in 20 years nobody will really care if it was 2022 or 2024 we got relegated.

The comparison in my post sounds daft because when looking back it is no contest between that 61 cup final and staying up instead of being relegated. I think in the modern world of football fans have lost that perspective of what special occasions mean to a football club and its fans and too often are just focused too much on the now and the instant gratification (as is the case right across society in general)

Id suggest my post might make some a little uncomfortable because the people who are are quick to say Premier League survival over cup win might when when forced to look at the choice in a different way find their reaction to be somewhat contradictory to their reaction to the initial question

I dont know what my user name has to do with it but I thought my question was a good one to provoke a bit of inward thought on the subject that can only be good for a healthy discussion

Absolutely right bud. I was being a little tongue in cheek (hence the smiley). But I tend to think hypothetical questions are better aimed at unknowns rather than historical facts. But you always make good points (if somewhat cheekily occasionally).
For what it’s worth I would take a cup win and relegation any day. I would definitely give up the annual slog for a day of glory, especially when you consider that we haven’t got a snowball’s chance in hell of ever winning the PL nowadays. It appears to me that many fans now just say ‘think about the money’ when talking about survival. How many times have we seen on this board people saying ‘I’ll be happy with 17th place’? FFS what kind of ambition is that?
I want Burnley FC to be in our top division because it’s a thing of pride, but throwing cup games to achieve that is just plain wrong. And personally I don’t give a damn about the money because all it does is give us just enough to survive, nothing more, and even then we are struggling to keep pace.
Anyway bud about your user name. I was alluding to you ability to be just that, Devils Advocate, I was praising you not criticising. Keep doing what you do mate, love it.

If Garlick was in charge and the finances were healthy, cup win and win the Championship the following season with a strong squad. With the way the current finances are? we have to survive

houseboy wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 20, 2021 12:08 am

Absolutely right bud. I was being a little tongue in cheek (hence the smiley). But I tend to think hypothetical questions are better aimed at unknowns rather than historical facts. But you always make good points (if somewhat cheekily occasionally).
For what it’s worth I would take a cup win and relegation any day. I would definitely give up the annual slog for a day of glory, especially when you consider that we haven’t got a snowball’s chance in hell of ever winning the PL nowadays. It appears to me that many fans now just say ‘think about the money’ when talking about survival. How many times have we seen on this board people saying ‘I’ll be happy with 17th place’? FFS what kind of ambition is that?
I want Burnley FC to be in our top division because it’s a thing of pride, but throwing cup games to achieve that is just plain wrong. And personally I don’t give a damn about the money because all it does is give us just enough to survive, nothing more, and even then we are struggling to keep pace.
Anyway bud about your user name. I was alluding to you ability to be just that, Devils Advocate, I was praising you not criticising. Keep doing what you do mate, love it.

Cheers for the response and I think me and you think along the same lines on this topic. I only mentioned the comment about the username as some on here use it as an excuse to play the man and not the question when maybe they haven't got a good argument. I just ignore it with most but as per this last response you normally are one for good discussion so it surprised me a little. Thanks for clarifying and lets hope we might somehow bag a cup this season

As I personally won't lose a penny if we get relegated, I'll go for a cup win. ALK can worry about their leveraged debt repayments.. but for us, let's have that trophy parading round town.

Stay up, has to be.

Definitely win the League Cup.
What I’m saying is there is nothing lost with relegation.

A League Cup trophy would be a bit like winning the Anglo Scottish Cup in the late 70's. Although, many will have fond memories of the home time against Celtic.

The only trouble with just surviving is, in a 100 years time people will look back and say Burnley have done nothing as a club for most of their history.
A spare part if you will.