Firstly let me say I'll be very pleased if Hendo stays as he does add another option to our attacking dimensions. I also don't think anyone can accuse Aidy and GS of purely buying for the Premiership, the addition of Jackson is a prime example, because of his age he is here to do a short term job fo 1 or 2 seasons. That said given the aim of establishing this club in the top bracket we must have a core of players already on the books capable of playing at that level once we have developed their potential. There is nothing worse in going up and then scrambling around to assemble a team virtually from scratch as you merely end up with an assortment who have never played together and by the time they might start to gel you are so deep in the poo you haven't got a prayer. Having been a regular for the last 48 years I think the current team treads the fine line between being able to win the Championship this season and providing a developing nucleus to help us stay up when the time comes.
We do, but a squad full of Premiership calibre players is no guarantee of anything. Well, other than a massive wage bill. I personally believe that this division has unique demands that your average Premiership player would struggle with. The refereeing is quite liberal, the spotlight is less intense and the game is markedly more physical. Hendo is a perfect Championship striker in my book - he'll probably never progress past this level but it would be silly to get rid of him now in aid of building a Premiership squad. Particularly if that meant selling him to a promotion rival like PNE. There are some positions in this division (not all by any means) where grit and determination go an awful long way towards success. We found out to our cost that the Premiership doesn't really reward that kind of performance, but we know from experience that the Championship does.
