If we go part-time then effectively NOBODY is signed up - unless they choose to renegotiate their deal. If you were Gaskell or O'Brien or Ferguson or Pitts - would you?
The squad requirements I fear very much are immaterial. We have proved that we can (on the basis of full-time and 6K paying fans) be the best team in the Championship.
But we have also proved - to me, at least - that the best team in the Championship will never get promotion unless a SL club collapses. Wakefield were as near to that as it gets, and even then we couldn't beat them, but had we been playing ANYBODY else from SL then we would have been caned. That is the reality.
Even if you don't agree with that, we'll hear and see the bad news, scaling down, reduced budgets, less money from a big drp in crowds which will follow, and however far down that spiral we go, the fact is that unless we all pay he same ticket money and unless we stayed full time, we cannot even get anywhere near the same level of challenge that we have just offered, which was a brave try but came up short.
The chances of promotion are almost a complete illusion. It isn't possible to play at this level with a million pounds worth less talent and win, barring disasters. Wakey dragged themselves just enough out of their disaster zone, but I can't see any team dropping into their brand of mire again.
We need one team or other to do a Bradford and go bust. We then take their place. That works for me. Otherwise, I should think the MPG team next season will need to be maybe 30% better than we were to stand a chance. Not weaker. Can you see us having 30% better players and being a 30% better team? Can you see a part-time Bulls, stripped of its leading players, beating a SL team for promotion? If you can, then I suggest you must be away with the fairies.