English Championship & Football League Thread

[lloydy136]

I thought it might be worth opening up a thread to discuss the English Championship & below as there seems to be quite a few of us supporting lower league sides but not really enough supporting any one club to get a good discussion flowing in individual club threads.

 

mack - I couldn't find an existing thread for this but if I missed it then please delete this one.

[Wanderer74]

What a good thread to start, QPR getting up 2-1. But I know that throughout the season it will be difficult to watch matches that are played. All relegated epl teams won their matches and that two of the promoted teams also won their matches. Seems like it will be a competitive year for the championship

[lloydy136]

Looks like tarabt on his way to fulham. Happy to be rid of him?

[nisman94wfc]

I must say I'm happy to see the back of him. Bit of an ego on him but a talented player and someone who did rip the league up last time he was here. He would happily rip apart Watford again (along with every other team) so yeah pretty happy.

[Wanderer74]

Looks like tarabt on his way to fulham. Happy to be rid of him?

Yes he can be a massive trouble but that talent is going to be missed. I remember last season thinking that the only way we were going to get a goal was through him. He just brought that faith that the rest of the team couldn't deliver. And with loic remy going to Newcastle he just brought some talent as well. But he was paid 70000 dollars a week and there was no need for that money for someone who is on a **** charge

[Goredeaux]

It is going to be an interesting season to watch this year, especially without Cardiff in the mix.

Without any team bias, what are your predictions on the season ahead?

 

IMO I think Leicester has had enough time now to get it together and secure a playoff place again at the least, if not secure one of the promotion slots, I reckon Nottingham are going to be extremely good on "their" days and sit around the top 5 positions of the ladder. I don't have much hope for Middlesbrough though, but every year they seem to have a breif period of excellence then quickly stuff it up, so I see that happening again.

 

Ahh, so excited!

[Wanderer74]

Without any bias I do think that qpr will get promoted (but that might change in a week), although Millwall made the FA Cup semis last year I don't think they will do that well and will get dropped. I think that Leicester will just miss out on a promotion spot. I think Watford and QPR to get the two promotion spots with Leicester Wigan Bolton and Reading going for the third with Reading coming back up. I think that Wigan will need one more year but the other two EPL teams will go back. Especially with a quality coach like Harry Redknapp (maybe a little bit bias there

Edited August 7, 2013 by Wanderer74

[lloydy136]

tend to agree that qpr and wigan look too good for the division. Qpr need to offload a few of the ones that don't want to be there though cos they can drag the whole club down (like wolves last year).

 

Forrest have cash and a proven manager and look handy. I think pearson is just too abrasive a character for leicester to go up and i reckon he might be one of the first to be on the hot seat.

[Wanderer74]

Definently agree with you there and that could be a problem with adel Taarabt in a way. Wolves have completely lost the plot dropping twice in two years. It is england and coaches go quickly especially since they have been close and haven't got there. Maybe trying to head in another direction. But I have read that 15 times since the start of the epl that a team who has gone down has come straight back up. A good chance I think

[nisman94wfc]

I'm still not sure about my own Watford, purely because there is so much quality in this league this season. I genuinely wouldn't be surprised to see all 3 relegated teams going back up. WIgan have just got in James McClean from Sunderland to add to their already quality squad. Whilst QPR keep on loaning out their best players (just loaned out Ji-Sung Park to PSV). Reading have also done the same as Wigan losing a couple of good players but keeping the majority of their squad.

 

I disagree with what some of you are saying about Leicester though. They've not brought in anyone and I fear for them that they could (and would) finish outside the top 6.

 

My top 6 would be, in no order: Watford, Leeds, QPR, Wigan, Reading, Bolton

[Wanderer74]

I am sure pretty confident on the three that came down going back up. None of them seem to be in trouble off the field like wolves were. You would have to think that for these teams not to get up one of them would have to be there own worst enemy. Then Watford would slide in. It is a long season though and it is so competitive that we won't know what's going to happen

[Goredeaux]

But year after year in the championship doesn't just play out as simple as the relegated premiership teams sit atop and the championship teams are deemed unworthy for another year.

 

The reality is, is that the league is class and is very fast paced, within the championship, it is hard to find the underdog in MOST matches. It's not easy nor pretty for these relegated teams to play premier league football in the championship, it just doesn't work, that's why most of the scrappy teams like west ham and even Newcastle to some extent seem to have a passport in and out of both leagues.

 

But so far the season has just started so it will be interesting to see what unfolds, just at the moment, I'm not sure anything is a "certainty".

 

My top 6 would be, in no order: Watford, Leeds, QPR, Wigan, Reading, Bolton

I would like this top 6 though!

[Wanderer74]

That's why it is so difficult to select teams who are going to go through. I can never be completely sure

[lloydy136]

The eveness of the championship is unlike just about any league around the world. 

 

I got up this morning to watch leeds/leicester (a decision I regretted about 2:30 at work this afternoon when I hit the wall). Match was ordinary but the leeds away section was wanderers quality drowning out the home support for the whole 90 min!

[Wanderer74]

Leeds and Leicester seems like they will be in a bit of a battle this season. I can see one of them just pulling away at the end.

[MP4Eedz]

I'll follow the Hudderfields Town results, Englishmen colleague at work is a mad fan

 

Hopefully they do well...

[SBW]

I hope Colchester get promoted back in to the championship. They had a dream run in several seasons ago where they were only 7 points off getting promoted into the Premier League only for them to be relegated from the Championship next season after losing 5 of their high profile players.

[Burgerman]

Soft spot for Millwall but heard they got beaten by Yievol last week.

 

Would be nice if the games wernt on sentanta sports or at least show the highlights on fox or even sbs

[zola]

I am sure pretty confident on the three that came down going back up. None of them seem to be in trouble off the field like wolves were. You would have to think that for these teams not to get up one of them would have to be there own worst enemy. Then Watford would slide in. It is a long season though and it is so competitive that we won't know what's going to happen

Wolves had/have exceptional backroom facilities, a healthy financial windfall from PL parachute payments, and yet, they still went down.

 

Would need an essay to adequately explain the shitfest that went down last year.

[lloydy136]

Yeah what did actually happen last year at wolves zola? From an outsiders point of view it looked like they had a few players who thought they were too good to be there + the norwegian manager seemed to lose the team pretty quickly. Was there more to it?

 

Hope you guys don't get stuck down in league 1 as long as leeds did!

[zola]

Solbakken wasn't given adequate time in my judgment. Apparently there was something of a player mutiny due to his attempt to introduce a European style.

 

Sacked him, appointed a League 1 level 'kick and rush' strategist - quickly fell into relegation zone.

 

Despite Wolves having £40 million in the bank for transfers, and being one of the few clubs to have been debt free, Chairman/Manager made a hash of signings and refused to sanction foreign purchases.

 

Meanwhile, £25 000 a week Roger Johnson, and £30 000 Jamie 'I'm Premier League material' O'hara destabilised the squad with their deranged entitlement mentality.

 

******* disgrace.

[wswclaret]

I recon my team is capable of chucking a few surprises this year.  Always tipped for relegation but never relegated.  Burnley FC.

[theguyyouwishyouwere]

I recon my team is capable of chucking a few surprises this year.  Always tipped for relegation but never relegated.  Burnley FC.

 

would the surprise be that they get relegated?

[zola]

Western Sydney boy Antelmi scores for Wolves whilst on trial!

[lloydy136]

I feel your pain zola was exactly where you are as a leeds fan a few years ago (with the added bonus of administration). Players who help get you relegated but then think they are too good to then play at that level.......grrrrrr!

[zola]

Real shame about the decline of clubs with pedigree. Leeds, Sheff Wed, Leicester, Wolves, are all exiles insofar as they belong in the top tier. Much more to offer than Bolton, Fulham, Stoke, or god forbid Wigan.

 

Still remember Leeds in the Kewell/Viduka days. Now that was a sight to behold.

[nl689]

Real shame about the decline of clubs with pedigree. Leeds, Sheff Wed, Leicester, Wolves, are all exiles insofar as they belong in the top tier. Much more to offer than Bolton, Fulham, Stoke, or god forbid Wigan.

 

Still remember Leeds in the Kewell/Viduka days. Now that was a sight to behold.

Wolves definitely a raw deal there.. something off is going on behind the scenes the entire board should be culled. Same thing at Sheff Wed. Since the bankruptcy the club has yet to be able to post a profit or even break even despite regularly getting 20k+ attendance even when they were playing league 1 football.

 

bring back the premier league of the late 90s

[nisman94wfc]

Real shame about the decline of clubs with pedigree. Leeds, Sheff Wed, Leicester, Wolves, are all exiles insofar as they belong in the top tier. Much more to offer than Bolton, Fulham, Stoke, or god forbid Wigan.

 

Still remember Leeds in the Kewell/Viduka days. Now that was a sight to behold.

 

As a Watford fan (and I'm sure the QPR fan and the Burnley fan on here would agree with me) but I disagree that those clubs like Leeds, Sheff Wed and etc belong in the top tier. Yes they're big, certainly bigger than my little old Watford. But they aren't good enough and that is what matters, not their size. Besides, they were all small clubs at one time which became successful. It could still happen to any one of the smaller clubs, e.g  Swansea City.

 

It just makes things harder for those smaller clubs, especially since Scudamore wants to remove relegation and promotion and make the Prem a closed league, preferably with those clubs in it.

 

Real shame about the decline of clubs with pedigree. Leeds, Sheff Wed, Leicester, Wolves, are all exiles insofar as they belong in the top tier. Much more to offer than Bolton, Fulham, Stoke, or god forbid Wigan.

 

Still remember Leeds in the Kewell/Viduka days. Now that was a sight to behold.

Wolves definitely a raw deal there.. something off is going on behind the scenes the entire board should be culled. Same thing at Sheff Wed. Since the bankruptcy the club has yet to be able to post a profit or even break even despite regularly getting 20k+ attendance even when they were playing league 1 football.

 

bring back the premier league of the late 90s

 

With all that I've said, if we could bring back the 1999-2000 Premier League please that'd be grand.

[Davo]

Real shame about the decline of clubs with pedigree. Leeds, Sheff Wed, Leicester, Wolves, are all exiles insofar as they belong in the top tier. Much more to offer than Bolton, Fulham, Stoke, or god forbid Wigan.

 

Still remember Leeds in the Kewell/Viduka days. Now that was a sight to behold.

Woah ease up on the Bolton bashing. You mention pedigree, Bolton are one of the oldest clubs around, founder member of the Football League and have won more FA Cups than all the clubs you mentioned except Wolves (who Bolton are level with) and that was back when the FA Cup was a bigger deal than it is now.

[Carns]

It just makes things harder for those smaller clubs, especially since Scudamore wants to remove relegation and promotion and make the Prem a closed league, preferably with those clubs in it.

Seriously? That is ridiculous.