So, the Championship season has started **Spoilers**

el_dazza said:
Di Matteo sacked as Villa manager.

We're an utter mess.
Click to expand...

Too many relegated Premier League teams take the Championship for granted and end up closer to League One or even in it, it's a tough league to stay in never mind gain promotion from. Wolves went straight through to League One, Bolton and Wigan both ended up there, Fulham have struggled to adapt. It needs to be shown respect.
 
Last edited:
mmj_uk said:
Too many relegated Premier League teams take the Championship for granted and end up closer to League One or even in it, it's a tough league to stay in never mind gain promotion from. Wolves went straight through to League One, Bolton and Wigan both ended up there, Fulham have struggled to adapt. It needs to be shown respect.
Click to expand...

Aye, that's for sure. Promoted teams from L1 always seem to be do alright too. Championship is such a tough league.
 
scottb777 said:
Aye, that's for sure. Promoted teams from L1 always seem to be do alright too. Championship is such a tough league.
Click to expand...

The teams that do alright are normally Championship teams that found themselves in League One in the first place.

Most smaller clubs (those who have primarily been in the 3rd and 4th tier of English football) don't have the finances to compete in the Championship for more than a few seasons. To even get out of League One is an achievement when you have big spending Championship clubs coming down season after season.
 
mmj_uk said:
The teams that do alright are normally Championship teams that found themselves in League One in the first place.

Most smaller clubs (those who have primarily been in the 3rd and 4th tier of English football) don't have the finances to compete in the Championship for more than a few seasons. To even get out of League One is an achievement when you have big spending Championship clubs coming down season after season.
Click to expand...

Only truly fantastically run clubs get out of the lower leagues and establish themselves at Championship level ;)
 
scottb777 said:
Aye, that's for sure. Promoted teams from L1 always seem to be do alright too. Championship is such a tough league.
Click to expand...

The two teams that pipped us to the post after the weird end to League One a few seasons ago - Yeovil and Doncaster - are now both scraping it in League Two. MK Dons went straight back down last year, Rotherham have punched but look set to succumb this season. It's a tough tough league if you've not got the money, infrastructure and/or smarts to stay up.
 
toshj said:
The two teams that pipped us to the post after the weird end to League One a few seasons ago - Yeovil and Doncaster - are now both scraping it in League Two. MK Dons went straight back down last year, Rotherham have punched but look set to succumb this season. It's a tough tough league if you've not got the money, infrastructure and/or smarts to stay up.
Click to expand...

Doncaster...Urgh that play off final was the worst...

It is a tough league, but if you have the momentum (ie. Bournemouth / Southampton) you seem to fly up the leagues. Bristol City are looking good this year, the big lad from Chelsea is a constant threat. Burton are a surprise package, I'm certainly not looking forward to the trip there, doubt I'll be able to get a ticket mind.
 
scottb777 said:
Doncaster...Urgh that play off final was the worst...

It is a tough league, but if you have the momentum (ie. Bournemouth / Southampton) you seem to fly up the leagues. Bristol City are looking good this year, the big lad from Chelsea is a constant threat. Burton are a surprise package, I'm certainly not looking forward to the trip there, doubt I'll be able to get a ticket mind.
Click to expand...

Southampton are and were a Premiership team having a blip, whereas Bristol City have only spent two years in the last decade outside the Championship - it also helps when you're backed by a billionaire! They paid £1m simply to loan Tammy Abraham from Chelsea this season!! £1m loan on an 18 year old is crazy.

Bournemouth did very well, not only to get promoted but to also stay there. However, they quite ridiculously flaunted FFP rules and have been hit by a big fine. It's all well and good performing well in a tough league such as the Championship, but if a team is cheating and playing to their own rules then it's not quite such an impressive achievement.

Burton on the other hand, they're a team to really admire. Their rise over the last few seasons has been incredible, and I'm very much looking forward to the trip to. Burton have also had two of their managers poached by bigger teams in the process. At the same time, they've had their distinct advantages over their competition since they entered the football league. Where many lower league teams possess truly awful training and sports science facilities, Burton train at St George's Park and therefore have access to some of the best facilities in Europe, and that naturally attracts better players and staff. Also, for that reasons, they're a great team to manage of Football Manager! ;)
 
scottb777 said:
"Cardiff City: Neil Warnock to be named manager" - BBC Sport.

You're safe to remain a Villa fan ;)
Click to expand...

That's not really good news for Villa tbh, Cardiff won't get relegated under Warnock.

toshj said:
Burton on the other hand, they're a team to really admire. Their rise over the last few seasons has been incredible, and I'm very much looking forward to the trip to. Burton have also had two of their managers poached by bigger teams in the process. At the same time, they've had their distinct advantages over their competition since they entered the football league. Where many lower league teams possess truly awful training and sports science facilities, Burton train at St George's Park and therefore have access to some of the best facilities in Europe, and that naturally attracts better players and staff. Also, for that reasons, they're a great team to manage of Football Manager! ;)
Click to expand...

Unless they spend big they'll get relegated over the next few seasons (if not this one), once contracts start running out their best players will start to leave for 'bigger' Championship clubs on higher wages and they'll struggle to replace them. The only way a small club can really establish itself in the Championship is by having the financial backing to compete on wages.
 
Last edited:
mmj_uk said:
Unless they spend big they'll get relegated over the next few seasons (if not this one), once contracts start running out their best players will start to leave for 'bigger' Championship clubs on higher wages and they'll struggle to replace them. The only way a small club can really establish itself in the Championship is by having the financial backing to compete on wages.
Click to expand...

Who? Burton?

I agree to a point, however they've managed to pick up slightly older players whom are performing very well (Dyer, Barker, etc.) with no resale value and coming towards the end of their careers. The majority of their starting eleven is mainly comprised of loanees (Ward, O'Grady, Chaudhury, Brayford, etc.) or newly signed players on ~3 year contracts (Irvine, McFadzean, etc.) who aren't going to be able to leave for free anytime soon. The money in the Championship has gone crazy, so they could certainly command multi-million pound fees for their performing contacted players like Irvine and Akins.

There are certain teams who get by on limited budgets - Us, for one, but also the likes of Preston, whereas Barnsley have shown that investing wisely in an inexpensive playing squad after receiving strong transfer fees can reap rewards.

Also, we've shown how it's possible to sign young and talented players, sell them for fortunes and then reinvest the money in a cheaper squad. Everyone keeps on writing us off - incidentally using the same reasoning as your post - yet we keep on outperforming them. Huddersfield - as much as I hate to admit it - have spent very sensibly this year without breaking the bank.
 
toshj said:
Southampton are and were a Premiership team having a blip, whereas Bristol City have only spent two years in the last decade outside the Championship - it also helps when you're backed by a billionaire! They paid £1m simply to loan Tammy Abraham from Chelsea this season!! £1m loan on an 18 year old is crazy.

Bournemouth did very well, not only to get promoted but to also stay there. However, they quite ridiculously flaunted FFP rules and have been hit by a big fine. It's all well and good performing well in a tough league such as the Championship, but if a team is cheating and playing to their own rules then it's not quite such an impressive achievement.

Burton on the other hand, they're a team to really admire. Their rise over the last few seasons has been incredible, and I'm very much looking forward to the trip to. Burton have also had two of their managers poached by bigger teams in the process. At the same time, they've had their distinct advantages over their competition since they entered the football league. Where many lower league teams possess truly awful training and sports science facilities, Burton train at St George's Park and therefore have access to some of the best facilities in Europe, and that naturally attracts better players and staff. Also, for that reasons, they're a great team to manage of Football Manager! ;)
Click to expand...

"£1m to loan Tammy Abraham" :eek::eek::eek: Before my mate told me the other week I was under the impression he was an academy product from Bristol City. I didn't know he was on loan from Chelsea, let around a 1m loan fee!!
 
Last edited:
Very excited about going up to Newcastle this weekend. Looks like a 50,000 crowd is expected, so could be in our 10 top for crowds played in front of ever. A trip to St James' Park fully validates all those (great, but freezing cold) trips to Bury, Carlisle, Hartlepool and all the others over the years.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom