I massively agree with the sentiment like, the two championship campaigns in the last ten years are only really beaten (if they actually are) by the 2011-12 season. There's no glory in getting steam-rollered by an 'elite' club without a sniff, the majority of supporters would rather beat Preston 3-0 at home than lose 0-4 to Man City at home.
The flip side of that is our neighbours though who weren't so lucky as to get promising play-off or promotion chasing campaigns.