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Have you been following The Championship?


AyeDubbleYoo

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I'm sounding like a complete football snob here but I honestly don't pay any attention to the second tier normally. The only clubs I really know are the ones that used to be in the Premiership.

 

How much do you know about it? Do you already know the size of the task awaiting us, or will you have to do some serious research before next season?

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I watch the highlights show on most Sunday mornings. There are some very good players there, more than some people would think, but for every one of those there are at least three cloggers.

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Guest MarkMag

I don't think the championship is as strong as it has been in the past. I don't think we should be too worried, depending on what happens to the team in the summer. Boro and WBA will be the teams to beat at the end of the season.

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West Brom

Middlesbrough

Sheff Utd or Burnley

Reading

Preston

Cardiff

Swansea

Ipswich

Bristol City

QPR

Sheff Wed

Watford

Doncaster

Crystal Palace

Blackpool

Coventry

Derby

Nottm Forest

Barnsley

Plymouth

Leicester

Peterborough

Scunthorpe

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West Brom

Middlesbrough

Sheff Utd or Burnley

Reading

Preston

Cardiff

Swansea

Ipswich

Bristol City

QPR

Sheff Wed

Watford

Doncaster

Crystal Palace

Blackpool

Coventry

Derby

Nottm Forest

Barnsley

Plymouth

Leicester

Peterborough

Scunthorpe

 

i'd say most of them have got decent size pitches.

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The Championship is a real footballing league, I like it, its traditional football on traditional grounds. Not all the stadiums fill week in week out but you get decent crowds hence why it is up there with Serie A in terms of attendances (and the fact Italian football is up the shitter).

 

Teams who play good football tend to get rewarded, see Reading a couple of years ago, West Brom last year and nearly Swansea this year. If we get our house in order we should manage to come straight back up.

 

We need to make St. James a fortress because there is a lot of tricky away ties. Bad pitches, loyal home support and some seriously direct football will mean we'll have some tricky away days, but it tend to be the home performances you live and die by.

 

The yo-yo teams will be the biggest threat but the likes of Preston and Cardiff are always in and around the play off spots. I fully expect West Brom to be up there although I have a feeling Middlesbrough may struggle, interesting times.

 

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Guest Stephen927

I know little of Championship players other than the obvious ones like Kris Commons who have made an impact against a Premiership team in the Cup.

 

Will certainly be a learning experience, might make a little less ignorant of the lower leagues.

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theres a few there i'll be making an effort to get to. never been to blackpool,derby as in pride park, coventry as in the ricoh,donny,scunthorpe. sheffield is always a canny trip.

 

i'll quite confidently predict i'll be at more aways this coming season than the previous half dozen.

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Started at Sheffield Uni in September and one of my best mates is a local Sheff Utd season ticket holder. Went to Southampton, Wolves, Sheff wed, Birmingham and Burnley and I have to say that the quality of football was generally appalling. It really confused me how Sheff Utd made it into the play offs let alone nearly make second. Wolves were excellent at Bramall lane and Burnley were decent  but apart from that teams seemed to lack creativity and the best player on the park always seemed to be sturdy centre backs e.g Kilgallon, Morgan, Clarke Carlisle.

 

It seems a strange league and I think we should maybe look into buying some players who are proven in the division instead of trying to hold onto the mediocre crap we have now. As a Scotland fan, McCormack impressed me against Holland and Iceland and has proven he can score in the division (although a lot have been from the spot and freekicks) and has the potential to move up into the premiership. I would be pretty confident of our chances if we took that approach and replaced our sold 'stars' with some tall, strong defenders and strikers we could rely on to put a few in for us. That should get us back into the Premiership.

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There are some good football teams in the league, anyone can and will beat anyone else on their day. You, WBA and Boro will not all easily gain promotion next season, it'll be hardest for you and Boro to adapt and your success (or ease of success) will depend on your close-season dealings. You may get automatic and find it easy, but then you may struggle a bit with a whole new squad etc. and be looking at top-half/play-offs, which doesn't guarantee promotion. Personally I reckon you and WBA will be up there, but Boro will find it a lot harder as they're a bit shit really, although if they keep some of their younger players Adam Johnson, David Wheater etc. they may do pretty damn well.

 

Doncaster, Swansea, Burnley, Preston, Watford, Cardiff, Reading, Leicester, Peterborough, Sheffield Wednesday, Sheffield United, QPR are all 'footballing sides', or sides trying to play football the 'right way'. There's not as many cloggers/hoofball merchants as you may expect and on their day these sides can outplay anyone in this league. More games, more wins, a highly competitive unpredictable league and less glorycunters - what's not to like? (Forget you're a division below) It'll be hard to accept you're no longer a Premiership club, but please don't come down with a 'bigger than thou' attitude, as a collective unit you probably will, but if you deserve promotion you'll earn it. Don't be like Wolves, Leeds, Southampton etc. fans who seem to think they have a 'right' to be in the Premiership. Don't get pissed off if you have one off day and lose to Blackpool, you're adjusting to a league which is physically difficult to cope with. 23 teams all wanting to claim your scalp, more games, a bit more physical, it won't be easy. However, if you deserve to be winning the league, you'll win the league, don't come down expecting to win everything with ease, earn it and enjoy the ride.

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There are some good football teams in the league, anyone can and will beat anyone else on their day. You, WBA and Boro will not all easily gain promotion next season, it'll be hardest for you and Boro to adapt and your success (or ease of success) will depend on your close-season dealings. You may get automatic and find it easy, but then you may struggle a bit with a whole new squad etc. and be looking at top-half/play-offs, which doesn't guarantee promotion. Personally I reckon you and WBA will be up there, but Boro will find it a lot harder as they're a bit shit really, although if they keep some of their younger players Adam Johnson, David Wheater etc. they may do pretty damn well.

 

Doncaster, Swansea, Burnley, Preston, Watford, Cardiff, Reading, Leicester, Peterborough, Sheffield Wednesday, Sheffield United, QPR are all 'footballing sides', or sides trying to play football the 'right way'. There's not as many cloggers/hoofball merchants as you may expect and on their day these sides can outplay anyone in this league. More games, more wins, a highly competitive unpredictable league and less glorycunters - what's not to like? (Forget you're a division below) It'll be hard to accept you're no longer a Premiership club, but please don't come down with a 'bigger than thou' attitude, as a collective unit you probably will, but if you deserve promotion you'll earn it. Don't be like Wolves, Leeds, Southampton etc. fans who seem to think they have a 'right' to be in the Premiership. Don't get pissed off if you have one off day and lose to Blackpool, you're adjusting to a league which is physically difficult to cope with. 23 teams all wanting to claim your scalp, more games, a bit more physical, it won't be easy. However, if you deserve to be winning the league, you'll win the league, don't come down expecting to win everything with ease, earn it and enjoy the ride.

 

Excellent post.

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