Is the championship really that good of a league

Only 3 teams have looked premier league class in my opinion

Fulham

Newcastle

Brighton

All other teams have been pretty average

Wednesday have been in the play offs all season and they were shocking Saturday

Hence the reason I think we will be fine next season


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I'd add Huddersfield to that list. Other than that, it's a pretty average league, in terms of quality.

 

There's always been an art of getting out of the second division which is very different to the skills required in the top league. Strength, durability and 'know-how' for want of a better word, are characteristics of teams built by the likes of Bassett, Wilkinson, Warnock and Bruce, all serial promotion team managers but most of their sides didn't last long in the top flight as they didn't have the footballing ability to survive once there. Hence no surprise that Swansea and Bournemouth, the two teams recently that did get up playing a bit of football, are the two that have had some longevity.

You're right about Wednesday, clearly not one player in white on Saturday is anything near Premiership level.

 

Yes, that extra £120 million ensures they then turn into Premier league class teams.

 

Though they've been a bit up and down I think Reading have been excellent at times.

 

I agree. Also, Norwich have had their moments and i hate to say it but Leeds too. Fulham would have been nothing like the threat they proved to be at Oakwell without Scott Parker.....being a bit of a one man band probably the reason they aren't pushing for an auto spot along with the other obvious contenders. I think we've shown that we can survive in this league next season without the high profile sales. My worry is where away from home points will come. Nobody has battered us since January but we look like we are always struggling on the road. Not sure if it's confidence or the formation/selection that's the problem. A few decent signings and i'd be confident of another mid table finish next year.

 

Sorry to raise 'that celebration by THAT player' again. But the irony is that if that goal that prompted that, were to turn out to earn a vital point in the Fowls reaching the play offs and being successful, then that goal could actually cut short his Wednesday career. Because Premiership, he ain't!!
If I didn't hate em so much, part of me would want them to go up just to see him back at Scunny next season.

 

Brighton, Newcastle, Fulham, Reading, Huddersfield and Norwich are all very good teams.

Norwich have massively underperformed. Leeds have over-performed, due to a very good manager, hence they will be in the top 6 & Norwich won't. Wednesday, Villa and Derby are "big clubs," but despite a lot of money spent are still a way off the top flight.

 

The top six as it stands today have all impressed me for most of the season. I thought Huddersfield were excellent at our place recently, Brighton have that bit of class and experience to turn it on when they need to.

 

I'd say it's a very hard league with a lot of quality teams all capable of being outstanding on their day.

It's also got 6 very poor teams at the bottom.

 

Overall in my opinion the standard at this level is now way above what it has been for the majority of my time watching us (since 87-88).

Even in our weakened form compared with earlier in the season, the current side is still packed with players who can create something magical out of very little. Kent, Hammill, Yiadom, Watkins, Moncur - a roar of anticipation went up around the ground on Saturday whenever any of them got the ball in the opposition half. And that's withouthaving mentioned James, Scowen, and the two centre halves. All extremely talented players. If we compare them with similar mid-table second tier Barnsley sides in the past, while there are quite a few players from the late 80's and 90's who'd not look out of place in today's team, there are plenty of regulars who'd be nowhere near just due to the overall level being that much higher. Paul Futcher, Gerry Taggart, Steve Agnew, John Beresford, David Currie and I'm sure plenty of others may well still get a look-in. But would players such as Steve Lowndes, Mick Clarke, Julian Broddle, Andy Rammell, Mark Robinson, Brendan O'Connell, Steve Cooper or an ageing Roger Wylde get near today's first team?

I was about to add Andy Saville to that list as well, but the more I think about it, the more I reckon he'd be a great partner for Tom Bradshaw to play off!

 

I said at the start of the season that I wouldn't be surprised where anyone finished in this league taking out the big and small sides.

I reckoned the top 3 would be Newcastle, Norwich and Derby, and the bottom 3 would be Rotherham, Burton and Blackburn. And that it wouldn't be a shock for anyone else to finish 4th bottom or 4th top. There's very little in terms of the overall league. I probably wouldn't say it's a poor league, but maybe quite a close league. Even the top 2 have been quite inconsistent in the middle of the season, and neither are nailed on to break 100 points, which is often the case for a championship winning side.

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I think there's lots of good players but not many good teams.

It's why Huddersfield, Preston, ourselves have been able to achieve.

I think a big thing is you get your big clubs coming down with players on massive contracts playing alongside players newly signed on a regular championship wage & it's no good for team morale as well as a massive turnover of players.

I'd use QPR as an example, Onouha & Caulker probably on 50k a week playing alongside a bunch of lads on probably 5-10k a week.

 

The man that we sign to play alongside Tom Bradshaw next season could be the most crucial signing of the summer. Of all the positions in the team that "big number nine" is what we are missing most. I know that some teams manage perfectly well with something different but I like to see the Trevor Aylott/Neil Shipperley type up front in our team. There must be someone currently plying his trade somewhere in Europe who would fit that bill, and who we could afford. We all hate to see him when he plays but someone like Chris Martin would be perfect.

 

I think that the Championship is maybe the best second division league in Europe.

 

There's no second tier in the world that comes close for both quality and attendances, apart from possibly Bundesliga 2, though I suspect @LDRed will know more than me about that.

I also think that the majority of Championship sides would be pushing for Europe in most European leagues, which tend to be dominated by two or three teams, with the rest looking very poor. The level of the Russian Premier League which is awash with cash is probably upper end League 1, apart from Zenit, Spartak, CSKA and usually one surprise package backed by the local potassium tycoon or whoever.

 

You may well be right. Chris Martin is a great player though miles out of our league wage-wise. I wonder whether Moncur would be able to play up-front as part of a pairing. He's strong and a decent finisher. Not seen enough of him to assess his hold-up play.

 

Part of him would want them to go up so he could be a Scunny next season. On £18k a week.

I think he knows his limitations and will milk football for every penny he can. Don't blame him for that. Still despise the cnt.

 

Brendan O'connell take that back heathen.

 

I guess the question to answer first is compared to what? If we compared it to the Premiership its not as good but much better than League 1. Is it better than 5 years go, I would say yes. Is it better than the majority of other 2nd tier European leagues then I would say yes. Is it better than the top league in Scotland I think once again yes in my opinion. So when you take that into account I would say yes its a good league.