It was often thrown at us how poor the Championship was last year, and to a certain extent I can see that point of view when compared to the previous year. However you can only beat what's in front of you and we certainly did that over the course of the season. Just looking at how the first few matches have started, I am really pleased to see Southampton and Brighton doing so well and wondered how strong the Championship is now! Big teams in West Ham an Birmingham have gone down carrying most of their premiership squads with them, whilst others have invested in Premiership 'quality' - ie fringe premiership players deemed surplus to requirements by their clubs but who have that much mooted Premiership experience. Is this the magical recipe for success or is it more important to have that quality man management and unity that gives that feeling of invincibilty. You have got to admire what Gus Poyet and Nigel Adkins are doing with their teams/clubs and I thoroughly hope that they continue to spoil the so called big spenders party. Their teams have hungry players who are well organised and their clubs are on a high. Sound familiar!!! The reason I mention it is because we keep getting lambasted for not signing stella Premiership names. Can we prove the doubters wrong? I sincerely hope we can. I would much rather put my trust in Lambert than all those knockers from afar who no nothing of our team spirit an work ethic and I am going to enjoy every twist and and turn along the way.
The roll Southampton are on is quite incredible. Think it's something like 16 wins out of the last 20 odd games.
Well my brother-in law is a Saints fan so I always keep a look out for their result. Even he is enjoying himself right now and he has to be one of the most pessimistic people I know!
maybe our 'relegation buddies' can become our 'promotion buddies'... albeit, a year apart! i like the saints - always have done - good bunch of fans and similar club to ourselves. i for one hope they go up
I'm with you, superman, and I would love it if Brighton filled the other auto spot! Two good young(ish) managers whos' teams play football in the proper manner!
If either Brighton or Southampton make the auto places then obviously it is a weak league again this season - stands to reason that newly promoted teams cannot possibly be good enough to go up again when there are teams like Leeds, Cardiff C, Hull City, Burnley, Forest, Leicester, West Ham, Birmingham C etc in the same league and if they do then clearly those 'big' teams were of a poor quality to let it happen. (So we were told last season)
How do people decide if they like teams other than their own? In some cases it's straightforward, e.g. Binners, Man U, Leeds but I really don't like Southampton and I have no valid or thought through reason to dislike them. I hope they do badly, maybe something bad happened to me as a child damn bobby stokes
I would love to see Brighton go up, i lived there for a few years and its probably the coolest place in England. They were playing home games at Gillingham and looked doomed but still had a loyal following. I also like Millwall as some of my workmates were Lions fans and we have had good banter over the years. If these two went up i would be chuffed for them. I hate Brum since they knocked us out of the play offs and don t want Svens big spending Leicester or West ham to go up, I like Mackay but have no time for Cardiff. In conclusion all the teams run my crooked Asian businessman hoping to cash in on the Sky revenue are destroying the game and i hope they fail .
longsight, i know what you mean. i feel the same way about coventry - BLOODY HATE THEM!!! no idea why... they are just there, aren't they!
Nothing to with them staying up by winning at Everton a few years ago would it? Not that I hold a grudge or anything......
Crystal Palace, what are they all about ? Can't stand 'em, is there actually a place called 'Crystal Palace'? or is is just a glass building ? West Ham, God I loathe West Ham, the media's love children with their arrogant, 'we won the World Cup for England' fans. I'd rather The Binners went up than West Ham (well perhaps not, but almost!). Leeds, Man Poo nuff said and EVERTON, I'll never forgive them for fielding that weakened team in '85 that got tonked by Cov ensuring they stayed up and we went down ! RANT OVER OTBC
Oh, and Liverpool too for getting English teams (us included) banned from European competition because of their hooligan fans in the 80's !
Agreed and would like to add Everton and Villa to that list. It annoys me that they hang around and do little, if anything, every year. I would hate Everton even more if it wasn't for David Moyes. How he has kept that team together is a miracle and he is such a nice bloke too!
Haha....There should be a new ruling in the premier league. If you finish between 14th & 9th for more than three seasons in row...automatic relegation for crimes against excitement
