The Championship 23/24 Thread

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lewebster said:
I've been a bit quiet on here lately, hard to bother posting anything when you just feel it's gonna be a loss before every game has even started. I'm a positive person and kept the faith during the bad times but I must say I had resigned myself to relegation and Championship football next season.

If this happens, I am fine with it, more games, different teams, more even playing field etc.

Then I decided to look at things closer.

Seles with all his faults has still managed to get us 8 points from 9 games, 5 of these points came from games against the traditional top 6. With Arsenal, Newcastle and Liverpool still to play, will we pick up some more unexpected points?

When Jones was sacked we were 4 points from safety, effectively 5 points with our goal difference. Now we are still 4 points from safety and still 5 points with our goal difference.

Not much has changed in the 9 games since, with the other teams near us being just as crap! There are now less of them but we only need to finish higher than 3 teams.

Looking at the goal difference, it was -22 compared to Leeds -10 so a difference of 12 goals. Now it is -29 compared to Everton's -22 so this has been reduced to a difference of 7 goals.

While things are clearly ****e at the moment, it is actually marginally better than when Selles took over and we are still in it.

I'm sure there will be more twists and turns, but for now at least my positivity has returned and I'm looking forward to match day tonight!
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It’s about the same, only there are less games for us to stage an escape.
 
StJabbo1 said:
Good post, I've always said I'll accept relegation if and when it becomes a mathematical certainly not before even though it does look more likely as games go by without wins.
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Yeah it does look more likely as the games go by but you're right until it is certain, there is always hope, the Premier League has a habit of throwing out some odd results that nobody sees coming!
 
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Well I know it was dropped points in the end but who saw a 3-3 draw coming? A point is a point and could be the difference.

For all Sellés faults with team selection etc for a guy in his first job in the Premier League, he has now gotten a result in 50% of his league games(2 wins and 3 draws in 10 matches).

We obviously need more but in isolation it's not too shabby!

Get a win against Bournemouth and maybe we can start to seriously believe an escape is possible.
 
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lewebster said:
Well I know it was dropped points in the end but who saw a 3-3 draw coming? A point is a point and could be the difference.

For all Sellés faults with team selection etc for a guy in his first job in the Premier League, he has now gotten a result in 50% of his league games(2 wins and 3 draws in 10 matches).

We obviously need more but in isolation it's not too shabby!

Get a win against Bournemouth and maybe we can start to seriously believe an escape is possible.
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That’s one way to put a positive spin on a 20% win ratio. It’s 0.9 ppg
 
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Saints_Alive said:
Or 9 points out of 30 ( roughly 34/35 points over a season).

He's not the answer and we need a fresh start with an experienced but forward looking manager for next season.
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He probably needs a fresh start too! Working with this **** week in week out.

I would take pretty much any experienced manager, even one of the boring unfashionable ones.
 
Would be a shame to get rid of Selles entirely. I wonder if we couldn't tempt Benitez here and have a master and apprentice Sith Lord type of set up.
 
LincolnSaint said:
Why?

Although I'd happily take Benitez
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Well, because you need continuity. There are clearly some good aspects to Selles and his coaching. He's not management material yet, but also he isn't awful either. Draws against Man Utd, Spurs, Arsenal, and victories over Chelsea and Leicester, not too shabby. Yes he struggles against defensive teams playing a deep line, but considering the attacking options we have at our disposal, that isn't really very surprising. We have struggled for goals ever since Ings left. And yes, his line-ups are unpredictable, but, he didn't get a preseason or a World Cup break, so he has to do his experiments on the field of play, in pressure situations. That's a massive disadvantage compared to his predecessors. Fans will complain if he sticks with the same players, but they will also moan when he tries something new.

When Arteta started at Arsenal, he only got one win in his first eight games. Now look at them.

Finally, you can't just keep firing everyone when they go through a difficult period. Who the f*ck - player or staff - would want to come to a club like that?
 
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Che’s Godlike Thighs said:
Well, because you need continuity. There are clearly some good aspects to Selles and his coaching. He's not management material yet, but also he isn't awful either. Draws against Man Utd, Spurs, Arsenal, and victories over Chelsea and Leicester, not too shabby. Yes he struggles against defensive teams playing a deep line, but considering the attacking options we have at our disposal, that isn't really very surprising. We have struggled for goals ever since Ings left. And yes, his line-ups are unpredictable, but, he didn't get a preseason or a World Cup break, so he has to do his experiments on the field of play, in pressure situations. That's a massive disadvantage compared to his predecessors. Fans will complain if he sticks with the same players, but they will also moan when he tries something new.

When Arteta started at Arsenal, he only got one win in his first eight games. Now look at them.

Finally, you can't just keep firing everyone when they go through a difficult period. Who the f*ck - player or staff - would want to come to a club like that?
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Agree. I think he is doing ok with what he has. He is getting results out of a squad that is basically lacking in goals. It’s more than one manager at this point. The squad this season just hasn’t worked out.
 
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SaintinNZ said:
Agree. I think he is doing ok with what he has. He is getting results out of a squad that is basically lacking in goals. It’s more than one manager at this point. The squad this season just hasn’t worked out.
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Tend to agree, but his team selection is questionable and his substitutions are head scratching, but so were Ralph's and a Welshman not to be named.
 
SotonOldBoy said:
Tend to agree, but his team selection is questionable and his substitutions are head scratching, but so were Ralph's and a Welshman not to be named.
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He’s being unfairly criticised for that IMO. Selles didn’t do anything wrong on sat. He got the Alcaraz sub spot on and we went 3-1 up. For reasons unknown he needed to replace Lavia and brought on the DM he had at his disposal. it was Diallo of course who lost his man on the edge of the box allowing him to get a shot off and we end up dropping the points. That’s on Diallo, if the sub needed to be made then what can Selles do? It’s simple thinking to assume he just wanted Lavia off.

He’s being accused of randomly selecting players up front and being maligned because the team can’t score goals. I mean, surely people can see the contradiction there? That’s a lose-lose for Selles, damned if he sticks, damned if he twists.

If the club hadn’t ****ed him over in the first place with Valleys Wenger I think he would have kept us up.
 
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I’m not necessarily advocating for this, but given recent performances I’m starting to wonder if the club might try and renew Walcott for the Championship.
 
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