Anyone agree with me that this is going to be an outstanding,ultra-competitive Championship season? Leicester,Leeds and Southampton coming down,replacing Burnley....ok...fantastic last year...Sheff U and Luton,and Plymouth,Ipswich and Sheff Wed replacing Wigan,Blackpool and Reading seems to me like a big upgrade on the competition. We'll need to have a squad able to compete if our aspirations are to be fulfilled.......our aquisitions so far have been really encouraging....looking forward to playing our football and an exciting season ahead!
With respect, we are HOPING that our recruitment will be ok....the players we have signed are untried at our level ( apart from Bellingham with a handful of games) They all come with decent reputations and to fair to our recruitment team, they seem to do their homework, so fingers crossed they will be good. I personally would be a lot happier with a bit more experience to help these kids. But yes, it all makes for an exciting season coming up
Championship is just getting stronger and stronger. Honestly think this will be the most competitive season of all time. There's 10+ teams who could rightfully consider themselves "Premier League level". For that reason I really hope fans adjust their expectations a little. I've seen folk talking about automatic promotion, that will be ****ing difficult. Honestly, if we get playoffs again that will be a damn good season, imo.
Suppose it depends on what state the likes of Southampton, Leeds and Leicester are in - both financially and in terms of the squad togetherness/attitudes. All 3 teams have/will have new managers and (you'd assume) a large turnover of players. They could just as easily have seasons like Norwich & Watford did last year. Not overlly worried about teams coming up - generally L1 teams struggle. Last time Sheff Wed came up, they finish 18th then 16th - even WITH Barry ****ing Bannan - if you can believe such a thing! Assume Boro will be strong again, but Coventry are likely to lose their 2 best players, WBA have financial restrictions after gambling on promotion last season. Stoke will probably be stronger as they have more financial flexibility this season. I expect us to be in and around the top 6 again, depending on injuries
Our recruitment has been outstanding since KLD came in. We had very few players "untried" at this level (Patterson, Cirkin, Hume, Alese, Neil, Amad, Stewart) but they all stepped up admirably. I expect our new lads to do the same. There are of course no guarantees, but I expect that we'll be in the mix at the very least
On paper the Championship should be more competitive than last season, going to be an interesting summer seeing if those that came down can keep their decent players or have to sell to balance the books. Of those coming up Ipswich will probably throw some money around, but id be suprised to see the other two being able to sustain a run of games. For me, if we keep this squad together and continue to add like we already have done, we should be there or thereabouts all season
I have never been so excited for a season to start there is such a huge buzz around safc and has been foe the last 12 months it is absolutely class. As for this season I honestly believe we will be 2nd or 3rd and up via the play offs. Had we had a striker last season (Stewart) fit we would have gone up automatically imo we've already added height and strength which we lacked last season. I will be very surprised if we do not go up this season.
I’m the opposite. I think we’ll do okay but don’t expect promotion, at all. This is a tough league. Very competitive.
It’s a much stronger league than last season for sure. What we need to look at is as well as whoever we bring in, it’s highly unlikely we will get battered with the same injuries in such key areas. Us being fully fit would have had us right up Sheff Uniteds arse, or stopped us being bullied in the second leg at Luton. Leicester, Leeds and Saints we need to see who they retain and if those players have the mentality for the drop down, Ipswich, Coventry and Boro will be strong, and there’s always a surprisingly good team. Millwall, West Brom and Watford I expect to be decent, and I imagine Neil gets Stoke going. Blackburn & Norwich will be competitive. As always it’s 12-14 into 6, but I don’t think anyone has the individual talent of us. We also have over the 3 relegated teams the fact we are on a rise and a high and our players want to be here, not to be underestimated. Whoever gets you this year will have to be very good , and consistent all season. I don’t see anyone doing a Burnley and cantering.
Good post mate...that's what I think. We've already got some good,strong teams in the league....Boro,Cov,Millwall,Blackburn,WBA, etc.....and I just expect those coming down and those coming up to add to the strong competition. It may be that the Championship is the most exciting in years!
Gonna take a hell of a season to get out of it mate. Lads seem confident Mind. They all talking up the unit so can’t wait to get started.
Last season injuries and poor refereeing decisions cost us a lot of points. Surely we can’t have another season with so many injuries and if it’s true that things (ref decisions) even themselves up over time, we are due a lot of decisions to be going our way.
Surely we would not have shipped 3 goals on 4 corners, I just hope Luton didn't reveal to the rest of the league how to play against us.
Respect your opinion i just think that was basically our c squad by the end and we still finished 6th. Full strength squad sky is the limit and the players also believe they can achieve anything.
I know the teams coming down are strong but this is a different league and it takes time for players to adjust . We now have a team where most will have had a season under there belt so should be up and running straight away . The teams coming down are also used to getting beat and it is hard to change that .
IF and imo it's a big if we can replicate the quality of our football in all areas then we have a real chance of bettering last season's finish. I dont really worry about how good others are, we just have to be 'at it' when we face these supposedly favoured teams. The season is a long hard slog as we found out injury wise last season.
