It is going to be a tough league to get out of because of the points required but City will be odds on in most matches, which will be a refreshing change after the last 3 years. Wolves have just come up from League One ffs! Get a grip guys! I'm looking forward to it.
yeah, quite tough, Florist will be doing their usual choking act by then. The first month is normally quite crazy with weird results with relegated sides taking time to adjust plus there is still coming and goings happening. Really can't wait for our 2 teams to lock horns again!
I said exactly the same on this thread - http://www.not606.com/showthread.php/266598-Fixtures?p=6641389#post6641389 - 2nd post.
Spare a thought for Wolves - they play us, Fulham and Cardiff in their first four matches. http://www.wolves.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=361420 Bet they're hoping for a crazy first month!
That's what I was saying - we don't know. That's why I couldn't understand your comment "don't see it myself". There are plenty of reasons to be positive about a tough start (not least the playing squad which I already mentioned), but also because as we know only too well it means we get easier patches elsewhere. I'm not sure about the struggle - Wigan for various reasons struggled last season early on, Bolton in 12-13 really struggled and nearly recovered to play-offs, West Ham struggled very early but quickly recovered and Birmingham had a mixed start to the season for the same reason as Wigan but recovered. Basically, I don't see any rules in the Championship - it's much more of a free for all than the Prem. A team in 20th at Christmas can be challenging for play-offs by May.
it normally goes that the first month is the best time to play a relegated club. likewise, the opening month is the worst time to play a promoted club. so wolves, arguably, have a great start
Slightly different context this year, Supers, and I don't believe in Bogey teams. You are feeling very pessimistic these days!
This has got to be our best chance to overturn that problem then - first time we will be technical favourites for a while given that they have generally been above us in the League.
well i don't see it because a) our record at wolves is atrocious, b) we have a novice manager and c) we rarely start the season well. not sure where you got the bolton stat from. they didn't reach the play offs. and i'm talking about automatic promotion. you need to start well or that losing habit we've picked up will snowball. the play offs should be the absolute minimum next season with the squad we will have
Norwich City will travel to newly-promoted Wolves in a televised fixture on the first weekend of the new Championship season on Sunday August 10. (Kick off 4pm). Didn't you know this would happen - http://www.edp24.co.uk/sport/norwic..._wolves_on_opening_weekend_1_3646863#cxrecs_s
Supers that contradicts your assertion that relegated teams who struggle at the start will struggle all season
well it doesn't, does it. you can still make a good start during an adjustment period. but its often easier to play against them early on, while they are still adapting. i'd rather play relegated clubs early on than promoted clubs, that's for sure.
The Wolves record is meaningless for plenty of reasons outlined above. Novice manager/rarely starting the season well are other reasons to be positive about how we will pick up from there. I quite clearly said Bolton "nearly" made the play-offs, which they did. They were something like 18th in December, so they made a big recovery. It can happen. I agree that we should be minimum play-offs, and I also agree that a strong start would be ideal (particularly as the teams we are playing at the start are likely to be our main competitors), but given that the relegated teams have by far and away the best chances for getting promoted (historically, I don't mean betting odds) and you have asserted that relegated teams are best played in August as they play poorly then, it stands to reason that the relegated teams MUST get stronger throughout the season. This has been our typical course. This "snowballing" and the idea that you "don't see it happening" despite our strong squad, a novice manager yes but one who has showed himself reasonably tactically astute and has an awful lot of experienced support. I see nothing to be pessimistic about. We are favourites for promotion for a very good reason. I can see plenty to be cautious about, but the idea that you "don't see it happening" when the season's not even started and we're pretty clueless about the whole thing is, as I said, pointless pessimism
sorry, do you really think neil adams has 'shown himself' to be tactically astute? i'm really struggling to see that.
Yes it does. Relegated clubs have the best chance of promotion - roughly 1/4 over the last 20 years I believe. Much better than other teams in the league. And certainly better odds of making a play-off place. If it is best to play the relegated teams in August (which is your belief, I'm not sure whether that stands up to scrutiny) then it stands to reason that the relegated clubs must bounce back later in the season. If that's the case, that contradicts your idea of snowballing and needing a winning start to get to the top of the league.
