Must say that you chaps are looking like the real deal; 10 points clear, winning matches in style and then doing that thing that all title contenders do - winning ugly! I am really looking forward to matches against you in the Premier League - loved the championship derbies, with bragging rights going back and forth and can hardly contain my excitement at the prospect of a premier league home and away! Unlike some of my fellow Jacks I am really looking forward to a renewing of our old rivalry, and what better place to do it than the best league (IMO) in the world! We are looking safe (fingers crossed) and you are looking nailed on certainties for automatic promotion so we can now look forward to two Welsh teams in the top flight - can almost hear the English media choking on their prawn sandwiches! Keep up the good work bluebirds - this is one Jack bastard that wants you up here where you belong! Wanna keep hold of them bragging rights though, so bear that in mind when you play us!
Agree 100% with cartoon. Hard to see you blowing a ten point gap, but then you're not exactly renowned for doing it the ready way lol. Looking forwards to the derby next year, show these Pl giants a real derby. Keep it going chaps.
Cheers SCH and Chico Its ours for the taking and with the strong squad Malky has assembled we shouldn't have the final furlong failures of previous years due to injuries and fatigue. However as you guys will never tire of telling us, the one thing we are champions of is blowing up on the run in. Therefore, Malky's philosophy of taking one game at a time is the right and only way to play it. Like everyone else on here I will really look forward to our derbies in the promised land.
tbh i dont know why they dont let us up now >>>>>>cheers ash and cartoonhead>>>>will next season be the first time we have crossed swords in the highest division only one thing i`d challenge u on cartoon>>>>apart from a never die attitude we get in british football,the prem is miles behind the spanish and german leagues in terms of tech ability and brains...............other than that cheers for the best wishes <good taffs>
Looking forward to seeing Cardiff in the Prem as well, we have one of the best and most passionate rivalries in the whole of the UK. The only reason it is not talked about around the country is because we are not both in the Premier League but next season that looks likely so you can all but guarantee that Sky and BT will billing the two matches down as Sunday prime time matches. Plus, with Cardiff in the Prem next season that means one less relegation spot to worry about! The banter between us will be epic!
I get the feeling 2/3 of the teams that go up this season won't go straight back down. There are some decent teams going for promotion and some dreadful teams trying to stay up in the prem. It will definately be a stronger league next season whoever goes up.
Well I'm afraid I can Ash. Can't necessarily agree with that Arwr. Whoever goes up will need to do a lot of strengthening to stay up. Of the contenders to come down - Fulham, Norwich, Newcastle, Southampton, Reading, Wigan, Aston Villa and QPR - only Villa are playing real crap. I'd bet the others would be too strong for most of the top 6 champ clubs over a given period of time - one off games like cup competitions should be disregarded. Those botton 8 Prem clubs are down there because they can't compete with the top 8 and for no other reason. You need to take at least some points off them to avoid struggling with the rest, otherwise every game between teams down there is effectively dog eats dog a six pointer battle. Promoted clubs would have to be realistic about improving their squads to cope with a more consistently higher standard of football, or just hope that 3 more existing Prem clubs will lose the plot next year.
Well Blackburn, Wolves and Bolton havent exactly set the Championship alight this year and it could end up that Bolton and Wolves fall through the trap door to Division 3. As for some of the teams at the bottom of the Premiership at the moment, i think QPR, VILLA and Wigan would struggle in the championship as it is, plus i would hasten to add that Reading and Southampton would also struggle a bit. Yes we would have to strengthen a bit, but from what i can see of it there would be no great reason to overspend, and give credit where credit is due, our six fingered friends from the Gower Caravan park havent exactly spent a bundle.
Not saying anyone has to overspend ronny, just be realistic and get it right. Sitting on your hands when you go up is not a realistic option. Otherwise you end up taking on someone like Redknapp at the eleventh hour and overspending in desperation like Fernandes at QPR.
I was factoring in some new signings to improve the teams that go up. Also we beat reading and southampton last season with a squad nowhere near as good as this seasons, I know they have strengthened since but the core of their squads are still there. From what i've seen of villa....i'm not impressed. QPR don't look that good even with the players they have, they're a bit like bolton; decent players but don't seem to play very well together. I think leicester and watford could survive with a few more signings. Hopefully we could stay up if we get there too. Obviously it's impossible to tell what would happen but, I think this is one of the strongest championships in years.
Well if it is the strongest Championship in years, and I do tend to agree with you, that makes us being ten points clear of the rest something pretty special. Can't see much other quality in depth in the division other than Leicester to be honest. Watford have come good and in Vydra they've found a gem that has helped propel them up there. Take him out of the equation though and it could be a different matter. Palace would be much the same without Murray's goals - Zaha is overated. Hull are a good side but incomplete. The rest are nowhere near good enough to compete at the next level without a major overhaul. Not disagreeing about the quality this season in the Championship, but it would be a big mistake in my opinion if anyone who went up were complacent about staying there because of what they'd achieved in the Championship.
I'm with Sparkey on this. For me only 6 or 7 of our present squad are of adequate Prem standard. I was talking to a Wurzel fan this morning and we agreed that we have a team of very good Championship players hence our strong position but how many of those will be good enough to keep us in the Prem if we go up? It may be that some players (not in the 6 or 7 I can think of) will shine through and improve with the challenge of higher level football as we have seen at Southampton, Norwich and Swansea in recent seasons. However, we will need to spend quite a bit of our hard earned rewards on bringing sufficient players of the right level and attitude (almost important as ability) to stay there. As for Blackburn, Wolves and Bolton I think they have suffered from some financial complacency and poor management resulting in their poor performance this season. The same goes for Blackpool from the previous season. None of them factored in relegation and probably had too many older players on Prem wages on their books for which they couldn't achieve a reasonable sale value so the parachute payment coming in after the drop ended up funding these players' wages rather than investing in new blood to get them back up. The one exception here is Rhodes at Blackburn who was a terrific buy. The one thing the Venkys have done right. He will probably move on to a Prem club this summer at £12m+ if he keeps up his scoring record.
