As we are now on the final stretch of this god awful season it is worth paying more attention as to who will be joining us next year from the Premiership and League 1. At first glance I would say that next season will be the toughest on paper for many years in terms of the big clubs that are liable to be in the Championship. The likes of Wolves, Blackburn, QPR, Wigan, Bolton or even as an out side chance Aston Villa! The majority of these clubs will have massive playing budgets in comparison and will be able to attract top quality players by Championship standards. We also have the prospect of facing a much improved Charlton, Sheffield Utd, Sheffield Wednesday or Huddersfield. There is always at least 1 promoted team from League 1 each season that turns into the surprise package. Teams with hungry players all wanting to prove themselves in a higher division with momentum gained by gaining promotion. A very dangerous combination for teams like us who have stagnated over many years in the same division. We will definately have to up our game next season even to remain in this league let alone get promoted from it imho! I just hope that Jewell gets all of his targets and more importantly gets in the players that we desperately need starting with Goal Keeper. Which teams do you think will be joining us next season?
Defo Wolves will come down plus Blackburn & Wigan. All these clubs will lose key players so to be honest i'm not that bothered about them, Wolves will lose players like Doyle, Hunt & Johnson at least, Blackburn have owners that haven't got a clue and loads of Wigan players have said they won't be playing in the championship if they go down. As for the teams coming up, Charlton will be a mid table side as i'm not sure what sort of financial backing they have, the same with the 2 Sheffield clubs. The one side i would be worried about strangely would be Huddesfield! don't know why, i just would!
Parachute payments are the key as if QPR need them with the huge financial backing they have got. Jewell will have to be very clever in the way he does his transfer business this summer. We will not be able to compete with the bigger clubs spending power so I just hope that he has already identified his key targets that are realistic in terms of our reduced wage structure and transfer budget. If you thought this year has been grim it will be even worse next year if we go on the same sort of dismal runs we have already experienced.
Consistency is the key, for the past 2 seasons we have been undone by 2 really horrendous runs which has then left us with too much to do to catch up, having a solid defence helps to create space for our strikers, because teams have to commit more men forward to try to score. So hopefully some decent defenders are on the shopping list this summer! Regards ALB, I'm with hampy on this one. He has saved us more points than cost us so i feel he has been harshly judged by PJ and some fans. I'm not saying he is the best we can have, all i'm saying is that i wouldn't be too down heartened if he was 1st choice come the start of the season. I think sometimes people can be a bit blinkered with keepers, I have heard a lot of talk about Scott Loach on here, yet i have seen some howlers from him that would scare most fans ****less!
ALB certainly scared the **** out of me on Saturday when he let that easy shot squirm underneath his body! He is just not good enough for this division and if we have serious ambitions of getting promoted we need a more reliable keeper. The great Brian Clough once said that a decent keeper will earn you 10 points a season and in my book that is a hell of a lot and could make all the difference!
I'm not really convinced by either the quality of the championship or even most of the premierleague this season and I don't think it will be much better next season which is an annoying state of affairs that we haven't be able to take advantage of. As you say I think actually the teams coming up will be more of a danger than those coming down. Yes those coming down will have greater financial clout but they will also have to change their teams quite alot. I think one of the main things in this league and the premierleague is consistency, in terms of players and not changing players/managers every season. Obviously quality is involved aswell but for me why this league and the premierleague has been weaker recently is the constant change of managers and players at clubs meaning that its difficult to get a decent team together, managers are always trying to fix someone elses mess. If we get a couple of decent CB's in and a GK and build on what we already have got, then I can see us having a decent season next year, although not one challenging for automatic promotion. I can see Cardiff, Burnley and Middlesborough pushing on next season, they have good young managers who are being given the chance to build slowly which we should be looking to do. I would like to see QPR, Wolves and Blackburn come down but I reckon it'll be Wigan, Wolves and another (maybe Villa). Out of the teams coming down i would say Wigan and Bolton would have the best chance of getting straight out of the division purely because I don't think there would be much change at the clubs if they were to be relegated. I feel I'm going round in circles and not really getting anywhere here but in simple terms I think the league will be tougher as a whole next year although I don't think there will be a runaway leader and I think we will be alot stronger and will be very surprised if we don't finish in the top 10!!
Problem is JWM, We had a decent keeper in Stockdale and he couldn't do **** when the numpties in front of him were playing like a bunch of ****s. Yes he kept the score down, but thats all he could do. Build a decent defence before anything else, your opponents will only get 1, at the most 2 good chances a game. The thing about ALB is he will screw up because of concertration levels, shot stopping he is very very good. I'm not saying he is the best, but i would certainly say he is the best back-up keeper we have had in a very long time so why shouldn't he be given the chance to stake his claim?
Well one thing is for sure we can not have another season where we use 4 different goal keepers! Jewell's biggest **** up this year has been the failure to recruit a permanent goal keeper. A shaky defence needs a solid dependable keeper behind them to command his back 4 and to instill confidence into those in front of him. The GK is the most important position on the pitch so why Jewell was so casual in this area is beyond belief. Bring in an experienced keeper and most importantly of all make sure that he is our keeper and not someone elses! Hardly rocket science is it?
One thing to remember is that newly relegated club often do as good as people (Or at least pundits expect them to). West Ham were favourites this season. plus how are Birmingham (And who even was the other club?) doing now?
not sure if the championship will be tougher next year - its always tough - but i think it looks more even than ever before! with the prospective promoted and relegated teams i'd suggest that it will be a very tight league again next year - not much between top and bottom in my opinion. it is a fascinating division and it seems to get more fascinating every season. by the way, if qpr do go down, i think there's more chance of them 'doing a pompey' than anything else. its the well run clubs like wigan who are financially stable who would be the dangers and yet again you'd have to fancy the league one clubs, whoever they may be, posing a threat. the top few in league one are all good sides again. as i said at the start of last season and indeed this, the majority of teams are as likely to finish 1st as they are 24th and i include ipswich in that
The same thing is said every year. If your good enough you will flourish no matter what the pundits say and what the league looks like at the start. We have been deemed as a dangerous club for several seasons now and have done sod all. Others that you think should be strong wont be and so called nobodies will be challanging at the top. If we cant prove ourselves over 46 games at championship level then I dont want to think about the consequences of going up!
Not to mention the 6 points that you will be giving to us next season (just like the current and previous one)
" A Far Tougher League Next Year!! " Are you being serious !?!? I'm quite certain there will not be two teams in the mould of Southampton and Brighton, being promoted and taking the championship by storm. Brighton were always going to do well this season I thought, backed by a good crowd with a very intelligent manager. Southampton too were on a good run, Lambert + Lallana were clearly going to do well in this league, plus the £££ brought from the Chamberlain sale. Bar Charlton ( who I am quite sure will do well next season ) who else scares you ? Wolves look in a mess, Wigan would have to sell their best players with even lower crowds, if Bolton went down around 10 players would have to leave too. Add into that, if West Ham do fail ( here's hoping ) they have MASSIVELY overspent this season. Getting their finances into order for next season will be tough. Other clubs are in financial trouble in our league. I personally believe from our perspective, next season looks a fantastic opportunity. I generally agree it appears tougher each season, however I completely disagree on next season ! Time will tell
To be honest next year's championship is liable to be a little easier in my view as 3 out of Southampton, Reading, Best Sam and Birmingham will be gone and replaced with Wolves, QPR and Wigan or Bolton probably and none of them are going to set the league alight. Charlton will be O.K. and the Sheffield clubs will be looking to survive and the same for Huddersfield if they went up. Your lot should be looking at play-offs minimum, particularly if you can keep Chopra in the penalty area and out of the bookies!
I don't think any of the League One clubs will do a Southampton, or even a Norwich. But the quality coming down is frightening. The players even Wolves have are a class above. West Ham don't need to worry about financial regulations next year, it's a voluntary season. Town will do well to make the play offs, we're miles away from top two material.
" But the quality coming down is frightening. " You must be kidding me !? Wolves MAY possess good players on paper, but getting the winning mentality back is something else. Jarvis / O'Hara/ Doyle I'd imagine would all leave, I don't fear Wolves at all. Wigan would get rid of quite a few players, poor crowds, etc etc I cannot see Wigan bouncing back. Blackburn = mass changes - samba / hoilett / yakubu / robinson etc = bye bye. I do not think they'd sort they're squad completely and challenge. Bolton = Would have to get rid of tonnes of players again. Another awkward squad to overhaul. QPR = with finances the most worrying for me. Seriously, the other 4 really don't ( maybe stupidly ) worry me at all. I think our squad is easier to add to, than to make 14 or so changes.
Right Westlake... so you mock my phrase about the quality and then your reasoning is that all the best players will be sold. In other words, you agree that there's a lot of Premier League quality in that bottom five at the moment!
there is quality yeah, however, other sides will be very much changed ! I really don't think there will be a complete overhaul involved at us. Other sides ( Wolves for instance ) may well have a new manager, which I guess could be positive and click, or take quite a while to get going with them wanting their own players. I don't fear any of the sides coming down this time especially. I have ( stupidly perhaps ) a reasonable amount of faith in the squad we have, together with the new signings we are looking to add. Although we won't win the league next season, I think we can have a good year. I really don't think any of the sides coming down will run away with it.
