This article was in The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/football-league-blog/2012/apr/23/review-championship-2011-2012 What is the opinion, here, of the Championship this season?
Maybe from the outside looking in, it's been like that, but i don't agree with the article. The Championship has been as close as ever, with the top and bottom changing every week..a win could see any team jump a few places and a loss was almost catastrophic for a while. Maybe it's because we've had a far better season that we envisaged, but i still think the Championship is the best English league (did i say English? )...and it's been as exciting as ever, not least because we're nowhere near the bottom
As far as the top three divisions are concerned, this has been one of the best seasons in English football for a long time. Apart from Charlton no team has dominated, at the turn of the year very few teams looked doomed (apart from Coventry and Chesterfield, both of whom have put up a decent fight since), and there have been some sensational scorelines and upsets along the way. I really don't care that a lot of clubs have stuttered towards their destinations, unpredictability is what makes any sport exciting.
Usual elitist Guardian reporting. One of the main reasons for a disappointing season is West Ham under-achieved? Get over yourselves. Oh and I know it's in summary but I think there were 10 other players who took QPR apart but I guess Watford doesn't sound as good as the now premiership Danny Graham. Maybe they should be asking why so many Premiership teams are suddenly quite **** despite all the money thrown at them?
The thoughts of "six seasoned Championship watchers". Are they just grumpy because their expert predictions didn't come to fruition? Perhaps they should be named and shamed, pillocks that they are.
I like the Guardian which, far from being elitist, is owned by a trust and not a politically motivated owner with dubious moral standards. That said, this is a pointless article. You might as well try and compare all the restaurants in Watford with all the restaurants in St Ives. A Championship season is a complex thing of highs and lows and anyone's view of it is likely to be coloured by their own prejudices. Good for a pub argument perhaps, but ultimately leading nowhere...
What a complete load of tripe - a most pointless article. I should not have bothered after the first statistic of a lower number of goals being scored - then having to admit to the 2010/11 season being exceptionally high.
Very poor article in my humble opinion. I have seen people express the view based on what they have seen that it has not been a vintage year, but I do not see how you can prove something as subjective as the quality of games played statistically. We all want to see goals scored, but some blinding saves by a keeper in a game can be something to really enjoy.
I wasn't really asking about the article. I was wondering how you rated the season. I can't talk about the quality of the football but the results seem to have had their usual mix of predictability and surprise. Whilst the very top has been a bit of a two and three horse race, the battle for the play-offs has been interesting. I've also been surprised at how well the promoted teams have done.
The simple answer is as football is a game that invites opinions, there will be differing ones as there are with most subjects relating to the sport (you only have to look at this website for the main evidence). Comparison between seasons is pointless - different players, different teams, different circumstances with how teams are affected by injuries, suspensions and cup runs. I would say that while the Championship remains so close and competitive, it will always be a good league.
I guess it could be argued that there has been slightly less quality on show this year but tbh there are bound to be lulls from time to time. However to call this season disappointing is a bit harsh. Southampton have played some good football and the depth of competition has, again arguably, never been better. It will be interesting to see how the promoted teams do as based on this article they haven't got a chance. Then again the same could be said about last seasons promoted teams yet at least 2 are staying up.
To not answer your question fiirst, I too though it was a pointless article. No one seems to want to win the Premiership title this season, yet people are saying its the most exciting for years!! As for this season, I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I've seen some great perfomances and I've seen some poor performances but very few ordinary performances. I've seen the emergence of a great talent in the form of young Murray and I've seen Sean Dyche emerge over the course of the season as a very promising manager indeed. People whose focus is on the Premiership just don't get the Championship. But for those of us who watch it regularly it's a great division to be in. Don't get me wrong, I'd love us to get promotion again. But if it's not the Prem then I'll take the Championship.
Oh dear oh dear as a Guardian reader I have to agree this its a very poor article - but then again the Guardian isn't a "sports" paper so perhaps they should stay doing what they are good at - after all you can count on one hand how many times they have mentioned Watford in an article over the course of the season - and that probably goes for all but three other Championship sides - so I have to admit they don't know what they are talking about. Having said that I wonder what their verdict would be on the premiership - a league where it is already a forgone conclusion that the winners can be drawn from three teams - just how exciting is that? Not very in my opinion. Unlike the championship when most of the pundits predicted wrongly again - most said WHU would walk it and they haven't and probably won't go up. I'd rather start a competition knowing there will be competition rather than it being bleeding obvious from the start as in the Premiership.
My only disappointment of the season is so much has already been decided, with only really an unlikely 2nd place for West Ham still up for grabs, and M'Boro possibly sneaking into the play-offs. Otherwise it has been a rather entertaining season, and after the first few months, especially as a Watford supporter. Games such as Forests winning BIG at Elland Road and Bristol City doing the double over Saints. It's not all about goals and the favourite walking the league - surely it is better that they didn't, with an unfavoured team looking like walking it for much of the season but being pulled back! Another good season, which is why I love the Championship - and it will only get tougher with some of the teams coming into it next season!
In some way I agree with the article. Apart from Southampton no team has done reasonably well all the way. Reading started slowly, Brighton are finishing slowly. Cardiff City have fallen to the MM after Christmas problem. West Ham could and should have done better. Coventry have failed, the Doncaster experiment with expensive loan players, Portsmouth would not be where they are if they had done their sums properly. The rest of the division is really a level playing field for ability as any one could find success one week and not the next. The financial divide between the haves and have nothings is obvious but Leicester City haven't benefited from their money and Watford haven't lost out because of their lack of it. The richer teams have ended higher but not as you would really notice.
