I read somewhere that the Saints would be able to cope with the Championship better than they have League One as the Championship is a less physical league. What I remember of our time in the Championship was the reverse to this. I thought some teams sought to bully their way to the premiership, particularly Sheffield United and Wolves. I recall the home game against Wolves when young Theo made his debut as sub. He was on the touch line and I turned to Mrs Godders and said "If I was his father I would be on that touch line now and dragging him home saying you are not going out there to get kicked to bits". I remember Derby in the play off first leg. By half time they had kicked Gareth and Kenwynne out of the game through shear thuggery. I was so pleased Davies's Forest got given a hiding by Swansea last night. He got his just desserts. As an aside I hope the Swans make it to the Premier League as it will mean we will be able to play our real rivals Reading home and away next season. However, back to the point of this thread. I remember Van Damme saying when we were first relegated from the Premiership "I'm off. The Championship isn't football its war." So are we in for a rough ride and will we need a fitter, stronger squad and a good medical team or are Championship sides soft little pussy cats we can brush aside?
It is a physical league, but I see the main difference as you go up the leagues is the need for pace. We must bring in pace at the back, and pace up front. League one actually surprised me, as this season, there were more than a few teams who have tried to pass the ball. I went away to Rochdale and was pleasantly surprised by the way they attacked us with pace on the deck... not so pleasantly surprised by the result! Still "we are going up" I really believe pace is the key. We have Alex (for now), but we need a striker alongside Rickie with ability and blistering pace, and absolutely we need a CB with pace.
I too have a memory of our players being just pushed off the ball in the championship, but only after it hit the financial fan, our experienced pros were sold/left and we were playing Dutch "total football" with a bunch of kids, the oldest of which was about 21!
Yes it is a more physically demanding league. There are a number of sides in league 1 who play a decent passing game without resorting to muscle. In the championship every game will be a physical battle but we have more than enough to cope with it. You cannot compare the side we have now with the one that went down. Poortvliet was given an impossible task. Look at the players we had playing for us then and see where most of them are now. Most are plying their trade in league 1 or lower. Schneiderlin and Lallana are the only two youngsters to have come out of it. I agree we need a new centre half with pace alongside Fonte. Martin may step up but would prefer it if he was back-up for someone more experienced. Likewise, a pacy striker alongside Lambert will be needed.
Every league is physical, the higher you go the faster and more physical it gets. The difference being that better teams are less likely to show that physicality by kicking lumps out of players.
I really do not think it is physically more demanding in the championship. There is and always will be a physical side to the game no matter what league you get into. In the championship it is no difference. There will be teams that will try and bully you and will kick you all around the park. In league 1 I would say about 50% will try and do that. In the championship maybe 30% may try and do that. Swansea won yesterday by playing good football. Nottingham Forest tried to play aggressive no nonsense in the first half. In the second half they tried to play football although to a point more direct and were unlucky to not come away with something. More cool heads in the final 3rd and they would have slaughtered Swansea in the second half.
