EFL Saints

I think you’ve misinterpreted a light-hearted comment as bait.

I know the punishment was based off just the three games to but was basing it off the fact the first game was in December and the last was in May. Who knows how long it was! You’ll get good odds on that. Get yourself down the bookies!

I was struggling with synonyms for spygate!

Yeah, there's still loads of guess work to be done at this time of year! More fun to do it before the window shuts though. Do you think Vipotnik is likely to happen? Saw that slightly cryptic instagram post that suggested he might be off to Southampton.

Hi I'm an Ipswich Town fan who likes to write about the Championship on Substack. I've posted on here before and doing so again to share my 1-24 season predictions articles. https://jacobpowley.substack.com/p/2026-27-championship-predictions?r=23z423 https://jacobpowley.substack.com/p/2026-27-championship-predictions-b81?r=23z423 How are you feeling about the season ahead? Probably nice to be focussing on the football again rather than the drama. Please consider subscribing to the blog if you enjoy (it's free, this isn't one of those annoying adverts begging for money) Cheers Jacob

Happy Easter and congratulations on the Arsenal victory! I've written an article about how recent goalkeeping changes have affected the teams that were significantly underperforming/overperforming their expected goals statistics in the first half of the Championship season. Dropping it in this thread as Daniel Peretz features heavily. https://open.substack.com/pub/jacobpowley/p/the-xg-chickens-are-coming-home-to?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web Hope you enjoy it and please subscribe to the blog if you do - I usually write about the Championship with a bit of extra EFL stuff thrown in. Enjoy the rest of the cup run and fingers crossed it will mean a bit of rotation when my team (Ipswich) come down to St Mary's in a few weeks 😉

Sharing an article I've written suggesting a signing for each Championship club. Went for a striker for Saints after hearing the noises about a keeper coming in. Let me know what you think of the suggestion and whether beyond those two positions there will be much business. Hope you enjoy and if so, please feel free to subscribe to the blog for free. Championship Squad Surgery: Part Two - by Jacob Powley

Interesting... what are your main concerns with the team?

No problem, thanks for reading. How come you're less confident?

Hi everyone. I'm an Ipswich Town fan who likes to write about the EFL over on substack. I've written my two-part 1-24 predictions piece if you'd like to give it a read! Please subscribe (for free) if you enjoy! How are you feeling about the season ahead, fairly confident about bouncing back? Championship predictions: 1st-12th - by Jacob Powley Championship predictions: 13th-24th - by Jacob Powley

I've written a piece about the six smartest deals in the Championship so far, includes a bit about Downs. Championship transfers: the six smartest deals so far

What surprises me from my outside perspective (Ipswich fan) is that Martin has marketed himself as a process manager but has never stuck around anywhere long enough to see the project through. This season is his big chance as it's the first time he's had players with enough talent for him to deliver good possession stats and consistently win matches. With that in mind, you'd have thought he'd have focused on tightening up at the back a bit but the defending tonight was laughably poor and worse than anything I saw at Swansea, albeit from a small sample size. The tactical system is odd too. The whole point of inverting the full backs is to reduce the risk of being caught on the counter attack and yet the opposite has happened. Mavididi had the choice of two unmarked players to square it to when bearing down on goal, one on either side. I don't think I've ever seen that happen before. I know there have been injuries at CB but playing Charles there with a two man central midfield in front of him was incredibly naive. That team was crying out for a midfield destroyer to sit in, something which seems to be lacking in the squad. Downes can put himself about but is more of a box-to-box player. Even though Saints have a far superior squad and will probably finish above us come May, I'm fairly confident of us getting a result on Tuesday. Our pressing and counter attacking are very strong, two things which Martin's sides struggle with. I do hope he gets it right as despite being an ex-Norwich captain, I have always found him far more likeable than many of their ex-players. He needs to sort things out very quickly though as he's still struggling with the same tactical mistakes he was making two or three years ago.

I imagine you'll get good odds on Hull going up automatically!

I agree we won't be anywhere near third but I don't think us being second last season as a reason for that. There's no real correlation between where the promoted league one sides finish and how they do in the Championship. Last year they all finished in reverse order. I'm fairly confident in us being the best promoted team. Wednesday are an absolute basket case and Plymouth, despite being incredibly well run with a top manager, are coming into the season with virtually a whole new defence.

Having Sheffield Wednesday first up should be a big help on that front, as they're far less prepared for the new season. Should be an early win to build confidence. If that were to happen, could you see Martin getting the sack or would the owners stick with him?