The Championship Thread - 2023/24

[Fabrice29]

18 minutes ago, egg said:

If the FB's get high up the pitch and can make a difference,  then great. If they're mostly drifting in field and sitting it'll only benefit us if it frees up midfielders to join the attack if those midfielders can offer more as an attacking force than they can. It's interesting for sure, and my only concern is losing the attacking threat that attacking FB's bring. 

3 goals and 2 assists from our full backs in the PL last season (Perraud with both assists and 2 goals.) Really hope we don't lose that attacking threat.

[egg]

2 minutes ago, Fabrice29 said:

3 goals and 2 assists from our full backs in the PL last season (Perraud with both assists and 2 goals.) Really hope we don't lose that attacking threat.

That's a pointless stat - gow we performed under last season's managers in the PL is completely different to how we could perform in the championship under someone who hopefully knows what he's doing. 

[hypochondriac]

27 minutes ago, egg said:

If the FB's get high up the pitch and can make a difference,  then great. If they're mostly drifting in field and sitting it'll only benefit us if it frees up midfielders to join the attack if those midfielders can offer more as an attacking force than they can. It's interesting for sure, and my only concern is losing the attacking threat that attacking FB's bring. 

There's advantages and disadvantages to loads of formations and tactics. What we can say for definite is that last year despite the positives, the football was mostly awful and we stunk the place out. Far better to try something completely different even if we lose one of the only positive aspects which was the effectiveness of our attacking fullbacks. 

[egg]

2 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

There's advantages and disadvantages to loads of formations and tactics. What we can say for definite is that last year despite the positives, the football was mostly awful and we stunk the place out. Far better to try something completely different even if we lose one of the only positive aspects which was the effectiveness of our attacking fullbacks. 

The advantage I can see is the 8's having the licence to either get forward and/or pull wide to allow the wider men to get in the box. It allows fluidity for sure, and if we have one FB tucked in, then the other can stil get high up the pitch. Regardless, I'm looking to a season that won't be delivering the same crap as we've put up with for a long time. 

[Fabrice29]

24 minutes ago, egg said:

That's a pointless stat - gow we performed under last season's managers in the PL is completely different to how we could perform in the championship under someone who hopefully knows what he's doing. 

I'm just pointing out that our full backs aren't really attacking or particularly threatening. Apart from the one we didn't have last season and is going to leave. So maybe the guy who hopefully knows what he's doing might be right in moving them inside occasionally (and coincidently one of his full backs last season was quite threatening) 

Edited 23 July, 2023 by Fabrice29

[hypochondriac]

1 hour ago, egg said:

The advantage I can see is the 8's having the licence to either get forward and/or pull wide to allow the wider men to get in the box. It allows fluidity for sure, and if we have one FB tucked in, then the other can stil get high up the pitch. Regardless, I'm looking to a season that won't be delivering the same crap as we've put up with for a long time. 

Amem to that. The fullbacks can be entirely ineffective as far as I'm concerned as long as I'm entertained and we get some wins. 

[CSA96]

 

[Saint_clark]

1 hour ago, egg said:

The advantage I can see is the 8's having the licence to either get forward and/or pull wide to allow the wider men to get in the box. It allows fluidity for sure, and if we have one FB tucked in, then the other can stil get high up the pitch. Regardless, I'm looking to a season that won't be delivering the same crap as we've put up with for a long time. 

To be honest, the description i've heard from people of patient passing between centrebacks and midfield doesn't sound all that different to me. 

[coalman]

13 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

To be honest, the description i've heard from people of patient passing between centrebacks and midfield doesn't sound all that different to me. 

The tempo of passing was noticeably higher. In particular when we crossed the halfway line. More one touch football and less ponderous stopping and turning back.

[Saint_clark]

9 minutes ago, coalman said:

The tempo of passing was noticeably higher. In particular when we crossed the halfway line. More one touch football and less ponderous stopping and turning back.

Fair enough, I admit other than one half of the first game I haven't actually seen anything myself. 

[goodymatt]

Four Four Two magazine have us finishing 3rd. Hard to make predictions with a month or so left of the transfer window, but the season starts in 9 days…

[JustinR]

2 hours ago, goodymatt said:

Four Four Two magazine have us finishing 3rd. Hard to make predictions with a month or so left of the transfer window, but the season starts in 9 days…

Would you take that if offered now?

[goodymatt]

33 minutes ago, JustinR said:

Would you take that if offered now?

That’s a good question… right now with all the uncertainty around who will be here and learning a new system,  I think I probably would and hope the playoffs work out. Come the end of the window, we might be a bit more/less confident of a top 2 finish.

Would you take it, Justin?

[Pamplemousse]

QPR are certainties IMO, they've been in trouble for a while. Rotherham as well you'd imagine will go down, second season syndrome. I reckon Sheffield Wednesday as well, they haven't signed anyone and only just went up after the Peterborough miracle.

[Kenilworthy]

1 hour ago, JustinR said:

Would you take that if offered now?

Absolutely. I predict 6th after a very rocky start.

[JustinR]

54 minutes ago, goodymatt said:

That’s a good question… right now with all the uncertainty around who will be here and learning a new system,  I think I probably would and hope the playoffs work out. Come the end of the window, we might be a bit more/less confident of a top 2 finish.

Would you take it, Justin?

Good question Matt

Tough one isn't it. I'm not sure I would- not sure SR woudl either. I think we can get top 2

[goodymatt]

21 minutes ago, JustinR said:

Good question Matt

Tough one isn't it. I'm not sure I would- not sure SR woudl either. I think we can get top 2

Hope you’re right! 🤞

[Convict Colony]

Sheffield Weds not having a great preseason and they have Luton next.

 

[Golac's Cunning Stunts]

I know preseason friendlies don't mean too much but has anybody seen Bristol City scoring goals for fun?

Managed by Nigel Pearson so good luck to him

[woodsaint1]

9 hours ago, goodymatt said:

Four Four Two magazine have us finishing 3rd. Hard to make predictions with a month or so left of the transfer window, but the season starts in 9 days…

3rd seems about right for now, address GK, CB and striker options and I think we'll finish top two.

Wouldnt have Middlesboro finishing above us regardless. Carrick looks a great managerial prospect but I cant see Akpom hitting the same heights and Cameron Archer has gone back to Villa

[Golac's Cunning Stunts]

1 hour ago, woodsaint1 said:

3rd seems about right for now, address GK, CB and striker options and I think we'll finish top two.

Wouldnt have Middlesboro finishing above us regardless. Carrick looks a great managerial prospect but I cant see Akpom hitting the same heights and Cameron Archer has gone back to Villa

not sure how ipswich get 5th place either

[Smirking_Saint]

10 hours ago, goodymatt said:

Four Four Two magazine have us finishing 3rd. Hard to make predictions with a month or so left of the transfer window, but the season starts in 9 days…

Personally no, Ive said from the beginning it’ll be top 2, im confident 

[Dman]

23 hours ago, goodymatt said:

Four Four Two magazine have us finishing 3rd. Hard to make predictions with a month or so left of the transfer window, but the season starts in 9 days…

Same top 2 as I thought, originally had Leeds for 3rd but think they'll be a little lower now (unless they pull a few rabbits out the hat late on in the window). 

I think we'll finish about 6th. 

Difficult to be confident on anything though as Pre-Season has been a bit bitty for us, given we have so many players we've needed to give game time who'll unlikely feature at all next season. 

Millwall and Brum to be my surprise candidates this season. 

[Lighthouse]

12 hours ago, Smirking_Saint said:

Personally no, Ive said from the beginning it’ll be top 2, im confident 

I reckon we'll be about 5th. Start poorly with a side still lacking confidence from last year and come on stronger second half of the season.

[Turkish]

top or win the play offs. Im not interested in being runners up yet again.

[SNSUN]

3 hours ago, Lighthouse said:

I reckon we'll be about 5th. Start poorly with a side still lacking confidence from last year and come on stronger second half of the season.

I have us in the play offs. But differently to you, I actually think we start strong with the jewels we still have, then suffer a bit post the slamming shut of the window with a lot of ins and outs, then pick up our form through the season and finish strongly. I'd love to be top 2 of course I just think that with a week left to the start of the season there are still too many transfers to be done.

[SaintsFan86]

11 minutes ago, SNSUN said:

I have us in the play offs. But differently to you, I actually think we start strong with the jewels we still have, then suffer a bit post the slamming shut of the window with a lot of ins and outs, then pick up our form through the season and finish strongly. I'd love to be top 2 of course I just think that with a week left to the start of the season there are still too many transfers to be done.

Bazunu;
Tino, Bednarek, Stephens, Manning;
Charles, Smallbone;
Stuey, Alcaraz, Tella;

Arma.

 

Thats a 11 i feel confident in doing well and staying this summer.

[Badger]

31 minutes ago, SaintsFan86 said:

Bazunu;
Tino, Bednarek, Stephens, Manning;
Charles, Smallbone;
Stuey, Alcaraz, Tella;

Arma.

 

Thats a 11 i feel confident in doing well and staying this summer.

Some of the names certainly don’t inspire confidence in me. 
 

 

[goodymatt]

11 minutes ago, Badger said:

Some of the names certainly don’t inspire confidence in me. 
 

 

I think Bednarek should be a very good CB at this level, would prefer to play one of him/Stephens along side a new ball playing CB though. Bit too one paced for our high attacking line otherwise.

Smallbone has been great in pre season, think he will have ups and downs but will be much more useful than expected.

Edited 27 July, 2023 by goodymatt

[SaintsFan86]

3 minutes ago, Badger said:

Some of the names certainly don’t inspire confidence in me. 
 

 

Well fair enough, But for me they've all performed really well pre season. Especially Smallbone  

[Smirking_Saint]

1 hour ago, Badger said:

Some of the names certainly don’t inspire confidence in me. 
 

 

Bednarek will be one of the better CBs in the division

Smallbone has been our standout performer in preseason

Baz.. tbf… I thought would be ok but his pre season form is a definite worry

Not really sure what you see there

[Smirking_Saint]

2 hours ago, SaintsFan86 said:

Bazunu;
Tino, Bednarek, Stephens, Manning;
Charles, Smallbone;
Stuey, Alcaraz, Tella;

Arma.

 

Thats a 11 i feel confident in doing well and staying this summer.

Yeah I think so, if JWP or Sulemana stay it only improves on this… striking options worry me but I think we’re looking to do business there

I personally think we have, overall the strongest or atleast a top 2 squad in this division… time will tell if we can shake off last years mentality and adapt to Martins system 

[Saint86]

2 hours ago, Badger said:

Some of the names certainly don’t inspire confidence in me. 
 

 

The negativity about smallbone needs to stop tbh. Utterly misplaced. Will be an important player for us this season.

[saintlyjordan]

Is anyone daring to back any of our forwards in the top goal scorer market, I'd be miffed if Vardy gets it, Armstrong's season to shine!

https://www.bettingodds.com/news/championship-top-scorer-odds-2023-24

[Whitey Grandad]

1 hour ago, saintlyjordan said:

Is anyone daring to back any of our forwards in the top goal scorer market, I'd be miffed if Vardy gets it, Armstrong's season to shine!

https://www.bettingodds.com/news/championship-top-scorer-odds-2023-24

Vardy is 36. He turns 37 in January.

[CSA96]

 

[Saint86]

30 minutes ago, CSA96 said:

 

Good news for us as i suspect we'll have a lot of teams sitting deep and time wasting.

Also, sounds like we may see a few more red cards for penalties this season, although you don't tend to get too many pens for push/holding as a denial of a goal scoring opportunities so may be mitigated somewhat.

 

Edited 28 July, 2023 by Saint86

[Turkish]

A little trip down memory lane. This was our starting team that lost 9-0 v Leicester. All 5 defenders got relegated with their current clubs this season 🤣

Edited 28 July, 2023 by Turkish

[macca155]

23 hours ago, Turkish said:

A little trip down memory lane. This was our starting team that lost 9-0 v Leicester. All 5 defenders got relegated with their current clubs this season 🤣

What a cracking Stat love that.

What a terrible team as well

[revolution saint]

For anyone interested in football finance and the championship then you might be interested in the video below.  I found it fascinating and does show the extent to which parachute payments skew the league and how fucked the rest of the division is.  For those who don't have the time then basically it should be good news for us - two thirds of teams relegated will regain promotion whilst in receipt of payments and the rest of the league continues to live beyond their means chasing what looks like an almost impossible dream.

 

Edited 6 August, 2023 by revolution saint

[SuperSAINT]

 

[Fabrice Fernandes no.1 fan]

11 hours ago, SuperSAINT said:

 

Good signing that, will be very useful at this level

[S-Clarke]

Gnonto's head has gone.

 

"Following those conversations, Gnonto felt he was unable to play in Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup tie with Shrewsbury Town.

"Despite training for the last two days, Willy has informed Daniel Farke that he still does not feel able to play this weekend and has not travelled to Birmingham for the game tomorrow.

"This is now an internal disciplinary matter and the club will make no further comment, other than to reiterate that Willy is not for sale."

[whelk]

Fucking prima donnas. So disloyal. Have everything and can’t show respect to the team that helped give them that. Little cunt

[Lee On Solent Saint]

32 minutes ago, whelk said:

Fucking prima donnas. So disloyal. Have everything and can’t show respect to the team that helped give them that. Little cunt

Don't get all this head not in the right place to play. If they can't get out on the field to play the game that they are supposed to love its absolutely pathetic. 

[SNSUN]

1 hour ago, S-Clarke said:

Gnonto's head has gone.

 

"Following those conversations, Gnonto felt he was unable to play in Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup tie with Shrewsbury Town.

"Despite training for the last two days, Willy has informed Daniel Farke that he still does not feel able to play this weekend and has not travelled to Birmingham for the game tomorrow.

"This is now an internal disciplinary matter and the club will make no further comment, other than to reiterate that Willy is not for sale."

Willy for sale?

 

[CSA96]

Two more top players at this level leaving the league.

 

[LiberalCommunist]

I now feel less alone in the pilfering of players department. A small win. 

Hopefully Max Aarons was everyone's best friend, and the gaping hole he's left destroys their weekend. 

[Smirking_Saint]

7 hours ago, CSA96 said:

Two more top players at this level leaving the league.

 

If the three relegated teams this year aren’t there or there abouts then it’ll be an absolute travesty

[hypochondriac]

11 hours ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Don't get all this head not in the right place to play. If they can't get out on the field to play the game that they are supposed to love its absolutely pathetic. 

It's bollocks that's why. He just doesn't want to play for Leeds. Prick.