Championship season 2025/26

[Football Special]

34 minutes ago, whelk said:

Turns out Lampard is a decent manager

22 goals already this season, look very good at the moment , scoring for fun 

[RedArmy]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Leicester City	8	7	0	1	14	5	9	21
2	Ipswich Town	8	7	0	1	17	10	7	21
3	Preston North End	8	6	2	0	13	6	7	20
4	Hull City	8	4	3	1	13	8	5	15
5	Sunderland	8	4	1	3	15	8	7	13
6	Leeds United	8	3	4	1	13	7	6	13
7	Cardiff City	8	4	1	3	14	12	2	13
8	Norwich City	8	4	1	3	17	16	1	13
9	Bristol City	8	3	3	2	9	7	2	12
10	Birmingham City	8	3	3	2	8	7	1	12
11	Millwall	8	3	2	3	7	8	-1	11
12	Plymouth Argyle	8	3	1	4	16	13	3	10
13	West Bromwich Albion	8	2	4	2	12	11	1	10
14	Blackburn Rovers	8	3	1	4	12	16	-4	10
15	Southampton	8	3	1	4	12	19	-7	10

 

Not sure if this will format correctly, but a comparison to the Championship table after 8 games in 23/24. Saints coincidentaly on 10 points. 11 points behind the top 2. 
 

Less ground to make up this time around. 
 

Also - 19 goals conceded  

Edited Wednesday at 20:50 by RedArmy

[Football Special]

2 minutes ago, OVER THE HILL said:

FT Skates 2 Watford 2

 Normal service resumed with us back above the Skates 

[Willo of Whiteley]

1 hour ago, RedArmy said:

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Leicester City	8	7	0	1	14	5	9	21
2	Ipswich Town	8	7	0	1	17	10	7	21
3	Preston North End	8	6	2	0	13	6	7	20
4	Hull City	8	4	3	1	13	8	5	15
5	Sunderland	8	4	1	3	15	8	7	13
6	Leeds United	8	3	4	1	13	7	6	13
7	Cardiff City	8	4	1	3	14	12	2	13
8	Norwich City	8	4	1	3	17	16	1	13
9	Bristol City	8	3	3	2	9	7	2	12
10	Birmingham City	8	3	3	2	8	7	1	12
11	Millwall	8	3	2	3	7	8	-1	11
12	Plymouth Argyle	8	3	1	4	16	13	3	10
13	West Bromwich Albion	8	2	4	2	12	11	1	10
14	Blackburn Rovers	8	3	1	4	12	16	-4	10
15	Southampton	8	3	1	4	12	19	-7	10

 

Not sure if this will format correctly, but a comparison to the Championship table after 8 games in 23/24. Saints coincidentaly on 10 points. 11 points behind the top 2. 
 

Less ground to make up this time around. 
 

Also - 19 goals conceded  

The Preston drop off was monumental, I remember when we played them around October/November time and that was a really iffy game

[woodsaint1]

3 hours ago, whelk said:

Turns out Lampard is a decent manager

His dismal PL record and failure to get a team promoted from the Championship on two attempts would suggest otherwise.

He has got Coventry playing well though

[AlexLaw76]

4 hours ago, woodsaint1 said:

His dismal PL record and failure to get a team promoted from the Championship on two attempts would suggest otherwise.

He has got Coventry playing well though

He has a 100% record in hitting the playoffs without parachute payments.

 

[Football Special]

6 hours ago, woodsaint1 said:

His dismal PL record and failure to get a team promoted from the Championship on two attempts would suggest otherwise.

He has got Coventry playing well though

I think goal difference is a good indication of how well Cov are doing, not scrappy wins but big scores, expect they'll beat Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend , massive feelgood factor there with the ground now back in their ownership,  big crowds etc 

Edited yesterday at 06:05 by Football Special

[RedArmy]

9 hours ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

The Preston drop off was monumental, I remember when we played them around October/November time and that was a really iffy game

Yeah hopefully that’s Stoke this year. 

[saintant]

Watched Coventry last night and they are easily the best side I've seen in the Championship this season. Unfortunately they are streets ahead of us so we'll need to continue the progress we're making to get even close to their level. The number of goals they're scoring tells its own story.

[whelk]

Bookies like Coventry’s chances, we have drifted out

[leesaint88]

1 hour ago, whelk said:

Bookies like Coventry’s chances, we have drifted out

Bookies still backing Ipswich too? They were really crap again midweek..

[Patrick Bateman]

1 hour ago, whelk said:

Bookies like Coventry’s chances, we have drifted out

12/1 ... NOW that is worth sticking £10 on. 

[SNSUN]

I watched the Norwich vs WBA game last night for my sins, WBA were very well organised and their GK was excellent, Griffiths. I know Ryan Mason has a lot to prove as a coach, but on paper, their team looks pretty decent, especially in attack. Charlie Taylor took a knock last night but I still think it's probable that they'll be in the promotion hunt if they, like us, can click long term.

Norwich on the other hand... no chance. Liam Manning is a Canaries fan but he has a big job on his hands there. They lack quality. 

[CSA96]

26 minutes ago, SNSUN said:

I watched the Norwich vs WBA game last night for my sins, WBA were very well organised and their GK was excellent, Griffiths. I know Ryan Mason has a lot to prove as a coach, but on paper, their team looks pretty decent, especially in attack. Charlie Taylor took a knock last night but I still think it's probable that they'll be in the promotion hunt if they, like us, can click long term.

Norwich on the other hand... no chance. Liam Manning is a Canaries fan but he has a big job on his hands there. They lack quality. 

Their fans are all over Manning already too. Lost five home games in a row for the first time in 123 years

They were up there amongst the biggest spenders in the summer, so their fans expected a lot more

Top 10 for money spent on new players (sourced on Transfermarkt)

Ipswich £51.6m
Southampton £48.8m
Wrexham £33.1m
Norwich £25.2m 
Middlesbrough £19.7m
Swansea £12.8m
West Brom £13m
Birmingham £12.5m 
Charlton £10.1m
Blackburn £8.6m

Edited 23 hours ago by CSA96

[gurru991]

14 hours ago, woodsaint1 said:

His dismal PL record and failure to get a team promoted from the Championship on two attempts would suggest otherwise.

He has got Coventry playing well though

So Russell Martin got Southampton promoted but Frank Lampard failed with Derby County & Coventry. Does that mean that Martin is a better manager than Lampard or were Southampton a better team than Derby & Coventry.

It can be difficult to judge managers using league position as a determining factor.

[Football Special]

5 hours ago, whelk said:

Bookies like Coventry’s chances, we have drifted out

I'm surprised to see Leicester not higher on that list as well 

[Saint_clark]

14 hours ago, woodsaint1 said:

His dismal PL record and failure to get a team promoted from the Championship on two attempts would suggest otherwise.

He has got Coventry playing well though

Lack of instant success doesn't mean someone will never be a good manager. Lampard had a fantastic awareness when playing and I had a feeling he'd be a good manager eventually. He'll go back to Chelsea one day and win things with them for sure.

[Sheaf Saint]

27 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

Lack of instant success doesn't mean someone will never be a good manager. Lampard had a fantastic awareness when playing and I had a feeling he'd be a good manager eventually. He'll go back to Chelsea one day and win things with them for sure.

For some reason I read that last sentence in Saggychops' voice in my head.

[spyinthesky]

37 minutes ago, Football Special said:

I'm surprised to see Leicester not higher on that list as well 

Perhaps there is the chance of a points deduction that has been priced in

 

[Eric The Red]

5 hours ago, whelk said:

Bookies like Coventry’s chances, we have drifted out

The bookies must have taken a fe big bets on Ipswich for them to be favourites from what we've seen on the pitch. I would certainly make Coventry favourite based on performances to date. 

I think it's still too early to be confident of what teams will be promoted but I gather we are about 3-1 to get promoted which seems pretty good odds.

[leesaint88]

31 minutes ago, spyinthesky said:

Perhaps there is the chance of a points deduction that has been priced in

 

Seems like it. There is also an outside chance they could get hit twice too..

[gurru991]

1 hour ago, Football Special said:

I'm surprised to see Leicester not higher on that list as well 

The bookies know what they are doing. Leicester really don't look good enough at the moment. I also think there will be a points deduction at some point & the bookies are factoring that in.

[gurru991]

2 minutes ago, leesaint88 said:

Seems like it. There is also an outside chance they could get hit twice too..

My understanding is there are three separate charges.

[woodsaint1]

4 hours ago, gurru991 said:

So Russell Martin got Southampton promoted but Frank Lampard failed with Derby County & Coventry. Does that mean that Martin is a better manager than Lampard or were Southampton a better team than Derby & Coventry.

It can be difficult to judge managers using league position as a determining factor.

Well managers are usually judged on success....

[AlexLaw76]

1 minute ago, woodsaint1 said:

Well managers are usually judged on success....

Success is subjective. Koeman was a brilliant manager for saints, but won as much as Ian Branfoot did. 
 

who would you say was the better manager for us?

 

 

[woodsaint1]

6 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Success is subjective. Koeman was a brilliant manager for saints, but won as much as Ian Branfoot did. 
 

who would you say was the better manager for us?

 

 

Im not sure if this is serious or not...

I said success, not won something. At the end of the day we have won one proper trophy in our history.

Koeman was the better manager - he led us to a 7th and a 6th place in the PL and got us into Europe. Thats success for a club like ours. What success did Branfoot have?

[AlexLaw76]

Just now, woodsaint1 said:

Im not sure if this is serious or not...

I said success, not won something. At the end of the day we have won one proper trophy in our history.

Koeman was the better manager - he led us to a 7th and a 6th place in the PL and got us into Europe. Thats success for a club like ours. What success did Branfoot have?

Kept Saints up and got to a cup final?

[gurru991]

13 minutes ago, woodsaint1 said:

Well managers are usually judged on success....

Not by everybody ... For a lot of us our judgement of a manager is based on how good a job they've done with the assets they have.