Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

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SmudgetheClaret
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Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by SmudgetheClaret » Tue May 24, 2022 4:26 pm

Looking at the line up I’d say yes 😎 I’m now looking forward to it starting UTC

Beagle
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Re: Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by Beagle » Tue May 24, 2022 4:29 pm

At the very least I like the prospect of us, Rovers, PNE and Blackpool being in the same division for the first time in six decades. I’m starting to look forward to it, too. Time will tell if my optimism is horrendously misplaced or not!

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Re: Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by gandhisflipflop » Tue May 24, 2022 4:40 pm

Most exciting- possibly

Strongest? No

FCBurnley
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Re: Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by FCBurnley » Tue May 24, 2022 4:42 pm

So how do you think we will fare in the 6 games v Rovers PNE and Blackpool ?

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Re: Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by Vegas Claret » Tue May 24, 2022 4:43 pm

I hope it's the weakest ever and we are promoted by January 1st
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randomclaret2
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Re: Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by randomclaret2 » Tue May 24, 2022 4:46 pm

From what Ive seen of the Championship of late , the standard is lower than for some time and the gulf to.the Premier League is huge. Just look at Norwich's results over the last 4 seasons
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Re: Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by tiger76 » Tue May 24, 2022 4:50 pm

In a way it will be exciting for us as we've been away for so long, and roll on when the fixtures come out and we can start discussing football not finances.

Norwich will win the league I'm fairly confident about that, strong squad at that level, and in Dean Smith a guy who knows what it takes to achieve promotion from the Championship, but everything else is up for grabs as far as I can see, and if we keep a core, and add some astute signings in key areas there's no reason we can't be looking at coming 2nd.

ClaretAL
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Re: Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by ClaretAL » Tue May 24, 2022 4:51 pm

randomclaret2 wrote:
Tue May 24, 2022 4:46 pm
From what Ive seen of the Championship of late , the standard is lower than for some time and the gulf to.the Premier League is huge. Just look at Norwich's results over the last 4 seasons
Is that the same Norwich who beat us? :lol:

tiger76
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Re: Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by tiger76 » Tue May 24, 2022 4:52 pm

ClaretAL wrote:
Tue May 24, 2022 4:51 pm
Is that the same Norwich who beat us? :lol:
Yes they did, but they also finished 13 points below us for context.
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ElectroClaret
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Re: Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by ElectroClaret » Tue May 24, 2022 4:55 pm

Watched a fair bit of Championship footie this season and generally, the standard looked
pretty poor. I think people's expectations will be rather different than the reality.

Of course, our current squad looks like being decimated by financial necessity, so
our coat will have to be cut from a much-reduced amount and quality of cloth, and we too
will be of that standard.

Not particularly looking forward to it, tbh.

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Re: Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by Rowls » Tue May 24, 2022 5:07 pm

I'm with ElectroClaret.

Don't think there's much strength in the Championship these days.

Wouldn't surprise me to see the promoted teams (particularly Wigan & Sunderland) doing well and I expect us, Norwich and Watford will be somewhere near the top.

The fact the Forest went from virtually bottom to being the form team owing to a simple change of manager, the fact that weak teams like Blackburn and Cardiff mounted serious challenges to the play-offs ... it all points to a league low on quality tbh.

We need to get out of the division (in the right direct) at the first attempt or we're in potentially massive trouble financially.

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Re: Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by Beagle » Tue May 24, 2022 5:19 pm

FCBurnley wrote:
Tue May 24, 2022 4:42 pm
So how do you think we will fare in the 6 games v Rovers PNE and Blackpool ?
Well.

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Re: Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by GodIsADeeJay81 » Tue May 24, 2022 5:19 pm

I'd assume it will be a bit different from last time because the club's are now having to try and be financially sensible or risk points deductions like Derby etc.

This gives us a huge opportunity to get promoted at the first attempt.

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Re: Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by Colburn_Claret » Tue May 24, 2022 5:21 pm

I don't think it will be anywhere near as strong as our last 2 sojourns, so looking positively we should have a great chance of bouncing back.
There are so many imponderables between now and the season kicking off, that nothing is guaranteed

UTC

SalisburyClaret
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Re: Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by SalisburyClaret » Tue May 24, 2022 5:25 pm

The Championship is always strong - this year will be no different and the high number of derby games doesn’t work in our favour and we’re the big target in other games. It’ll be as tough as ever

evensteadiereddie
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Re: Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by evensteadiereddie » Tue May 24, 2022 5:28 pm

I'm looking forward to it. Should be a cracking season.

kentonclaret
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Re: Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by kentonclaret » Tue May 24, 2022 5:39 pm

If we are to have any chance of mounting a promotion challenge in the Championship we definitely need to score a lot more goals. Having been one of the lowest scoring teams in the PL note that the top 2 sides in the Championship turned out to be the 2 highest scoring teams.

Bosscat
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Re: Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by Bosscat » Tue May 24, 2022 5:48 pm

I think we should be OK ... but god help this board if it all goes Pete Tong 🙄

I cannot see us repeating 2013/14 and certainly not 2015/16 with the debt and trouble we find ourselves, but hey ho never say never 🙂 ...

Spijed
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Re: Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by Spijed » Tue May 24, 2022 5:57 pm

Here are the points totals for the last few seasons for 3rd, 7th & 22nd.

We only need to be bothered about 2nd, 6th or 21st.
Attachments
Stats.jpg
Stats.jpg (59.99 KiB) Viewed 1652 times

Milltown1882
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Re: Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by Milltown1882 » Tue May 24, 2022 6:26 pm

Bring it on. 75 has always been that benchmark for a playoff place.

We will have a target on our back as a relegated club though. Just hope we do a Fulham not a West Brom.

IWOODLOVETT
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Re: Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by IWOODLOVETT » Tue May 24, 2022 7:29 pm

Whereas Watford and Norwich will be regarded by most Championship clubs as “familiar foes”, Burnley will be seen as an (ex)“established Premier League” club and as such we will be a prize scalp.

So, apart from the local derbies, our games will be hard fought “cup finals” and will be likely to attract bigger than normal away crowds.

You could say that’s nothing new, because we have just come through a season of tough games, but the worry next year is the depth and quality of next year’s team and manager. Can we cope with November dogfights against the likes of Luton, Cardiff and QPR?

These will all be like cup matches and you know what our record is like for cup matches. Last time we bounced back we kept our squad together and had strong leaders on the pitch (Heaton/ Barton) and off the pitch (Dyche/Woan/Mercer).

Next season will be a whole new ball game in more ways than one. 🥺

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Re: Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by mybloodisclaret » Tue May 24, 2022 7:49 pm

Want more Championship goals... pick up the phone to Vyds now... yes it will be towards Christmas when he right but he will more than 20 when he is right.

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Re: Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by Rowls » Tue May 24, 2022 8:04 pm

All rests on a good, early managerial appointment.

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Re: Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by Vegas Claret » Tue May 24, 2022 8:10 pm

tiger76 wrote:
Tue May 24, 2022 4:50 pm
In a way it will be exciting for us as we've been away for so long, and roll on when the fixtures come out and we can start discussing football not finances.

Norwich will win the league I'm fairly confident about that, strong squad at that level, and in Dean Smith a guy who knows what it takes to achieve promotion from the Championship, but everything else is up for grabs as far as I can see, and if we keep a core, and add some astute signings in key areas there's no reason we can't be looking at coming 2nd.
their fans haven't taken to Smith at all. A bad start and he could easily be under huge pressure

jrgbfc
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Re: Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by jrgbfc » Tue May 24, 2022 8:11 pm

Has the standard really got worse or have we all just got used to watching Premier League football?

joey13
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Re: Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by joey13 » Tue May 24, 2022 8:13 pm

tiger76 wrote:
Tue May 24, 2022 4:50 pm
In a way it will be exciting for us as we've been away for so long, and roll on when the fixtures come out and we can start discussing football not finances.

Norwich will win the league I'm fairly confident about that, strong squad at that level, and in Dean Smith a guy who knows what it takes to achieve promotion from the Championship, but everything else is up for grabs as far as I can see, and if we keep a core, and add some astute signings in key areas there's no reason we can't be looking at coming 2nd.
Smith won through the play offs so hardly an expert

tiger76
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Re: Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by tiger76 » Tue May 24, 2022 8:20 pm

Vegas Claret wrote:
Tue May 24, 2022 8:10 pm
their fans haven't taken to Smith at all. A bad start and he could easily be under huge pressure
Surprised Norwich fans don't rate him, sure they finished rock bottom, but that was always on the cards anyway whoever was in charge, I know they had a lot of admiration for Farke, but he was plainly out of his depth in the PL, despite his fabulous Championship record, and just like us a change at the top was overdue.

The big advantage Norwich over most Championship clubs is they can get their business done early as their books are healthy, something which many other Championship sides don't have the luxury of including Burnley right now.

That's why I make them favs they're stable, and will be able to hoover up a lot of the better free agents around, as well as possibly being one of the few Championship clubs able to invest in the market, and their existing squad is tested at Champ level, so they won't have to do any radical moves, just some tweaking I suspect to build a strong challenge.

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Re: Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by Vegas Claret » Tue May 24, 2022 8:35 pm

tiger76 wrote:
Tue May 24, 2022 8:20 pm
Surprised Norwich fans don't rate him, sure they finished rock bottom, but that was always on the cards anyway whoever was in charge, I know they had a lot of admiration for Farke, but he was plainly out of his depth in the PL, despite his fabulous Championship record, and just like us a change at the top was overdue.

The big advantage Norwich over most Championship clubs is they can get their business done early as their books are healthy, something which many other Championship sides don't have the luxury of including Burnley right now.

That's why I make them favs they're stable, and will be able to hoover up a lot of the better free agents around, as well as possibly being one of the few Championship clubs able to invest in the market, and their existing squad is tested at Champ level, so they won't have to do any radical moves, just some tweaking I suspect to build a strong challenge.
I don't disagree - they call his style of play turgid - which after Farke is probably correct

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Re: Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by bfcjg » Wed May 25, 2022 8:36 am

I'd be more confident if we had some cash.

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Re: Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by Goddy » Wed May 25, 2022 9:09 am

Like Vegas Claret, I hope, for us, it's the most boring march back to the PL ever, and done and dusted by early 2023. Wishful thinking, I know........

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Re: Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by tiger76 » Wed May 25, 2022 9:22 am

bfcjg wrote:
Wed May 25, 2022 8:36 am
I'd be more confident if we had some cash.
True but very few Championship clubs are awash with cash, so in that sense it's a level playing field.

And it's worth recalling we had no cash in 13/14 either and were favourites for the drop, yet a few key free transfers, and a great team spirit along with the famed Vings partnership saw us storm to 2nd behind a rampant Leicester side.

To put the current standard of the Championship into context Luton came 5th, and our budget will dwarf theirs's even with the cost cutting measures we'll have to implement.

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Re: Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by spt_claret » Wed May 25, 2022 12:55 pm

I feel like our spell in the top flight has made people forget how tough and unpredictable the Championship is.

It's rare the 3 relegated teams all bounce back at once. Watford and Norwich will both be favourites to do it, given they just did last time and are likely to have more cash resources and better retention of their main squad. Whereas we will have minimal budget and a huge overhaul job between replacing OOC players/finding longterm replacements for any we retain (due to their age), and replacing key outgoings-of which we face between 2 & 5 (1-2 more including OOCs)
There's a big difference in starting position there and if we reserve 2/3 promotions for bounce backs, realistically we're needing Watford or Norwich to underperform. Coupled with aforementioned unpredictability of the division. There's a lot of Premier League teams who have been double relegated or sunk into the mire, usually the ones that, like us, drop after several years rather than regularly yo-yoing.

Not meaning to be negative but just what I view is a realistic assessment. I think we are more likely to be midtable than promotion chasers. I really hope I'm wrong but treating the Championship as a walk in the park is painfully naive. Anyone can beat anyone there.

onewillieirvine
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Re: Will this be one of the strongest and most exciting championship seasons ?

Post by onewillieirvine » Wed May 25, 2022 12:59 pm

It's certainly stronger with us in it, that's for sure.

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