The state of the Championship

[dylanisabaddog 6,147]

It's good to see us second particularly after more injuries but it doesn't say much for the Championship does it? I doubt there is anyone out there who thinks we have played well so far but the opposition has been dire. This league seems to get a little worse every time we come back. I do hope that we get better as the season progresses but at the moment we've managed to get to 2nd with lots of injuries and having not played well. 

That's the state of our game today. If clubs the size of Villa and Leeds struggle to survive in the Premier League I really don't see that we're ever going to manage it. 

The only way I can see it changing is if the richest 7 or 8 leave to join a European League. If that doesn't happen where will we be in 20 years? 

Sorry to sound so miserable but if the reward for success in the Championship is getting hammered out of sight for a whole season then I struggle to see the point. 

Sorry to start the day on such a negative note but that's my rant over! 

[Rivvo 265]

I understand your point, I guess we’re just hoping that we can get promoted and do ‘a Palace’ not a very inspiring ambition I know. With the potential of the US investors this could be more likely though within the next couple of seasons.

[cambridgeshire canary 7,798]

I mean much as I'm obviously happy to win and the Championship is enjoyable think most would agree that if we played like we did against Sunderland and Birmingham n the Prem we would get battered

[Rivvo 265]

1 minute ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

I mean much as I'm obviously happy to win and the Championship is enjoyable think most would agree that if we played like we did against Sunderland and Birmingham n the Prem we would get battered

Unfortunately we did and we did.

[Ken Hairy 4,272]

15 minutes ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

I mean much as I'm obviously happy to win and the Championship is enjoyable think most would agree that if we played like we did against Sunderland and Birmingham n the Prem we would get battered

But but but but surely not with your genius mate Dean Smith at the helm???

Edited August 31, 2022 by Ken Hairy
Put mare instead of mate, although I might have been correct the first time

[cambridgeshire canary 7,798]

1 minute ago, Ken Hairy said:

But but but but surely not with your genius mate Dean Smith at the helm???

Since when have I called him a genius? 😂

[Ken Hairy 4,272]

1 minute ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

Since when have I called him a genius? 😂

Best thing since sliced bread you'd have us believe....... Despite forgetting you wanted him out after Wigan or Hull😉

[astro 423]

15 minutes ago, Ken Hairy said:

But but but but surely not with your genius mate Dean Smith at the helm???

You know cc blows with whatever wind is going to get them the most attention! 

[BroadstairsR 2,273]

Looking at the top of the Chumps, it is not difficult to make comparisons with the Premier League, in as much as there seems to be a given elite who already seem to have it sown up between them.

The top four are all 'parachute' clubs with fairly recent Premier League experience, and I don't really expect either WBA or Stoke to be dragging their heels for much longer.

It's fine if you support a club with these benefits but, after following the recent links on here to the Birmingham forum, it must be pretty dispiriting if you follow a club devoid of them.

The resignation evident in the  Brum support towards failure was stark. This is a fairly big club, a second city club, yet their support to the man heralded a run-of-the-mill, even a tonking,  defeat in their various forecasts for last night's game. 

The complete lack of anything to be positive about was reflected in the fact that there were only 14, 000 odd home supporters at the match last night, from a catchment of a million or so.

Yet, we are told that anybody can beat anybody in this league.

Yet, we are told that, even in the Championship, NCFC are paupers.

Somewhere along the line, whether by luck or judgement or a combination of both, we seem to have struck gold. A streak to enjoy whilst we can.

Perhaps it's in the water. In Lambert, Neil, Farke and now, hopefully Dean Smith, we have come up with a consistent flow of managers capable of getting us promoted at least. ITFC, our nearest rival, is now on its fourth manger, trying to get out of League One.

I wouldn't complain if we were guaranteed yo-yoing for the next decade. Long live the parachutes, s-d the critics. Best of both for the Canaries. 

Of course, if I were a Birmingham City supporter, I would feel the opposite and be full of defeatism and resentment. Already they seem to have so little to look forward to this season, other than perhaps a fight against relegation. You get the impression that many of them would die even for a sniff of a play-off place.

The Chumps is a quicksand. The longer you are in it, the greater chance of becoming ordinary. The view that we should aspire to an existence amongst the ordinary is bizarre.   

 

Edited August 31, 2022 by BroadstairsR

[Hand of Theo 25]

I know it's a long season (and this may very well come back to bite me in the backside come May) but it's pretty ominous already for the rest of the league when you look at the Top 4 after 7 games - the 3 who were relegated last season, and a team who were relegated the season before after spending a fortune in the Prem

[Petriix 3,219]

We've only played one top-half team so far, and we've hardly been convincing. I'd reserve judgement until we've faced some of the tougher challenges.

[Capt. Pants 5,013]

I have remarked several times on matchday threads about the standard of this league, it is simply appalling. That first half last night was mind numbing.

Parachute payments have been around for a while now so they're are not the whole reason and I just don't understand why the league has got so bad so quickly. Extraneous circumstances such as Covid has hit club finances I suppose.

There were some on here who couldn't wait to get back to the Championship. Be very careful what you wish for!

[canarydan23 4,762]

18 minutes ago, Petriix said:

We've only played one top-half team so far, and we've hardly been convincing. I'd reserve judgement until we've faced some of the tougher challenges.

Exactly, we're not going to beat, or finish higher than, half of dozen teams if we play like we have done so far.

[Yellow Wal 315]

Surely it's obvious.

If Norwich lose they were useless and if they win the opposition were useless. 

[GodlyOtsemobor 2,830]

This is why when we go up we realize the gap between the two leagues is forever growing, alot of people are stuck with thinking the champs is a tough league full of former PL teams etc etc. 

The reason why the champs is tough is because it's full of anti-football teams, teams who just want to batter and defend their way to points, the quality isn't there outside the usual suspects (us, Fulham, Watford etc.) And maybe one or two up and coming players who then get pinched by sides higher up.  

This is why the last couple games have been so scrappy, we get dragged into playing the game the oppo want to play. 

The gap is only going to get worse and worse as time goes by and for all the other fans who blame us "parachute teams" I'd argue it's more down to the big clubs taking all the talent, hoarding them in the reserves and/or loaning them out to Europe.

[Ulfotto 800]

The standard of the championship is declining year on year. It will not become long before only the parachute teams actually pay transfer fees.

The big difference between the championship is that if you can dominate possession in the championship teams get tired and will give up chances late in games. No one gets tired in the premier league.

That said unlike the premier league it is possible to have success as a smaller team Luton we’re in the playoffs last year. We were preparing for life without parachute payments when we appointed Farke but he somehow turned it around.

[Robert N. LiM 6,297]

Just goes to show how well Delia and Michael, and Stuart Webber, have done, to establish us as an elite club in this league, doesn't it? At least that's something we can all agree on...

[splendidrush 720]

As I've said before,  it's no longer a Sport, it's a business. Abramovic bought Chelsea and he's a Spurs fan apparently, West Ham are bankrolled by some Czech bloke who owns Sparta Prague, the list goes on. 

So when we stretch our budget to buy Sargent for 8 mill or so and he's up against 40/50 players of course were going to struggle. 

I've been saying for years that a European Super League is the future,  just because they backed down last time, you can bet they're still talking to each other..... it's all about the money after all. 

..... once they've ****ed off (and good riddance) we can have our ball back.

[splendidrush 720]

Is b u g g e r e d such a bad word?

[Nuff Said 5,965]

Is it the state of the Championship though or is it football more broadly? Clubs in general appear to be run more sensibly, in that owners don’t come in and splash the cash, throwing their weight around for instant success but instead aim to do something along the lines of our infamous model. I’ve lost count of the number of owners, chief execs and sporting directors who I’ve seen talking about investing in youth and spending sensibly. 
 

What you’re seeing is the clubs with more resources are the ones who are floating to the top of the league they’re in. Even Ipswich appear to have finally cracked this.

[Walcombe canary 82]

There are bigger Tests ahead in this League. Still to be convinced if we are to succeed this season. We need certain players back for 2 positions.LB & CM. 

Do I want promotion ?

[cambridgeshire canary 7,798]

18 minutes ago, Robert N. LiM said:

Just goes to show how well Delia and Michael, and Stuart Webber, have done, to establish us as an elite club in this league, doesn't it? At least that's something we can all agree on...

Strange how quiet the Delia out brigade has been this season mind..

[hogesar 10,765]

The top of the Championship has some genuine quality, there's been some good player retention from Championship clubs at the top-end.

But as me, the OP and probably several others pointed out, the Championship in general is devoid of quality and that midtable area is worse than it has been previously, at least partially down to Covid.

[Ward 3 484]

Can only play whats on the field in front of you....

[Branston Pickle 4,150]

1 hour ago, Petriix said:

We've only played one top-half team so far, and we've hardly been convincing. I'd reserve judgement until we've faced some of the tougher challenges.

Wow - you know where everyone is going to finish, do you?  Imo we’ve probably all played a mixture of sides - for example Huddersfield were 3rd last year, Millwall top half, I think Sunderland will be top half (a guy on the train up insisted they’d finish in the play offs!).

Edit: I don’t think the quality is astonishing, we’ve barely got going, but it seems a league where everyone can beat each other - isn’t that kind-of how it ought to be?  

Edited August 31, 2022 by Branston Pickle

[Newtopia 573]

As a fan the Championship is more fun, we play more often and have a better chance of winning. 

The gap between the prem and the championship is huge, the only way of staying up is to spend like Forest, which is either done by pre spending the future parachute payments or having an owner who simply gifts the cash to the Club.

With respect to the european superleague or top 6 heading to a new world wide venture, if that did happen how long before the next tier of clubs want to do the same or siphon off more cash for themselves.

[Ken Hairy 4,272]

24 minutes ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

Strange how quiet the Delia out brigade has been this season mind..

Possibly something to do with the fact the beginnings of a takeover process are already in place. 

Sometimes I think you get far too much stick on here, your multiple topics don't bother me at all, but then you post nonsense like this. 

Edited August 31, 2022 by Ken Hairy

[Van wink 2,994]

The table is maybe beginning to settle a little bit,  will be interesting to see how we get on against others in the top six

[king canary 8,757]

Said on the match thread, it isn't a good league and combine that with the fact the world cup is causing games to come thick and fast and teams with quality in depth will win out. The players we're all keen to see benched after last night like Dowell and Sinani walk into the first team of 17 or 18 other clubs at this level. Our backups are starters for most teams so if we suffer injuries or need to rotate due to fatigue we're far better positioned than most teams who'd either have to play untested youngsters of players who'd be more at home in League One.

[dylanisabaddog 6,147]

47 minutes ago, splendidrush said:

Is b u g g e r e d such a bad word?

I think it depends on whether you were on the receiving end 🙄