The state of the Championship

[Block Y Seat 176 80]

52 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...

……let’s not forget the Season Ticket holders who stick with the club and form a solid financial base of support on which to grow from.

[dylanisabaddog 4,914]

4 minutes ago, Van wink said:

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

I haven't seen much Championship football apart from us this year but the little I have seen was as uninspiring as us. The only exception has been Burnley who played really well in the game I watched. 

The difference between us and the others at the moment is that we have individuals who can win games when we're not playing well. And we have a bench full of players who would walk into the vast majority of teams in the Championship. But in my view this team isn't as good as the ones that have been promoted in the past and that is a worry. It also illustrates how far the standard has fallen. 

[ncfcstar 290]

50 minutes ago, Nuff Said said:

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.

I think it's both, and covid has definitely played a big part in us getting to this situation.

There are definitely clubs in the league now who are not interested in playing football against teams who can, previously you might have a few of these towards the bottom of the table, but it now seems to be at least half of the league - I don't think you can blame finances entirely on that, there is nothing stopping a bottom half side actually trying to play football rather than just trying to 'stop' teams playing.

And then there has definitely been a shift in broad financial strategy at a lot of clubs, and that definitely benefits us as we'd already been running a 'sustainable' model for years and we also get that very important PL money now and again.  For years clubs have been living well beyond their means, and fans need to accept that that was definitely UNsustainable.  We should be proud that our club have got themselves into a position where we can be both sustainable and, relatively, successful.

[Daz Sparks 1,152]

From what I've seen of the games I've watched, (all the home games), we have well and truly outplayed the opposition. It seems the last 2 away games we haven't played that well, but have come back with points.

As to the quality of the champs, I'm sure we'll see plenty of unexpected reverses.

[SwearyCanary 1,179]

1 hour ago, splendidrush said:

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

Depends what part of the country you’re from and how close the word now is to the original meaning. Up north it’s become something that just innocently means ‘tired’ but the origin is aggressive **** penetration. Can see why the censors would rather be cautious on this one! 

[Graham Paddons Beard 2,431]

Let’s wait and see where we are when we have played anyone in the top 6 .Or even the top half of you ignore Hull. 

It’s very very early days . I would say we are unusually high for us even in our promotion seasons ? 

[pete 319]

Delia given some leeway by giving the rich yanks some encouragement to splash the cash.  Still looking forward to the day we say goodbye to the Smith/Jones and their imposing poor relations as successors.  Welcome Yanks and new ideas, thankfully only mildly minted and must appreciate the club they have decided to invest are not a Chelsea or Man C.

[shefcanary 2,397]

Reports from my mates at Bramall Lane last night were that the Blades were phenomenal, making Reading look very poor despite them having topped the Chumps already this season. Even their £20m + EPL failures (McBurnie FFS) are apparently now purring. They say they only fear us this season. When we play them in October we will then get a real good idea of where we are and how deep Chumps quality is.

[PockthorpePete 331]

4 hours ago, BroadstairsR said:

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.

Luck ? Because we stayed out of the casino, and didn't gamble. No it is having a club that has taken decisions that have ensured we remained competitive where it matters. How many below us bragged about 'giving t a real go'. I am sure there a a few on here who would love to now attack the club for lack of ambition, as we stagnate in the bottom of the Championship. No, it is down to excellent management, or judgement if you like. Not selling out to some foreign money launderer who promises the earth, Tan at Cardiff. 7000 there last night. L1 Derby/Weds. We cannot change how the PL is run or financed, but we can control how we are. I would suggest there are more than a dozen recently ex PL clubs fans who are looking at the table and thinking 'why can't we be Norwich ?'

[Michael Starr 519]

3 hours 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...

Top 26

[Petriix 2,834]

3 hours ago, Branston Pickle said:

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?  

No, I'm just fully aware of the range of clubs we'll be facing in this league and know that we haven't played any of the better sides yet.

Look at the project 538 predictions. We've played 6 of the bottom 9...

[The Raptor 1,206]

We can only beat who we play. At the moment we're doing that most weeks. Nothing to worry about 

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

On 31/08/2022 at 06:48, dylanisabaddog said:

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. 

We are 8 games into a Championship season, its September, and people are worried about what happens a year from now if we go up.

I can only assume that this is some sort of PTSD from getting tonked too many times last season. Do Norwich fans need collective theraphy?

Job this year is to H.M.S. P!ss the League and then we'll worry about what happens after that when/if we get there. Why worry about the distant future. Why can't we just enjoy winning games again!

 

Edited September 3, 2022 by TeemuVanBasten

[......and Smith must score. 1,342]

1 minute ago, TeemuVanBasten said:

We are 8 games into a Championship season, its September, and people are worried about what happens a year from now if we go up.

I can only assume that this is some sort of PTSD from getting tonked too many times last season. Do Norwich fans need collective theraphy?

Job this year is to H.M.S. P!ss the League and then we'll worry about what happens after that when/if we get there. Why worry about the distant future. Why can't we just enjoy winning games again!

 

Fair points TVB but the trauma of the last two PL seasons have left deep scars. 
 

Unless things change in the Boardroom a hat-trick of top table mullerings looks likely and holds little appeal

[Van wink 2,994]

It’s hard to erase our recent experience in the promised land from the memory, as we get towards the end of the season and if we are still at the top it’s bound to become an issue, but not yet surely?

[Nexus_Canary 1,016]

I was thinking earlier, rather than waiting for the top 5 big teams to sod off, maybe its time the others come together to do something about it and almost demand they are moved into a super league?
It would be interesting to see a protest where all clubs refused to play the big teams and just forfeited or walked off the field.

The problem is money is the key thing in football these days. So the only way to do this is to effect the money.
I dunno, but like the OP says, where will we be in 20 years and I am already thinking right so if we go up im just going to sell my ticket back for 90% of the games, disengage with football for a season (maybe watch some local Anglian Combination games) and then go back to Carrow road when we return to the champ.
Its miserable but im bored witless watching us get tonked by teams with no class and no soul who have had to buy half of their accolades.

[GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary 1,748]

39 minutes ago, ......and Smith must score. said:

Fair points TVB but the trauma of the last two PL seasons have left deep scars. 
 

Unless things change in the Boardroom a hat-trick of top table mullerings looks likely and holds little appeal

Anyone who saw us floundering around the championship between 1995-2001 without coming close to even the playoffs....or toiling around the bottom of the championship from 2006-2009 under the likes of Peter Grant,Roeder and Gunn before dropping to league one, won't get blase about the possibility of winning 3 consecutive championship titles quite yet..

[......and Smith must score. 1,342]

1 hour ago, GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary said:

Anyone who saw us floundering around the championship between 1995-2001 without coming close to even the playoffs....or toiling around the bottom of the championship from 2006-2009 under the likes of Peter Grant,Roeder and Gunn before dropping to league one, won't get blase about the possibility of winning 3 consecutive championship titles quite yet..

I’m certainly not blasé about what might happen this season as I remember only too well how bad it was back then. We looked like we’d never return to the PL but when we did finally return we made a darn sight better fist of it than we have recently.

I wasn’t implying that we will go up this time but if we do go up under the present regime at some point in the future the chances are it’ll be a third consecutive rinse and repeat unless we can find some serious money somewhere.

 

Edited September 3, 2022 by ......and Smith must score.

[corbs 147]

As I’ve posted before I enjoyed the era around 95, I was enthused by the up and coming internal talent coming through mixed with a few veterans. I think the Delia outers have gone quietly into hiding, temporarily; we’re doing well, we’ve brought in a new board member and we’re trying to progress without going bankrupt- most fans recognise this. 
In 95/96 Coventry finished 16th in the premiership, Man City were relegated. 

[glory.win or die. 270]

Most of the teams I see are strong,athletic,quick and hard working but lack quality

We have an abundance of quality at this level but then again I think we were top under Neil Adams at this stage before falling apart .I think we do still miss a CDM, someone to do the nasty ugly stuff but that's been true a while now, but hopefully gibbs/hayden can be back soon but it's disappointing that still hasn't been addressed properly, instead we took a gamble on an injured player and a young player playing beyond his years

[Ken Hairy 3,771]

43 minutes ago, corbs said:

I think the Delia outers have gone quietly into hiding, temporarily; we’re doing well, we’ve brought in a new board member 

You've answered your own question, people haven't gone hiding, it's simply that we are in what looks like the very early stages of a takeover.

I'm one who wants a change of ownership, I'm certainly not hiding that opinion, but am happy to see what the next couple of years brings us with the apparent change of direction at board level. 

[king canary 7,604]

I think people still underestimate the damage covid did the vast majority of Championship teams.

Championship total transfer spending suddenly went from £215m in 19/20 to £73m in 20/21, £80m in 21/22 and £79m this season and a sizable % of this reduced spending is driven by clubs like us with parachute payments. Of the £80m spent this season us and Burnley account for £34m of it. So it is no surprise that when the majority of the league has the purse strings tightened that teams with parachute payments are able to assemble squads much stronger than most.

[Creedence Clearwater Couto 1,271]

We’ve had a favourable start.

No way we’ll roll the likes of Sheff Utd, Burnley, Watford and West Brom over… and Reading, Bristol City, QPR, Blackburn are a level below but will still prove a sterner test than what we’ve had so far.

I think the competition is much harder than our last title win. 

[essex canary 495]

A division with many mediocre teams and only a handful of teams that could truly be in contention. I had some 8-1 when we were bottom. Got to be a good sporting gamble.

[PockthorpePete 331]

16 hours ago, ......and Smith must score. said:

 ......unless we can find some serious money somewhere.

And that is the myth being peddled. Somewhere someone/thing will hand over a half billion a season so we can compete with the top clubs. Global sales of shirts merchandise will rocket and City will move to 60,000 plus stadium. Whereas the real problem is that for too long the tail has been wagging the dog. The top PL clubs need us more than we need them.  Without participating in domestic competitions they would soon be stuck in a 'zombie' league. Much like having the same chart top ten in music. Only they take it in turns to be at No 1. Unfortunately any change would need to be Europe wide, as PL clubs would see any fairer distribution of money as handicapping them alone.

[Nexus_Canary 1,016]

13 minutes ago, PockthorpePete said:

And that is the myth being peddled. Somewhere someone/thing will hand over a half billion a season so we can compete with the top clubs. Global sales of shirts merchandise will rocket and City will move to 60,000 plus stadium. Whereas the real problem is that for too long the tail has been wagging the dog. The top PL clubs need us more than we need them.  Without participating in domestic competitions they would soon be stuck in a 'zombie' league. Much like having the same chart top ten in music. Only they take it in turns to be at No 1. Unfortunately any change would need to be Europe wide, as PL clubs would see any fairer distribution of money as handicapping them alone.

The same day that pigs fly and Wesley Hoolahan can use his right foot 

[TIL 1010 4,738]

Having watched Reading v Stoke this lunchtime what a state the Championship is with Reading right up there near the top.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

Maybe football in general is poorer. We have EPL clubs paying £60M for ordinary fullbacks. It seems to me that footballers aren't judged on ability but on their transfer price tag.

[1902 1,167]

Cantwell and Pukki came on as substitutes for us this season and in that one example you see why the championship is increasingly looking like the premier league in terms of predictability.

We may well be the ones to fall by the wayside, but you can bet that the two in the automatics will be in receipt of parachute payments just because their squads are so much stronger. In a 46 game season that really tells.

Does the mean we still have a fair few teams below that crop who can beat the biggest earners, sure. They probably can't maintain the consistency though unless they get an incredible run of virtually no injuries and have a strong enough bench to deal with the 5 players who will inevitably arrive in the 60' minute when the are 1 up but looking tired.

 

[shefcanary 2,397]

2 hours ago, king canary said:

I think people still underestimate the damage covid did the vast majority of Championship teams.

Championship total transfer spending suddenly went from £215m in 19/20 to £73m in 20/21, £80m in 21/22 and £79m this season and a sizable % of this reduced spending is driven by clubs like us with parachute payments. Of the £80m spent this season us and Burnley account for £34m of it. So it is no surprise that when the majority of the league has the purse strings tightened that teams with parachute payments are able to assemble squads much stronger than most.

Or you could say it is the law of supply and demand, Championship clubs were greedy pre-pandemic in the prices they charged EPL clubs, thus post-pandemic the EPL clubs have turned to cheaper sources or just gone for the best in Europe rather than risk Chumps players not performing.

Norwich have looked to the cheaper South American market this season and lots of other Chumps clubs have too! Indeed Brexit means Chumps clubs are having to source both new markets to sell their better players and to source new talent. This has deflated the transfer market as a whole, i agree there is less money about, but the origins of that are more complex than just blaming Covid.