Competitive league or Poor league?

[Kev Gee]

As mentioned I couldn't care less about the quality of the league.

The rest could be as good as Sunday league as long as we keep picking up points.

 

[Tezza1889]

I see somebody took the bait finally, this weakest league ever mantra is a set up from the pigs in case we get chased down and pipped to the post.

The reality is this, they're trying to make the achievement lesser by downgrading the quality of a league above them, the promotion to a Premier league they haven't played in in two generations would be bracketed as a lesser achievement in thier eyes, it's a great idea if you forget that whithin your own team you don't have one player capable of performing at this "poorer" level..

Don't fall for it, they might (if they don't blow it again) see for themselves how "poor" this division is next season when thier team of shit players with thier shit manager get relegated straight back out of it..

 

[Berkshire Blade]

I see somebody took the bait finally, this weakest league ever mantra is a set up from the pigs in case we get chased down and pipped to the post.

It's something I have debated myself without any help from that lot. Partly because due to injury and schedule in the first half of the season it's not felt like we have been at our best for any prolonged stage yet are still well ahead at this stage.

Hardly any midweek games until April as it stands right now. I think the next few months will see how good we really are.

 

[Tezza1889]

It's something I have debated myself without any help from that lot. Partly because due to injury and schedule in the first half of the season it's not felt like we have been at our best for any prolonged stage yet are still well ahead at this stage.

Hardly any midweek games until April as it stands right now. I think the next few months will see how good we really are.

Well it's all I'm hearing from them, they're all on the same page..

It's about downplaying any achievement, I unfortunately socialise with a lot of them, they're incredibly blinkered to the lack of quality in thier own team whilst judging the standard of a league above..

Tell you what though... We always have a poor run, like last season, we repeat that we won't look so comfy.. So I'm not counting my chickens, I never do.

This division can bite us on the arse at any time if the players loose focus, so in answer it's a tough division, we've just started well this season, and have kept focus... But... Long, long way to go!

 

[bonobo]

A very strong 24th and a very weak 3rd

 

[Frank the tank]

I dont care what they think and i dont think its downplaying our achievement either
Ive just rewatched our mid season review and its an absoloute horror show of injury ridden games where we somehow kept pace with the top two putting out makeshift teams of half fit players and out of position players and players playing every minute

Weve somehow achieved that had a break got a few players back and are now storming away from the pack even though we are still borderline with players being wrapped in cotton wool and having to be rotated

Just think what our first eleven could do in this league
We smashed the leaders 5-2 with half a team out

Touch wood we have a bit more luck with team selection and i think we cruise this but i think the management and players deserve enormous credit for what they achieved in those barren months when we struggled to put a team out

 

[ancientblade]

wednesday are not even a good side in a piss poor pub league only been 3 teams in it all season and make no mistake their looking over their shoulders at barnsley and derby who are both coming at the top 3 strongly what a sickener it would be for them if we went up and they didnt

 

[Mag-83]

Norwich and Watford were expected to be up there but have not been consistent at all. Ourselves and Burnley have been. It is not a poor league at all - Wednesday fans will be saying that it is because we are doing so well. It will be killing them to see us on course for a third promotion to the top flight in the 23 years they have been out of it and currently rotting in the third tier.

 

[Sheffsteel]

I sometimes ask the guys on the Kop how this current team compares with the Wilder team.
They all say as a team, the Wilder promotion team were definitely better, however this team has better individuals.

We also talk about the general standard in this league
and again we all agree that the standard definitely seems lower now compared to the Wilder promotion season.

However a factor that I think is important relates to expectation.
When we had the Wilder team our fans had just witnessed 6 years of terrible league 1 football.
So when we returned to the Championship, the standard seemed really high, the football seemed great with several good teams.

More recently we've played in the PL and adjusted to the higher standards.
When we first played in the Championship last season I was initially shocked as how low the standard was....in the Championship.
Last season I thought it was the lowest standard I'd seen but that's only because my expectations were very high, hence the dissappointment.

The investment in the PL suggests it's improving all the time, so logic suggests there'll be a drip down effect and all the EFL leagues are also improving.
This season I've not been impressed with the supposed "better teams" but I've been reasonable impressed with the supposed "crap" teams.

 

[Snowflake]

Can't it be both?

Yes ! It is.

 

[SRA76]

It’s a shocking championship. It’s dire. Im
Currently watching 3rd place blackburn and it’s abysmal at best. Anybody trying to play it up are as deluded as pigs telling us they are still massive. From start of season with our squad we were a absolute shoe in for playoffs at the very least with the standard of this championship and so it’s proved. Its wank. End of

 

[Westran]

It’s a shocking championship. It’s dire. Im
Currently watching 3rd place blackburn and it’s abysmal at best. Anybody trying to play it up are as deluded as pigs telling us they are still massive. From start of season with our squad we were a absolute shoe in for playoffs at the very least with the standard of this championship and so it’s proved. Its wank. End of

So you've told us, nearly every one of your posts is about how this division is poor this year.

 

[Berkshire Blade]

It’s a shocking championship. It’s dire. Im
Currently watching 3rd place blackburn and it’s abysmal at best. Anybody trying to play it up are as deluded as pigs telling us they are still massive. From start of season with our squad we were a absolute shoe in for playoffs at the very least with the standard of this championship and so it’s proved. Its wank. End of

Not sure it's that much different to usual. I rarely watch non blades championship games outside the play offs

 

[SRA76]

So you've told us, nearly every one of your posts is about how this division is poor this year.

Been proved correct aswel might I add . Fuck no’s why it bothers people if it’s quality or shit. What matters is we take advantage which we are doing and will go up. But we really need to spend and spend big to stay there

 

[BushBlade]

Not sure it's that much different to usual. I rarely watch non blades championship games outside the play offs

There have been some poor games to watch but mainly because there isn’t much difference in the teams so they tend to cancel each other out. In 9 out of 10 games, a championship club would batter a L1 club in a meaningful game. You don’t judge quality by how attractive a game is, it’s about the pace, touch and passing, which is of a higher standard than the majority of L1 players can cope with.

 

[SRA76]

Not sure it's that much different to usual. I rarely watch non blades championship games outside the play offs

I do. I watch nothing but football when I’m in. Spurs villa now. Blackburn Cardiff was atrocious

 

[Westran]

Been proved correct aswel might I add . Fuck no’s why it bothers people if it’s quality or shit. What matters is we take advantage which we are doing and will go up. But we really need to spend and spend big to stay there

Spending is important, but within sensible boundaries. Overspending gets you where the pigs are if it goes wrong.

 

[SRA76]

There have been some poor games to watch but mainly because there isn’t much difference in the teams so they tend to cancel each other out. In 9 out of 10 games, a championship club would batter a L1 club in a meaningful game. You don’t judge quality by how attractive a game is, it’s about the pace, touch and passing, which is of a higher standard than the majority of L1 players can cope with.

I personally think plymouth and ipswich would both hold their own comfortable in championship. From what I’ve seen of wendy they look slow and boring and they wouldn’t stay in championship with that same team imo

 

[BushBlade]

I personally think plymouth and ipswich would both hold their own comfortable in championship. From what I’ve seen of wendy they look slow and boring and they wouldn’t stay in championship with that same team imo

Only seen them once this season, against each other. Decent game tbf and yeah, I think they’d both have a good chance of staying up. I wouldn’t judge the quality of the league based solely on the top two though.

 

[Westran]

While ever teams like Lackburn are picking points up like that, we'll be fine, absolutely terrible game. Sunderland are the only ones we have to worry about imo

Edit: *Blackburn (freudian slip)

 

[Silent Blade]

The pitch at the Lane is a lot better than the one at Ewood Park

 

[Northernsoulblade]

I reckon it’s a great league and I for one is lovin it

 

[Bladeloyal]

The championship is no stronger or any weaker than it's always been .

 

[SRA76]

Only seen them once this season, against each other. Decent game tbf and yeah, I think they’d both have a good chance of staying up. I wouldn’t judge the quality of the league based solely on the top two though

The championship is no stronger or any weaker than it's always been .

So your telling me when we went up last time we weren’t a better side (by a distance) than now , and the championship wasn’t a lot tougher than it is now ?

 

[Bladeloyal]

So your telling me when we went up last time we weren’t a better side (by a distance) than now , and the championship wasn’t a lot tougher than it is now ?

Correct

 

[Sheffsteel]

So your telling me when we went up last time we weren’t a better side (by a distance) than now , and the championship wasn’t a lot tougher than it is now ?

The Wilder "team" were better playing as a well oiled unit but the individual players in this team are far higher quality than the Wilder team (no comparison).
In the Wilder team most goals were well worked team goals, rarely was there any pieces of individual skill (apart from occasionally Duffy).
This team can be playing average or even crap, then we have N'Diaye, Berge, McAtee, Bogle who can create and score a goal from nothing, thats the difference.

Also judging the Championship is all relative.
When we had the Wilder team we'd all been used to seeing 6 years of league 1 football, so our benchmark for judging good football was very low.

I remember that 1st home game in the Championship when we played Brentford, they looked a fantastic side. nothing like we'd ever seen in league 1 and they had that Spanish player Jota who looked top quality. In those early games just about every team in the Championship looked good..

Compare this to watching us play in the PL for 2 seasons, after relegation our 1st home game last season was against Huddersfield and I couldn't believe how poor they were. They actually beat us but I was convinced they'd be relegated, however incredibly they reached the play-offs.
Teams in the Championship and league 1 still look really poor to me but thats only because my benchmark of a good team is now PL level.

 

[vas borbokis]

I reckon the fact teams near the bottom keep making it difficult for us means it is a league with strong depth. There are no pushovers.
Wilder's promotion team destroyed teams in the bottom half. "Flat track bullies" was a phrase used to describe us.
This league really has strength in depth.

 

[stevewall]

It's easy to say it isn't as strong as previous but it's not easy to judge , I just think yourself and Burnley have a clear edge over the rest leaving 22 sides of similar ability for the most part cancelling each other out , there will be a side emerging from the pack that may close the gap but they aren't going to get near the top 2 to worry them , the fact that Norwich and Watford are struggling to make an impression is a sign of how competitive the league really is , and it would be no surprise to see neither of them make the play offs , middlesbro look the most likely to take the 3rd spot and though a realist when it comes to millwall think we will take a play off place , we are always a better 2nd half of the season team , , so if I were a blades fan I'd relax your going up and you'll deserve to as well , and hope you do well , ,and if your coming down for the cup game have a safe journey and a good day out

 

[1889]

It really doesn’t matter if it‘s a strong or weak Championship, the only thing of any importance is, top two teams go up.

Let’s just make sure we’re one of em!

 

[Yellarbellyblade]

BB has some views on the strength or otherwise