Championship

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S64 Blade

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I've seen a lot of comments about us being a ready made promotion side, once/should we go down. I'm not entirely convinced this is as much of a shoe-in as a lot of people seem to think it is.

We are likely to go down at a whimper and possibly on the lowest points total of all time. This coming after a season of glory, finishing way above expectations in 9th. The psychological impact this downward spiral can have should not be underestimated (see our other falls from grace across recent history). The side that brought us up will be 3 years old, with most of the key players which remain, over 30. Those players were on the crest of a wave of continuous improvement; much easier to motivate and build upon, then finishing with a terrible points tally.

The competition in the league below shouldn't be snuffed at either. Only 3 of Norwich, Watford, Bournemouth, Swansea, Brentford, Stoke, Middlesbrough, Bristol City etc. are going to replace us. Those who remain are likely to be up there yet again, building on the past season (like we did in 2018). Add to that the likelihood of Derby being back amongst it, as well as Forest and throw in the usual wildcard and it's not the 'easy' prospect that some seem to think it will be.

"Yes, but look at Norwich", I've heard/seen. Comparing us to Norwich is like chalk and cheese. Norwich pretty much planned to go straight back down. They were relegated whilst winning some plaudits for their attacking football (remember how much that annoyed us?) and kept hold of some great attacking players in Pukki, Cantwell and Buendia. As it stands, we do not have that. Norwich hadn't finished in the top half, the season before - as noted earlier, the psychological impact of a massive decline is huge. Finally, Norwich had been in the top flight, only a few years before their last stint. The infrastructure this brings is now only well too known - we aren't there yet.

Some fans may dislike the comparison, but if we go down, Huddersfield would be a better example to peg ourselves against. Overachieved in their first season and then went down at a whimper. Hadn't been in the top flight for a long time (admittedly, much a longer absence than us, but certainly no Norwich, Watford...).

So, what's my point? Well, my point is, is that we shouldn't be blaise about being relegated, thinking we will pick up where we left off in the Championship. These poor runs can't be turned around, just by dropping a division. Quite a few of our fans seem to think that the reset button will just be hit once the inevitable happens and sadly, this is unlikely to be the case.
 

I think the positives though are that the likes of Sharp and Leon up front have already been replaced by young strikers who have done it and done it very well at Champ level (McB and Brewster) plus Bogle and Lowe were very impressive at Derby. Add in JOC and the fact that Rammers is continuing to look like a decent keeper and likely to face much less able strikers in a division below, plus the CWAK effect and and a couple of decent signings with the parachute money/moving Berge on and things look quite promising to me.
 
I don’t think anyone is remotely thinking The Championship will be a walk in the park it’s a tough Saturday / Tuesday slog most probably in empty or reduced capacity stadiums.

As a side note it won’t be as easy to watch us next season, not all EFL games are shown live so it’s another outlay for ifollow just as people are losing their jobs or having reduced hours, although I suspect as a newly relegated club Sky will choose a number of our games early in the season for live transmission.
 
I think the positives though are that the likes of Sharp and Leon up front have already been replaced by young strikers who have done it and done it very well at Champ level (McB and Brewster) plus Bogle and Lowe were very impressive at Derby. Add in JOC and the fact that Rammers is continuing to look like a decent keeper and likely to face much less able strikers in a division below, plus the CWAK effect and and a couple of decent signings with the parachute money/moving Berge on and things look quite promising to me.
McBurnie and Brewster have had one good season, at best. They're not certs to be scoring every week, like Sharp was. Bogle still can't get into our side despite us being awful (though from what little we have seen, he should be) and Max Lowe looks dreadful (Derby fans didn't rate him, see Roy's View).

I'm not overly convinced that the "CWAK effect" can still be considered a thing. Why haven't we seen it for the last 6 months? Wilder and having money doesn't seem to be a good thing either, so again, I'm not sure that having it will do much good.
 
I think the positives though are that the likes of Sharp and Leon up front have already been replaced by young strikers who have done it and done it very well at Champ level (McB and Brewster) plus Bogle and Lowe were very impressive at Derby. Add in JOC and the fact that Rammers is continuing to look like a decent keeper and likely to face much less able strikers in a division below, plus the CWAK effect and and a couple of decent signings with the parachute money/moving Berge on and things look quite promising to me.
You had me there until you mentioned the McB word! 🤨
 
The club's history supports your argument. We have been relegated from the top league to the 2nd league 7 times. The quickest we got back was 3 seasons in the Currie era. The average return is about 7.5 seasons.

We have only bounced straight back from any relegation twice. Porterfield (div 4 to 3) and Bassett (Div 3 to 2).
 
McBurnie and Brewster have had one good season, at best. They're not certs to be scoring every week, like Sharp was. Bogle still can't get into our side despite us being awful (though from what little we have seen, he should be) and Max Lowe looks dreadful (Derby fans didn't rate him, see Roy's View).

I'm not overly convinced that the "CWAK effect" can still be considered a thing. Why haven't we seen it for the last 6 months? Wilder and having money doesn't seem to be a good thing either, so again, I'm not sure that having it will do much good.
McBurnie scored 9 in 17 games at Barnsley and was voted player of the season despite only being there the 2nd half of season, so how do you get 1 good season at best in the championship?
 
If we go down with a record liw ooints we're not likely to come back up. We'll have number of older or 'gone' players on contract so the ability to sign new ones will be limited. Arguably, we need to remain in the Championship until we sort out our youth development and scouting.
 
McBurnie scored 9 in 17 games at Barnsley and was voted player of the season despite only being there the 2nd half of season, so how do you get 1 good season at best in the championship?
1 and a half, apologies.
 
We have the makings of a decent championship squad. Whether these players stay or not remains to be seen.

GK Ramsdale at worst is decent championship keeper and showing signs of improvement

Rwb Baldock for his limitations gping forward is an accomplished championship player.
Lwb RND ia currently performing well on said league
Cb Egan is a PL centre half
Cb JOC is a PL centre half
Cb Basham is pretty unique in his position

Cm Berge for me would be head and shoulders above most championship players, assume we have more posession and an attacking threat and he will be very good.
CM x2 is where we have a massive gap and need strengthening massively, this was needed this season.

St Mcburnie has previous
St Brewster has previous (albeit limited sample size)

Not including Bogle, Mousset, McG, Lowe, Slater, Osborn as players who have done it championship, have potential or have shown glimpses in the Premier league.

Granted we need some squad churn for players not good enough or possibly past it (Sharp, Jags, Norwood, Lundstram, Fleck, Rodwell, Bryan, Moore, Stevens, Robinson)

Therein lies the issue, a small number of good players with a large degree om churn required. This was always the undercurrent Wilder was facing into, with the need to rebuild a squad whilst trying for survival.
 
We would need a series of PL loans to improve this squad next season.

This is a Huddersfield / Sunderland and not a Bournemouth, norwich or Watford situation. With the squad as it is - we aren’t gonna create anywhere near enough to challenge teams in the league below.

a big summer awaits us.
 
I agree with the OP totally.

That doesn't lead me to think about managerial change, just the potential lingering impact if this season continues in the same vein.

There is still the strong possibility that we should have the nucleus of a strong Championship squad. The question for me would be how much funds would be available to strengthen where needed from the parachute payments and can we bind a squad together with enough confidence and belief to bounce back after what will likely have been a draining experience for most of those left over from this season.
 
We would need a series of PL loans to improve this squad next season.

This is a Huddersfield / Sunderland and not a Bournemouth, norwich or Watford situation. With the squad as it is - we aren’t gonna create anywhere near enough to challenge teams in the league below.

a big summer awaits us.
I don’t think anyone is remotely thinking The Championship will be a walk in the park it’s a tough Saturday / Tuesday slog most probably in empty or reduced capacity stadiums.

As a side note it won’t be as easy to watch us next season, not all EFL games are shown live so it’s another outlay for ifollow just as people are losing their jobs or having reduced hours, although I suspect as a newly relegated club Sky will choose a number of our games early in the season for live transmission.
Yeah as much as it's annoying different KO times and channels....there is almost always a way to watch.

Of course next season if you have the means...money or find certain streams...you could still watch most of our EFL games but a lot will not.

Be like going back to the 80s under Porterfield/McEwan with crowds of less than 10k for most of next season....prob be 2k at first and may work up to a third by the end of the season.

A lot having to listen on the wireless! If only Bob Jackson was alive still...great man.

I think that is what makes it so shit. We are back to being a Champ team again and may get to a handful of games each season and unlikely to go to away games for ages.

The days of 25 to 30k crowds and us having season tickets and going every week may never happen again. How depressing is that? Let alone never having away days etc

Wilder and a lot of this much loved team may be long gone when crowds are possibly allowed again and certainly before we are regulars again.

It's rubbish.
 
"Comparing us to Norwich is like chalk and cheese. Norwich pretty much planned to go straight back down."


I think Wilder was very much aware that relegation was a possibility.
A manager who constantly claims his players are 'League 1 and Championship players' isn't deluded enough to expect them to stay at the top level for a prolonger period.

The reason the comparison is chalk and cheese is because Norwich are potentially 3/4/5 years in the future of what Wilder is looking to do.
Wilder has only just begun signing the younger players he needs, Norwich have been doing that for a few seasons, specifically since they were last relegated from this level.
 

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