Is the Championship now more interesting than the Premiership

[YES Blade]

The predictable league is The Premier League.............it has become boring,i can tell you now and you could too who will win it and who the top six will be.

The Un Predictable league is The Championship..........it is exciting,you cannot predict who will win it nor can you say who the top six will be.

Wasn't Newcastle winning the championship pretty predictable as well?

Just take one look at the table, the bigger budgets are near the top with the lesser budgets near the bottom. There are and always will be the odd exceptions like Huddersfield and Villa.

All leagues are the same, those with big budgets are near the top and those with small budgets go down. The Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga are all the same.

 

[PeterNdlovu081]

Too the mainstream media the premiership is the be all and end all. However, in my opinion the following fixtures for example:

Blades v pigs
Sunderland v middlesborough
Leeds v Villa

Etc etc

Are a much better attraction than:

Huddersfield v Bournemouth
Swansea v Brighton
Stoke v Watford

Etc etc

But you're cherry picking.

Are you really excited by any of the following fixtures?

Brentford v Burton
Bolton v Millwall
Bristol City v Preston

Every league has shit matches.

 

[JayGreen17]

Stoke v Anyone not worth watching
Watford v Anyone not worth watching
Burnley v Anyone not worth watching
WBA v Anyone not worth watching
Udders v Anyone not worth watching
Swansea v Anyone not worth watching
Bournemouth v Anyone not worth watching
West Ham v Anyone not worth watching
Crystal Palace v Anyone not worth watching
Brighton v Anyone not worth watching

In other words i agree 100% with you.

Half the prem teams are dire!

 

[grafikhaus]

.

The Premier League bores me to tears, if I'm being honest.

Too sanitized, too awash with silly money, too dominated by the same old teams each and every season, too focused on commercial this that and the other.

Fuck the Premier League and fuck Sky TV.

If I'm being honest, I hope that 5, or 6 of our supposed football giants do split away from the rest of English football, and go and join a European Super League, together with the likes of Barcelona and Bayern Munich. That way they can all wank each other off every fortnight, and proclaim how massive they all are. In the meantime, English football can get back to being the game of the ordinary working man, who can afford to take his kids to matches on a Saturday afternoon. If something doesn't change drastically, then people are soon going to be looking at paying £100 each to see a Premier League game.

I'd agree. With the new stadiums at Spurs and Chelsea (+ souless dumps like The Emirates & Etihad) those on 'corporates' can wax lyrical to the others in the office about the hospitality & 'the skywalk' without having a clue about the result. While we worry about approaches for Wilder, I don't see anybody queuing up for Mark Hughes, Pulis or Dyche. Why? Because their only ambition is clinging on to their PL place so they can bore everybody shitless for another season. The over-hype of the Championship play-off final and the vast fortune it is 'worth' goes into sharp focus when you see the ridiculous fees being quoted. Arsenal have upped their price for Szcesny to £20m because Sunderland got £30m for Pickford. Kyle Walker for £50m? The perennially-useless John Terry at £60k per week?

The PL will eventually implode. BT already know that they have paid way over the odds for live football which will leave only Sky. I won't be contributing to either. On your last point, PL clubs can afford to let people in for free but won't as it will 'devalue the brand', but they'll be able to keep prices low so those in telly-land don't see acres of empty seats (unless it's Arsenal who will always lie that their crowds are just over 60k).

 

[snootyfenooty]

As a Blade It's just great to be to rubbing shoulders with our natural peers, rivals and old foes again.

For those of us of a certain age, United's natural peers are those in the top flight. When I started watching United in 1961, we spent 12 of the next 15 seasons in the top flight. The 3 years in between were spent building the finest team we have seen at the Lane in the last 50 years. Our history before 1961 shows that we were predominantly a top flight team, nothing else. This is what I was brought up on.

The apparent willingness to accept the second division as "our level" is probably symptomatic of Sheffield though and not just confined to our club. Bollocks to it, I won't be happy until our club is back to where it was when I started watching them, and I mean on a regular basis not just for the odd season or two.

 

[ChipButtyBlade]

Wasn't Newcastle winning the championship pretty predictable as well?

Just take one look at the table, the bigger budgets are near the top with the lesser budgets near the bottom. There are and always will be the odd exceptions like Huddersfield and Villa.

All leagues are the same, those with big budgets are near the top and those with small budgets go down. The Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga are all the same.

Newcastle were predictable,that is just one team out of 23 the rest were unpredictable thats where the excitement comes in for each clubs fans,they all have a chance.
La Liga Serie A are both boring predictable leagues club size and £ have made them so,Bundesleague is more exciting baring for one team Bayern.Who would have predicted Liepzig and Hoffenhiem being in the top 4.

 

[BushBlade]

For those of us of a certain age, United's natural peers are those in the top flight. When I started watching United in 1961, we spent 12 of the next 15 seasons in the top flight. The 3 years in between were spent building the finest team we have seen at the Lane in the last 50 years. Our history before 1961 shows that we were predominantly a top flight team, nothing else. This is what I was brought up on.

The apparent willingness to accept the second division as "our level" is probably symptomatic of Sheffield though and not just confined to our club. Bollocks to it, I won't be happy until our club is back to where it was when I started watching them, and I mean on a regular basis not just for the odd season or two.

And how many of those top flight clubs we used to play are also in the championship and have been regular fixtures there? I think that's what he means by our peers; playing Leeds, Derby, Wolves, Forest, Villa etc.

And since the war, the longest period we've been continuously in the top flight was seven seasons. Immediately before 61 we'd spent five years in Div 2.

Are we big enough to be in the top flight? Yes, of course. Is it our natural home? No, it hasn't been for seventy years.

 

[lingsbord]

CW should ensure we avoid promotion at all costs. The Championship is a far better place to be.

 

[BushBlade]

CW should ensure we avoid promotion at all costs. The Championship is a far better place to be.

No, not at all costs, KM wants him to avoid it on the cheap.

 

[snootyfenooty]

And since the war, the longest period we've been continuously in the top flight was seven seasons. Immediately before 61 we'd spent five years in Div 2.

Since 1976 we've spent 5 seasons in the top flight, that's about 12%. Between our formation and 1976 we spent 55 seasons in the top flight, that's about 75%. From my point of view, i.e. when I was in my "prime" (don't laugh), United's natural level was as a top flight club. I take your point about peers being Leeds, Derby, Wolves etc but I was looking at it from a positional aspect rather than the individual clubs we used to play.

 

[BushBlade]

Since 1976 we've spent 5 seasons in the top flight, that's about 12%. Between our formation and 1976 we spent 55 seasons in the top flight, that's about 75%. From my point of view, i.e. when I was in my "prime" (don't laugh), United's natural level was as a top flight club. I take your point about peers being Leeds, Derby, Wolves etc but I was looking at it from a positional aspect rather than the individual clubs we used to play.

Really though, since 1934 we haven't been a constant in the top flight. That's pretty much a lifetime. Our 'natural' position is somewhere between top end of Div 2 and middle of Div 1 although there's been some decline over recent years.

Football has grown over the last hundred years. There are far more professional clubs than there used to be and clubs that were traditionally lower league clubs have grown and developed, aided by increases in the population. So there's more competition for places in the top flight than there ever has been which is why some of the traditional 'big clubs' have slipped out of the top flight.

 

[Fulwood Blade]

My direct answer to the OP is a resounding YES. There is much more interest in all parts of that division.

UTB

 

[snootyfenooty]

View attachment 27986

Really though, since 1934 we haven't been a constant in the top flight. That's pretty much a lifetime. Our 'natural' position is somewhere between top end of Div 2 and middle of Div 1 although there's been some decline over recent years.

Football has grown over the last hundred years. There are far more professional clubs than there used to be and clubs that were traditionally lower league clubs have grown and developed, aided by increases in the population. So there's more competition for places in the top flight than there ever has been which is why some of the traditional 'big clubs' have slipped out of the top flight.

You can take the cut off where you like to suit your argument. I was looking at it from the perspective of when I started watching United so that is where mine and those of a similar age stance's are. You could say that since 1976, which is where most of the current fans started to join in, that United are a heap of shit.

 

[Cerberus Blade]

I've been looking at the fixtures this morning and it crossed my mind that there's a hell of a lot of big teams and big games in the Championship now and I actually think it's a far more interesting league than the Premiership at the minute.

Just look at some of the big teams now in our league:

Sheffield United (obviously)
Villa
Sunderland
Birmingham
Forest
Derby
Leeds
Wolves
Norwich...etc

Plus there's some absolutely massive derbies:

Sheffield derby
Villa v Birmingham
Derby v Forest
Norwich v Ipswich
Blades v Leeds
Blades v Barnsley

I'd probably choose to watch any of the above derbies over, say Liverpool v Everton.

Anyway, my point is, I honestly think that the Championship is now a far more interesting league than the Premiership. Who's with me?

Not entirely.

The most interesting League for me is the one Sheffield United are in. But ultimately the Prem League is the most interesting League in the world. The very best teams and the very best footballers are there. It's THE League to be in. Which is why we want and need to be there.

 

[BushBlade]

You can take the cut off where you like to suit your argument. I was looking at it from the perspective of when I started watching United so that is where mine and those of a similar age stance's are. You could say that since 1976, which is where most of the current fans started to join in, that United are a heap of shit.

I agree but it's this paragraph I take issue with:



The apparent willingness to accept the second division as "our level" is probably symptomatic of Sheffield though and not just confined to our club. Bollocks to it, I won't be happy until our club is back to where it was when I started watching them, and I mean on a regular basis not just for the odd season or two.

Accepting reality isn't symptomatic of anything. If you'd started watching us two years earlier you'd have been watching us in the second division. And I think around that time Burnley were in the first division, as they are now but who'd call them a big club or say they're at their natural level? We're in a league where three quarters of the teams could argue that they're a top division club, based on history, trophies and fan base. We can't all be top division clubs, the top division isn't big enough.

 

[snootyfenooty]

I agree but it's this paragraph I take issue with:



The apparent willingness to accept the second division as "our level" is probably symptomatic of Sheffield though and not just confined to our club. Bollocks to it, I won't be happy until our club is back to where it was when I started watching them, and I mean on a regular basis not just for the odd season or two.

Accepting reality isn't symptomatic of anything. If you'd started watching us two years earlier you'd have been watching us in the second division. And I think around that time Burnley were in the first division, as they are now but who'd call them a big club or say they're at their natural level? We're in a league where three quarters of the teams could argue that they're a top division club, based on history, trophies and fan base. We can't all be top division clubs, the top division isn't big enough.

I spent my formative years watching United as a decent top flight club whereas you didn't so I think it's OK to disagree on this. As for Burnley, they are probably looking at it from the same perspective as me. And you can breath out, I haven't mentioned Barcelona or Real Madrid once to support my argument.

 

[larkymasher]

Of coarse we would all take the heady heights of the Premier League if they came our way. Financial security for our club would be guaranteed and it would be nice to see the top 7 or 8 clubs come to The Lane.
The Championship is a cracking league to be in and at the moment that is good enough for me.

 

[lingsbord]

We can't all be top division clubs, the top division isn't big enough.

There's the answer, oh Bushy One. Make the whole 92 clubs into 1 Division, then we'll ALL be in the top flight

 

[blade too long]

Theres dull games in every division , of course we are excited about the upcoming return to playing more established traditional clubs
but lets not kid ourselves . The likelihood is a good half of the games will be as dull as dish water, with lots and lots of editable low lights
Some of the dullest games Ive seen have been derby games, The tension spoils the flow of the game.
As to which is best wait 12 months till we are in the prem and ask the same question

 

[Grecian2000]

If you listed all the games you'd watched in a season on Sky, graded them from 'fuck, turn this shit off' through 'meh' to 'close to sex' you'd probably think that you're not getting value for money.

If I ever don't enjoy sex to an extent that a game of televised Premier League football, NOT featuring Sheffield United, comes any closer than "nowhere fucking near" then my life is over or certainly needs to be!

 

[BushBlade]

If I ever don't enjoy sex to an extent that a game of televised Premier League football, NOT featuring Sheffield United, comes any closer than "nowhere fucking near" then my life is over or certainly needs to be!

First half against Bradford? That was on Sky.

 

[Grecian2000]

and it featured Sheffield United so immediately misses my criteria Bushley.

I have been known (many moons ago) to watch us on MOTD whilst my lady of the day was performing sex acts upon my person (with the sound down so as not to cause too much upset to her).

 

[BushBlade]

and it featured Sheffield United so immediately misses my criteria Bushley.

I have been known (many moons ago) to watch us on MOTD whilst my lady of the day was performing sex acts upon my person (with the sound down so as not to cause too much upset to her).

Too much information.

 

[Kozzy_is_my_Dad]

You've hardly listed our best players have you?

Kane, Alli, Dier, Cahill, Walker, Rose and Sterling are they not good enough either?

Very true, but how many of those are consistently world class? Several are often very good, granted, but consistently amongst the best in the world? I'm not so sure. It's just my opinion of course. Plus, if that's all we can muster, 7 players from the England side, based on those who play in the English top flight, then it kinda proves my point.

 

[BushBlade]

Very true, but how many of those are consistently world class? Several are often very good, granted, but consistently amongst the best in the world? I'm not so sure. It's just my opinion of course. Plus, if that's all we can muster, 7 players from the England side, based on those who play in the English top flight, then it kinda proves my point.

We've never had that many good England players, not since the early seventies. There were lots more English players in the top flight but most weren't good enough to play for England.

 

[YES Blade]

Very true, but how many of those are consistently world class? Several are often very good, granted, but consistently amongst the best in the world? I'm not so sure. It's just my opinion of course. Plus, if that's all we can muster, 7 players from the England side, based on those who play in the English top flight, then it kinda proves my point.

How many players in the world are actually world class? It all depends on your definition of world class.

The way I look at it, if they can play regularly for a champion's league team then they are a very good players, are they say in the top 5 players for their position? Yes in some case but no in others. But how many do you realistically expect to produce at that level? If we can take a squad of players to Russia where at least half are playing regularly for champion's league team we aren't doing bad.

Would I like it to be better? Of course I would, I'd love us to be producing a squad at the same level as Germany and hopefully in the next 2 to 5 years that will happen. But we aren't a million miles away, we aren't in a position where we need to completing scrap our youth development policies and start again.

 

[CarlMcBlade]

After the 6 seasons in League 1, the excitement for the forthcoming season is so tangible...........enjoy it.

 

[Pittsburg Blade]

and it featured Sheffield United so immediately misses my criteria Bushley.

I have been known (many moons ago) to watch us on MOTD whilst my lady of the day was performing sex acts upon my person (with the sound down so as not to cause too much upset to her).

Good idea. Sheep are easily startled by loud noises.

 

[Cerberus Blade]

and it featured Sheffield United so immediately misses my criteria Bushley.

I have been known (many moons ago) to watch us on MOTD whilst my lady of the day was performing sex acts upon my person (with the sound down so as not to cause too much upset to her).

I never found Jimmy Hill that attractive tbh. I think it was the big beardy chin that put me off. But, each to their own.