| Walking The Championship 10:19 - Feb 24 with 4449 views | SaffronWaldenBlues |
I don’t understand why the consensus is that we will walk the Championship next season, or that we’re lightyears ahead of Leicester and Southampton presently. Why do you think that?
Last season we did not walk our way to promotion, we fought, and battled, and while results elsewhere made our lives easier in the end, a couple of different results here or there could have condemned us to the Playoffs quite easily, however, we worked hard and got it over the line, which was in part due to Leeds not getting their act together at key moments during the season, despite having a team more than capable of promotion. It wasn’t a walk and we’re likely to return with the likes of Walton, Clarke, Burgess, Wolfenden, Burns, Morsy, Mass, Hirst, Taylor, Chaplin and Harness from that squad, all a year older, some improved, some frankly a touch too old for that push again. We can expect to lose key players after the drop too. They did exceptionally well, but will lightning strike twice with that group?
The players we have signed permanently largely played for our rivals that season, Delap, Philogene, Greaves for Hull, Clarke for Sunderland, Szmodics for Blackburn and now Palmer for West Brom. Three of the other permanent recruits came from relegated Burnley and Luton. Now I and others have argued that it was recruiting these Championship quality players that has been a key factor in the fact, while we haven’t entirely shamed ourselves, we haven’t really competed at this level either (and certainly not flourished). The assumption that players who were good players in teams trying to reach the Playoffs last season are an easy ticket back to promotion just seems a little naive to me, I would have thought as Ipswich supporters we’d know better than to assume we’re going straight back up.
Also, the idea that Leicester will suddenly drop off into nothing in the Championship when they have been largely as good/bad as we have this season, and that Southampton are going to struggle in the Championship either. Southampton have had 4 points off of us this season, and I’d have bet if their previous manager had been a bit more adaptive about the style of football being played they would have won a few more points than they have with the squad they have, Leicester have also had a point off us this season too, and we didn’t beat them last season either. I expect Leicester and Southampton to do just fine in the Championship, they have both been in the topflight for years and have had only one season out of it. West Brom, Middlesborough, Sunderland, Watford, Blackburn, Norwich and co. will generally always be competitive in the Championship.
This isn’t something we don’t already know, while in the past 2 seasons two of the relegated sides have gone straight back up (or so it seems this season), it’s far from a given that our squad will be too strong for the Championship, it should be decent, but we aren’t walking our way to another promotion. We need to be realistic. The Championship is unforgiving in other ways too.
Do you honestly think we’ll walk it? I think it will be a massive slog, and harder than it was last season because the expectations will be so much higher.
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| Walking The Championship on 10:23 - Feb 24 with 3383 views | J2BLUE |
I don't think we will walk it but I think this squad, probably minus Davis, Phillips, Cajuste and Delap will be very competitive if we use the fees we get in to get four quality replacements.
I would expect us to fight for automatic promotion again. |  |
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| Walking The Championship on 10:23 - Feb 24 with 3371 views | TRUE_BLUE123 |
It is very rare for anyone to walk the championship. I'm not sure anyone is suggesting that we will.
I would be astonished if we weren't competing right at the top of it though. As should be the expectation also. |  |
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| Walking The Championship on 10:30 - Feb 24 with 3323 views | homer_123 |
I've not seen anyone say we'll walk it. |  |
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| Walking The Championship on 10:32 - Feb 24 with 3306 views | Jimbobjims |
If Burnley, Leeds, Sheffield United go up and Luton go down. Ipswich, Southampton, Leicester would be the only 3 teams with parachute payments. So financially we are much better of. Furthermore it is likely the EFL will punish Leicester with a significant point reduction for there financial cheating and loop holes. Obviously we will sell a few for what would be significant fees for us I would imagine we would reinvest this and strengthen. I will be confident of walking though if we keep McKenna which is probably the biggest unknown. |  | | |
| Walking The Championship on 10:43 - Feb 24 with 3211 views | pointofblue |
The argument for this season has been the financial difference has been too great for the club to overcome. Should Burnley, Leeds and Sheffield United go up, and Luton down, then that should be the case next year to the benefit of the relegated trio. Whether we will, if we do go down, is another matter altogether, but there's no reason why we shouldn't dominate the division considering the investment already made and money we'll have available in the summer. | |
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| Walking The Championship on 10:51 - Feb 24 with 3154 views | Bellevue_Blue |
I'm not sure anyone is suggesting we will walk it! But evidence suggests that it Premier league money massively skews the competitive balance.
In the last 4 years following PL relegation, of the 12 relegated teams, 6 have bounced back first time, 2 have bounced back in the 2nd year and just 4 have been promoted with no parachute payments, 3 via the play offs and then us.
This year looks set to maintain that trend with Leeds going up 2nd time of asking and Sheff U first time of asking.
Going to be a tough old slog but everything is set up in our favour. [Post edited 24 Feb 10:52]
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| Walking The Championship on 10:51 - Feb 24 with 3144 views | Churchman |
I will make you happy and predict that we will finish bottom. Luton will, why not us? Those players that won’t naturally move on (Delap, Hutchinson, Davis) will either be forced out by the misery brigade, be fed up of not playing (Broadhead), be too old (Morsy and Luongo) or not fully recover from injury (Burns, Chaplin).
McKenna will move to a big club like Palace and the owners will pull out thanks to Trump’s America first policy. Britain will be bankrupted and the earth smashed by a meteorite, the survivors having to learn Russian with Putin installed as Emperor Vlad the Merciless.
Alternatively, some of our players will move on, possibly Delap, Omari and Davis along with Walton and the loanees. We will still have plenty of players far better than most sides in the Championship. That includes Morsy who all clubs hate because he’s good at Championship level and while he may not through age be quite the standard he was, most of those clubs would grab him in a heartbeat.
We are well covered at goalkeeper and centre half in particular. Hirst is a terrific player and the players so many on here show contempt for are top end Championship performers. So are the likes of Chaplin and Burns, fitness permitting. I also see Humphreys in the side as the engine in midfield plus Taylor and whoever they can bring in for what has been our Achilles heel this year. Clarke will be a better player for his loan too.
I believe the squad will be a lot stronger than the L1 promotion team, not least because most of the players will have played some part in the PL and that experience can only be positive.
I am by nature a glass half empty person, but I genuinely believe the club is moving forwards. That includes facilities, pursuit of Cat 1 and lots of other stuff. There’s nothing to fear in the Championship. We know what it is now. I do not agree with your paragraph about last season. The top four clubs were a lot better than the rest.
The table doesn’t lie any more than it does now. It’s irrelevant that Leeds collapsed. You could equally argue that we fell away during the winter, which we did. But that’s the point of a long season through all conditions. You finish where you deserve. No luck was involved or charity by others.
I’m not arrogant enough to believe we will walk it. There are no guarantees especially in sport, but I believe we will be fine providing people hold their nerve and the club sticks to what they are trying to do. Move forwards. There’s no reason to be negative. |  | | |
| Walking The Championship on 10:52 - Feb 24 with 3137 views | baxterbasics |
We won't walk it - bear in mind we'll again be competing with Leicester and Southampton for those spots as well as the stronger teams there now that don't quite make the cut this season.
We have a good chance, on paper should be a stronger prospect than we were last year, no guarantees though and it will be tough. We don't seem to have lost ground compared to Leicester and Southampton (despite the loss to the latter, I'm talking in terms of season results) and I expect us to be in better shape than them next season. |  |
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| Walking The Championship on 10:53 - Feb 24 with 3108 views | SaffronWaldenBlues |
| Walking The Championship on 10:51 - Feb 24 by Bellevue_Blue |
I'm not sure anyone is suggesting we will walk it! But evidence suggests that it Premier league money massively skews the competitive balance.
In the last 4 years following PL relegation, of the 12 relegated teams, 6 have bounced back first time, 2 have bounced back in the 2nd year and just 4 have been promoted with no parachute payments, 3 via the play offs and then us.
This year looks set to maintain that trend with Leeds going up 2nd time of asking and Sheff U first time of asking.
Going to be a tough old slog but everything is set up in our favour. [Post edited 24 Feb 10:52]
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I think we'll be in the top 7 or 8, even on a bad season, but top 2? May be a push. Depends on recruitment really. | |
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| Walking The Championship on 11:01 - Feb 24 with 3043 views | blueasfook |
It's too early to say. There are a lot of unknowns such as, what the squad will look like in terms of who we retain, who leaves and indeed who comes in. It's not a certainty who will be the manager either. I don't think the club will sack KM but he may well decide its time for him to move on himself. The key thing will be expectation. No doubt the owners will want to see us mount a serious challenge to go back up. They've invested heavily this season and will want to see some return on that. That will bring pressure in itself on whoever is in charge. I'd say the managers job will be even tougher next season with that weight of expectation on him. |  |
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| Walking The Championship on 11:09 - Feb 24 with 2976 views | Bellevue_Blue |
| Walking The Championship on 10:53 - Feb 24 by SaffronWaldenBlues |
I think we'll be in the top 7 or 8, even on a bad season, but top 2? May be a push. Depends on recruitment really. |
The last two seasons tell a pretty different story if you assume Luton are a massive outlier.
Last year all three promoted teams finished in the top 4. Discounting us, Leicester finished 22 points ahead of the next best in 5th place, Leeds 15 points and Soton 12.
This year, two in the top three with Sunderland playing a similar role to us. Discounting them, Burnley 17 points ahead of the next best in 5th place and Sheff U 19 points with a game in hand. There are still 13 games to go so it's safe to assume that will once again be 20+ points and likely increase on last year.
The gap is massive and growing. Top 7/8 would be a massive massive underachievement. [Post edited 24 Feb 11:13]
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| Walking The Championship on 11:11 - Feb 24 with 2959 views | Steve_M |
No one has suggested we will "walk the Championship" next season.
What we will have is a squad, with far more competitive advantage that we had after promotion in 2023. Gaps to fill in central midfield and up front but a bit easier to do that with parachute payments.
As ever, you've made up the stawiest of straw men to hang some assertions on. |  |
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| Walking The Championship on 11:22 - Feb 24 with 2875 views | positivity |
whose "consensus" are you talking about? certainly not itfc fans! | |
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| Walking The Championship on 11:22 - Feb 24 with 2862 views | FrimleyBlue |
Im usually the first to think negatively but
My prediction
KM leaves,
Delap moves on, so does Hutchinson and Davis
New Manager comes in, no idea who this is
Anyways
Jack Clarke gets 15 assists, 14 goals - played as a left winger
Ogbene is a hit assists 13 goals, assists 11 - played as a right winger
Szmodics plays central and scores 8, assists 8
Burns is moved to rightback and assists with 4 goals and scores 6
Hirst is our front man, he gets 7 goals assists 6
Al Hamadi scores 10, assists 3
Taylor is given licence to roam from midfield, bangs in a few matt holland goals
Downes becomes the new morsy and becomes a town hero again
Palmer wins the golden glove
Oshea and Greaves concede less than 20 goals all season [Post edited 24 Feb 11:25]
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| Walking The Championship on 11:35 - Feb 24 with 2742 views | HighgateBlue |
No, we won't walk it.
Our own previous experience of getting relegated, albeit in a different era, shows that it can be a lot harder than many assume. And Luton's experience this season, having finished 3rd bottom in the Prem, is a real eye opener.
I think there are numerous reasons to think we will fare more like Sheff Utd and Burnley than like Luton. Others have been pointing these reasons out for a while, and I won't add to that.
However, there are no guarantees, especially when you lose your manager. For all Town fans, Kieran is somewhere on the "Very Good" to "Legendary" spectrum. Losing him, which is likely, will be a real gut punch. And there is no way of knowing whether his replacement will be a success or not. I hope that, unlike with players, we look to Europe's best as well as those who are domestically available. But as Man Utd have shown, there are no guarantees that even the cream of Europe will bring success.
So I think the managerial appointment is absolutely massive, and I think if we get someone average in to replace Kieran, we may well get promoted, we may fail. After all, even under Kieran we had the biggest budget in league one, and promotion was still very hard fought.
If we walk it, I'll be delighted. But it's virtually impossible to do that. And it's also just not the Ipswich way!
COYB |  | | |
| Walking The Championship on 11:45 - Feb 24 with 2682 views | smithy69 |
| Walking The Championship on 10:53 - Feb 24 by SaffronWaldenBlues |
I think we'll be in the top 7 or 8, even on a bad season, but top 2? May be a push. Depends on recruitment really. |
We were Second Last year and have clearly upgraded the team in every department and have parachute money. If Burnley and Sheffield go up and Luton down - and with Leicester getting hammered for financials - then I can’t see anyway we finish 7th | | | |
| Walking The Championship on 11:50 - Feb 24 with 2636 views | JakeITFC |
100 points 100 goals |  | | |
| Walking The Championship on 11:52 - Feb 24 with 2608 views | ParisBlue |
Back in 2002 when we beat Walsall on the opening day, then Leicester 6-1 I thought we'd walk it.
It took 22 years, so I'm not falling for that again.
We'll be favourites given the financial advantages of parachute payments and we are a stable club off the field. Anything less than a promotion will be seen as a failure. But we won't walk it. |  |
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| Walking The Championship on 12:04 - Feb 24 with 2511 views | Pippin1970 |
We be promoted this time next year. | | | |
| Walking The Championship on 12:06 - Feb 24 with 2484 views | leitrimblue |
| Walking The Championship on 11:50 - Feb 24 by JakeITFC |
100 points 100 goals |
Is the correct answer surely |  | | |
| Walking The Championship on 12:07 - Feb 24 with 2469 views | Blooos |
| Walking The Championship on 10:53 - Feb 24 by SaffronWaldenBlues |
I think we'll be in the top 7 or 8, even on a bad season, but top 2? May be a push. Depends on recruitment really. |
If we finish outside the top 6 thats an absolute car crash of a season. Were in the best position of the 3 clubs going down by miles, most stable and a lot more valuable assets. We SHOULD be able to reinvest money from Delap on a few players that are going to get us straight back up. The championship is also very poor this year compared to previous, clubs like blackburn, bristol city etc who are all pretty poor teams battling it out for the top 6. In no way do I think we'll walk the league but I think we'll definitely be one of the best in it. | | | |
| Walking The Championship on 12:11 - Feb 24 with 2409 views | FrimleyBlue |
| Walking The Championship on 12:07 - Feb 24 by Blooos |
If we finish outside the top 6 thats an absolute car crash of a season. Were in the best position of the 3 clubs going down by miles, most stable and a lot more valuable assets. We SHOULD be able to reinvest money from Delap on a few players that are going to get us straight back up. The championship is also very poor this year compared to previous, clubs like blackburn, bristol city etc who are all pretty poor teams battling it out for the top 6. In no way do I think we'll walk the league but I think we'll definitely be one of the best in it. |
This why though IF KM is to go, he has to go at the end of season NOT anwhere near the player return dates from pre season or after.
We need a strong pre season, full of hope and confidence, we can't have weeks of speculation on who the manager is going to be when they get back from holiday. | |
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| Walking The Championship on 12:29 - Feb 24 with 2316 views | carlo88 |
We'll be the best and most stable of the three relegated clubs that's for sure. Birmingham will be promoted and strong, Sunderland too. Other than that can't see much to be worried about (unless Leeds implode again this season). |  | | |
| Walking The Championship on 12:35 - Feb 24 with 2264 views | itfcsuth |
I haven't seen actually a single person say we will walk the league - it's a really tough league, it's relentless, it throws curve balls, and it's why it regarded as one of the most entertaining leagues in the world.
I would strongly suspect KMc will have that mentality of having to earn everything you get out of the league to make a return to the PL very early on.
Subject to that being correct, I would like to think we will compete at the very top end of the division - nothing guaranteed, but I am sure that will be the objective. [Post edited 24 Feb 12:35]
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| Walking The Championship on 12:49 - Feb 24 with 2160 views | PioneerBlue |
Walking the Championship isn’t on my mind having experienced it for many years! Certainly some of the optimism in terms of where the club will find itself could be misinterpreted as as sense of confidence in an immediate return but let’s not lose sight of the challenges leading up to Aug, Manager, coaches, players and some putting back together of a squad able to compete, win and win week after week despite setbacks.
More like trudging the mud in the championship quagmire. | |
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