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That's a seriously low threshold this season, it's been a very average league this season which is partly why Burnley won promotion with 7 games to go!
Hopefully that bodes well for next season.
[Post edited 8 May 2023 23:54]
Alcohol is the answer but I can't remember the question!
Worth noting that the low tally for the play offs in itself doesn't indicate that it's an average league, it shows that there are a lot of evenly matched teams taking points off each other. It could be that there are lots of very good sides in fact, and the low points tally would then show what a tough, high quality league it is rather than the opposite.
That said, looking at some of the sides who have challenged for the top 6 and just watching a fair bit of Championship footy, it doesn't look a great league. If you'd stuck us in there with this squad this season I think we'd potentially have troubled that top 6.
69 points for the Championship playoffs on 07:20 - May 9 by Herbivore
Worth noting that the low tally for the play offs in itself doesn't indicate that it's an average league, it shows that there are a lot of evenly matched teams taking points off each other. It could be that there are lots of very good sides in fact, and the low points tally would then show what a tough, high quality league it is rather than the opposite.
That said, looking at some of the sides who have challenged for the top 6 and just watching a fair bit of Championship footy, it doesn't look a great league. If you'd stuck us in there with this squad this season I think we'd potentially have troubled that top 6.
True enough but the quality of football on show, hasn't seemed that high to me, that's a cross sample of games I have watched
The main difference I can see and this should be no surprise really is that the finishing is a bit more clinical, League One sides as we well know are incredibly wasteful
It always feels like they need about 5 chances to convert 1
The composure is that bit better and the finishing is better, we can bridge that gap and with a good summer, there's no reason why we shouldn't be looking to replicate what Sunderland have done
Alcohol is the answer but I can't remember the question!
It’s a funny league in that there appears on the face of it to be a much lower level of disparity across the division than in L1. I guess that’s evident from the total required for 6th and subsequently the points total required for lower finishes which are generally 4 or 5 points higher than L1.
The top 7 in league 1 really are that much better than most of the rest, and the gap between top 7 and bottom 7 is huge by way of quality of squads and budgets. The championship doesn’t have that to anywhere near the same extent. You look at the likes of Stoke & Birmingham, 16th and 17th respectively but I’m convinced there’s not a lot between them and Millwall and Blackburn who are on the coattails of the playoffs based on what I’ve seen. Stoke’s form has been really patchy but a few weeks ago they went away to Coventry and won 4-0 for example. I just can’t imagine a world where Bristol Rovers are doing that at Bolton. You could take the top 2 and bottom 2 out of the Championship and you wouldn’t want to bet on the other 20. In L1 there’s still 5 haves and have nots if you do that.
What it means is the level of consistency required for top 6 has been lower, 69 points means you’ve also dropped 69 points, needing 50% of all points available for 6th isn’t particularly daunting, but the floor is so much higher. There aren’t any easy games at that level.
People say ‘it’s only L1’ but getting out of the league is so tough when you need that ruthless consistency to hit nearly 100 points. It’s a hell of a lot easier to stay in the championship in terms of the pressure and mental side. 1 win in 3 will do it. Our sights will be set higher than that though, and we’re ready to invest as well. A lot of clubs at championship level don’t have pockets as deep as ours now.
It’s been crap this year. Swans down here went on something like a 20 game run accumulating only about 13-14 points, yet only missed off the playoffs by a couple of points. I’d have been confident in us doing well in it this year. Hopefully that standard carries on into next year, and then we could do alright. Everyone not on parachute payments is skint.
69 points for the Championship playoffs on 19:00 - May 9 by clive_baker
It’s a funny league in that there appears on the face of it to be a much lower level of disparity across the division than in L1. I guess that’s evident from the total required for 6th and subsequently the points total required for lower finishes which are generally 4 or 5 points higher than L1.
The top 7 in league 1 really are that much better than most of the rest, and the gap between top 7 and bottom 7 is huge by way of quality of squads and budgets. The championship doesn’t have that to anywhere near the same extent. You look at the likes of Stoke & Birmingham, 16th and 17th respectively but I’m convinced there’s not a lot between them and Millwall and Blackburn who are on the coattails of the playoffs based on what I’ve seen. Stoke’s form has been really patchy but a few weeks ago they went away to Coventry and won 4-0 for example. I just can’t imagine a world where Bristol Rovers are doing that at Bolton. You could take the top 2 and bottom 2 out of the Championship and you wouldn’t want to bet on the other 20. In L1 there’s still 5 haves and have nots if you do that.
What it means is the level of consistency required for top 6 has been lower, 69 points means you’ve also dropped 69 points, needing 50% of all points available for 6th isn’t particularly daunting, but the floor is so much higher. There aren’t any easy games at that level.
People say ‘it’s only L1’ but getting out of the league is so tough when you need that ruthless consistency to hit nearly 100 points. It’s a hell of a lot easier to stay in the championship in terms of the pressure and mental side. 1 win in 3 will do it. Our sights will be set higher than that though, and we’re ready to invest as well. A lot of clubs at championship level don’t have pockets as deep as ours now.
There's most definitely a gap between League One and the Championship
In terms of footballing ability, we won't have a problem. Where I expect us to struggle more is when teams do a Fleetwood or Cheltenham but have far more ability on the break, they'll have bigger more athletic centre backs who will be tighter on Chaplin and boss him physically
Fleetwood did a good job on us I felt, even if we had one eye on our holidays, Marriott particularly showed he's capable of causing trouble to better levels of opposition and Championship opposition are going to have more strikers able to hurt us
Alcohol is the answer but I can't remember the question!
69 points for the Championship playoffs on 19:50 - May 9 by bournemouthblue
There's most definitely a gap between League One and the Championship
In terms of footballing ability, we won't have a problem. Where I expect us to struggle more is when teams do a Fleetwood or Cheltenham but have far more ability on the break, they'll have bigger more athletic centre backs who will be tighter on Chaplin and boss him physically
Fleetwood did a good job on us I felt, even if we had one eye on our holidays, Marriott particularly showed he's capable of causing trouble to better levels of opposition and Championship opposition are going to have more strikers able to hurt us
Spot on from what I’ve seen. It’s stronger and a bit quicker. Teams defend better as a unit. And sh*thousery goes up a level. There are more players of quality (which worries me with some of our defending). BUT mistakes at the back are also common and it’s surprising how many teams are set up to be hard to beat but lack any cutting edge. Teams with a bit of quality on the ball and adventure can have success against almost anyone.
The only thing that worries me about us (and this sounds odd given the goals we’ve scored) is how many sitters we miss. We won’t have the opportunity to be as wasteful, not if we want to do well. I think we need a little bit of extra quality in the final third and some more depth in midfield to really cause teams problems. But I could be wrong of course.
69 points for the Championship playoffs on 20:01 - May 9 by Swansea_Blue
Spot on from what I’ve seen. It’s stronger and a bit quicker. Teams defend better as a unit. And sh*thousery goes up a level. There are more players of quality (which worries me with some of our defending). BUT mistakes at the back are also common and it’s surprising how many teams are set up to be hard to beat but lack any cutting edge. Teams with a bit of quality on the ball and adventure can have success against almost anyone.
The only thing that worries me about us (and this sounds odd given the goals we’ve scored) is how many sitters we miss. We won’t have the opportunity to be as wasteful, not if we want to do well. I think we need a little bit of extra quality in the final third and some more depth in midfield to really cause teams problems. But I could be wrong of course.
My biggest concern is sides defending in a lower block are bigger, more physical and more organised, they'll be harder to break down
They're also going to be more effective on the break, the teams who have had success, particularly Lincoln and Fleetwood, were the best exponents of this
We will struggle with teams like that, we get caught on the break sometimes, when Burgess ends in a foot race with pacey wingers, that's when we look vulnerable
The first ball is often dealt with by the first defender but our midfield isn't there on the second ball
See Fleetwood's equaliser on Saturday as a prime example
I'm sure we will address that, it felt like McKenna adapted our game as the new signings came in and we went a bit more direct at times, we were then better at unlocking these sides
[Post edited 12 May 2023 12:52]
Alcohol is the answer but I can't remember the question!
69 points for the Championship playoffs on 20:01 - May 9 by Swansea_Blue
Spot on from what I’ve seen. It’s stronger and a bit quicker. Teams defend better as a unit. And sh*thousery goes up a level. There are more players of quality (which worries me with some of our defending). BUT mistakes at the back are also common and it’s surprising how many teams are set up to be hard to beat but lack any cutting edge. Teams with a bit of quality on the ball and adventure can have success against almost anyone.
The only thing that worries me about us (and this sounds odd given the goals we’ve scored) is how many sitters we miss. We won’t have the opportunity to be as wasteful, not if we want to do well. I think we need a little bit of extra quality in the final third and some more depth in midfield to really cause teams problems. But I could be wrong of course.
Yep, championship quicker pace, stronger players. Finishing is more clinical. We scored loads of goals this season but some games we were having nearly 30 shots on goals and only scoring 1 or 2 goals. Chaplin scored a lot of goals but was also wasteful and people like Burns missed some absolutely sitters.
Will be a challenge and without improving our strike force and defence we will probably hit mid table.
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69 points for the Championship playoffs on 11:26 - May 12 with 2883 views
69 points for the Championship playoffs on 10:31 - May 12 by DavoIPB
Yep, championship quicker pace, stronger players. Finishing is more clinical. We scored loads of goals this season but some games we were having nearly 30 shots on goals and only scoring 1 or 2 goals. Chaplin scored a lot of goals but was also wasteful and people like Burns missed some absolutely sitters.
Will be a challenge and without improving our strike force and defence we will probably hit mid table.
I definitely agree the composure has to be a bit better
Interestingly Burns has been linked with Wrexham, I can't see that happening unless they could make us an offer we can't refuse, which I doubt they can currently
I'm sure we will have our eyes on a Nathan Tella type who's able to offer a bit more quality in a 10/winger role for us
I also expect a striker on top of Hirst who I expect we will try and sign as well
Alcohol is the answer but I can't remember the question!
69 points for the Championship playoffs on 18:35 - May 9 by bournemouthblue
True enough but the quality of football on show, hasn't seemed that high to me, that's a cross sample of games I have watched
The main difference I can see and this should be no surprise really is that the finishing is a bit more clinical, League One sides as we well know are incredibly wasteful
It always feels like they need about 5 chances to convert 1
The composure is that bit better and the finishing is better, we can bridge that gap and with a good summer, there's no reason why we shouldn't be looking to replicate what Sunderland have done
Always think it's tough to gauge relative quality across leagues like that, because every game you watch is from two teams in the same league.
So you might be watching a game where two teams can't get their passing game going and think "huh, the levels of passing play aren't great in this league" but the poor passing might be a product of quicker, more aggressive, more intelligent defending. Hard to know whether the standard of both teams is just cancelling the other out.
69 points for the Championship playoffs on 18:35 - May 9 by bournemouthblue
True enough but the quality of football on show, hasn't seemed that high to me, that's a cross sample of games I have watched
The main difference I can see and this should be no surprise really is that the finishing is a bit more clinical, League One sides as we well know are incredibly wasteful
It always feels like they need about 5 chances to convert 1
The composure is that bit better and the finishing is better, we can bridge that gap and with a good summer, there's no reason why we shouldn't be looking to replicate what Sunderland have done
Burnley have been a step above everyone else, but there is nothing to fear in that league.
Some of the clubs falling down from the PL could be in serious financial trouble too, so again you'd imagine quite a rebuild to do from their side too.
We should certainly be aiming for Top 10 assuming we keep our key players both fit and at the club.
1
69 points for the Championship playoffs on 11:44 - May 12 with 2857 views
69 points for the Championship playoffs on 11:34 - May 12 by jayessess
Always think it's tough to gauge relative quality across leagues like that, because every game you watch is from two teams in the same league.
So you might be watching a game where two teams can't get their passing game going and think "huh, the levels of passing play aren't great in this league" but the poor passing might be a product of quicker, more aggressive, more intelligent defending. Hard to know whether the standard of both teams is just cancelling the other out.
That's true as well, certainly
It's easy to be critical until you face it yourself
Alcohol is the answer but I can't remember the question!
69 points for the Championship playoffs on 19:50 - May 9 by bournemouthblue
There's most definitely a gap between League One and the Championship
In terms of footballing ability, we won't have a problem. Where I expect us to struggle more is when teams do a Fleetwood or Cheltenham but have far more ability on the break, they'll have bigger more athletic centre backs who will be tighter on Chaplin and boss him physically
Fleetwood did a good job on us I felt, even if we had one eye on our holidays, Marriott particularly showed he's capable of causing trouble to better levels of opposition and Championship opposition are going to have more strikers able to hurt us
I wouldn't fear Chaplin being bossed at Championship level. From what I've seen of him he has the attributes to make the step up and his finishing is well worthy of that level of football. I would say the same about Broadhead too, they're probably the 2 players in our side that most Championship clubs would like to have at their disposal. Chaplin can frustrate at times in deep positions, for all his goals and creativity his use of the ball has sometimes been questionable, and as you step through the leagues the ability to win back possession becomes more difficult, losing possession brings a higher level of risk of being punished and therefore emphasises the importance of looking after the ball. It's very much KM's mantra and what has probably hindered Harness' chances this season as much as anything. But I don't worry about Chaplin at all when he's facing goal, he's a big asset and I think he'll score plenty.
I look at the middle of the pitch as an area we need to upgrade to compete near the top of that league. We're spoilt for numbers but I'm not convinced we're Championship ready there. Morsy is clearly a class above in L1, he's absolutely dominated since the second he joined us, but he's not getting any younger or more mobile and will need help. Same is true of Luongo. Quality footballers but both have a tendency to want a bit more time on the ball and an extra touch or 2 than they might be allowed next season.
It's the likes of Burgess, Luongo, Evans, Ball, Donacien, Jackson, Harness that have the greatest question marks for me. I'm sure the majority still have a roll to play, but perhaps also have a lower ceiling than others, for various reasons and having high impact subs have been vital this season. When you consider 5 of those have played most of their football in the middle, #10 or wide on the right it makes you question if we have the depth of quality there for the step up.
We'll invest though, I wouldn't be surprised to see 3 added in those areas.
69 points for the Championship playoffs on 11:43 - May 12 by ElderGrizzly
Burnley have been a step above everyone else, but there is nothing to fear in that league.
Some of the clubs falling down from the PL could be in serious financial trouble too, so again you'd imagine quite a rebuild to do from their side too.
We should certainly be aiming for Top 10 assuming we keep our key players both fit and at the club.
I agree. I would aim for top six. Sunderland managed it from scraping through the play offs last year so why not us?
Yes, of course the standard is higher in the Championship, but it’s nothing special and certainly we are good enough to compete in it. We signed payers with Championship in mind and one or two additions replacing a few fringe players with better and we will be good to go.
1
69 points for the Championship playoffs on 11:59 - May 12 with 2826 views
Think we'll have a lot more hearts in mouths moments when passing around at the back. Although I'd also say we've gotten better and better at this side of our game over the last 12 months... Agree with what's been said about putting away our chances. Even though we were emphatic with 100 plus goals last season. It's going to be harder to carve out as many chances per game, you'd think.... Reading Ole's comments on KM being a defensive genius, was reassuring. So I'm confident we'll get that right... Looking back to this time last year. We got an early start with pre season and hit the ground running. Getting decent points tally on the board,early doors.. I do hope we dont find ourselves a couple of weeks behind on our fitness and sharpness levels, this time round, through, well, you know, players over doing it whilst away...If we get a nice solid start to the season, I think we can keep riding the wave of momentum and belief we showed at the back end of last season.. Those early points will make a big difference come April. Looking forwards to seeing what surprises we might have in the window. We are going to need a few upgrades, in order to make a sustained challenge for top 6, imo...If top 6 is the brief.
0
69 points for the Championship playoffs on 12:54 - May 12 with 2763 views
69 points for the Championship playoffs on 11:58 - May 12 by Churchman
I agree. I would aim for top six. Sunderland managed it from scraping through the play offs last year so why not us?
Yes, of course the standard is higher in the Championship, but it’s nothing special and certainly we are good enough to compete in it. We signed payers with Championship in mind and one or two additions replacing a few fringe players with better and we will be good to go.
Agreed and I think we will manage that, McKenna will get who he needs and we should kick on again
Alcohol is the answer but I can't remember the question!
69 points for the Championship playoffs on 11:43 - May 12 by ElderGrizzly
Burnley have been a step above everyone else, but there is nothing to fear in that league.
Some of the clubs falling down from the PL could be in serious financial trouble too, so again you'd imagine quite a rebuild to do from their side too.
We should certainly be aiming for Top 10 assuming we keep our key players both fit and at the club.
I'd be a bit more cautious on the relegated clubs really.
Whatever your underlying financial issues, as soon as you're relegated you are a big fish in a small pond, with current revenues that dwarf all the division's regulars. Any of the 5 teams threatened with relegation have players on their books with a transfer value greater than our entire squad. Even beyond their stars they'll have fringe players who've been stars in the Championship, loanees out impressing at lower levels than can recall, they'll have infrastructure and Category One academies etc.
Competing with the 5 teams (West Brom and Norwich still have them too) with parachute payments will require either them to significantly under-perform their budgets or us to significantly out-perform ours.
69 points for the Championship playoffs on 20:01 - May 9 by Swansea_Blue
Spot on from what I’ve seen. It’s stronger and a bit quicker. Teams defend better as a unit. And sh*thousery goes up a level. There are more players of quality (which worries me with some of our defending). BUT mistakes at the back are also common and it’s surprising how many teams are set up to be hard to beat but lack any cutting edge. Teams with a bit of quality on the ball and adventure can have success against almost anyone.
The only thing that worries me about us (and this sounds odd given the goals we’ve scored) is how many sitters we miss. We won’t have the opportunity to be as wasteful, not if we want to do well. I think we need a little bit of extra quality in the final third and some more depth in midfield to really cause teams problems. But I could be wrong of course.
It often surprises me how much players improve when they come up against better players. Look how many championship players do well enough in the prem. so I expect the likes of Burns, Chappers, Broadhead, Davies, Clarke, Humphries, Woolfie to step up a level. I’m not so sure if the likes of Harness, Burgess and Ladapo have the same ability. Luongo and Morsey have been there before and will be fine - but are unlikely to stand out quite as much.
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