What do you need to stay in the Championship

Nuttalls Mint Toes

Nuttalls Mint Toes

Well-known member
Looks like two of the three teams who've been promoted from league one last season are heading down and Coventry are only just hanging on - so what do teams need to stay in that league having been promoted?
 
2 our of the 3 relegated Prem teams heading back with Bournemouth there or thereabouts too. Not good for the game. We all complained about the money Super (sic) league but if you don't have lots of it it's almost impossible to move upwards never mind stay there
 
mull said:
2 our of the 3 relegated Prem teams heading back with Bournemouth there or thereabouts too. Not good for the game. We all complained about the money Super (sic) league but if you don't have lots of it it's almost impossible to move upwards never mind stay there
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Yet we're told it's all very competititive. It's almost like the teams at the top don't want to relinquish their status and keep it all for themselves
 
I do believe the MASSIVE play Wayne Rooney's Derby on the last day of the season.

Could be a MASSIVE game that as one of them, if not both could drop points. Could play into Rotherham's hands if they could actually win a game.
 
I look at a team like Huddersfield with interest. Prem money in their pocket and were very close to dropping down another division, in similar style to us but without swindling owners (as far as I know). I know Hoyle sold up a couple of years ago and I don't believe they have a rich benefactor in the wings, but I don't think anyone is milking the club dry.

So, unless someone knows otherwise my starting position is that surely Huddersfield have more cash at their disposal than teams like Luton and Millwall. Happy to become better informed as I don't pretend I know the intimate details of all clubs mentioned. I think money plays a part but it isn't the same critical factor it becomes in the Prem.

My position is therefore I think you can still manage in the Championship with good management and savvy building of a squad. Huddersfield don't seem to have achieved either since their Prem adventure.

On a wider note, I still look at the Championship line up and see that our natural place is in that mix of clubs. And I think, as things stand, a club like us could maintain Championship status. However I do think that the financial angle will increase in importance over time and what we see in the Prem will have more and more impact on the Championship. So a possible key for us is getting up and established before that really kicks in.

Don't get me wrong, I have ambition and would love to see us play in the top division again, but I don't see us out of place in that company. It is more seeing the Championship as a natural home and when the stars align we get a run at promotion and perhaps another go in the top flight.
 
Wizaard said:
Yet we're told it's all very competititive. It's almost like the teams at the top don't want to relinquish their status and keep it all for themselves
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Go and have a look at the bottom of the Championship and L1. More than likely two promoted teams from last season are getting relegated. It's what happens.
 
20togo said:
Go and have a look at the bottom of the Championship and L1. More than likely two promoted teams from last season are getting relegated. It's what happens.
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Rotherham have been stymied by having to play too many games in a short period, I would suggest and Wycombe only went up through a quirk of the PPG rule taking them from 8th to 3rd.

Anyway, it doesn't make it right.
 
Last years promotion trio were I’m sorry to say rather poor. I think it is fair to say this years teams being promoted will be a lot stronger and should have a far better chance of making a
positive impact upon the Championship. Hull and Peterborough will invest and be no pushovers. If the last space is either us or Sunderland then that will be 3 decent teams come the start of next season. If Oxford or Lincoln make it, then I will have money on them doing a Wycombe and not looking like anything but nailed on for relegation straight back to league 1. Not sure if it was Pompey or Charlton 🤔
 
Need more quality. Solid defence. A forward or two on form - no passengers.

Actually, looking at how Ollie went about things, high intensity, close down quickly, great team spirit - made them believe they were world beaters, some quality in each of the key areas on the pitch, a willingness to take a risk or two. Better to win - lose, than to draw too many. In that respect, the wins breed more confidence, so it’s a positive cycle.

Need to avoid the negativity: tactics, over passing with no end result, too many formation changes, losing the respect & confidence on the team. See it all the time with certain confrontational managers. Thank God NC isn’t like that, although sometimes we’ve needed a grand motivational speech.

Some of the teams that went up from LG1 last year have struggled because you can’t get away with the same type of limited tactics and shithousery in the Championship and haven’t added the quality needed to stay up. Defensive errors are more likely to be punished, etc
 
PdxTangerine said:
Preston seem to manage it by being so average that barely anyone notices they're in the division
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I don’t follow them too closely, but I did note that their early season terrific form, deteriorated massively in the 2nd part of the season, largely (from what I heard) to a change to more defensive style, not closing down as much high up the pitch and intensity levels dropped.
Then I assume the negativity and bad luck that goes with it, crept in.
 
IF .. IF IF IF IF .. we got promoted and still had Ballard on loan with the Viking and Marvin and Maxwell in goal, I think we'd be quite tight again but then would need more firepower and so you'd have to look at buying another decent striker.
 
Hevster said:
I look at a team like Huddersfield with interest. Prem money in their pocket and were very close to dropping down another division, in similar style to us but without swindling owners (as far as I know). I know Hoyle sold up a couple of years ago and I don't believe they have a rich benefactor in the wings, but I don't think anyone is milking the club dry.

So, unless someone knows otherwise my starting position is that surely Huddersfield have more cash at their disposal than teams like Luton and Millwall. Happy to become better informed as I don't pretend I know the intimate details of all clubs mentioned. I think money plays a part but it isn't the same critical factor it becomes in the Prem.

My position is therefore I think you can still manage in the Championship with good management and savvy building of a squad. Huddersfield don't seem to have achieved either since their Prem adventure.

On a wider note, I still look at the Championship line up and see that our natural place is in that mix of clubs. And I think, as things stand, a club like us could maintain Championship status. However I do think that the financial angle will increase in importance over time and what we see in the Prem will have more and more impact on the Championship. So a possible key for us is getting up and established before that really kicks in.

Don't get me wrong, I have ambition and would love to see us play in the top division again, but I don't see us out of place in that company. It is more seeing the Championship as a natural home and when the stars align we get a run at promotion and perhaps another go in the top flight.
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Talking to a couple of Huddersfield fans the other day and they were working where all the more has gone!
Having said that they have more than a few players on 60 Grand a week! Ouch.
 
Hevster said:
I look at a team like Huddersfield with interest. Prem money in their pocket and were very close to dropping down another division, in similar style to us but without swindling owners (as far as I know). I know Hoyle sold up a couple of years ago and I don't believe they have a rich benefactor in the wings, but I don't think anyone is milking the club dry.
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They have-well and truly milked and I dont think they've sorted the stadium ownership yet.

Anyway to answer the OP. Lots of money and the right blend of youth and experience but Sadler is a huge positive. The right owner doing the right thing is absolutely essential
 
Suprised nobody has mentioned Barnsley, promoted a few seasons ago yet they're flying now. The hardest part after promotion is staying up the first year, I think after that teams look a lot more settled
 
Momentum and a stable financial backdrop are two critical ingredients. If we go up we will have both. I think many Championship clubs will be facing huge financial constraints as a result of dangerously weak balance sheets from years of overspending and more recently Covid. In terms of personnel, actually think that our current squad would cope OK in the Championship. Our record this season against the top teams in our league is a pointer to that. It would suit our style of play more too....
 
I think one of the most important factor in being able to compete when promoted to the championship is keeping hold of your best players, and the core of your team (the best players of promoted sides are always sought after). If you remember, it was a massive boost to see Wes Hoolahan line up against Leicester in our first game back at that level.
You also need to be adaptable. Rotherham and Wycombe were both very limited sides I think, and have struggled badly. Both relied heavily on bullying the opposition, and set pieces, yet neither seems to have changed that approach, and it will only get you so far in that league. In the championship, you need to have quality on the ball in midfield - long punts forward to players like Akinfenwa just won't cut it i'm afraid. In that respect, this is the area we would need to focus on if we managed to go up, because we don't currently have that Wes Hoolahan type in the team right now. It's really striking I think that Luton are a recently promoted team doing well - but they have KDH in their team. That's the level you need to compete.
 
Money, a good manager, half decent squad and some luck. Avoiding relegation in the first season is like a baby turtle trying to make it to the sea before getting picked off by the birds. Once your in the ocean, the Championship is your oyster. Luton and Barnsley are both fully grown turtles who've come out of their respective shells.
 
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