Championship expectations

I would 100% take 16th right now. 

follett said:

5-10 years ago a proper investment in the side like this window has been would see a League One club probably cement top half but nowadays the gap between League One and the Championship is so big I still think we will find it very difficult. 

We are giving it a go though and that’s all we can ask, hopefully it’s enough to stay up, unfortunately the two sides we’ve come up with are unlikely to go down so we will have to finish above three other sides

Spot on with that first paragraph. It’s a much bigger jump up these days between L1 and the championship. 

MillwallFan said:

follett said:

5-10 years ago a proper investment in the side like this window has been would see a League One club probably cement top half but nowadays the gap between League One and the Championship is so big I still think we will find it very difficult. 

We are giving it a go though and that’s all we can ask, hopefully it’s enough to stay up, unfortunately the two sides we’ve come up with are unlikely to go down so we will have to finish above three other sides

Spot on with that first paragraph. It’s a much bigger jump up these days between L1 and the championship. 

You’ve made some decent signings though and the basket case that is Sheffield Wednesday will finish bottom so you only have to worry about finishing above two others. Even starting the season with minus 4 points I think thats doable. 

I think this is nonsense - you hope this is the case but it isn't. The championship is no stronger than it was 5 or 10 years ago - same with the premiership. More money, bigger transfers does not mean better players. We shall see.   

Would be happy with mid table and that is where I expect us to finish following this transfer window 

DOUCHER said:

MillwallFan said:

follett said:

5-10 years ago a proper investment in the side like this window has been would see a League One club probably cement top half but nowadays the gap between League One and the Championship is so big I still think we will find it very difficult. 

We are giving it a go though and that’s all we can ask, hopefully it’s enough to stay up, unfortunately the two sides we’ve come up with are unlikely to go down so we will have to finish above three other sides

Spot on with that first paragraph. It’s a much bigger jump up these days between L1 and the championship. 

You’ve made some decent signings though and the basket case that is Sheffield Wednesday will finish bottom so you only have to worry about finishing above two others. Even starting the season with minus 4 points I think thats doable. 

I think this is nonsense - you hope this is the case but it isn't. The championship is no stronger than it was 5 or 10 years ago - same with the premiership. More money, bigger transfers does not mean better players. We shall see.   

I agree! Bristol City were crap for the best part of last season but still came within 3 games of the premier league which is insane! This was only because a handful of teams around them couldn’t sustain a push themselves. I am not denying it’s a tough league but to say it’s got stronger is not true! 

Elthamaddick said:

DOUCHER said:

MillwallFan said:

follett said:

5-10 years ago a proper investment in the side like this window has been would see a League One club probably cement top half but nowadays the gap between League One and the Championship is so big I still think we will find it very difficult. 

We are giving it a go though and that’s all we can ask, hopefully it’s enough to stay up, unfortunately the two sides we’ve come up with are unlikely to go down so we will have to finish above three other sides

Spot on with that first paragraph. It’s a much bigger jump up these days between L1 and the championship. 

You’ve made some decent signings though and the basket case that is Sheffield Wednesday will finish bottom so you only have to worry about finishing above two others. Even starting the season with minus 4 points I think thats doable. 

I think this is nonsense - you hope this is the case but it isn't. The championship is no stronger than it was 5 or 10 years ago - same with the premiership. More money, bigger transfers does not mean better players. We shall see.   

agree with this - yes it's very competitive (but it always was), don't particularly think it's any stronger than when we last came up, it's just with teams paying massive money for the same standard of player it creates that illusion.

We'll finish in the bottom 8 but I think we'll be 'relatively' comfortable. Hard to beat and will hopefully keep alot of clean sheets again, that alone will see us ok

I think it is tougher this season than it was last.

If NJ gets the best out of this lot, we’ll be fine.
Steady the ship in the championship and push on from there.

se9addick said:

DOUCHER said:

MillwallFan said:

follett said:

5-10 years ago a proper investment in the side like this window has been would see a League One club probably cement top half but nowadays the gap between League One and the Championship is so big I still think we will find it very difficult. 

We are giving it a go though and that’s all we can ask, hopefully it’s enough to stay up, unfortunately the two sides we’ve come up with are unlikely to go down so we will have to finish above three other sides

Spot on with that first paragraph. It’s a much bigger jump up these days between L1 and the championship. 

You’ve made some decent signings though and the basket case that is Sheffield Wednesday will finish bottom so you only have to worry about finishing above two others. Even starting the season with minus 4 points I think thats doable. 

I think this is nonsense - you hope this is the case but it isn't. The championship is no stronger than it was 5 or 10 years ago - same with the premiership. More money, bigger transfers does not mean better players. We shall see.   

The Championship has definitely improved in quality over time, even since we were last in it. I really think a decent chunk of our fan base are going to get a rude awakening in a couple of weeks time when they see how high the standard is versus the pub league we’ve been slogging it out in for the last thousand years. 

My perspective hasn’t massively changed with the Kelman signing, I think 21st would be a great finish and getting even that will be tough. Thankfully there will be a couple of teams with embargo’s & possible points deductions which will help us out. 

You mainly can only play to the standard of the other team you are playing against. Sure, you can outclass them, run rings around them and generally look a much better standard but if they are shit then your game will come down a few notches. However, play a much better team or one from a higher division and your game often raises accordingly. There is/will be a big step up in the standard of opposition we will come up against but as we saw last time (and that was a very strong league that year) if you strengthen your squad, and we’ve definitely done that, you can more than hold you’re own against the other teams. We just need to avoid dodgy owners, an excessive number of injuries, Covid, lockdowns and our key striker deciding he no longer wants to play because he’s jumping ship. 

SouthWest_Addicks said:

Racing Post have us finishing 20th. 

Bottom 3 of Wrexham, Hull & Sheffield Wednesday. 

What does a Horse Racing magazine know about Football?

SouthWest_Addicks said:

ForeverAddickted said:

SouthWest_Addicks said:

Racing Post have us finishing 20th. 

Bottom 3 of Wrexham, Hull & Sheffield Wednesday. 

What does a Horse Racing magazine know about Football?

https://www.racingpost.com/sport/football-tips/the-big-kick-off/out-on-july-28-the-big-kick-off-the-ultimate-football-betting-guide-free-in-the-racing-post-aHqOk8z77lfB/

Apparently they know 80 pages worth of football.

My post was more tongue in cheek, because whenever I think of Racing Post my first thought goes to Horse Racing

Lots of new signings means this team will need time to gel. 

If we're in and around the bottom three in October I hope the fanbase gives NJ time to make it happen.

Just remember what we looked like after Crawley at home last season, compared to where we ended up! 

Getting more and more positive as each week passes. I can see us fishing as high as 12th-15th at the minute. One of the three relegated sides from the Prem will have a stinker - could be Leicester, I think Sheff Weds are screwed, Hull will be poor, Bristol City I have a feeling will struggle despite last season’s good performance, as may Pompey, Derby, Preston and Stoke. I think we will finish above Wrexham. They may come strong with signings but I would take NJ over Parky any day in the Championship and just think their bubble will deflate a bit. Probably not enough to be in the bottom three, but I think we will be stronger by season end as I have said. Will be up and down results wise all season and if fans start booing against any side after a defeat, they will need to give their heads a shake. We will act as 12th man all season and back us home and away to do our job!

Worth noting that in recent seasons Luton got promoted, Ipswich went straight up after coming out of league one, and last year all 3 promoted clubs stayed up.

Plus if we look at the clubs going the other way, in the last 3 seasons out of the 9 clubs relegated from the Championship to League one, only 2 of them got promoted back and one was Birmingham who broke every single spending record to do so. 

So all of that doesn't say a lot for there being a huge gulf in class between league 1 and the championship. Of course there is a going to be an increase in quality but it's not like the gulf jumping from Championship to PL.