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Celebrate that City are established in the Champ'ship


reddogkev

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Think we need to remind ourselves of this some times, as it is simple to say, yes of course we are - and then take this statement for granted.

But the reality is we have been a third tier team for the majority of my time supporting City and now we are becoming something bigger and better in the Championship.

We have LJ, SL, MA and the rest of the coaching team - plus of course the players - to thank for this.  It isn't the norm for City to succeed at this level, let's hope we can continue and as fans cheer our continued growth in the league, and take the good with the bad.

In a way, my slate is now wiped clean in similar fashion to Dave's recent thread and I am looking forward to seeing what LJ and the boys can do again in 18/19.

Next season is going to be exciting - provided we don't go into it expecting a promotion fight.  Just enjoy the football and the quality of the league.

 

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2 minutes ago, reddogkev said:

Think we need to remind ourselves of this some times, as it is simple to say, yes of course we are - and then take this statement for granted.

But the reality is we have been a third tier team for the majority of my time supporting City and now we are becoming something bigger and better in the Championship.

We have LJ, SL, MA and the rest of the coaching team - plus of course the players - to thank for this.  It isn't the norm for City to succeed at this level, let's hope we can continue and as fans cheer our continued growth in the league, and take the good with the bad.

In a way, my slate is now wiped clean in similar fashion to Dave's recent thread and I am looking forward to seeing what LJ and the boys can do again in 18/19.

Next season is going to be exciting - provided we don't go into it expecting a promotion fight.  Just enjoy the football and the quality of the league.

 

Established in the championship, that's a very brave statement let's hope that doesn't come back and bite you on the a**se!!

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2 minutes ago, pillred said:

Established in the championship, that's a very brave statement let's hope that doesn't come back and bite you on the a**se!!

Of course, we've all been around long enough to know City can royally screw things up when you least expect it, but I'm confident we're going to have a long run without having to worry about relegation.

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for a lot of teams they have their day and then fade away, if you look at some of the league tables they publish in Sunday papers for this week in 1971 etc it always amazes me some of the teams that were in the top flight, so what I'm saying is apart from a very few clubs as we found out in 1980 a bit of bad management investment it does not take long for the rot to set in, like you though at last I feel we may be over that at least for now.

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Very well said OP. Less than 5 years ago we were bottom of league one.

We've come along way in a short space of time.

11th place finish in the second tier with a fantastic redeveloped Ashton Gate is certainly something to be proud of.

Yes the second half of the season was very poor and we capitulated from a fantastic position to put this great club into the promised land.

But crikey times aren't exactly bad, only a year ago we'd just saved ourselves from what looked a very likely relegation back to league one at one point.

Onwards & Upwards. 

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36 minutes ago, reddogkev said:

Think we need to remind ourselves of this some times, as it is simple to say, yes of course we are - and then take this statement for granted.

But the reality is we have been a third tier team for the majority of my time supporting City and now we are becoming something bigger and better in the Championship.

We have LJ, SL, MA and the rest of the coaching team - plus of course the players - to thank for this.  It isn't the norm for City to succeed at this level, let's hope we can continue and as fans cheer our continued growth in the league, and take the good with the bad.

In a way, my slate is now wiped clean in similar fashion to Dave's recent thread and I am looking forward to seeing what LJ and the boys can do again in 18/19.

Next season is going to be exciting - provided we don't go into it expecting a promotion fight.  Just enjoy the football and the quality of the league.

 

Established? Survival last season just and a 11th place this season doesn't make us established.

Next season will be even harder.

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39 minutes ago, reddogkev said:

Think we need to remind ourselves of this some times, as it is simple to say, yes of course we are - and then take this statement for granted.

But the reality is we have been a third tier team for the majority of my time supporting City and now we are becoming something bigger and better in the Championship.

We have LJ, SL, MA and the rest of the coaching team - plus of course the players - to thank for this.  It isn't the norm for City to succeed at this level, let's hope we can continue and as fans cheer our continued growth in the league, and take the good with the bad.

In a way, my slate is now wiped clean in similar fashion to Dave's recent thread and I am looking forward to seeing what LJ and the boys can do again in 18/19.

Next season is going to be exciting - provided we don't go into it expecting a promotion fight.  Just enjoy the football and the quality of the league.

 

Lets see whether we are established in the Championship next May. I expect West Brom and Stoke thought they were established Prem sides this time last year.

Lets be honest, we have no idea if next season is going to be exciting or depressing - just like every season.

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Yes, for decades I have thought of us as a decent championship club with the potential to go higher but the cold reality has been more often than not long stays in Division 3 with brief blips into the Championship.

I'd say that we are now an established Championship club (i.e. can be reasonably confident that next season won't be a relegation battle) and that means we can retain and attract players and set budgets on that basis.

It is real progress to have got to this point.  Whatever the short term fluctuations in form we are now at a good level.

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1 hour ago, pillred said:

Established in the championship, that's a very brave statement let's hope that doesn't come back and bite you on the a**se!!

well he is right we've spent 10 out of the last 12 years in the championship, i think by the very definition we are an established championship club with a blip

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Our expectations are so low....we are the 8th largest city in the UK and we can't even get into the premier league and people are happy with us in the championship!! It's pathetic how low our self esteem is. And before you say it... Brighton, Bournemouth, Watford and Swansea are not exacly historical hotbeds of football either but they managed it. 

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I'm not sure if I'm in the minority or the majority in that I am actually deeply concerned for next season.

I look at Preston, Ipswich, Derby, Forest, Brentford, Leeds, Norwich, Sheff Weds and I would call them more established, in that they are teams I wouldn't expect to see fighting relegation next season, even though they may not also battle for promotion.

Our form since January, poor recruitment in the second window and the prospect of losing 3/4 of our key players makes me naturally concerned for next season. Add to this Lee Johnson' hinting that we don't have to just look at new players as we have youngsters coming through and he thinks a large number may feature next season, sort of says to me, the purse strings are tightly fastened unless players are sold for good money to enable more spending. I doubt we'll look at free agents where there could be a couple of players who could give us a short term push, as it doesn't fit into the clubs plans to buy and develop and sell for profit.

I fear we are becoming a Championship version of Southampton, and I fear a lot of young players being blooded in next year, in what could be a relegation battle, which wont be good for developing them. 

I fear we're not anywhere near as established as some feel, and actually on a bit of a knife edge, where this summers recruitment could have a massive say on whether we are relegation battling next season or chasing the top half pack. 

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19 minutes ago, Top Robin said:

Our expectations are so low....we are the 8th largest city in the UK and we can't even get into the premier league and people are happy with us in the championship!! It's pathetic how low our self esteem is. And before you say it... Brighton, Bournemouth, Watford and Swansea are not exacly historical hotbeds of football either but they managed it. 

why should we be in the prem? we've spent most of our history between the 2nd on 3rd tier

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1 minute ago, Spoons said:

With Blackburn and Wigan coming up and Stoke, Swansea and west brom coming down .... Yes IMO it's going to be harder.

The question is, are the sides coming down level with or better than those who  went up?

  • Wolves IMO are better than the 3 who came down.
  • Cardiff? No, but they have an experienced manager who helped to defy that- still they made hefty financial losses too by all reports.
  • Fulham or Villa? Hard to say. However Villa are a demonstrably bigger club than those who came down.

Blackburn and Wigan? Fairly poorly supported, not the best financial base- may not go down but can't see them challenging up the top either. Shrewsbury seem upwardly mobile, but it's a major ask- Rotherham were atrocious last time they were here, talking record breakingly bad levels, it felt like that anyway.

Set against Barnsley, Sunderland and Burton, I suppose they are a bit bigger but no major difference IMO. Remember they too will be restricted by FFP as the rest of the League is/has been.

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9 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

The question is, are the sides coming down level with or better than those who  went up?

  • Wolves IMO are better than the 3 who came down.
  • Cardiff? No, but they have an experienced manager who helped to defy that- still they made hefty financial losses too by all reports.
  • Fulham or Villa? Hard to say. However Villa are a demonstrably bigger club than those who came down.

Blackburn and Wigan? Fairly poorly supported, not the best financial base- may not go down but can't see them challenging up the top either. Shrewsbury seem upwardly mobile, but it's a major ask- Rotherham were atrocious last time they were here, talking record breakingly bad levels, it felt like that anyway.

Set against Barnsley, Sunderland and Burton, I suppose they are a bit bigger but no major difference IMO. Remember they too will be restricted by FFP as the rest of the League is/has been.

Blackburn and Wigan are alot bigger than Barnsley and Burton. 

Five years ago Wigan won fa cup !!!

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10 minutes ago, Spoons said:

Blackburn and Wigan are alot bigger than Barnsley and Burton. 

Five years ago Wigan won fa cup !!!

In modern times? Sure. Definitely bigger, but I can see them having issues competing on their current attendances and FFP (yes they will improve them and income but it's a big leap). Definitely bigger than Burton and Barnsley though, yeah.

Not saying they will necessarily go straight back down, but at the same time I don't see those 2 and particularly Blackburn troubling the promotion places. Wigan might have a go though.

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2 hours ago, reddogkev said:

Think we need to remind ourselves of this some times, as it is simple to say, yes of course we are - and then take this statement for granted.

But the reality is we have been a third tier team for the majority of my time supporting City and now we are becoming something bigger and better in the Championship.

We have LJ, SL, MA and the rest of the coaching team - plus of course the players - to thank for this.  It isn't the norm for City to succeed at this level, let's hope we can continue and as fans cheer our continued growth in the league, and take the good with the bad.

In a way, my slate is now wiped clean in similar fashion to Dave's recent thread and I am looking forward to seeing what LJ and the boys can do again in 18/19.

Next season is going to be exciting - provided we don't go into it expecting a promotion fight.  Just enjoy the football and the quality of the league.

 

Not quite sure what you mean by established. If our form of the last 5 months continues, we wont be in the championship much longer.

It is a lovely stadium though.

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47 minutes ago, Spoons said:

With Blackburn and Wigan coming up and Stoke, Swansea and west brom coming down .... Yes IMO it's going to be harder.

Wolves, Cardiff and Fulham / Villa are replacing WBA, Swansea and Stoke.  I think overall that's a weaker championship.

Stoke and Swansea have further to fall if you ask me.  Not relegation but a season like Hull's most likely.  Both have a few saleable assets who will surely leave but then a load of overpaid, ageing crap.  West Brom is dependent on what their board do for a manager. If they get someone like McCarthy, Allardyce or Moyes in they will surely be top 6.  Jay Rodriguez is a good shout for next season's top scorer and they won't lose many younger players as they don't have any except Oliver Burke who will probably do very well under the right manager.  Blackburn and Wigan will be decent but not top 10.  If Rotherham win the play offs it says loads about the gap between League 1 and the Championship. 

It's going to be more or less the same overall isn't it.  Clubs dropping are weaker but those coming up are stronger.  Evens itself out

 

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