Championship this season is a joke

[Baldyman]

Setting aside our own form for a minute , it has to be said that post lockdown the ridiculous gulf between the sides with Prem money on board and those without ( and struggling financially now) is utterly laughable this season . The top 3 will , if present trends continue , be approx 30-40 points clear of the 7th placed side by the and of the season . Bournemouth are presently creating a gap of 0.8 points per game between them and 7 th spot ! Whatever happened to anyone can beat anyone in this league ? 

[downendcity]

1 minute ago, Baldyman said:

Setting aside our own form for a minute , it has to be said that post lockdown the ridiculous gulf between the sides with Prem money on board and those without ( and struggling financially now) is utterly laughable this season . The top 3 will , if present trends continue , be approx 30-40 points clear of the 7th placed side by the and of the season . Bournemouth are presently creating a gap of 0.8 points per game between them and 7 th spot ! Whatever happened to anyone can beat anyone in this league ? 

Everyone can beat us.

[pl00peh91]

Just now, downendcity said:

Everyone can beat us.

We’ve only lost 6 out of 14 games 

[downendcity]

2 minutes ago, pl00peh91 said:

We’ve only lost 6 out of 14 games 

I was being facetious. 

[Baldyman]

Just now, downendcity said:

I was being facetious. 

Glad you had to spell that not me

[Mr Popodopolous]

This is a strong point and tbh I think the top 3 will finish the top 3 in whatever order, but are we so sure of 4th-6th? IMO no- a lot of those below the top 3 have strengths and weaknesses and of those top 3, if Bournemouth and WBA get injuries to the extent that we do, the depth may not be as strong as their current results suggest.

[cidercity1987]

5th is on for 69 points awful

In all likelihood Sheff parachute Utd will come through the pack to secure a safe play off place 

 

[Pezo]

It is a joke, it's basically 3 premier league teams and one basket case of a premier league side (that will still make the playoffs) playing against a mix of 4 traditionally average championship sides, 5 plucky underdogs doing well (I've had to stretch that definition quite a bit) and all the rest are championship basket cases to different degrees.

[cidercity1987]

The most annoying thing is we wouldn't have had to be very good at all to make the play offs this season. 17/18 and 18/19 squads would have done it with ease 

[Wiltshire robin]

2 minutes ago, cidercity1987 said:

The most annoying thing is we wouldn't have had to be very good at all to make the play offs this season. 17/18 and 18/19 squads would have done it with ease 

We should of really made the play offs in at least one of those seasons anyway tbh, poor management cost us those seasons .

[Pezo]

1 minute ago, cidercity1987 said:

The most annoying thing is we wouldn't have had to be very good at all to make the play offs this season. 17/18 and 18/19 squads would have done it with ease 

Yes in hindsight we made a mistake by spending money on trying to get promoted a couple years ago and fell short, now we don't have the money to challenge at the opportune moment.

For those economic experts I guess this is standard fiscal policy and as we don't have a money tree can't do counter fiscal policy.

[Mr Popodopolous]

1 hour ago, Wiltshire robin said:

We should of really made the play offs in at least one of those seasons anyway tbh, poor management cost us those seasons .

Definitely 2017/18, 2018/19 a bit more touch and go IMO. 

In slight mitigation for 2017/18, there were a string of unusual decisions by the officials across the season, some were quite costly! Although hitting the woodwork as much as we did, conversion rate a bit better and maybe we make them anyway.

Can list examples of both.

[Wiltshire robin]

5 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Definitely 2017/18, 2018/19 a bit more touch and go IMO. 

In slight mitigation for 2017/18, there were a string of unusual decisions by the officials across the season, some were quite costly! Although hitting the woodwork as much as we did, conversion rate a bit better and maybe we make them anyway.

Can list examples of both.

Yeh the thing I remember the most from that season is when wolves scored that last minute winner . I felt completely crushed and so did the team obviously as we completely capsized from then on .

[Mr Popodopolous]

8 minutes ago, Wiltshire robin said:

Yeh the thing I remember the most from that season is when wolves scored that last minute winner . I felt completely crushed and so did the team obviously as we completely capsized from then on .

I made a mistake, I meant 2018/19 in terms of woodwork and unusual refereeing decisions.

Regards 2017/18, largely agree. Mostly after that Wolves game the performance level, the style fell off a cliff- there were IMO some exceptions but it was steadily fading from view and by say Cardiff away with Diony and Diedhiou was it up front it had all but gone.

The exceptions in my view:

1) The two Cup games v Man City.

2) 1st half vs a solid lower midtable QPR until the Baker red but overall was good, the spirit 2nd half with 10- felt like a turning point! Sadly was just a cul-de-sac.

3) 1st half v Sunderland and Leeds. Quite good...shame they didn't end at HT eh!

4) Fulham home draw. We were under the cosh at times but thought signs of identity at others, remember that Fulham smashed most sides post Christmas.

5) 1st half vs Sheffield Wednesday. We sort of killed the game 2nd half.

6) Thought parts of the Hull 5-5 mad draw showed glimpses, other bits however were well short.

6 League games post the Wolves collapse and the Cup games. Even then only in parts for the League one,  regressed hugely.

[Wiltshire robin]

43 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

I made a mistake, I meant 2018/19 in terms of woodwork and unusual refereeing decisions.

Regards 2017/18, largely agree. Mostly after that Wolves game the performance level, the style fell off a cliff- there were IMO some exceptions but it was steadily fading from view and by say Cardiff away with Diony and Diedhiou was it up front it had all but gone.

The exceptions in my view:

1) The two Cup games v Man City.

2) 1st half vs a solid lower midtable QPR until the Baker red but overall was good, the spirit 2nd half with 10- felt like a turning point! Sadly was just a cul-de-sac.

3) 1st half v Sunderland and Leeds. Quite good...shame they didn't end at HT eh!

4) Fulham home draw. We were under the cosh at times but thought signs of identity at others, remember that Fulham smashed most sides post Christmas.

5) 1st half vs Sheffield Wednesday. We sort of killed the game 2nd half.

6) Thought parts of the Hull 5-5 mad draw showed glimpses, other bits however were well short.

6 League games post the Wolves collapse and the Cup games. Even then only in parts for the League one,  regressed hugely.

Good analysis, I don’t think it helped that after Christmas most players knew that even if we didn’t get promotion they could get a decent move away.

[And Its Smith]

4 hours ago, Baldyman said:

Setting aside our own form for a minute , it has to be said that post lockdown the ridiculous gulf between the sides with Prem money on board and those without ( and struggling financially now) is utterly laughable this season . The top 3 will , if present trends continue , be approx 30-40 points clear of the 7th placed side by the and of the season . Bournemouth are presently creating a gap of 0.8 points per game between them and 7 th spot ! Whatever happened to anyone can beat anyone in this league ? 

Will be even worse if we ever get promoted!

[sh1t_ref_again]

It has been that way every year, at least 2 teams with PP get promoted each year

The premier clubs have tried to ensure a closed shop, by trying to ensure any club relegated is given a massive financial advantage to enable a return over the following 3 years.

I do not no of any other competition that is so rigged

Fans of all the clubs outside of this monopoly need to start banding together a protest against the PP clubs ruining football

Either more money from the prem has to filter down so the wealth decreases the divide (not just to the championship) or players contracts have to be changed so that relegated clubs can conform to the FFP rules that the clubs playing in that division have to adhere to without PP

[And Its Smith]

46 minutes ago, sh1t_ref_again said:

It has been that way every year, at least 2 teams with PP get promoted each year

The premier clubs have tried to ensure a closed shop, by trying to ensure any club relegated is given a massive financial advantage to enable a return over the following 3 years.

I do not no of any other competition that is so rigged

Fans of all the clubs outside of this monopoly need to start banding together a protest against the PP clubs ruining football

Either more money from the prem has to filter down so the wealth decreases the divide (not just to the championship) or players contracts have to be changed so that relegated clubs can conform to the FFP rules that the clubs playing in that division have to adhere to without PP

The parachute payments are there to give promoted sides the confidence to spend and try to be competitive. They aren’t there to ensure those clubs come back up again quicker.  I’ve never heard a good alternative suggestion. I don’t think asking clubs to risk their financial future to stay in the premier league is the answer 

[Red_Alligator]

Something clearly needs to be  done about the way that PP's work. I can understand the need to prevent any club from imploding as a result of being relegated from the Premier League, but surely the cloth needs to be cut accordingly as with anything else in life?.

[sh1t_ref_again]

9 hours ago, And Its Smith said:

The parachute payments are there to give promoted sides the confidence to spend and try to be competitive. They aren’t there to ensure those clubs come back up again quicker.  I’ve never heard a good alternative suggestion. I don’t think asking clubs to risk their financial future to stay in the premier league is the answer 

PP was turkeys voting against Christmas. Its said that promotion is worth 200m to a club, therefore the new players signed could have contracts that in the event of relegation allow them to be either sold at X value or have a wage reduction that allows the club to comply with FFP of the division they now find themselves in. PL could enforce change so all new contracts are written this way. It will not affect the top clubs as they are never likely to get relegated.

[And Its Smith]

12 minutes ago, sh1t_ref_again said:

PP was turkeys voting against Christmas. Its said that promotion is worth 200m to a club, therefore the new players signed could have contracts that in the event of relegation allow them to be either sold at X value or have a wage reduction that allows the club to comply with FFP of the division they now find themselves in. PL could enforce change so all new contracts are written this way. It will not affect the top clubs as they are never likely to get relegated.

Can the premier league enforce parts of contracts ? I’m not sure they can legally.  

[sh1t_ref_again]

4 minutes ago, And Its Smith said:

Can the premier league enforce parts of contracts ? I’m not sure they can legally.  

I'm sure the prem can enforce what ever they want, its there competition the clubs are playing in

[WarksRobin]

15 hours ago, Baldyman said:

Glad you had to spell that not me

One of the few words with all five vowels, not repeated and in order

[And Its Smith]

9 minutes ago, sh1t_ref_again said:

I'm sure the prem can enforce what ever they want, its there competition the clubs are playing in

I’ve no idea but it doesn’t sound right to me. They can’t enforce salary caps for example 

[ashton_fan]

COVID has made things worse. Teams without parachute money rely on matchday income and this has been taken away (even this season crowds are down) so FFP has reduced the ability to sign players for clubs like ours because of last season's deficit.

[Clutton Caveman]

11 hours ago, Red_Alligator said:

Something clearly needs to be  done about the way that PP's work. I can understand the need to prevent any club from imploding as a result of being relegated from the Premier League, but surely the cloth needs to be cut accordingly as with anything else in life?.

Perhaps making it compulsory that all player contracts contain a very large salary reduction in the event of relegation would help.

[Flagon]

Yeah, it's mad to think that had we not conceded the injury time goals against Blackpool, Luton and Forest we would have an extra 7 points. The game against West Brom would have billed as a top six clash yet the difference between us couldn't be any greater really. I still think the Forest game left the team really deflated and made the game against West Brom worse though. We may have still lost by same anyway but I'm sure the actual showing would have better.

[Davefevs]

2 hours ago, sh1t_ref_again said:

PP was turkeys voting against Christmas. Its said that promotion is worth 200m to a club, therefore the new players signed could have contracts that in the event of relegation allow them to be either sold at X value or have a wage reduction that allows the club to comply with FFP of the division they now find themselves in. PL could enforce change so all new contracts are written this way. It will not affect the top clubs as they are never likely to get relegated.

I often think that a mandatory relegation wage reduction clause is the way to go, but you’d have to insert that into every contract, not just promoted clubs.  As it stands you will get a player courted by 2 teams, one uncertain whether they’ll be heading into the Champ says “do you mind if we insert a clause to cut your wages in half”, the other, more bullish says “sign here, we will still pay you if you go down”

The Rodwell / Sunderland one was good in theory.  £70k p.w. Halved on relegation but suspended for a year, e.g. we will pay you £70k in the Champ as an incentive to get us straight back up.  The problem was they went down again.

[downendcity]

18 hours ago, Baldyman said:

Glad you had to spell that not me

You thought I was being feaceshious?  

[Mr Popodopolous]

4 hours ago, ashton_fan said:

COVID has made things worse. Teams without parachute money rely on matchday income and this has been taken away (even this season crowds are down) so FFP has reduced the ability to sign players for clubs like ours because of last season's deficit.

Agree and disagree.

In many ways I agree with your post but and this isn't to knock SL at all, a) Covid lost revenue is excluded from FFP and b) If the owner is willing and able they can make good the shortfall and keep financing to pre Covid levels, subject to FFP of course. Stoke perhaps an example?

Also the loss for all clubs in, 2019/20 and 2020/21 is added and then halved.