Next Seasons Championship

[Kid in the Riot]

Based on what I've seen of Swansea and Leicester this season it's amazing to think that those two teams will likely be in the play offs come May. You could argue that outside of West Brom and Newcastle there aren't too many quality sides this season...Forest and Cardiff appear to be where they are on merit.

Next season though, with the Geordies and Baggies gone, it looks like the three teams coming down are going to be Portsmouth, Hull and Burnley.

Pompey are in financial ruin and pundits are already predicting that they'll have a job just to stay in the C'ship next season following this summers inevitable fire sale.

Burnley and Hull are two clubs that have had their moment in the sun and are managed by a couple of buffoons. Despite the parachute payments both will get I think Burnley have a pretty average squad and Hull will lose their best players and Dowie will be forced to try and reinvest.

Coming up we have Norwich who should do ok but the likes of Swindon/Millwall you wouldn't be overly concerned about and if Leeds again bottle it then we could end up with one of Colchester or Huddersfield.

It's of course a bit too early to be predicting how next season will shape up as you will get new managers/owners coming in that'll make all the difference.

However, we currently stand in good stead. We have one of the league's best strikers and look to consolidate two top 10 finishes on the spin.

Next season could be a great opportunity for us to get the right man in and really have a go at improving on the last couple of years of consolidation and try and finish as high up the league as possible.

I hope that Milly stays on and Coppell arrives as no. 1.

REDS

[Chiva]

Define poor league.

It's the same every year: 'it's a shit league is this.'

But I never really see it, there are teams who are consistent and teams that aren't.

Leicester and Swansea this season have had pretty average playing squads but they've set themselves up as real hard nuts to crack.

They're the antithesis of the other play-off occupants who have good firepower and are a little more enjoyable to watch.

Yet they're all up in that top six for one reason: consistency.

Next season will be open and you can bet many fans will be heard to utter 'they were sh*t, we were sh*tter.'

Just excuses. If you battle hard for every ball and have good players as well, you do well. I watched Barca last night and it was obvious why their multi-talented squad does so much better than Real's multi-talented squad - pressure on the ball. And it's noticeable that the same is true in this league, and the difference between those top teams is they get that extra 5% of work from their players.

[internetjef]

Fully agree with original poster

I hadnt though about it until now actually but especially if one of cardiff/forest go up in playoffs then some good teams will have left to be replaced with pretty rubbish prem ones.

Worth noting though we could be looking at a few bigger clubs coming up to championship than going down from it so at that end it could be a increase in quality.

All in all it should make for a very level playing field and an even more competitive championship. If we can get a good manager in and start the season well then we could find ourself right in the mix.

hopefully west ham wont come down as they would surely walk the league much as toon have

[bucksred]

Based on what I've seen of Swansea and Leicester this season it's amazing to think that those two teams will likely be in the play offs come May. You could argue that outside of West Brom and Newcastle there aren't too many quality sides this season...Forest and Cardiff appear to be where they are on merit.

Next season though, with the Geordies and Baggies gone, it looks like the three teams coming down are going to be Portsmouth, Hull and Burnley.

Pompey are in financial ruin and pundits are already predicting that they'll have a job just to stay in the C'ship next season following this summers inevitable fire sale.

Burnley and Hull are two clubs that have had their moment in the sun and are managed by a couple of buffoons. Despite the parachute payments both will get I think Burnley have a pretty average squad and Hull will lose their best players and Dowie will be forced to try and reinvest.

Coming up we have Norwich who should do ok but the likes of Swindon/Millwall you wouldn't be overly concerned about and if Leeds again bottle it then we could end up with one of Colchester or Huddersfield.

It's of course a bit too early to be predicting how next season will shape up as you will get new managers/owners coming in that'll make all the difference.

However, we currently stand in good stead. We have one of the league's best strikers and look to consolidate two top 10 finishes on the spin.

Next season could be a great opportunity for us to get the right man in and really have a go at improving on the last couple of years of consolidation and try and finish as high up the league as possible.

I hope that Milly stays on and Coppell arrives as no. 1.

REDS

I wonder what established clubs in the Championship said when us Scunny & Blackpool, rocked into the division

Tis gonna be a shite division this season, only Scunny Blackpool and the Wurzel City they'll all go back down..None of the big clubs, will keep their players, they've had their season in the sun, Bummingham, Reading & Charlton

The rest is history....

Arrogance breeds contempt, contempt gets punished. Never underestimate the challenges ahead.

The last part of the post is spot on though, consolidate and improve our position every year.

[Tim S]

Based on what I've seen of Swansea and Leicester this season it's amazing to think that those two teams will likely be in the play offs come May. You could argue that outside of West Brom and Newcastle there aren't too many quality sides this season...Forest and Cardiff appear to be where they are on merit.

Next season though, with the Geordies and Baggies gone, it looks like the three teams coming down are going to be Portsmouth, Hull and Burnley.

Pompey are in financial ruin and pundits are already predicting that they'll have a job just to stay in the C'ship next season following this summers inevitable fire sale.

Burnley and Hull are two clubs that have had their moment in the sun and are managed by a couple of buffoons. Despite the parachute payments both will get I think Burnley have a pretty average squad and Hull will lose their best players and Dowie will be forced to try and reinvest.

REDS

Of the teams coming down (even though its not all confirmed yet) I would have said that Burnley would have been quite a force in the Championship. However, with Brian Laws at the helm I wouldnt give them as much credit. If they change their manager in the summer then depending who it is, I would say that Burnley could be in a good position to be up around the top spots next season.

Portsmouth - well this is a club in freefall and much depends what happens with them over the summer with regards to what players they can keep hold of. With their current squad, I would give them a great chance to be in the top two of the championship next season. But I have a feeling much of the squad will be departing over the summer and their will have to completely rebuild the squad which could set them back quite badly, and they wont have big money to bring in decent players (unless and investor comes in). I would say mid table for them next season.

Hull will be a good championship team next season, but like Portsmouth it depends which players they can keep hold of. Newcastles success this season was due to the fact they managed to keep hold of many of their players they came down with, and if Hull can keep hold of some of their players then I would give them a great chance to be up and around the top 3 or 4. But if they loose half their squad coming down then I think they will find even the top 6 had to make.

[BrizzleRed]

In all honesty, I don't get this worst CCC that we've heard each year since we came up.

The CCC is what it is. Each season it gives up its best three teams to the Prem, while it loses its worst three down to League 1. These are replaced by the best three from League 1 and the worst 3 from the Prem. With the exception of the Prem, this is how all the Football Leagues work and quality tends to balance out within the divisions.

Newcastle, WBA and Boro were the 'weak' teams who came down last year and they didn't do too bad did they? It's a funny old game and the team I thought had least chance of doing anything in the Prem this year was Brum and they're doing best of the lot. The ones who come down this season could storm the CCC next year for all we know.

The CCC is a very tough, competitive league, like it probably is every year and can be very unforgiving when teams aren't on top of their game ........... just ask Leeds, Charlton, Norwich, Southampton, etc!

I doubt if that'll change next year.

[ciderup]

I can think of 2 whole divisions worth of teams that would love to be playing in this supposed 'weak' division next year!

The other point to take into account is that the likes of Reading are going to be very strong next season and the likes of Ipswich surely can't have as bad a season as they have this one.

There are clubs like Ipswich and 'Boro to name just 2, that will be investing heavily again in the summer making them likely to be around the top of the table.

Steady as she goes City and we might just be ready for a really big push for the Prem as we enter the Vale stadium.

I, for one, would be happy to see progress and keep the likes of Nicky M away from the vultures which will undoubtedly be circling Ashton Gate this summer trying to get his signature!

While saying we would be ready for a real push in 2011/2012, I don't think it is beyond the realms of possibility that we could be right up there again next season!