Gulf in class?? | Vital Football

Gulf in class??

K

Kevin sheldon

Vital Youth Team
The gulf between League One and the Championship. Really?, Three teams promoted, none of which look like they will be in relegation trouble this year. With the gulf in class and none of the three sides significantly investing in the team, are they all not meant to struggle?.
 
There clearly was a gulf a few seasons ago, but now it seems to have closed drastically, considering the championship has been very competitive since we went down to those scandalous owners, the quality between teams is a lot closer. Look at Barnsley, playoffs then went down and Luton last season playoffs. Huddersfield’s we’re flying high last season and are now struggling.

its an unforgiving league
 
There does look a gap at the top. Its looking already that 2 sides who were relegated last season will probably go back up again and maybe it might even be all three. Joao Pedro and Ismalia Sarr are still at Watford, Norwich are top despite a disappointing first three games and im convinced Burnley will start getting on a roll soon and rack up a good number of wins on the dot.

Maybe based on what i have seen so far though, a middle end finish may be on the cards if our new signings settle quick and we can keep getting some of these results on the road. Some of our signings do look good quality and have helped us with the step up imo. Nyambe, Broadhead as examples, Shinnie arguably too.

There wont be any freebie games this season though in the sense that if we are off the pace in a game we probably will get beat. No play well below par in a game yet get away with it fixtures such as a Crewe or a Wimbledon which there were last season at times.

That said, im not getting ahead of myself with dreams of a top half finish or similar. So long as we finish minimum 21st and we are still a Championship club next season, i will take it 100%
 
Last edited:
Kevin sheldon said:
The gulf between League One and the Championship. Really?, Three teams promoted, none of which look like they will be in relegation trouble this year. With the gulf in class and none of the three sides significantly investing in the team, are they all not meant to struggle?.
Click to expand...

Prompted teams often come up riding momentum and their opponents take them for granted and are complacent in the first 10 games or so. It's quite common that the newly promoted sides have a good start to a season.

But after that the opposition start to take them seriously and the confidence and winning mentality carried over from the previous years success fades after a few loses. Results and performances can often decline as reality sets in.

We went through this ourselves in our first year under Cook, I think we won 5 of our first 10 games but we had a pretty poor run after that and it took us 30 odd games to get another 5 wins. Charlton went through it the season after and back in our Prem days I remember a few sides like Hull, Blackpool and Burnley all having good starts before ending up in the relegation battle.

I think the difference between L1 and the Championship is very big, just look at players in the past like Grigg and Jacobs or even Naylor and McClean at the moment - kings in L1 but struggled every time they were in the Champ. Last year there were a lot of sides who were very low on quality but this year even the weaker sides all have some decent players who can hurt you.

It's not insurmountable to step up but I wouldn't say us 3 promoted sides start is an indication we'll stay clear of the relegation battle.
 
Think it's too early to say we'll be clear of a relegation fight yet though I don't doubt the team could be.

To the points made above, we managed 16 points from our first 9 games, then just 20 from the next 28 - only another 16 in our last 9 saved us. Our 19/20 squad started OK-ish then was also woeful in the middle part of the season before rebounding towards the end albeit in vain.

Whether we can actually pick up point in the winter months this season will be the key because we've flattered to deceive in August/September before only to unravel when the clocks go back. It'll be tough because there are no obvious relegation candidates this season and no points deductions on the horizon either which is something you have to consider these days.

Looking at the teams currently below us, I can't see the likes of West Brom, Swansea, Stoke, Cardiff or Middlesbrough going down. They have good enough squads to get themselves over the line even if they have started slowly, and money to burn in January if push comes to shove and they need reinforcements. When was the last time any of them were in League One?

Preston and Birmingham are tipped to be down there every season but have become totally immune to relegation no matter what as we once were in the Prem for many years. Millwall are trending that way too. Hull and Sunderland have spent plenty and have already proven themselves more than competitive at this level so they should be fine, save a total implosion in Sunderland's case after Neil's sudden departure which doesn't look like happening.

So the teams we really need to target finishing above of in my opinion are Rotherham, Blackpool, Coventry, Luton and Huddersfield.

Luton made the playoffs last year and have improved year-on-year since promotion in 2019 season but their minimal spend is always a factor and I think on paper (and on the pitch albeit barely) we can match them. Huddersfield's playoff finish came off the back of two seasons battling relegation, and their poor start this year suggests it might've been an anomaly and they're now regressing to the mean though in both cases I wouldn't be surprised if one or both improved and were well clear at the end.

Blackpool were comfortably clear last season and have started well this year but are the same as Luton in that I think our squad matches theirs and they did lose their best player in Bowler without replacement at the deadline. Even Coventry have a top-half finish to hang their hat on from the last season. Outside of Reading (who are clearly much improved this time around), only Birmingham finished below 50 points of all the teams who weren't relegated. Only Hull (money and improved), Cardiff (money) and Bristol City (money and improved) finished below 60 points.

It's going to be tough, basically.
 
Some really valid points on here and we all like the benefit of hindsight. But looking at results this week, not a chance Wigan, Rotherham or Sunderland will get relegated. Most teams lack class
 
BulldogGaz said:
I know it's very early in the season but the 3 L1 promoted clubs have got off to reasonable starts but with a number of very strong clubs at the lower end of the table every point is vital.
Click to expand...
On that point How many points do you think we need to stay up and how quickly can we get them I am thinking 45 and January hopefully UTFT👍
 
I am worried that people are getting carried away with the start we have made.

It is still very early in the season and a number of teams will still be bedding in new squads and will improve as the season progresses. We have had a very good start and much of the reason for that has been the continuity from last season.

Hopefully we can build on that continuity and introduce the new players we brought into the club into the side to give us the lift in class and experience that we will need at this level.

Whilst we are all hopeful that that will happen, we need to be cautious. The other sides that may have got off to a slow start will improve and pose a different threat in games to come. As is often said "form is temporary, class is permanent" and those teams with players of class and experience in the division will no doubt improve over the season.

I think we need to take a step back, as fans, and take a breath. Our expectation levels will no doubt be high given our start, but this season will be difficult, and we need to be realistic. I think our first target needs to be to achieve, maybe 25 points by January, which will give us a good base to kick on in the new year.

Survival has to be the aim this season and anything above that should be seen as an achievement. It will be difficult this season, but I do believe we have the team to succeed and in Leam we have an exceptional manager who will lead us to the success we all want.
 
rumjocky said:
On that point How many points do you think we need to stay up and how quickly can we get them I am thinking 45 and January hopefully UTFT👍
Click to expand...

I think the 4th bottom team in the last few years has generally been around the 42/43 mark, but there was also a season where I think they had 49, so it's not always so clear cut.
 
TRUE BELIEVER said:
I am worried that people are getting carried away with the start we have made.

It is still very early in the season and a number of teams will still be bedding in new squads and will improve as the season progresses. We have had a very good start and much of the reason for that has been the continuity from last season.

Hopefully we can build on that continuity and introduce the new players we brought into the club into the side to give us the lift in class and experience that we will need at this level.

Whilst we are all hopeful that that will happen, we need to be cautious. The other sides that may have got off to a slow start will improve and pose a different threat in games to come. As is often said "form is temporary, class is permanent" and those teams with players of class and experience in the division will no doubt improve over the season.

I think we need to take a step back, as fans, and take a breath. Our expectation levels will no doubt be high given our start, but this season will be difficult, and we need to be realistic. I think our first target needs to be to achieve, maybe 25 points by January, which will give us a good base to kick on in the new year.

Survival has to be the aim this season and anything above that should be seen as an achievement. It will be difficult this season, but I do believe we have the team to succeed and in Leam we have an exceptional manager who will lead us to the success we all want.
Click to expand...
Sage wisdom as ever TB. We're never as bad as we make out, but also, we're rarely as good as we'd hope to be.

At least the Manager seems balanced and is taking things in his stride.
 
Concur with TBs post. The qualities we have in terms of fight and resilience have stood us in good stead so far and hopefully will continue to do so. We know the areas in which we need to improve and I said after the Luton game I expect we will start to see the team evolve. That was evident on Tuesday night with Thelo getting his first start and Shinnie starting above Naylor (that’s not a slight on him as he’s been brilliant for us). Next stage will be up front with Magennis phased out.

Survival is still the aim. I’ve previously said there will be no outliers at either end of the table this season and it’ll be quite compact with a relatively narrow gap between 21st and 6th. I think the survival mark will be in excess of 50 points. We need to start improving our home form as soon as possible and have a winnable game Saturday to get that first home victory and put more points on the board.
 
The acid test comes next month. I notice the Blackburn game has been rescheduled for next month, so when we get back from the international break, we'll be playing Saturday/Tuesday pretty much non stop across October. This is when the newly promoted sides with their weaker squads normally come unstuck. We're going to need the squad and we're going to need to avoid injuries. Important to remember that so far we've been relatively lucky on that front, with only Amos of the first-choice players getting injured and Jones has deputised well.
 
C_Latic said:
The acid test comes next month. I notice the Blackburn game has been rescheduled for next month, so when we get back from the international break, we'll be playing Saturday/Tuesday pretty much non stop across October. This is when the newly promoted sides with their weaker squads normally come unstuck. We're going to need the squad and we're going to need to avoid injuries. Important to remember that so far we've been relatively lucky on that front, with only Amos of the first-choice players getting injured and Jones has deputised well.
Click to expand...

Getting knocked out of the League Cup early on was a blessing. A two week break for internationals is good as well so the likes of Cousin's, Darikwa could be back for Rotherham. If we come through unscathed on Saturday, then we would have just over 5 weeks of games before a 4 week break for any knocks to heal. The WC break will help smaller squads. Also 5 subs allows managers to pull players off earlier with slight niggles, rather than risk an early sub. So many injuries are worsened when managers keep players on the pitch after a knock for too long. Hopefully that will reduce injuries across the leagues.
 
Coddenchips said:
I think the 4th bottom team in the last few years has generally been around the 42/43 mark, but there was also a season where I think they had 49, so it's not always so clear cut.
Click to expand...

Peterborough went down with 54 points in 2013. Blackburn 51 in 2017.

Based on how many teams have picked up a decent amount of points so far, l’d say another team going down with more than 50 points is pretty likely.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.