Championship season 2019-20

[SBlue]

Sheer madness.

Barnsley survive.

Wigan down.

 

BEST LEAGUE IN THE WORLD

[Blue blood]

Madness is the word. I agree about the best league btw. 

I am however a bit saddened that the ugly side of football ended up relegating two teams. I don't really get what's gone on at Wigan (nor looked too deeply tbf) but it seems like any sort of fit and proper test, and such a situation doesn't happen. Likewise had the Charlton key players not decided to down tools to protect moves in the summer, they would have had a better chance of staying up. So selfish players and corrupt owners and a negligent EFL seem to have had more influence than I am comfortable with in determining the table. 

All that said it was a fantastic night of entertainment. Every game practically and every goal meant something. Even the "meaningless" games had plenty of goals in them.  When was the premier league  was that exciting? 

[chaddyrovers]

what a night of results. 

Forest out of playoffs. They have exploded. 

Luton and Barnsley survive. 

Fulham and Brentford couldnt win tonight. 

and Hull, Charlton and Wigan have down. No sympathy for Hull owners and the Wigan fans who were laughing when we were relegated for PL or when Morsy injured Dack. 

[SBlue]

A fit and proper test can’t stop ANY owner just saying “taps turned off, sorry”. I really don’t know how you could legislate against that. It’s suspicious with the timing, but again - preventable? Hmmm

 

Forest spectacularly shat the bed and now it’s London vs Wales in the playoffs.

Really couldn’t call it. Swansea will be buzzing and Brentford/Fulham pretty deflated.

So logic determines that Cardiff go up.

[Blue blood]

They're letting off fireworks round our way celebrating Leeds promotion. Perhaps I can return the favour in 12 months when Leeds drop back down. 

Play offs very hard to predict. Brentford are on a downer. Fulham don't have the manager for me. And Cardiff and Swansea are pretty average sides (heck we beat Cardiff recently which shows they aren't all that...) Very hard to call. And all teams will feel they have a decent shout of doing it - making it more frustrating that we aren't one of those teams... 

[Mashed Potatoes]

Just now, Blue blood said:

They're letting off fireworks round our way celebrating Leeds promotion. Perhaps I can return the favour in 12 months when Leeds drop back down. 

Play offs very hard to predict. Brentford are on a downer. Fulham don't have the manager for me. And Cardiff and Swansea are pretty average sides (heck we beat Cardiff recently which shows they aren't all that...) Very hard to call. And all teams will feel they have a decent shout of doing it - making it more frustrating that we aren't one of those teams... 

looks like Brentford are chokers.

[Exiled in Toronto]

We think we always bottle it at crucial times: Brentford lose their last two when a win or two draws would’ve seen them up, and Forest throw away a season’s worth of goal difference advantage in the last game. We finished where we deserved.

[Tom]

Some absolute bottle jobs around, Forest have transcended to a new level of bottling tonight.

The baggies go up taking a point from two games but Fulham and Brentford both slipped up, that will hurt for a long time  

[SBlue]

Yup the Forest implosion is sensational.

14 minutes ago, Blue blood said:

They're letting off fireworks round our way celebrating Leeds promotion. Perhaps I can return the favour in 12 months when Leeds drop back down. 

Play offs very hard to predict. Brentford are on a downer. Fulham don't have the manager for me. And Cardiff and Swansea are pretty average sides (heck we beat Cardiff recently which shows they aren't all that...) Very hard to call. And all teams will feel they have a decent shout of doing it - making it more frustrating that we aren't one of those teams... 

I’d agree with all of that, think most decent managers bar Parker, with THAT squad, finishes above WBA at least.
 

Swansea worth an outside bet surely, will be some achievement.

[sympatheticclaret]

Many moons ago in the mid 1990's, Danny Baker described the Championship ( League 1, then ) as being like the " Borgia's " ..... everyone killing each other off,  people coming back when you thought they died, suicides, knifing each other when they're about to take the throne  .......

He wasn't wrong then, and it's not changed !

[BRFC4EVA]

I'd prefer Brentford to go up out of the 4. Partially because they are well run and would be a huge threat next season, but also because it would be a new interesting club in the Prem. 

Also the other 3 are relatively recently ex Prem so still operating on parachute payments, so must be getting to the point of having to cut their cloth differently. Surely players like Ayew and Mitrovic aren't gonna have another year in the champ?

[sympatheticclaret]

13 minutes ago, BRFC4EVA said:

I'd prefer Brentford to go up out of the 4. Partially because they are well run and would be a huge threat next season, but also because it would be a new interesting club in the Prem. 

Also the other 3 are relatively recently ex Prem so still operating on parachute payments, so must be getting to the point of having to cut their cloth differently. Surely players like Ayew and Mitrovic aren't gonna have another year in the champ?

If Brentford go up, they will be the 50th Club to enjoy at least 1 season of Premier League Football !

[47er]

2 hours ago, Mashed Potatoes said:

looks like Brentford are chokers.

They will regret this forever if they don't get through the lottery that is the play-offs.  Absolutely unbelievable.

[Butty]

The way Barnsley’s manager came in and turned there season around has been really impressive, they battered Leeds the other night but lost and got a deserved win against Brentford tonight. They’ve looked a half decent side since he took over whenever I’ve watched them and if Mowbray was to go I wouldn’t say no to their manager coming here. 12 wins 7 draws and 13 defeats is not relegation form and for a team with one of the worst squads in the league he’s done a great job. 

Edited July 22, 2020 by Butty

[RevidgeBlue]

6 minutes ago, Butty said:

The way Barnsley’s manager came in and turned there season around has been really impressive, they battered Leeds the other night but lost and got a deserved win against Brentford tonight. They’ve looked a half decent side since he took over whenever I’ve watched them and if Mowbray was to go I wouldn’t say no to their manager coming here. 12 wins 7 draws and 13 defeats is not relegation form and for a team with one of the worst squads in the league he’s done a great job. 

But but ....... you can't come in and turn things round in half a season.......... you need a "slow build" and long term plan!

?

 

[Butty]

4 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

But but ....... you can't come in and turn things round in half a season.......... you need a "slow build" and long term plan!

?

 

Wouldn’t even say I’m in the “Mowbray out” camp. I’m in the “If Mowbray leaves would I be bothered? Probably not” camp. I like what Struber has done at Barnsley though and the way he’s got them playing especially, he’s done a quality job there and if Mowbray was to leave (which he won’t) then I wouldn’t say no to him coming here and taking the reins. 

[Butty]

7 hours ago, Mercer said:

Whacked a good size bet on Wigan to be beat Fulham at almost 2/1.

Pretty sure Cooky will have Wigan fired up and will be far too feisty for the southern softies.

In the end it wasn’t the 12 point deduction and Administration that sent Wigan down, it was the good old Mercer home banker curse. The Pie Eaters will be hunting you down mate. 

[Sparks Rover]

25 minutes ago, Butty said:

In the end it wasn’t the 12 point deduction and Administration that sent Wigan down, it was the good old Mercer home banker curse. The Pie Eaters will be hunting you down mate. 

Yes, Fulham with a chance of automatic promotion and Mercer calls it a Wigan banker... 

[RevidgeBlue]

47 minutes ago, Butty said:

Wouldn’t even say I’m in the “Mowbray out” camp. I’m in the “If Mowbray leaves would I be bothered? Probably not” camp. I like what Struber has done at Barnsley though and the way he’s got them playing especially, he’s done a quality job there and if Mowbray was to leave (which he won’t) then I wouldn’t say no to him coming here and taking the reins. 

The main point to take out of that is that despite the common refrain from the pro Mowbray supporters that the owners would be unlikely to appoint anyone better than him, the reality is that there will be lots of up and comes out there who you wouldn't necessarily have heard of before but who could do a far better job than Mowbray.

[Theaxe15]

26 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

The main point to take out of that is that despite the common refrain from the pro Mowbray supporters that the owners would be unlikely to appoint anyone better than him, the reality is that there will be lots of up and comes out there who you wouldn't necessarily have heard of before but who could do a far better job than Mowbray.

Totally agree. Sadly I wouldn't trust those in charge of the club to be able to find these managers. I can't imagine they'd have a nuanced, careful approach to it. More like give it to the cheapest guy that they've heard of and know has managed a bit at this level...

[RevidgeBlue]

5 minutes ago, Theaxe15 said:

Totally agree. Sadly I wouldn't trust those in charge of the club to be able to find these managers. I can't imagine they'd have a nuanced, careful approach to it. More like give it to the cheapest guy that they've heard of and know has managed a bit at this level...

Maybe, maybe not.

It would require a bit of diligent research. On the other hand what's the alternative? Doing nothing and dying a slow lingering death buried under a mountain of debt?

[Butty]

5 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

The main point to take out of that is that despite the common refrain from the pro Mowbray supporters that the owners would be unlikely to appoint anyone better than him, the reality is that there will be lots of up and comes out there who you wouldn't necessarily have heard of before but who could do a far better job than Mowbray.

I think Gareth Ainsworth or Barnsley’s gaffer Struber would be my two choices if Mowbray was to go but like I’ve said, there’s not a chance Tony leaves anytime soon so it’s a pointless discussion!

[Bigdoggsteel]

What a job O'Neill has done at Stoke. I bet Forest wish they were playing us last night. Absolutely NO WAY Mowbray is getting us fired up enough to win that with nothing to play for. 

Would anyone disagree with that??

I expect Stoke to challenge next season 

[Blue blood]

Luton, Barnsley, Huddersfield, Stoke and Boro all stayed up. What they all have in common is they changed their manager. Four of them went for ones with recent success (unsure on the Barnsley chap). 

Don't get me wrong I thought Wigan and Charlton were unfortunate to go down, so I am not saying that a new manager is the only factor by a long shot. Luton were massively helped out by playing us last and a couple of the teams had a lot of quality in the squads.

But a few of these teams did look dead and buried until they changed the manager and that shows the impact that the right man can have. It shows the importance of a new broom and fresh ideas and not letting things go stale. 

That said as far as I am aware none of these clubs were limited to a single agency when appointing managers and have owners who at least vaguely know what they are doing/care, so the comparison isn't perfect. 

[RevidgeBlue]

Out of curiosity, I wonder which managers are on the books of HSH?

(I realise this is a cue for Mashed Potatoes to get his fishing rod out and chirp up with the name Phil Brown)