Championship Thread 2011/2012

Iago

Championship Thread 2011/2012

This thread is for team talk, Gossip and Rumours pertaining to the English Championship. This thread is open for all users to post in. There are no preferences for fans of any team.

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The Floyd p

West ham going up!

antomorro-sei

Wonder who Watford will get as their new manager

kenco

West Ham and prob Brum to go up automatically. Final sport anyone's guess but the usual suspects will be fighting out the playoff spots.

I also think this will be the first season in a long time when the 3 that went up last season will be straight back in again for 2012/2013

Kiwi_knock

The Floyd p wrote: »

West ham going up!

I fancy them and Leicester to grab the automatic promotion spots.

3hn2givr7mx1sc

I'll be happy if Cardiff go up, tbh! Would like to see Forest do well too.

G.K.

Leeds up as champions! Hopefully joined by WHam and Blackpool!

Desire.

I fancy West Ham to win the Championship this year.

kenco wrote: »

I also think this will be the first season in a long time when the 3 that went up last season will be straight back in again for 2012/2013

I can't see Blackpool going straight back up.

Melion

I can see Cardiff being involved in a relegation scrap unfortunately.

Desire.

Melion wrote: »

I can see Cardiff being involved in a relegation scrap unfortunately.

Really? Why do you think that? Not a fan of the new manager, or are they losing a lot of players?

G.K.

They've lost Bellamy, Bothroyd and Chopra. And Burke and a number of loanees too. Mackay will need to have a good transfer window.

Their only strikers are Jon Parkin and some 19 year old atm. I can see Sordell going there.

Paully D

Personally I think it'll be West Ham and Nottingham Forest going up automatically, with Middlesbrough, Birmingham, Leicester and Reading taking the play-off spots.

I think Doncaster are as good as down already and Barnsley won't be too far behind. I'll go for Peterborough to take the final relegation place.

Cardiff will be massive underachievers and Brighton will overachieve.

It'll certainly be very interesting to see how things shape up and it's the strongest the division has been in a long, long time IMO.

The Volt

West Ham and Blackpool to return I reckon. My fondness for this league continues to grow every season.

Paully D

Voltwad wrote: »

West Ham and Blackpool to return I reckon. My fondness for this league continues to grow every season.

It's great - providing your club isn't in it. Everything changes then.

Cypher_sounds

West Ham to get relegated....again:eek::eek::eek:

The Volt

Cypher_sounds wrote: »

West Ham to get relegated....again:eek::eek::eek:

More chance of Big Sam undergoing a personality change and appearing to be a sound bloke :pac:

Paully D

The Volt

Getting slightly off topic here but have you seen his fake twitter account?

http://twitter.com/#!/TheBig_Sam


In all seriousness though, they should bounce back up. Middlesbrough are dark horses as well. Looked like Mobray was whipping them into shape towards the back end of last season.

Paully D

Voltwad wrote: »

Getting slightly off topic here but have you seen his fake twitter account?

http://twitter.com/#!/TheBig_Sam


In all seriousness though, they should bounce back up. Middlesbrough are dark horses as well. Looked like Mobray was whipping them into shape towards the back end of last season.

Yep, it's very funny.

For some reason I actually like Big Sam and I feel he doesn't get the plaudits he deserves. After all, he took over a struggling Bolton side in the Championship, established them in the Premier League, turned them into top 6 challengers and a UEFA Cup side, along with a Carling Cup final.

He also did well at Blackburn and would have had them comfortably safe this season with no relegation fears, even though the side he originally took over there was an absolute shambles.

He was never given a chance at Newcastle as the fans wanted him out after a couple of weeks and when they eventually got rid of him they went down soon after, he also would have easily kept them up.

He'll get West Ham promoted no problem and if they stick with him regardless of his style he'll turn them into a mid-table Premier League side within 3 or 4 seasons IMO.

I think Middlesbrough will get to the play-offs this season and then anything could happen. Gibson has made some awful decisions lately, most notably getting rid of Southgate when they were 3rd in the table, but the appointment of Mowbray was a good one. He's the type of manager who'll get them up sooner rather than later but won't be able to keep them in the Premier League though IMO.

dartbhoy

What are the chances of Ipswich winning promotion this season? Paul Jewell will be under pressure if they fail to make the play offs at least I reckon. I reckon Southampton could be the surprise team in the Championship this season,they could possibly do a Norwich by winning promotion to the top flight.

craggles

Hull are only a couple of decent signings away from making the playoffs.

Mars Bar

I hope Watford do enough to even be in with a chance of the play offs...

Paully D

mars bar wrote: »

I hope Watford do enough to even be in with a chance of the play offs...

Personally I think they'll be doing well to finish mid-table this season.

Mars Bar

Paully D wrote: »

Personally I think they'll be doing well to finish mid-table this season.

I think so too but one can hope!

They'll have to replace Danny Graham too which will make life harder for them too.

EDIT: I'd love to see them do well if it's just to make Mark Giles happy!

Paully D

Portsmouth will also struggle big time. They've only got 13 senior players, Mokoena wants out and Ben Haim is in the process of suing the club over unpaid wages.

That_Guy

Personally I think West Ham will win it.

Leicester for automatic promotion might be a good bet too.

Leeds, Ipswich, Blackpool and Southampton for play offs in no particular order.

Desire.

I personally think Brighton will do better than Southampton.

G.K.

Honestly I don't see doing Leicster doing as well as others do.

Sasquatch76

Not many fancying Forest either?

Fratton Fred

Paully D wrote: »

Portsmouth will also struggle big time. They've only got 13 senior players, Mokoena wants out and Ben Haim is in the process of suing the club over unpaid wages.

The new owners are in place now though. Norris from Ipswich has just signed and there are pretty strong rumours about several players already lined up, including St Ledger.

I am fairly optimistic about this season and would expect to be challenging for a play off spot come easter.

fkiely

We (West Ham) are probably deserved favourites but we all know that that means nothing in the Championship. We were also favourites to win last time we were down and it took us two years to get back up. The Nolan signing is a serious show of intent and our owners have just put in another 30 million into the club so financially we’ll be fine. On another note, Birmingham could be in serious trouble if the rumours are correct. Wouldn’t fancy them for promotion at all.

Keano

Looks like Colin Calderwood will be leaving Hibs to come back us as Steve's assistant. Strange move!

grenache

http://www.nottinghamforest.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10308~2384793,00.html

Steve McClaren has made his first signing as Nottingham Forest manager by persuading Andy Reid to return to The City Ground.

The Republic of Ireland international, who started his career with The Reds, has disappointed a number of clubs by signing a two-year City Ground contract.

The 28 year old left winger, who arrives on a free transfer, will bring a wealth of Premier League experience to the Forest dressing room.

He made more than 110 top-flight appearances for Tottenham, Charlton, Sunderland and Blackpool and has been capped 27 times by his country.

Reid initially joined Forest as a 14 year old from Cherry Orchard in his native Dublin and burst onto the first team scene in 2000, marking his debut against Sheffield United with a goal.

He made 160 league and cup appearances for the club, scoring 25 goals, before securing a £8million move to Spurs in January 2005 in a joint deal that also took Michael Dawson to White Hart Lane.

He joined Charlton the following year in a reported £3million deal and thrived at The Valley, captaining the London outfit on a number of occasions.

His form attracted the attention of Sunderland and he completed a £5million switch to Wearside in January 2008.

He made 68 league appearances for Sunderland before joining Blackpool in January of this year on a short-term deal.

Welcome back my son! If McClaren can get him to shed some weight, he'll pi$$ all over the Championship. I still think he is technically the best Irish player in any division and has been treated rather shabbily by Trapattoni & Co.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baO96_dg_gI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NyPHPpqMyA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9S4r_6xb2s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxKN8ieA1cs

Paully D

Very good player is Andy, always liked him at Sunderland and he was flying two seasons ago before he got an injury in January and the squad moved on in his absence.

Cracking signing for Forest!

grenache

that injury really set him back, he never got back into your first team. Holloway wasn't happy with his fitness at Blackpool last season and i think Reid just seemed a bit disillusioned with the whole thing. For him to come back to Forest where he knows so many people should ground him and let him concentrate on doing what he does best, cutting defences in half.

He's the one player i always wanted to come back, so i'm delighted.

OPENROAD

Always like following the Championship during the season, though my adopted Championship team over the years QPR are obviously not there this season

Will have to find a new team for this season

Paully D

grenache wrote: »

that injury really set him back, he never got back into your first team. Holloway wasn't happy with his fitness at Blackpool last season and i think Reid just seemed a bit disillusioned with the whole thing. For him to come back to Forest where he knows so many people should ground him and let him concentrate on doing what he does best, cutting defences in half.

He's the one player i always wanted to come back, so i'm delighted.

Aye, it did. He was doing very well at that stage. Think he had about 6 or 7 assists and a couple of goals too during the first half of the season. I still always thought he was wasted out wide though and felt we should have tried to accommodate him ''in the hole'', especially when playing 4-5-1. He produced some great moments though - a superb ball over the top for Cisse to slot home against Pompey in 2008, a great ball to Murphy for his cracker V Wigan, a last minute winner which no other player in our squad would have had the technique to finish against West Ham which all but secured our Premier League status that season, a free kick V West Ham in 2009 which you've a video of and the chip V Norwich amongst others.

Aye I can't really blame him for being disillusioned with Blackpool. He knew he was never going to get a full contract there as they're wage ceiling is about £8,000 and they were falling down the table when he arrived.

I hope he does really well for Forest. He's a cracking bloke and deserves another shot in the Premier League IMO. It would be great to see Forest and McClaren back in the Premier League. The only thing that ever put me off Forest has now gone anyway (Billy Davies :pac:)!

grenache

Did anyone like Billy Davies besides me?! I know he liked a good moan, but tell me what Scotsman doesn't! He was constantly being undermined by our chairman.

What kind of wages was Reid on at Sunderland? Somewhere between 15 and 20k i'd imagine? The rumour is that he'll be on around 10k at Forest, second only to Rob Earnshaw. Reid arrived at Blackpool at a difficult time, as you say, but i think Holloway was always going to stick with the guys he trusted - Reid never stood a chance of ousting Vaughan on the wing and certainly not Adam in centre mid. I'm hopeful that McClaren will give him a sort of free role in that pocket behind the strikers. It's more likely that he will stick him in midfield though. We already have a good left winger in Paul Anderson and i dont think Reid has sufficient pace for that position. We've been lacking real creativity in midfield since Commons left for the Sheep. So its nice to see one hole being filled. Now all we need is a left back and a 20-goal-a season front man and we're laughing.

Paully D

grenache wrote: »

Did anyone like Billy Davies besides me?! I know he liked a good moan, but tell me what Scotsman doesn't! He was constantly being undermined by our chairman.

What kind of wages was Reid on at Sunderland? Somewhere between 15 and 20k i'd imagine? The rumour is that he'll be on around 10k at Forest, second only to Rob Earnshaw. Reid arrived at Blackpool at a difficult time, as you say, but i think Holloway was always going to stick with the guys he trusted - Reid never stood a chance of ousting Vaughan on the wing and certainly not Adam in centre mid. I'm hopeful that McClaren will give him a sort of free role in that pocket behind the strikers. It's more likely that he will stick him in midfield though. We already have a good left winger in Paul Anderson and i dont think Reid has sufficient pace for that position. We've been lacking real creativity in midfield since Commons left for the Sheep. So its nice to see one whole being filled. Now all we need is a left back and a 20-goal-a season front man and we're laughing.

I couldn't stand the man to be honest. I think you're so much better off with McClaren. He's a serious manager for a club like Forest in that division

He was one of our bigger earners at the time mate. Under Keane's reign we gave some scarily high wages to players that didn't really deserve it but we had to pay it to get them up to the north-east to a club battling relegation. I suppose you could say it worked out well as we're established in the Premier League now to potential signings at least, but we're still paying a price for it as we can't shift some players like McCartney. Reid was on £25,000 a week with us :eek: and that's one of the reasons he was let go. For £10,000 a week he's a steal though, but I'd imagine there'll be a few bonus clauses in that too.

If he can stay fit give him a free role behind the strikers like you said and he'll rack up the assists and chip in with a few goals too.

I'm going to make a bold statement and say that he'll be player of the year in the Championship next season :cool: I really fancy Forest (along with West Ham) to do the business this coming season!

grenache

Paully D wrote: »

I couldn't stand the man to be honest. I think you're so much better off with McClaren. He's a serious manager for a club like Forest in that division

He was one of our bigger earners at the time mate. Under Keane's reign we gave some scarily high wages to players that didn't really deserve it but we had to pay it to get them up to the north-east to a club battling relegation. I suppose you could say it worked out well as we're established in the Premier League now to potential signings at least, but we're still paying a price for it as we can't shift some players like McCartney. Reid was on £25,000 a week with us :eek: and that's one of the reasons he was let go. For £10,000 a week he's a steal though, but I'd imagine there'll be a few bonus clauses in that too.

If he can stay fit give him a free role behind the strikers like you said and he'll rack up the assists and chip in with a few goals too.

I'm going to make a bold statement and say that he'll be player of the year in the Championship next season :cool: I really fancy Forest (along with West Ham) to do the business this coming season!

well i'm delighted we got a manager of the calibre of McClaren. He has all the qualities to be our best manager since Clough. He's said nothing but good things since he arrived. The groundsman told a friend a mine who was there last week that there is a great buzz around the club and everyone is smiling. He said he's not sensed such a good vibe since the mid 90s when Frank Clark had us in Europe.

25k was a lot of money for Reid. Especially for a player bought from a Championship club. I'd hate to think what guys like Malbranque and Gyan are on!

A bold statement indeed, need another couple of players first though. We certainly have the experience, we just need a bit of luck and composure. Hopefully McClaren will bring that to us.

grenache

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/14040076.stm

Robert Earnshaw has joined Cardiff City on a two-year contract after turning down a new contract offer to stay with Nottingham Forest.

Striker Earnshaw, 30, arrives on a free transfer and becomes the fourth signing of new Bluebirds manager Malky Mackay. Since leaving the Bluebirds in 2004, Earnshaw has also played for West Bromwich Albion, Norwich and Derby.
But the Zambia-born Wales international has remained a cult figure among Cardiff fans.

In three seasons at Forest, Earnshaw scored 45 goals and new manager Steve McClaren was hoping to persuade him to accept a new contract. Celtic, West Ham United, Blackpool and Birmingham had also shown an interest in the proven goalscorer. But the temptation to return the club where he made his name has been too strong for the striker to ignore.

He scored 105 goals for his home-town club in 205 games after emerging from its junior ranks in 1998. His most prolific season came in the 2002-03 season when he broke the club's scoring record by netting 35 goals in all competitions, 31 of which came in the league.

Earnshaw, who has cost £12,650,000 in transfer fees over the course of his 13-year career, has also scored 16 goals for Wales in 54 appearances. His return to the Welsh capital sees him join a club that has undergone significant changes since his departure. The Bluebirds have moved from Ninian Park to Cardiff City Stadium and have a new training facility in the Vale of Glamorgan. They have also been failed challengers for promotion to the Premier League in the past three seasons. That failure cost Dave Jones his job at the end of the 2010-11 season, with former Watford boss Mackay appointed to take over.

Earnshaw has already publicly backed Mackay to succeed and now has the chance to follow Welsh rivals Swansea City into the top flight. The striker's arrival will also soften the blow of losing Craig Bellamy, Michael Chopra, Jay Bothroyd and Chris Burke since the season's end. Mackay has already signed Andrew Taylor, Don Cowie and Craig Conway since joining the club.

Big signing for Cardiff. As long as he doesn't score against Forest, i dont mind too much!

grenache

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11688_7023355,00.html

Middlesbrough striker Kris Boyd is currently in Turkey holding talks with Eskisehirspor, skysports.com understands.

The Scottish international joined Boro last year on a Bosman transfer from Rangers. But the 27-year-old did not make the expected impact and he spent the latter part of the season on loan at Nottingham Forest. Boro are looking to cut their own costs and moving on Boyd, one of their highest earners, has become a priority.

The Teesside outfit have now given permission for Boyd to talk with Turkish top-flight outfit Eskisehirspor - who have recently signed former Celtic striker Diomansy Kamara.

Boyd is now in Turkey to talk with the club and check on the facilities before deciding whether it is a move that appeals to him.

blindpilot - what do you think of this? I know he only scored six for you last season, and is on a lot of money, but i can't help but thinking he could come good for you. He scored 6 in 10 for Forest last season when came on loan, and i'm hoping McClaren will yet hijack a move for him.

grenache

Sky Sports sources understand Reading have accepted a bid in the region of £5million from Championship rivals Leicester City for defender Matt Mills.

Skysports.com revealed last week that Leicester had joined the chase for Mills, who has already been the subject of a failed bid from Wolves. Stoke City were also rumoured to be interested in the centre-half, but the Foxes are hoping to steal a march on their rivals. Leicester had an initial bid of £3.75million turned down by Reading, but an increased offer has met with the Royals' approval.

Mills is now set to discuss personal terms with the Foxes regarding the possibility of joining Sven Goran Eriksson's side for next season. Eriksson has been looking to construct a squad capable of challenging for promotion to the Premier League and has already signed the likes of Kasper Schmeichel, Lee Peltier and David Nugent this summer.

The Leicester boss missed out on Craig Mackail-Smith earlier in the week and will hope for better fortune in trying to persuade Mills to move to the King Power Stadium. The 24-year-old joined Reading from Doncaster Rovers two years ago and he has made over 70 appearances during his time with the club.

All that money has gone to Eriksson's head. Mills is a decent centre half, and is handy from set-pieces, but £5m?!!! :eek:

Keano

Boyd deal is done?

blindpilot

grenache wrote: »

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11688_7023355,00.html



blindpilot - what do you think of this? I know he only scored six for you last season, and is on a lot of money, but i can't help but thinking he could come good for you. He scored 6 in 10 for Forest last season when came on loan, and i'm hoping McClaren will yet hijack a move for him.

Just saw this now. Delighted to be honest. He never played well for Boro when he was there. Never even looked interested. Pretty sure he was on big wages that the club just cant afford anymore. He seemed to do better at Forest, maybe he was never happy at Boro as the fans never really took to him either.

Kiwi_knock

http://www.football-league.co.uk/footballleaguenews/20110721/league-clubs-to-reduce-subs-from-7-to-5_2293334_2398424/0,,10794,00.html

Football League clubs have voted to reduce the number of substitutes that can be named on the teamsheet for matches in the npower Football League from 7 to 5.

The vote was taken at an EGM at Leicester City's King Power Stadium.

A Football League spokesman said: "This was felt to be a sensible and prudent step given the financial challenges facing many football clubs and the commitment made earlier this summer to adopt UEFA's Financial Fair Play framework."

Clubs will still be permitted to name 7 substitutes in the Carling Cup and FA Cup and 5 in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy.

Seems a silly move, can not understand it to be honest.

Edit: Discovered that an unused sub gets an appearance fee so removing two subs will help save money. It makes more sense now.

blindpilot

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11688_7058161,00.html


Matthew Taylor signs for West Ham. The Hammers mean business this year. Taylor and Nolan are two excellent signings for a promotion bid. Plenty of goals in them. With Allardyce at the helm too its hard to see past them going back up.

fkiely

How are everyone's teams coming together seeing that the league is only a week away?

We're (West Ham) are looking quite strong and, dare I say it, possibly even better than we have been for the last two years.

Green
Faubert/O'Brien - Faye - Tomkins - Illunga
Barrera - Noble - Collison - Taylor
Nolan - Cole/Piquionne

In reserve we have the likes of Boa Morte, Sears, Stanislas, Reid and Hines.

I'd imagine we'll lose Parker but it seems Green will be staying and Cole looks hell-bent as well but I wouldn't be surprised to see him go. Shane Long looks a real possibility as well and would certainly strengthen the side.

G.K.

Which O'brien is this? Do you mean Spence?

fkiely

G.K. wrote: »

Which O'brien is this? Do you mean Spence?

Joey O'Brien mate, he's currently on trial and has played quite a few games for us and Sam seems impressed enough. I'd expect him to sign shortly. Spence could easily make on of those positions his own this season though, great potential.

G.K.

Cheers.