Championship 24/25

[chaddyrovers]

Looking forward to the start of the season in 5 days time. 

I see Luton, Leeds United and Sheffield United as the 3 teams to beat. I don't know how Parker is getting at Burnley in pre season or what changes he has done so far. maybe @longsiders1882could tell what changes Parker has done to the tactics or what staff he has brought in? 

Think Boro and Sheffield Wednesday have made some smart signings. 

WBA might struggle this season with this EFL restrictions in place. 

Think Portsmouth will be the best of the promoted teams and with Bishop up front, they will score goals. 

Surprised that Hull haven't spend some of that money they have brought in. 

I suspect it will be wide open this season. 

I was talking to few PNE fans at work and they aren't happy that Lowe is still in charge. They wanted a change of management there. They have renewed their ST for this season but that's down to price. 

[KentExile]

49 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

 

Think Portsmouth will be the best of the promoted teams and with Bishop up front, they will score goals. 

 

Bishop may be out for a while https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c0ve3dp1yj5o

[chaddyrovers]

Just now, KentExile said:

Bishop may be out for a while https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c0ve3dp1yj5o

thanks for that. I was totally unaware of that. 

[philipl]

Hull have fruitcase ownership. They had the basis for a serious promotion push six months ago.

[riverholmes]

Had a quick look at how a few other clubs are going about pre-season and it struck me how much higher  level of opposition some of the teams of our league have played. It is to be expected, to some degree, because some friendlies are planned well in advance and the higher finishing and stronger Championship teams can attract and (afford?) certain opponents.

Luton Town have played a variety of continental/overseas teams, including AGF, Goztepe and Celta Vigo. Leeds United, for some reason, have only got two friendly results published, one against Harrogate and the other is Valencia. WBA have played Mallorca. Sheff Wed have finished pre-season against Salzburg and Leganes.

I have no idea what makes for a good pre-season for a financially embattled and less than stable club and maybe low key is right for our somewhat chaotic situation. Plymouth seem to have also gone for a League 1/2 route. And, maybe, there's been helpful closed-door games as well. The proof will be in the season but I think it's fair to question if we have had sufficient standard in opposition in our preparation.

It's notable that Premier League clubs don't seem to feature in any of the fixtures I've seen of other Championship clubs. I can't recall if this is normal or a sign of the ever shifting away of the Premier League towards the bigger markets, including in pre-season.

 

Edited August 5 by riverholmes

[philipl]

PNE played Everton- Everton eschewed pre-season glamour fixtures

[longsiders1882]

19 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

Looking forward to the start of the season in 5 days time. 

I see Luton, Leeds United and Sheffield United as the 3 teams to beat. I don't know how Parker is getting at Burnley in pre season or what changes he has done so far. maybe @longsiders1882could tell what changes Parker has done to the tactics or what staff he has brought in? 

Think Boro and Sheffield Wednesday have made some smart signings. 

WBA might struggle this season with this EFL restrictions in place. 

Think Portsmouth will be the best of the promoted teams and with Bishop up front, they will score goals. 

Surprised that Hull haven't spend some of that money they have brought in. 

I suspect it will be wide open this season. 

I was talking to few PNE fans at work and they aren't happy that Lowe is still in charge. They wanted a change of management there. They have renewed their ST for this season but that's down to price. 

Of course you do 😂.

As things stand we should definitely be in the mix - infact anything less represents failure. Hard to say what changes Parker has made as other than the Cadiz game at the weekend most of our pre season have been behind closed doors. A lot of the backroom staff have changed of course as Kompany took a few and Bellamy left for Wales. As far as I can tell our ‘style’ will be a mix, lots of possession but more willingness to go direct than under Kompany. Also looks like he might stick with zonal marking and I’m not a fan & think teams like Luton will exploit this again. We still have Berge, Cullen and Brownhill in CM, have Beyer, Esteve, O’Shea, Ekdal at CH, have a new RB and LB and a new keeper. I’m assuming Trafford will be gone soon and Muric already gone. We also still have Odobert and Koleosho who are frighteningly quick - with Benson and Zaraoury also still at the club. Up front we have Foster, Obefemi and Rodriguez - and Tresor who so far has been a disaster of a signing. And we still have Vitinho, Roberts, JBG.

Of course there will still be movement. I can’t imagine we keep Berge and Odobert and we need to clear out at least 10 squad players - some talk of a deal for Conway with Twine & McNally going the other way.

Always dangerous calling leagues, especially with transfers still on going, however Leeds look strong, Luton will be there as well. Sheff Utd I’m less convinced by but resources alone should have them up there. Alongside the usual suspects there will normally be one surprise package - not sure who that will be.

[Forever Blue]

Any less than automatic promotion for Burnley is failure. 

[philipl]

As someone who will be perfectly content to see Burnley fail this season, I greeted Scott Parker's appointment with a broad smile.

[wilsdenrover]

40 minutes ago, philipl said:

As someone who will be perfectly content to see Burnley fail this season, I greeted Scott Parker's appointment with a broad smile.

Hasn’t he got his clubs promoted in both his seasons as a championship manager?

In terms of taking up teams who should go up, he seems to know what he’s doing.

[K-Hod]

Parker in the Championship will be a decent manager, pretty much the opposite in the PL like.

[JHRover]

3 hours ago, riverholmes said:

Had a quick look at how a few other clubs are going about pre-season and it struck me how much higher  level of opposition some of the teams of our league have played. It is to be expected, to some degree, because some friendlies are planned well in advance and the higher finishing and stronger Championship teams can attract and (afford?) certain opponents.

Luton Town have played a variety of continental/overseas teams, including AGF, Goztepe and Celta Vigo. Leeds United, for some reason, have only got two friendly results published, one against Harrogate and the other is Valencia. WBA have played Mallorca. Sheff Wed have finished pre-season against Salzburg and Leganes.

I have no idea what makes for a good pre-season for a financially embattled and less than stable club and maybe low key is right for our somewhat chaotic situation. Plymouth seem to have also gone for a League 1/2 route. And, maybe, there's been helpful closed-door games as well. The proof will be in the season but I think it's fair to question if we have had sufficient standard in opposition in our preparation.

It's notable that Premier League clubs don't seem to feature in any of the fixtures I've seen of other Championship clubs. I can't recall if this is normal or a sign of the ever shifting away of the Premier League towards the bigger markets, including in pre-season.

 

Much of it comes down to location and timing rather than being a 'big club'. Also the willingness to perhaps pay or make the effort when it comes to certain teams.

For example our fixtures to me - with the exception of Nuremberg in Austria - have been typical local, lower league sides. Easy to sort out. Teams grateful to be playing us as a higher level team and probably selling quite a few tickets off the back of it.

We rarely dabble in the home friendly market because to make it financially advantageous you really need to play a big club who will attract large numbers. Preston did it with Everton, we did it a few years ago with Everton / Liverpool.

A lot comes down to who is in the area at any given time. In Austria there are dozens of English, German, Italian clubs on training camps within a relatively small area, so it is relatively easy to arrange a match at the end of a week's training camp and find a venue to host it. Others require a lot of advance planning or well connected people (we have neither here), or some sort of financial obligation / risk that our lot aren't willing to take.

I'm sure if we took this seriously there would be a large number of potential high profile sides willing to come to Ewood or a neutral venue to play us. Only a few years ago Stanley arranged a game with Marseille at the Salford rugby stadium.

[rovers11]

It's a much weaker league this season. There's no doubt about that. I'd say we're currently destined for mid table but could be in the mix if we bring in a couple of quality wide players and CM.

Think we'll be very solid this season but lacking goals. That could change though with lots of time still left in the transfer market.

[KentExile]

1 hour ago, wilsdenrover said:

Hasn’t he got his clubs promoted in both his seasons as a championship manager?

In terms of taking up teams who should go up, he seems to know what he’s doing.

Yes,  but he has had massive budgets in comparison to his rivals (which he will have again this season)

Remember in Mowbray's last season when we were pretty much level with Bournemouth in the winter transfer window?  Bournemouth spent a huge amount on the likes of Cantwell, Nat Phillips, Siriki Demeble, Keffer Moore, Freedie Woodman, Robbie Brady, James Hill, & Ethan Laird for a total of €8.04m, as well as bidding to unsettle Rothwell (and would have come under FFP scrutiny if they hadn't gone up), and sailed to 2nd place, where Mowbray brought in Zeefuik, Giles, Hedges, Markanday & James Brown (apparently for a net fee of €780k)

At Fulham, he had enough money to keep hold of Mitrovic as well as signing a team full of players for a combined €37.00m in the Championship and still only managed to finish 4th, going up in the play offs.

He is a classic chequebook manager

Edited August 5 by KentExile

[wilsdenrover]

Just now, KentExile said:

Yes,  but he has had massive budgets in comparison to his rivals (which he will have again this season)

Remember in Mowbray's last season when we were pretty much level with Bournemouth in the winter transfer window?  Bournemouth spent a huge amount on the likes of Cantwell, Nat Phillips, Siriki Demeble, Keffer Moore, Freedie Woodman, Robbie Brady, James Hill, & Ethan Laird for a total of €8.04m, as well as bidding to unsettle Rothwell (and would have come under FFP scrutiny if they hadn't gone up), and sailed to 2nd place, where Mowbray brought in Zeefuik, Giles, hedges, Markanday & James Brown (apparently for a net fee of €780k)

At Fulham, he had enough money to keep hold of Mitrovic as well as signing a team full of players for a combined €37.00m in the Championship

He is a classic chequebook manager

He is, unfortunately that’s exactly what Burnley need. 

[KentExile]

16 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

He is, unfortunately that’s exactly what Burnley need. 

I don't rate him, but that being said, the playing staff already there and cash at their disposal will ensure they go up .  Thankfully the following season in the Prem could prove to be even more entertaining than last season when they had Kompany in charge

Edited August 5 by KentExile

[Exiled_Rover]

13 hours ago, philipl said:

Hull have fruitcase ownership. They had the basis for a serious promotion push six months ago.

I assume they spent big within the FFP window (or whatever it's called now), Rosenior failed and now they have to cut back on costs to avoid falling foul of the rules.

[philipl]

https://theanalyst.com/2024/08/championship-predictions-2024-25-opta/

Opta forecast Rovers to finish 16th with a 1.7% chance of automatic promotion, 9% chance of a play-off place and 17% chance of relegation.

 

[KentExile]

30 minutes ago, philipl said:

https://theanalyst.com/2024/08/championship-predictions-2024-25-opta/

Opta forecast Rovers to finish 16th with a 1.7% chance of automatic promotion, 9% chance of a play-off place and 17% chance of relegation.

 

would take that

[Upside Down]

2 hours ago, KentExile said:

would take that

I wouldn't. Anything other than promotion is a failure with this ownership.

[KentExile]

42 minutes ago, Upside Down said:

I wouldn't. Anything other than promotion is a failure with this ownership.

Should Rover be down the bottom end of the table?  Absolutely not!

But given the funding, current squad etc, lower middle table is realistically the best we can hope for, barring Dolan becoming the next Szmodics/BBD/Armstrong/Dack and an unbelievably kind run of injuries on top of that

[chaddyrovers]

On 05/08/2024 at 14:08, longsiders1882 said:

Of course you do 😂.

As things stand we should definitely be in the mix - infact anything less represents failure. Hard to say what changes Parker has made as other than the Cadiz game at the weekend most of our pre season have been behind closed doors. A lot of the backroom staff have changed of course as Kompany took a few and Bellamy left for Wales. As far as I can tell our ‘style’ will be a mix, lots of possession but more willingness to go direct than under Kompany. Also looks like he might stick with zonal marking and I’m not a fan & think teams like Luton will exploit this again. We still have Berge, Cullen and Brownhill in CM, have Beyer, Esteve, O’Shea, Ekdal at CH, have a new RB and LB and a new keeper. I’m assuming Trafford will be gone soon and Muric already gone. We also still have Odobert and Koleosho who are frighteningly quick - with Benson and Zaraoury also still at the club. Up front we have Foster, Obefemi and Rodriguez - and Tresor who so far has been a disaster of a signing. And we still have Vitinho, Roberts, JBG.

Of course there will still be movement. I can’t imagine we keep Berge and Odobert and we need to clear out at least 10 squad players - some talk of a deal for Conway with Twine & McNally going the other way.

Always dangerous calling leagues, especially with transfers still on going, however Leeds look strong, Luton will be there as well. Sheff Utd I’m less convinced by but resources alone should have them up there. Alongside the usual suspects there will normally be one surprise package - not sure who that will be.

Thanks for the reply. 

I think Luton is the team to beat. Edwards is good manager and Morris is suited to this league and the best striker in the league. Leeds look strong for me also. Sheffield United have made some very good signings like Moore, O'Hare, Burrows and Souttar. I think Boro, Sheffield Wednesday and Coventry look strong also. I think Cardiff or QPR could be this season surprise package 

On Burnley, They need to trim the squad and I did wonder what impact Kompany leaving will have and Parker coming in and changing things. 

Berge has been linked with Manchester United today which surprised me. 

Tommy Conway is a good striker and he has been linked 5 clubs. 

[roversfan99]

I get that Sheffield Wednesday have a really talented manager but I do wonder if they are being a bit overhyped.

Is their quality of squad anywhere near the teams who are likely to be around the top 6? Theyve lost Ugbo although he might come back and Poveda. Max Lowe is good at this level but injury prone, Jamal Lowe is average, im not sure many of their other signings stand out really.

Burnley have 2 or 3 teams that could challenge for promotion. Their only issue is trimming their squad, but you would imagine that a number of their players on the fringes (players like Twine, Obafemi, McNally etc) will easily pick up new teams, they might lose a couple theyd rather not lose but have more than enough quality to cover (Berge and Odobert being the obvious 2) and they have a few that will be picked up by foreign sides.

[Butty]

On 04/08/2024 at 18:18, chaddyrovers said:

Looking forward to the start of the season in 5 days time. 

I see Luton, Leeds United and Sheffield United as the 3 teams to beat. I don't know how Parker is getting at Burnley in pre season or what changes he has done so far. maybe @longsiders1882could tell what changes Parker has done to the tactics or what staff he has brought in? 

Think Boro and Sheffield Wednesday have made some smart signings. 

WBA might struggle this season with this EFL restrictions in place. 

Think Portsmouth will be the best of the promoted teams and with Bishop up front, they will score goals. 

Surprised that Hull haven't spend some of that money they have brought in. 

I suspect it will be wide open this season. 

I was talking to few PNE fans at work and they aren't happy that Lowe is still in charge. They wanted a change of management there. They have renewed their ST for this season but that's down to price. 

Oh Chaddy, I remember when you said there’s a chance they could be in a relegation scrap under Kompany and then they pissed the league. They’ve got a squad that will be in the top 3 or 4 no matter who’s managing them.

I know it’s Burnley but it’s not a crime to be honest and realistic, they’ve certainly got a better side than Sheff United. I do agree with you on the whole it will more than likely be another wide open season, because I wouldn’t say there’s one stand out side. 
 

Early predictions for promoted sides for me: Leeds, Dingles, Cov

Relegated: Plymouth, Derby, Pompey 

Rovers: 18th 👍🏻

[KentExile]

8 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

I get that Sheffield Wednesday have a really talented manager but I do wonder if they are being a bit overhyped.

Is their quality of squad anywhere near the teams who are likely to be around the top 6? Theyve lost Ugbo although he might come back and Poveda. Max Lowe is good at this level but injury prone, Jamal Lowe is average, im not sure many of their other signings stand out really.

Burnley have 2 or 3 teams that could challenge for promotion. Their only issue is trimming their squad, but you would imagine that a number of their players on the fringes (players like Twine, Obafemi, McNally etc) will easily pick up new teams, they might lose a couple theyd rather not lose but have more than enough quality to cover (Berge and Odobert being the obvious 2) and they have a few that will be picked up by foreign sides.

I agree with pretty much everything you wrote here

Wednesday are this years Stoke/Birmingham

As in they made some ok signings early in the window, and fans of other clubs (who hadn't yet made signings) start casting a jealous eye.  By the time the window is in full swing, the narrative of their great window is still alive and well, but if people were to have another look at their transfer business, then they will realise it it isn't any more than average.

Cracking manager though, can see him being poached sooner rather than later, same goes for the guy at QPR