Quality of The Championship

[Dubiousmagoo]

As I watch the scum fall behind by a goal to Brighton it makes me question the overall quality of the championship. There is so much talk about how competitive the league is but is it not a league, in the most part, of average footballers playing long ball and kicking lumps out of each other? 

 

[WorksopRam]

Yes. 

[BottrillRAM]

Remember this is Forest you're watching, Nearly everyone else in the league plays more attractive football! (I actually think about 6/7 teams play premier league standard football) 

[tomsdubs]

Florist get a free kick on the half way line they always pump it long in to the box. Painful to watch.

[Chester40]

I think it's strange that the financial rewards for promotion this season are bigger than ever...yet the quality of the teams are actually not as good as they have been. You'd have thought more teams would have taken a punt to try and get to the big time. Looks like us and Boro are the main contenders. It is very competitive...but that means lots of average teams for me. Hope we stand out.

[WorksopRam]

Remember this is Forest you're watching, Nearly everyone else in the league plays more attractive football! (I actually think about 6/7 teams play premier league standard football) 

What does that even mean? Why aren't they playing in the Prem then?

[BottrillRAM]

What does that even mean? Why aren't they playing in the Prem then?

I meant it looks as good as premier league football, the quick passing etc

[irobinson]

both teams look poor...

[tomsdubs]

Looks like two bottom half teams out there to me.

[jono]

They aren't in the prem because there are only 18 seats and 26 customers. The other issue is that the prem is two leagues. The super clubs who have 50 million to spend on a regular basis and the rest.

the delight for me in the championship is (despite a few long ball teams who play percentage football) , that the majority try to play football and the standard is sufficiently good to entertain. On top of this the difference between winner and a team in 14 place isn't much and could be down to one or two star players or a manager with nous. This is to an extent like division one used to be. Buy carefully, plot plan play to your strengths and you could win .. You can't say that in the Prem and in the lower leagues the standard falls and becomes less entertaining. 

[WalkerRam]

Im not just saying this cause I dont like Forest, but they are a poor team. The tactic they have employed so far Vs Brighton is lump it up towards Blackstock and Antonio and see what they can do. They look like a team who will be struggling in the bottom half of the table with Brighton mid-table if they're lucky. Personally I'm remaining positive about our chances of promotion but I'm not expecting us to destroy every team or walk the league, Clement is obviously a world class coach that much is clear by his appointments at clubs such as Real and Chelsea. But his tactical decisions are yet to be seen as this is his first job as a No.1.  

[irobinson]

that Vaughan looks good for the Gumps - lol!!!!

[SaintRam]

I don't think it's competitive across all 24 teams, no. On their day most teams can beat most teams but it's touted competitiveness comes from the fact about 10-12 teams are usually close enough to each other in terms of quality to compete for the top 6 places, 5-6 for top 2 and barring horrific exceptions (aka Blackpool) about 8 teams are fighting off relegation.

Compared to almost every other league, those numbers for the various competition groups are very high, making it a very competitive league.

What we just watched is a mid-table club pushing top half (Brighton) against a mid-table club pushing (on that evidence) into the bottom 8 (Forest)

[Bris Vegas]

One clear evidence of how poor a league is, is how tight defenders get to the oppositon. Everytime a pass had been played, the player receiving the ball had an opposition glued to their back.

This tells me three things:

1 - The movement of receiving players is almsot non-existent

2 - The passing is so slow, it allows the oppositon to close the space and immediately pressure the receiver.

3 - The receiver's ball control is so average/poor that it's easy for a defender to nick the ball due to a loose first touch.

When you watch elite football, you'll notice that this sort of 'tight pressing' very rarely exists because the factors above are all at a much, much better level. Trying to press like that and the defending team would be cut to ribbons.

So in answer to the OP's question, yes the Championship really is a bog-standard league.

[jono]

Yes Bris .. And watching the sheer speed Chelsea played against us was a clear illustration of your point. We were stretching every sinew and focusing on our "big game" and we were just about holding them .. Except we had out foot welded to the metal while they still had a gear to go.

the counterpoint is that there is still enough tidy, exciting, skilled play from the majority to make it entertaining.

There is good food, well presented at some of our pubs, made with quality ingredients. Maybe not the Savoy Grill but enjoyable and tasty 

[bcnram]

As I watch the scum fall behind by a goal to Brighton it makes me question the overall quality of the championship. There is so much talk about how competitive the league is but is it not a league, in the most part, of average footballers playing long ball and kicking lumps out of each other? 

 

Why would you judge a league by the first game of a season between two sides that are unlikely to feature in the top half. It is the first game of the season, so players are always going to be tentative and afraid of making mistakes. I suspect that there will be many sides in the Championship whose intention is to play the ball on the ground as it was last season.

[North_Stand_Ram]

One clear evidence of how poor a league is, is how tight defenders get to the oppositon. Everytime a pass had been played, the player receiving the ball had an opposition glued to their back.

This tells me three things:

1 - The movement of receiving players is almsot non-existent

2 - The passing is so slow, it allows the oppositon to close the space and immediately pressure the receiver.

3 - The receiver's ball control is so average/poor that it's easy for a defender to nick the ball due to a loose first touch.

When you watch elite football, you'll notice that this sort of 'tight pressing' very rarely exists because the factors above are all at a much, much better level. Trying to press like that and the defending team would be cut to ribbons.

So in answer to the OP's question, yes the Championship really is a bog-standard league.

You call it bog standard, but it's still the best 2nd tier in the world.

[Dubiousmagoo]

I was placing my opinion in the context of one game not forming it from that one game. Whilst ostensibly it might appear that it is a knee jerk opinion it is based upon watching the league over the last twenty years (minus the occasional stint in the league above). Whilst some teams do intended to play the ball on the ground the manner in which most do it is admirable in intention but poor in delivery

[bcnram]

I was placing my opinion in the context of one game not forming it from that one game. Whilst ostensibly it might appear that it is a knee jerk opinion it is based upon watching the league over the last twenty years (minus the occasional stint in the league above). Whilst some teams do intended to play the ball on the ground the manner in which most do it is admirable in intention but poor in delivery

If you are expecting close to perfection you are not going to get it in any league. Even watching RM v Barca the game will be littered with loss of possession. If a team is making an effort to play football and working hard I am a happy supporter.

[I Am Sheep]

I would say the top 8 of the Championship are usually a tier above the remaining 16. I wouldn't say those top 8 were Premiership quality, moreso the lower 16 wouldn't easily make it out of League 1.