Any easier next season?

[toddy]

Barring a minor miracle on Tuesday we will be playing Championship footie next season.

We know Toons, Norwich and Villa will be our opponents together with 2 of BHA, Hull or Wendies. Plus there are always one or two other current championship teams up there

Norwich saying they will keep there squad, to try and get back up, Benitez saying he might stay on and look for a quick return. Villa well a complete rebuild I reckon is on the cards so I think they might not be fighting for promotion, although that could change if they do get new owners in the summer with £££ to spend.

Will it be a harder division to get out of next season?

[Saturn5]

Yep ! however before we look at others we need to look at ourselves

New Manager - appointments of coaching staff - assess squad - sell off unwanted players - strengthen with new players - set up a system and formation - get players understanding and playing within it 

all within 12 weeks - good luck !

[rynny]

10 minutes ago, toddy said:

Barring a minor miracle on Tuesday we will be playing Championship footie next season.

We know Toons, Norwich and Villa will be our opponents together with 2 of BHA, Hull or Wendies. Plus there are always one or two other current championship teams up there

Norwich saying they will keep there squad, to try and get back up, Benitez saying he might stay on and look for a quick return. Villa well a complete rebuild I reckon is on the cards so I think they might not be fighting for promotion, although that could change if they do get new owners in the summer with £££ to spend.

Will it be a harder division to get out of next season?

Same is said every year. Most seasons 1 or 2 of the 3 that come down go back up, Don't think there has been a year where all 3 relegated teams have gone back up. And I don't think next year will be that year either.

[Ilsonram12]

If the toon keep the squad that thrashed Spurs they'll walk it with Rafa, same with Norwich as they've still a decent championship squad with few changes from the promotion year, villa are in free fall and could struggle again

[Duracell]

Every season it's apparently tougher than before. Barcelona would probably struggle to get out of the league next season tbh.

[Ewetube]

It will be tough, it always is.

After Saturday's showing I'm seriously doubting whether we have what it takes with the core of senior players at this club. To be found lacking when it really counts is starting to look like a trait in our team's collective character. Whether this is down to leadership, confidence or individual personalities I don't know, but it needs addressing in the summer if we are to make progress. 

[mumblemumble]

• Villa
• Newcastle
• Norwich
• Sheffield Wednesday
• Hull
• Derby
• Brighton
• Ipswich
• Cardiff
• Birmingham
• Brentford
• Preston
• QPR
• Leeds
• Wolves
• Blackburn
• Notts Forest
• Reading
• Bristol City
• Huddersfield
• Fulham
• Rotheram
• Wigan
• Burton
• Barnsley
• Millwall

Any of the ones in bold could be right up there.

[Animal is a Ram]

Next season's relegated teams, with the TV money in effect from 16/17 and slackened FFP, will have much more resources than this season's.

Villa could do a Wolves unless they sort themselves out from the top.
Newcastle, not sure, could depend on if Rafa stays, but I doubt it. I think a few of their players will want out too, how well will they recruit given last season?
Norwich could be a force, if they keep hold of the players and keep Alex Neil.

That said, our chances rely only on how well we run our ship over the close season.

I trust Mel Morris - I trust that he has the gumption to learn from this season's 'experiments'. I'm not sure who we would/could attract, but I don't think that Wassall is the answer. Give him back to the Academy, its come on leaps and bounds under his watch and he has a great love for it and the club. It would be a shame to waste it.

People are going on like we are back to the Maxwell days, or the 3 Amigos days. No. We have solid off the field foundations, top drawer facilities, good revenue streams.. just need to sort it on the pitch now.

I'm keeping the faith. But I'm not blind with it.

[Joe.]

It I'll be equal burnley and boro had strong squads they'll be replaced by Newcastle and Norwich, think villa may struggle

[jimbobram]

I would also add forest to that list. I've got a feeling they will be spending quite abit this summer 

[Sexydadbod]

Newcastle and Norwich will ace this league. Villa may struggle but if they get Nigel Pearson then they will be fine

[Animal is a Ram]

Cardiff intrigue me.

New manager, lifted embargo, close this season.. 

[SaintRam]

1 hour ago, mumblemumble said:

• Villa
• Newcastle
• Norwich
• Sheffield Wednesday
• Hull
• Derby
• Brighton
• Ipswich
• Cardiff
• Birmingham
• Brentford
• Preston
• QPR
• Leeds
• Wolves
• Blackburn
• Notts Forest
• Reading
• Bristol City
• Huddersfield
• Fulham
• Rotheram
• Wigan
• Burton
• Barnsley
• Millwall

Any of the ones in bold could be right up there.

FTFY

It's always equally hard. Newcastle will likely finish top though, unless they implode between seasons.

[JaguarRam]

IF.... we don't come through this season then I think we will be up there.

Newcastle should win it but depends on who they have as manager and the team that is left. A lot of the so called "stars" at Newcastle won't fancy playing in the Championship.

Personally I hope Villa do a Portsmouth. They are in turmoil.

Tough division. But so is the Premiership and to succeed you have to beat the best.

[SaintRam]

10 minutes ago, JaguarRam said:

IF.... we don't come through this season then I think we will be up there.

Newcastle should win it but depends on who they have as manager and the team that is left. A lot of the so called "stars" at Newcastle won't fancy playing in the Championship.

Personally I hope Villa do a Portsmouth. They are in turmoil.

Tough division. But so is the Premiership and to succeed you have to beat the best.

You don't need to capitalise that if. In fact I wish we could subscript the if.

[Kernow]

The gap is widening within the division. You're going to get a group of the top teams that are miles ahead of the rest. Wigan may do well but I expect Burton + the play-off winner to struggle. I also expect at least one of Norwich and Newcastle to do well but Villa to have a bottom half season. 

There are odds for the 16/17 season already, obviously excluding the four play-off teams. The odds for the winner are Newcastle at 3, Norwich at 7, then Villa at 14. We were second favourites at around 8s last season, Boro were 6 I think as favourites. I expect the losing play-off finalist to be the third favourite in the odds, then probably us 4th and the other semi-finalist to slot in above Villa.

I still expect a top six minimum next season, but if we can finish above both Newcastle and Norwich we will be top 2 as they're the teams to beat.

[Posh Ram]

I'm not convinced Newcastle will walk it. 

Of their current squad you'd have thought Krul, Wijnaldum, Sissoko, Shelvey, Mbemba, Perez, Janmaat, Tiote, Townsend, Riviere and Mitrovic will be off, either because they'll get bought by a top-flight club or because their wages are too expensive. Coloccini will retire you'd have thought

That gives them a side something like: Darlow, ?, Lascelles, Taylor, Dummett, Colback, ?, ?, Aarons, Armstrong, Ameobi.

They'll sign some good players to complement that group but they're in a worse position than Norwich imo, who will probably be like Burnley this season. The chasing pack will likely be Brighton, Sheff Wed/Hull, Newcastle, Cardiff, Ipswich, Wolves and us.

[kingsy1884]

It's arguably going to be just as tough last season as it was this season. We just need to find a little bit more consistency and hold it together after Xmas and we could do it ourselves. Easier said than done though.

[Kernow]

We can make it a lot easier for ourselves by signing the right players. I've said it before but the first thing we need to do is get a proper manager. I like Wassall's passion and desire, and if we were in the same position we were 5 years ago then yeah I'd give him a shot. But Mel's investment is futile unless we also give as much importance to the manager/head coach position. Clement's CV was more impressive as his performance as manager, then another untried Head Coach comes in and carries along the same trend. A good performance here and there but too inconsistent and goes missing when it really matters. Following the appointment of a proper Head Coach, we need to sort out our recruitment system. We can't just look at a player and sign him because he's good. He needs to be signed because he suits the way we play and can bring a positive impact to our team. These two things need to be done before a single player is signed or else we'll just be making things even harder for ourselves.

[CornwallRam]

It's always said that relegated teams will storm the Championship, and rarely turns out to be true. What seems to happen is that they struggle to adjust up until Christmas, but once the new year sets in, their players seem to acclimatise and their extra quality starts to count. In the end, many relegated teams do indeed bounce back, but hardly ever in a dominant fashion.

Normally clubs coming down in the turmoil of Villa would be more concerned about avoiding a second relegation than promotion. Norwich appear destined to be a major force. Newcastle could go either way - Mike Ashley can usually be relied on the make stupid decisions, but they do have a few very good players.

However, there are two changes coming in that alter things so much from previous seasons to make predictions almost impossible. Firstly, the three relegated clubs will have £40m parachute payments. Next, in a move of Blatteresque corruption, new FFP rules allow relegated teams to lose £35m, whereas the rest of us can only lose £13m. It's aggregated over three season, but all that means is any undershoot in the last two seasons can be added to the next one. Given that most clubs have used most of their FFP allowance, very few will be able to spend more than £14m. Assuming that both Newcastle and Villa turnover £10m more than us anyway, with their parachute payment and enhanced FFP allowance, they will be able to spend £72m more than us (and we're not exactly paupers) and meet their FFP target. Even if Norwich have the same turnover as us, they will still be able to spend £62m more than us.

In previous seasons the playing field has not bee level. Yet good management has often been able to make up for the slope. Now that the playing field has been moved to Mt Everest, I wonder whether it will still be surmountable?