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Championship 24/25 rival watch


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59 minutes ago, brady1993 said:

Just focusing on our fixtures and that's not too bad a run of six, I'm not looking at and dreading it. The bad element is having those three fixtures of sheff utd -> sunderland sandwiched together. It's the kind of mini-block that things can go wrong in and sap confidence. I think a lot depends on how those fixtures go/how we mentally come through it.

I'd put our range for those 6 at probably 3-10 points, most likely falling somewhere around 6. The two big targetable games are Cardiff and QPR.

And knowing us we’ll lose the target games and beat the tough looking ones. 🤣

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Watching Hull v Sheff Utd.

Hull have worked hard but there is a bit of naivety about them. They have played some neat football at times but Sheff Utd have been happy to wait and pounce.

Sheff Utd have had 35% possession, scored twice on the break, pressed well and forced mistakes, and defended with composure when needed.

It goes to show that maybe Warne’s ideas are not that outdated, but maybe it’s a case of better teams being able to execute it more effectively. This is a classic Warne performance from Sheff Utd.

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The Portsmouth game is interesting tomorrow, currently winless but have picked up some decent points. West Brom, Sheff Utd and Burnley as their next three games. 

If they go 7 games without a win, you have to wonder what their confidence is going to be like going into their run of more winnable matches. 

Objectively, I think they have the worse squad  in the league and it’s hard to predict who really the ones who will struggle. Cardiff, Preston, Plymouth, Portsmouth and Hull seem to be the ones who have started the poorest, but I assume Hull get/buy themselves out of trouble. Preston fans seem more optimistic under Heckingbottom. Oxford and ourselves are now due a tough run of games that could throw up some poor results (or not).  I assume from November onwards we will see a lot of manager changes in this league, Cardiff seems inevitable, Hull too.

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If Portsmouth lose today they’ll be in trouble from the off this season. Their first 7 games will/have all been teams that finish in the top 10 I’d imagine which is very unlucky. The flip side of that is you have to pick up points regardless of the opposition and if you get off to a bad start it’s very hard to get out of the rut. 
 

I do think looking at Cardiff yesterday they’ve a lot of players who are good but would suit different systems and managers. They’ve also given out big wages to players past their best and who’ve not done much in the last few years ( El Ghazi, Chambers, Ramsey). 
 

I also think Oxford will eventually get dragged into the dog fight as once they’re found out that style of football can become easy to play against. I also worry about their defensive options as they have a lot of players who I believe are high L1 quality at best. 
 

Preston will be down there this season as they look toothless going forward and  don’t look their usual solid selves at the back. I knew they’d be in trouble this year when they lost their two best players in Browne and Millar for £0. 
 

I do think we will survive and come in around 16th-19th. If we look at it as a purely statistical point we’ve accumulated 18% of the points we need to stay up (50 is usually the number) and we are only 11% into the season. Keep the points % above the season % past Christmas and we should be ok including the February blip. 

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I actually thought that, with the ball, Cardiff weren't a bad side. A different manager who can better organise their defence would be a start. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Colin get another chance to save a club from relegation.

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7 minutes ago, Eoghan1884 said:

Portsmouth slapped 3-0 at home

Not a surprise. The very best teams in this league are just too clinical and you can’t give them an inch.

It’ll be interesting to see how we deal with an attack of similar quality next week by comparison. Hamer and O’Hare are two of the best players in the division, Rak-Sakyi is full of pace and intent, and Moore is such a bruising centre forward but also an intelligent player at this level.

The one worry I have for Pompey is that they just don’t carry the goal threat. They don’t have a natural goalscorer. Bishop is a huge miss for them. They do have some quick, direct forwards who will cause lesser defences problems but can they do that consistently? I liked the look of Blair, for example, but it’s a heavy burden on young shoulders.

I think they’ll bounce back ultimately but each game without a win and that crisis of confidence could snowball.

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6 minutes ago, WystonRam said:

Portsmouth look completely out of their depth at the moment. Cardiff looked awful yesterday, and Bristol City look paperweight in midfield. Good signs for us I think.

Whilst the omens are good, tell me this again when we are in Feb freeze, with injuries and suspensions biting deep.Teams will improve as they play, just as long as we do as well there is no reason for fearing the drop

However also no reason to expect that the winter window will be worse than this one. Recruiting has taken a large upcurl and players will want to be a part of that.

COYR🦍

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4 hours ago, Jourdan said:

Not a surprise. The very best teams in this league are just too clinical and you can’t give them an inch.

It’ll be interesting to see how we deal with an attack of similar quality next week by comparison. Hamer and O’Hare are two of the best players in the division, Rak-Sakyi is full of pace and intent, and Moore is such a bruising centre forward but also an intelligent player at this level.

The one worry I have for Pompey is that they just don’t carry the goal threat. They don’t have a natural goalscorer. Bishop is a huge miss for them. They do have some quick, direct forwards who will cause lesser defences problems but can they do that consistently? I liked the look of Blair, for example, but it’s a heavy burden on young shoulders.

I think they’ll bounce back ultimately but each game without a win and that crisis of confidence could snowball.

Agree. But also don’t think Bishop was/is much above Collo in championship level.

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39 minutes ago, Dean (hick) Saunders said:

Agree. But also don’t think Bishop was/is much above Collo in championship level.

I disagree, I think from what I saw last season in League One he was probably the most 'ready-made' Championship striker of all the permanently contracted strikers in the division. 

Mark Harris doesn't have a lot of quality, but works hard and continually presses defenders. I can see why Warne wanted him here, albeit at the time I was disgusted. I think Dion Charles would be very useful as I think he's similar to Harris, but actually has more quality. 

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1 hour ago, Dean (hick) Saunders said:

Agree. But also don’t think Bishop was/is much above Collo in championship level.

Hard to say without him having the opportunity. Some struggle with the step up and some just pick up where they left off the previous season.

Whether it’s Bishop or someone else, you can see they are definitely missing something. With someone to occupy defenders, work hard, and be a presence up top, they probably will look 10x more dangerous.

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Stoke have sacked Schumacher. Well it says he’s left his position but the article very much seems as though he was sacked. 
 

Theyve 6 points and bet Carlisle and boro to be through to the next round of the cup. Seems a bit harsh and Stoke fans don’t seem to agree on the decision. 

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23 minutes ago, Eoghan1884 said:

Stoke have sacked Schumacher. Well it says he’s left his position but the article very much seems as though he was sacked. 
 

Theyve 6 points and bet Carlisle and boro to be through to the next round of the cup. Seems a bit harsh and Stoke fans don’t seem to agree on the decision. 

He's a really good manager, Stoke have an awful culture and inspite of all the investment and recruitment of solid, proven players they continue to fall well below the standard. They need a culture change, otherwise it will never change. 

Stoke is a club where good Championship players earn great money but throw their career in the bin at the same time. 

I think Schumacher gets a decent job and does well elsewhere. 

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