Is the Championship really that bad?

[North Cardiff Blue]

Burnley, Sheffield United, and Blackburn in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

I know they are the best teams, but there are some good teams still in this league, I do feel the gap is growing though from the top eight or so down.

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

It's a great league and therefore vital that we stay in it

People who say it's crap clearly spend far too much watching Premier League nonsense on SKY

I can't be doing with the complete lack of contact in the top flight or the diving and cheating

Of course we get that in the championship but the level of play acting in the big league is pathetic

[The Lone Gunman]

Burnley, Sheffield United, and Blackburn in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

So are Grimsby.

[splott parker]

Hoping we stay up and Everton come down and we both stay in the division for a few years. Bramley Moore would be the jewel in the crown of the Championship.

[Dorcus]

It's a great league and therefore vital that we stay in it

People who say it's crap clearly spend far too much watching Premier League nonsense on SKY

I can't be doing with the complete lack of contact in the top flight or the diving and cheating

Of course we get that in the championship but the level of play acting in the big league is pathetic

Championship is hugely better than the Premier League. It's more real 👍

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Championship is hugely better than the Premier League. It's more real 👍

I admire teams who go up and piss off the entitled clubs ....by beating them ....despite their diving

Brentford , Burnley , Brighton

If we were to go up then I would hate us to turn into a team of highly paid play acting divers

Jay Bothroyd was a great player but a complete fake , it was embarrassing at times

[NYCBlue]

Unless they draw each other in the semis, I can't see anything but a Manchester derby for the final.

Also "bad" is a relative term. Obviously, the football is way below EPL standards in terms of quality, but this doesn't necessarily make it less enjoyable or less important. But in terms of it not being a strong division with several good sides, then yes, it's pretty bad. I've seen several postings of Chopra's goal against the Wurzels in 2009. That side would absolutely murder the one we have now and they still only finished 4th and lost 14 games.

[North Cardiff Blue]

I admire teams who go up and piss off the entitled clubs ....by beating them ....despite their diving

Brentford , Burnley , Brighton

If we were to go up then I would hate us to turn into a team of highly paid play acting divers

Jay Bothroyd was a great player but a complete fake , it was embarrassing at times

Fulham has done amazingly well!

[NYCBlue]

I admire teams who go up and piss off the entitled clubs ....by beating them ....despite their diving

Brentford , Burnley , Brighton

If we were to go up then I would hate us to turn into a team of highly paid play acting divers

Jay Bothroyd was a great player but a complete fake , it was embarrassing at times

Championship players are just as culpable when it comes to being highly paid, play-acting divers. They're just not as highly paid as their EPL counterparts.

[Hilts]

Blackburn were utter sh!t in both games against us.

[North Cardiff Blue]

So are Grimsby.

So are Man City/United.

[goats]

Hoping we stay up and Everton come down and we both stay in the division for a few years. Bramley Moore would be the jewel in the crown of the Championship.

Obv Leeds to come down too…..and saints for a change of scene?

[goats]

Blackburn were utter sh!t in both games against us.

I don’t think there is much between any of the clubs from the top two down….a few decent players and a bit of confidence and any can go on a run like boro and West Brom have, even the wurzels have picked up….

[Des Parrot]

Championship is hugely better than the Premier League. It's more real ��

This is so true. So is the use of the word entitled.

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Championship players are just as culpable when it comes to being highly paid, play-acting divers. They're just not as highly paid as their EPL counterparts.

Absolute cobblers

In the leagues outside of the Premier you get play acting and diving but the big time Charlie's are at it all game , every game

They should be sending the cheats off for it

And banning them retrospectively

Stamp it out or we may as well take up ballroom 💃

[NYCBlue]

Absolute cobblers

In the leagues outside of the Premier you get play acting and diving but the big time Charlie's are at it all game , every game

They should be sending the cheats off for it

And banning them retrospectively

Stamp it out or we may as well take up ballroom ��

There are very few forward players in any division that won't tumble down like a house of cards at the slightest contact in the area. If anything, the refs in the EPL are to blame. They get star struck.

[Tuerto]

There are very few forward players in any division that won't tumble down like a house of cards at the slightest contact in the area. If anything, the refs in the EPL are to blame. They get star struck.

If i was a Pro footballer, then i'd be throwing myself about in the penalty area, diving, pretending that i've been elbowed, choked, assaulted, everything. And i wouldn't give a ****, as long as we won :hehe:

[NYCBlue]

If i was a Pro footballer, then i'd be throwing myself about in the penalty area, diving, pretending that i've been elbowed, choked, assaulted, everything. And i wouldn't give a ****, as long as we won :hehe:

Exactly. It's your job to do anything you can get away with to win. Would anyone have a problem if we cheated to win on Saturday?

[the other bob wilson]

Blackburn were utter sh!t in both games against us.

They have been every time I’ve watched them on Sky as well - I try to avoid contributing to the annual the Championship is crap threads, but Blackburn being where they are tells me it it really is crap this season apart from a strong Burnley team and decent Sheffield United and Middlesbrough sides.

[the other bob wilson]

Absolute cobblers

In the leagues outside of the Premier you get play acting and diving but the big time Charlie's are at it all game , every game

They should be sending the cheats off for it

And banning them retrospectively

Stamp it out or we may as well take up ballroom ��

So, will Burnley’s forwards miraculously be transformed into divers next season? I hate the hypocrisy that maintains that foreign players are bigger divers than British ones despite the evidence on our TV screens every week, that talks of “good fouls” and the managers who say they don’t condone diving, but football is what it is and it’s naive to think that the cheating is limited to the Premier League.

[Grangenders]

If there was a European competition for 2nd division teams, I think the top championship clubs would do well against their counterparts from Italy, Spain and France

[dembethewarrior]

Exactly. It's your job to do anything you can get away with to win. Would anyone have a problem if we cheated to win on Saturday?

Nailed on there'd be some righteous prick on here condemning it.

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

So, will Burnley’s forwards miraculously be transformed into divers next season? I hate the hypocrisy that maintains that foreign players are bigger divers than British ones despite the evidence on our TV screens every week, that talks of “good fouls” and the managers who say they don’t condone diving, but football is what it is and it’s naive to think that the cheating is limited to the Premier League.

Burnley won't be as bad as united , Liverpool, man City, Chelsea and arsenal

I will put money on it

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Exactly. It's your job to do anything you can get away with to win. Would anyone have a problem if we cheated to win on Saturday?

Well I think it's highly embarrassing to see a Cardiff City player pretending to be hurt

Alan Lee used to fall over in the same way Jay Bothroyd did

It's pathetic

You can hate that side of the game and want your team to play fair but still want to win

It's not mutually exclusive

If the only arguement is well everyone's at it then we have our answer

[Rjk]

There's always a huge amount of circular logic that comes with comparing relative strengths in sport. Like have we just lived through a golden era of tennis, with 3 of the greatest men's singles players of all time going toe to toe for a decade, or has it been a weak era,and those players have only won so many tournaments because the overall standard of players has been low and in any other era they wouldn't have had it so easy?

However, it does feel as though the championship is pretty meh this season. Lots of average clubs and not much to choose between them - Burnley / sheff utd aside.
We have been crap this season, and yet (on paper at least) I don't see many other teams and covetously admire the players they have at their disposal, it is all much of a muchness.

The premier league is really strong these days - it is blowing all other leagues out of the water financially, and the clubs are generally a lot smarter these days as well. In the January transfer window Bournemouth were in a bidding war with AC Milan over a player.

Why isn't that dominance trickling down into the championship? Maybe a couple of reasons - championship clubs finances were always precarious - most clubs lose money every season, and the FFP rules are much more restrictive than the premier league, also gate receipts make up a bigger percentage of earnings than they do for premier league clubs (still mostly TV money though) Covid restrictions seem to have had a far bigger hit on Championship clubs - there are multiple sides ho have been clearly tightening their belts - us included - in recent seasons, whereas I can't say I've noticed much of a slowdown in the premier league.
Also the new work permit regulations since Brexit seem to have made it a lot more difficult to bring in younger players from overseas - this means that not only are championship clubs unable to fully exploit their position as the richest second tier league, but it also means that premier league clubs find it more difficult to bring in young players from some overseas nations, so they are focusing more on taking any talent already within the uk. (note this isn't an inevitable outcome of brexit - they could choose to make the rules easier for foreign players to play here - but they haven't).

So we have championship clubs with less money, less access to foreign markets, their best youngsters poached by the premier league teams and relegated sides richer and in better shape making there effectively less chance of promotion, and less reason to push the boat out , that could explain why the league seems so crap this year.
Is that opinion jaded by mostly watching matches involving cardiff city this year - almost certainly yes.

[ToTaL ITK]

It's the FA cup. the days of that competition died with the introduction of the Prem. gone is the excitement and it'sno longer a big day event for the country. for the clubs involved , yes!

[the other bob wilson]

There's always a huge amount of circular logic that comes with comparing relative strengths in sport. Like have we just lived through a golden era of tennis, with 3 of the greatest men's singles players of all time going toe to toe for a decade, or has it been a weak era,and those players have only won so many tournaments because the overall standard of players has been low and in any other era they wouldn't have had it so easy?

However, it does feel as though the championship is pretty meh this season. Lots of average clubs and not much to choose between them - Burnley / sheff utd aside.
We have been crap this season, and yet (on paper at least) I don't see many other teams and covetously admire the players they have at their disposal, it is all much of a muchness.

The premier league is really strong these days - it is blowing all other leagues out of the water financially, and the clubs are generally a lot smarter these days as well. In the January transfer window Bournemouth were in a bidding war with AC Milan over a player.

Why isn't that dominance trickling down into the championship? Maybe a couple of reasons - championship clubs finances were always precarious - most clubs lose money every season, and the FFP rules are much more restrictive than the premier league, also gate receipts make up a bigger percentage of earnings than they do for premier league clubs (still mostly TV money though) Covid restrictions seem to have had a far bigger hit on Championship clubs - there are multiple sides ho have been clearly tightening their belts - us included - in recent seasons, whereas I can't say I've noticed much of a slowdown in the premier league.
Also the new work permit regulations since Brexit seem to have made it a lot more difficult to bring in younger players from overseas - this means that not only are championship clubs unable to fully exploit their position as the richest second tier league, but it also means that premier league clubs find it more difficult to bring in young players from some overseas nations, so they are focusing more on taking any talent already within the uk. (note this isn't an inevitable outcome of brexit - they could choose to make the rules easier for foreign players to play here - but they haven't).

So we have championship clubs with less money, less access to foreign markets, their best youngsters poached by the premier league teams and relegated sides richer and in better shape making there effectively less chance of promotion, and less reason to push the boat out , that could explain why the league seems so crap this year.
Is that opinion jaded by mostly watching matches involving cardiff city this year - almost certainly yes.

Regarding the Premier League, has it ever had a worse set of Champions League last sixteen first leg results as this season?

[dembethewarrior]

It's the FA cup. the days of that competition died with the introduction of the Prem. gone is the excitement and it'sno longer a big day event for the country. for the clubs involved , yes!
What?

[Rjk]

Regarding the Premier League, has it ever had a worse set of Champions League last sixteen first leg results as this season?

I would have said probably yes, but I'm not going to go and look for it.

Liverpool Chelsea and Spurs have all been performing badly in the league as well, so if it says anything it probably highlights their form rather than the strength of the league - I think the liverpool result was a bit of a freak one from what I've heard from stats people, lthough I didn't watch the game

[Pedro de la Rosa]

Exactly. It's your job to do anything you can get away with to win. Would anyone have a problem if we cheated to win on Saturday?

In my changing room this weekend, I can semi guarantee someone will say "you should have gone down there, you'd have won a pen", and they'd reply "yeh, I know". Or, "bought that one didn't you mate" and then everyone would laugh :hehe:.

I don't even think it is about your job, people love to win. It is great.

[Pedro de la Rosa]

So, will Burnley’s forwards miraculously be transformed into divers next season? I hate the hypocrisy that maintains that foreign players are bigger divers than British ones despite the evidence on our TV screens every week, that talks of “good fouls” and the managers who say they don’t condone diving, but football is what it is and it’s naive to think that the cheating is limited to the Premier League.

Everyone cheats. The PL teams are savvier and use "good fouls" more than anyone, though. They're smarter. I would make any "good foul" an immediate booking. They'd soon stop, you can't have Rodri on a yellow for 89 minutes. Having said that, with 5 subs you might be able too as you can hook him...