Is Forest, Villa, Newcastle, Bournemouth all genuinely threatening the top 4 or 5 not a break from tradition ? Let’s be honest you’re not likely to see Liverpool, City and Arsenal in the bottom 3 while Fulham and Sheffield United battle it out for the title. What do else do you want from the PL - or any of the main European leagues for that matter ?
Championship Sunderland vs Coventry City [Championship semi final 2nd leg [2-1]]
- Thread starter notThisWayButThat
- Start date
Is Forest, Villa, Newcastle, Bournemouth all genuinely threatening the top 4 or 5 not a break from tradition ? Let’s be honest you’re not likely to see Liverpool, City and Arsenal in the bottom 3 while Fulham and Sheffield United battle it out for the title. What do else do you want from the PL - or any of the main European leagues for that matter ?
I doubt we will see a real outsider like Brentford, Fulham or Man U win the prem after Leicester did it not that long ago.
- Year of First Game
- 1995
No there wasn't! Every single pre-season prediction had Oxford bottom.
I'm looking at the WSC pre-season prediction table, which is made up by a fan of each Championship team giving their predictions and then taking an average:
Oxford = bottom
Blackburn = relegated
Luton = 6th
West Brom = 3rd
Sheff Weds / Millwall = relegation battle
Sunderland = 11th
Norwich = 4th
Thats a good point, no one predicted us to stay up and no one predicted Luton to get relegated.
- Year of First Game
- 1995
I'd be amazed if anyone could find a pre-season prediction table that even had Luton in the bottom half.
Aren't all the big money leagues like this pretty much?
Could one argue that the influx of money from state funds, oligarchs and US billionaires might be making the premiership less boring at the top end? Genuine question btw.
Did anyone predict Leeds, Burnley or Sheffield United to get relegated
ZeroTheHero
Level: Phil Whitehead
(238 Apps)
The top leagues in most countries become fossilised. No promotion from them and a few teams being promoted into them. In this country, especially with the parachute payments, those relegated have a pretty good chance of going up again - while the teams promoted into the division have very little chance of competing with the financial giants lodged at the top (many of whom are propped up by very rich people/countries).
The Prem is an odd league. I can (and do) watch Prem football and admire the skills on show, but the champions are often decided quite early and the relegation this year has been absolutely nailed on for months. I can't get excited about who might get into some third rated European competition. The Championship is a much more exciting league, albeit slightly infected with 'parachute' syndrome at the top (not that it helped Luton
), with 'big' clubs coming down from the Prem and 'smaller' clubs (or resurgent larger clubs) coming up from L1. As we have seen, anyone can beat anyone and that happens regularly.
The Prem is an odd league. I can (and do) watch Prem football and admire the skills on show, but the champions are often decided quite early and the relegation this year has been absolutely nailed on for months. I can't get excited about who might get into some third rated European competition. The Championship is a much more exciting league, albeit slightly infected with 'parachute' syndrome at the top (not that it helped Luton
), with 'big' clubs coming down from the Prem and 'smaller' clubs (or resurgent larger clubs) coming up from L1. As we have seen, anyone can beat anyone and that happens regularly.
The very top was pretty boring but I get your point, 2nd and 7th are pretty even in terms of quality. Trouble is most people want the excitement to be in the title race and relegation battle, that never materialised. Championship had 4 exciting battles, title, automatics, play offs and relegation going on all season so it most teams interested all the way through a 46 game season, the prem has had a battle for Europe but you can't even be certain how many places are up for grabs and in what competition yet. Two teams even gave up on the premier league to concentrate on the Europa league.
Well no, but that's just a nonsense point as you are saying that unless the three favourites for relegation from the championship get promoted it can't have been more exciting than a league that has had no title or relegation battle?
Lets list the things that happened in the Championship
- Luton, promotion candidates relegated
- Oxford, rock bottom favourites stay up
- Midtable candidates Sunderland make the play off final
- Title race goes right down to the wire
- Automatic promotion fight goes nearly to the end of the season
- Battle for the play off places goes right to the wire with 4 teams able to get in to the last two places on the last day, half the league were in with a shout going into the last few games.
- No one relegated until the penultimate weekend
- Relegation battle goes right to the wire with 5 teams fighting to not take the last place on the last day.
- None of the promoted teams relegated
Now the Premier league
- Dull title race that was over very early
- The worst relegation battle ever as it was over months ago
- A decent scrap for the champions league places
- a decent scrap for the other European places but its hard to know where you have to finish to get in until all the cups are sorted so not that exciting to follow
How you can say the second list is better than the first takes some special baldy maths.
I mean, we know now that the Top 5 will get into the Champions League, and that 6&7 will get into Europe somewhere. So the battle for the Champions League places is kind of interesting, with five in a really tight battle for three spots including one genuine underdog in Forest, and two stupid-budget giants in Chelsea and Man City that are genuinely easy to root against.
Not saying it makes the league better than the Championship, but it's less boring than a lot of seasons were a decade or so ago when it was just a matter of arranging the Manchester clubs, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal into a Top Four!
We don't know whether 8th will earn a spot in the Conference League until after the Cup final.....but is there really much excitement for any neutral in discovering which out of Brighton, Brentford and Bournemouth is going to get to go on a tour of lesser-known European footballing outposts? I'm sure it's exciting for their fans and they'll all be rooting for Man City on Saturday, because heading off to Baku or Tromso or Thessaloniki to watch your team would surely be fun.....but hard for the rest of us to care that much!
Relegation is a worrying one, though. Imagine that the battle in next season's PL will be looked at very closely
If a club like Leeds - who generate higher commercial revenues than a lot of Premier League teams, and had an outstanding side this season - can't survive the step up then we won't be far away from a situation where the gap between the two divisions is too large to ever be bridged. At that point, they'll have to either change the rules to give promoted teams more of a chance.......or close the shop. I know which one the PL clubs will want to do.
I was just trying to be fair with the other European competitions, I don’t really care who qualifies for the Europa league (I mean I will watch the final of this years because it’s a funny one) but neither of the minor ones are of any interest outside of the clubs who enter, but it didn’t seem right to not include it at all.
I actually like what UEFA have done revamping the lesser European competitions.
The Europa League used to be a consolation prize for teams that ****ed up their Champions League group. Now it is genuinely a battleground for the mediocre teams of Europe.
Whilst the Conference League is like a bonkers pan-European footballing version of Eurovision (offering a pretty similar level of quality).
Doesn't mean I actually want to watch either of them, but it seems more fun than what came before.
SSO
Level: Chris Maguire
(79 Apps, 22 Gls)
The Europa League final this year has taken on all the importance of the Championship play off final. At the end of it I can still see one if not both managers getting sacked. That makes it even funnier.
The other final will see Chelsea who have rinsed all before them suddenly see the opposition for the final raised 5 notches.
I just hope Spurs and Betis win.
I would love being in them with Oxford, half follow the English teams but don’t watch any games but the final so nothing much has changed there. Actually don’t bother with the champions league till the knock out phase and then just a few games involving English clubs and the final. Used to love it when I was younger, especially as we had only just got back into it as I was growing up, Eastern Europe was splintering into all these different places so it seemed different and exotic, once that goes though it’s just a load of football teams you are not that interested in taking part in competitions that seem to go on forever, don’t think it will ever compare to domestic football with all the local rivalries.
Essexyellows
Level: Cameron Brannagan
(311 Apps, 57 Gls)
Scoring the winner in the 120th +2 minutes is what makes us go and watch the game.
Elation for some, heartbreak for others.
That moment will live with everyone there for many reasons.
Elation for some, heartbreak for others.
That moment will live with everyone there for many reasons.
Essexyellows
Level: Cameron Brannagan
(311 Apps, 57 Gls)
Great entertainment. - not great quality though.
What odds are we for play offs next season, I’m going to have a cheeky bet.
What odds are we for play offs next season, I’m going to have a cheeky bet.
notThisWayButThat
Level: Callum O'Dowda
(106 Apps, 14 Gls)
Oldham 1-0 up 4 mins gone
2-0
3-0. 10 mins gone
Charlie Raglan also in the team for Oldham
Halifax make 2 subs with 15 mins gone.
5 mins without a goal
but an Oldham fan has a loudspeaker
2-0
3-0. 10 mins gone
Charlie Raglan also in the team for Oldham
Halifax make 2 subs with 15 mins gone.
5 mins without a goal
but an Oldham fan has a loudspeaker
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notThisWayButThat
Level: Callum O'Dowda
(106 Apps, 14 Gls)
Leyton score within 2 mins (2-3)
'air Agyei also playing
also sean clare
'air Agyei also playing
also sean clare
Last edited:
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