| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 12:46 - Jun 6 with 513682 views | Northernr |
New version for new season as Sheff Wed enter transfer embargo...
Old thread here...
Rest of the Championship thread by Hunterhoop 10 Aug 2024 11:07Toyed with this idea last season. Shall we have a thread to discuss, comment on, cover the rest of the league? A place to discuss other teams’ results, performances, financial implosions, etc?
For example, last night, anyone catch either of the first two games? I didn’t. But somewhat surprised/worried Blackburn scored 4 given how they are meant to struggle. Was it Derby being utter sh*te?
Sounds like Preston are continuing in the same vein of being incredibly dull.
Clive, what do you think? Worth making a sticky? Might reduce the number of threads to manage.
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| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 21:35 - Feb 10 with 2700 views | Northernr |
Leicester 3-0 up at home to Southampton and now it's 3-3.
Norwich raving about Sam Field's performance against his fav opponent. | | | |
| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 21:38 - Feb 10 with 2654 views | loftboy |
We’re currently in the bottom half of the table! |  |
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| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 21:42 - Feb 10 with 2621 views | Northernr |
4-3 Southampton 94th minute.
Leicester doing their best to go down. | | | |
| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 21:49 - Feb 10 with 2524 views | eastside_r |
Perhaps Marti not the problem. I think that I may have said that before. |  | | |
| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 21:54 - Feb 10 with 2464 views | Myke |
| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 21:38 - Feb 10 by loftboy |
We’re currently in the bottom half of the table! |
But still 3 points off the play-offs - mental division. BTW, I’m sure this has been discussed elsewhere, but why is there some Championship games this mid-week and not all? |  | | |
| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 22:00 - Feb 10 with 2396 views | Northernr |
| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 21:54 - Feb 10 by Myke |
But still 3 points off the play-offs - mental division. BTW, I’m sure this has been discussed elsewhere, but why is there some Championship games this mid-week and not all? |
These I believe are games that were meant to be at the weekend but the teams are still in the FA Cup.
Amazing end to the Birmingham game. Absolute stones on the linesman disallowing that in that corner of the ground in the last minute. | | | |
| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 22:03 - Feb 10 with 2375 views | Hugey |
Begovic in goal...  |  | | |
| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 22:06 - Feb 10 with 2346 views | Myke |
| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 22:00 - Feb 10 by Northernr |
These I believe are games that were meant to be at the weekend but the teams are still in the FA Cup.
Amazing end to the Birmingham game. Absolute stones on the linesman disallowing that in that corner of the ground in the last minute. |
Ah, I see. Makes sense I guess, as opposed to the ‘fixture congestion’ that has happened in the past in the good old days of multiple replays. Speaking of the FA Cup. In the mythical 4th round, Leicester and Southampton meet again. | | | |
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| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 22:07 - Feb 10 with 2333 views | Watford_Ranger |
| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 21:42 - Feb 10 by Northernr |
4-3 Southampton 94th minute.
Leicester doing their best to go down. |
We’ll do our bit in a few days I’m sure. | | | |
| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 22:08 - Feb 10 with 2319 views | Northernr |
| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 22:03 - Feb 10 by Hugey |
Begovic in goal... |
It's all starting to make more sense. | | | |
| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 22:10 - Feb 10 with 2275 views | Watford_Ranger |
Not so Championship but is that United fan just going to lose his hair before they win five in a row?
Spurs away next year looking increasingly plausible.
Hearts win late against Hibs. Anyone but Celtic. [Post edited 10 Feb 22:11]
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| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 22:12 - Feb 10 with 2249 views | wombat |
| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 14:55 - Feb 10 by JamesB1979 |
Hang on a sec. I think it’s perfectly reasonable and not disrespectful to say that having Edwards at centre back may have a positive impact on our attacking play. We have been terrible going forward away from home and since Leicester, rarely at home. Why not look at how we can change that with current squad? We also need to look to next season and beyond. Cook is 35 in 2 months. He can have a part to play at qpr but I see that more filling in as a sub next season than as a starter. |
Seem to remember a few people saying g that when cook got his new deal , legs have gone bit part player etc etc now prob one of the first names on the team sheet for most also helps dunne a lot with organisation at the back . |  |
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| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 22:30 - Feb 10 with 2140 views | slmrstid |
I'll try retain some chill as we've still got to play them and its not beyond our capabilities to gift them three points, but after clamouring for him for months Leicester have now entered an immediate Gareth Ainsworth-esque death spiral with Andy King in charge and I am 100% here for it.
I will laugh my tits off if they end up going down. |  | | |
| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 07:23 - Feb 11 with 1779 views | Watford_Ranger |
Southampton v Leicester in the cup on Saturday :) | | | |
| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 07:41 - Feb 11 with 1738 views | EuroRanger |
| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 21:42 - Feb 10 by Northernr |
4-3 Southampton 94th minute.
Leicester doing their best to go down. |
Us vs Wrexham was bad but that is a capitulation for the ages... | | | |
| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 08:39 - Feb 11 with 1630 views | TheChef |
| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 15:28 - Feb 10 by Northernr |
Well we agree that having a ball player on the left side of the defence tends to greatly improve the team, which is why JCS and Edwards look so good when they do play there and obviously Edwards has been bought to play there long term, but we're only getting the points we are getting away from home at the moment because the goalkeeper and the two centre backs are playing so well and yet I'm reading so often, from so many people, that we should drop Cook. This after the 'captain refuses to leave' statement from the club in the summer.
I just think he's owed a bit more respect for what he's actually producing at the moment. In the first half the other night he ran past Edwards to make that tackle on Dykes.
I guess we'll find out when Edwards does play there (which he will sooner rather than later, Blackburn H was his best performance last season and the last time we won a game with more possession than the oppo) if our inability to keep and progress the ball away from home at the moment was down to the centre backs. Personally, the way we're playing atm, I'd be more inclined to look at people like Dembele (pre-injury) and Saito who are both offering very little particularly away (possibly being misued/played on the wrong sides), Kone's not been as good in away games as he has in the home, the midfelder next to Madsen (and even Madsen himself needs to start producing some Loftus Road performances on the road), the lack of attacking/overlapping full backs etc before we get to blaming Dunne and Cook. I don't think it was their fault that every time the ball went forwards on Friday it came straight back at them.
In fact, just been and looked, Cook's passing accuracy the other night was 92.5% from 40 attempts. Highest in the team. Dunne 86.5%. So it's not like they're giving the ball away or just punting it down the field.
This post has been edited by an administrator |
The manager's insistence on playing inverted wingers does not help - no clue why he wouldn't want to use the full width of the pitch and stretch the opposition, especially when he has the players to do it.
EDIT
Except Dembele. [Post edited 11 Feb 8:45]
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| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 08:53 - Feb 11 with 1581 views | TheChef |
| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 18:23 - Feb 10 by Hunterhoop |
I would suggest the bigger issue is why we’re not seeing much in the way of a return on the pitch in goals and assists from Dembele, Saito, Poku, given the considerable money invested in them, not to mention Vale and Bennie, also signings. I’ve excluded Kone from the point as, whilst his goals tally is a tad disappointing, I think he had broadly played well and helped the team attack. Burrell is obviously a big success. But 1 success, 1 middling, and 3 disappointments…that’s the reason we’re not scoring or creating as much as we’d like.
And on top of this there was Kolli, Smyth, and Chair at the club already. That’s a lot of the squad salary, not to mention transfer budget, on the wide forwards. It should mean lots of options for Stephan. What the reasons are for the disappointing output from that collective and investment is up for debate. Bad data led signings? Injuries? Fitness? Stephan not getting the best from them?
For a team currently conceding few and not scoring many, changing the defence is a bit of a gamble. |
And it's still mystifying why Kolli isn't getting more minutes.
Reckon we're at the point where Nourry thought he'd be calling all the shots above the "head coach", but M. Stephan is very much the man in charge. | |
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| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 09:30 - Feb 11 with 1465 views | Hunterhoop |
| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 08:53 - Feb 11 by TheChef |
And it's still mystifying why Kolli isn't getting more minutes.
Reckon we're at the point where Nourry thought he'd be calling all the shots above the "head coach", but M. Stephan is very much the man in charge. |
I don’t know about that. I don’t think Stephan is the reason for Kolli’s lack of minutes. Cifuentes wasn’t last season. |  | | |
| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 09:33 - Feb 11 with 1438 views | dmm |
| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 09:30 - Feb 11 by Hunterhoop |
I don’t know about that. I don’t think Stephan is the reason for Kolli’s lack of minutes. Cifuentes wasn’t last season. |
Why do you think Bennie is picked ahead of Kolli, for example? Kolli is clearly the better player. |  | | |
| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 09:45 - Feb 11 with 1384 views | WadR |
| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 09:33 - Feb 11 by dmm |
Why do you think Bennie is picked ahead of Kolli, for example? Kolli is clearly the better player. |
Speculating here but I think there's an argument to be made that Bennie is a safer option out of possession, especially if it's playing on the wing. So in scenarios like Oxford away or coming on against Coventry - perhaps Stephan thinks Bennie is more reliable to do the defensive basics as a winger.
It's going back a while but I remember WBA at home last season, Kolli looking a little ropey defensively. And I think Kolli has shown his best position to be central just off a striker. When Dembele got injured against Cov, bringing on Kolli is a problem because it means shifting either him or Vale away from their preferred position. Bennie feels more like for like.
I'd like to see more of Kolli. Blackburn at home feels like a good opportunity for him to either start or come on earlier and maybe Stephan is erring a bit on the conservative side with those changes but I do kinda get the pragmatism and think Bennie has been ok in that role (panicked out of position Wrexham 5 mins aside). | | | |
| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 10:37 - Feb 11 with 1294 views | TK1 |
| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 15:39 - Feb 10 by JamesB1979 |
Cook’s performances have been superb. I thought he was pretty much done earlier in season but now he’s playing back at level prior to the Preston injury. And yes I agree that the players in front of him should be doing better. And I only really thought of dropping Cook because of how the 2 Boro centre backs played last night. Having a defender that plays key passes and is not afraid to run with the ball, seems to open up the rest of the pitch. Are we going to get a player like Hackney or even a second Madsen? I doubt it. Saito is never going to be good with his back to goal or getting on end of high balls. Same with Dembele. And Smyth. And I guess Poku but not seen enough. We need to get them the ball in the right areas and with the opportunity to run forward and beat the full back. I can’t see us doing that just playing the same way….especially away from home. Are Hayden or Varane going to change? I think we’ve got to try something different, especially away from home. And now seems like a good time to do that.
Edit - seen those stats. Yes but it’s not about the passing accuracy for me but where are they passing the thing. It’s normally going to the other centre back
Or the full back. They don’t often try incisive pass forwards or run with it. [Post edited 10 Feb 15:42]
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We've had three clean sheets in a row away from home. It seems counterintuitive to the point of perversity that if "we've got to try something different" (do we??) that thing should be change the central defence, removing the best player on form from it. After all, it wasn't Steve Cook outpaced by Lyndon Dykes on Friday, but it was Cook who made the goal-saving tackle.
Keep the defence that is keeping clean sheets in place. That's football basics. There are changes in shape and personnel available further forward - fewer now that we've given Sam Field to Norwich to fix their midfield instead - but also a team missing its best creative player, it's top scorer, the marquee winger and his first choice backup is mostly struggling in those areas for that reason. Not because the defence is defending well. | | | |
| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 16:53 - Feb 11 with 1059 views | derbyhoop |
| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 21:49 - Feb 10 by eastside_r |
Perhaps Marti not the problem. I think that I may have said that before. |
Andy King, the caretaker manager, is not over impressed with the attitude of the Foxes' players. I had a similar thought when we beat them 4-1. It's clearly not the manager's fault (too late for Marti) but the players. Far too many seemed to think the Championship was below them. |  |
| "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the Earth all one's lifetime." (Mark Twain)
Find me on twitter @derbyhoop and now on Bluesky |
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| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 20:58 - Feb 11 with 895 views | Loyalitat |
| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 09:45 - Feb 11 by WadR |
Speculating here but I think there's an argument to be made that Bennie is a safer option out of possession, especially if it's playing on the wing. So in scenarios like Oxford away or coming on against Coventry - perhaps Stephan thinks Bennie is more reliable to do the defensive basics as a winger.
It's going back a while but I remember WBA at home last season, Kolli looking a little ropey defensively. And I think Kolli has shown his best position to be central just off a striker. When Dembele got injured against Cov, bringing on Kolli is a problem because it means shifting either him or Vale away from their preferred position. Bennie feels more like for like.
I'd like to see more of Kolli. Blackburn at home feels like a good opportunity for him to either start or come on earlier and maybe Stephan is erring a bit on the conservative side with those changes but I do kinda get the pragmatism and think Bennie has been ok in that role (panicked out of position Wrexham 5 mins aside). |
If you're saying that Kolli is deficient defensively by referencing the WBA game from the start of 24/25 season, in which he provided an assist for Andersen, which I disagree with, you have to acknowledge the inability of Bennie to stick to his basic assignment of marking Eccles. He wasn't even blocked or impeded by any Coventry player. His peripheral and general awareness of the basic run made Eccles was awful. That's alongside the panicked clearance v Wrexham.
He was the one against Charlton who miscontrolled a poor cross-field pass by a Charlton player, so badly, it ended going back to a Charlton player. I'm personally not sure what he does as he hardly shows for the ball, yet he has played far more minutes than Kolli since Stoke City. The same team at Loftus Road when Kolli came on in the second-half and played on the right and was diligent in his defensive duties.
It wouldn't surprise me if Kolli in the paltry 13 minutes' playing time he had in that game, touched the ball on more occasions than Bennie who would have been on the pitch for over 30 minutes, as Kolli demanded that the ball be passed to him and always showed for the ball with real conviction. [Post edited 13 Feb 11:54]
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| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 21:41 - Feb 11 with 801 views | Ned_Kennedys |
| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 09:33 - Feb 11 by dmm |
Why do you think Bennie is picked ahead of Kolli, for example? Kolli is clearly the better player. |
With no other striker options available Kolli is the only Kone replacement.
Bennie is a better option on the right wing. |  | | |
| Rest of the Championship thread 25/26 on 22:30 - Feb 11 with 700 views | Watford_Ranger |
Good result for us tonight in the never-ending battle to accidentally finish sixth.
Charlton will keep grinding points out and be well clear of trouble. | | | |
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