The Championship Thread 2023/2024

[Spudulike]

Psychologically once you are in front then you have something to lose. The pressure doesn't feel as great for those in the chasing pack although it should be. 

 

I still feel psychologically damaged from the Premier League 2015/16 run-in by the thought we could've lost it when in reality it wasn't even close. 

 

The state of the human mind. 

[Sly]

On 14/12/2023 at 13:23, Out Foxed said:

sorry, but i disagree. i think people are massively overrating how we'd do with this team and style of play in the Prem. we need major upgrades if we get promoted. 

I don’t disagree that we need improvements, however if we’d have stayed up, we’d most likely have had Barnes and maybe Castagne. 
 

When (should) we get promoted, then we will need to improve in several areas. 

[Fear Of The Fox]

1 hour ago, foxes_rule1978 said:

So if they could win games, they will do better… okay 

"A game is not won until it is lost."  - David Pleat

[SixtiesFox]

Results today and the fact that Leeds and Ipswich play each other next have given us the opportunity to put an exclamation point on the first half of the season. With two winnable games before we play Ipswich we could be 13 or more points ahead of third and 3 or more ponts ahead of Ipswich. This will have a huge psychological impact on every team trying to chase us down. Most would already concede the inevitable but we must continue to be remorseless. We gave the likes of Leeds and Southampton a sniff with a couple of defeats but since then we've snuffed out that ray of hope. The period when we lose players for the African Cup of Nations will provide the last glimmer of hope for the chasing pack. Survive that with a sizeable lead in tact and it would take a catastrophic decline in our form regardless of what the chasers do to deny us promotion back to the Premier League. 

[cruzFOX]

I’m cautiously confident because I really worry about losing our African contingent at the worst time. Not sure how strong we will be in our game against Ipswich.

just hope the phatts/mavs ans wilf don’t get injured on tour. 😳

[Clever Fox]

36 minutes ago, Fear Of The Fox said:

"A game is not won until it is lost."  - David Pleat

It's also not won until the final Whistle, Something we've seemed to forget lately in giving away soft late Goals. 

 

Still, We have it all to play for.

[Ric Flair]

2 hours ago, nathan. said:

Southampton creeping up now

They'd just dropped 4 points the previous 2 games. They draw far too many and their goal difference is atrocious. +4 today will be very handy though.

[Number 6]

58 minutes ago, Fox 4 Life said:

Forest got beat again and nobody gained anything, take that all day 

 Both Leeds and Ipswich gained a point on us.

[Paninistickers]

1 minute ago, Number 6 said:

 Both Leeds and Ipswich gained a point on us.

But sacrificed a game to get that point. 

 

Christmas won us promotion in our last two campaigns. Last time we did QPR away Saturday before Xmas and followed up with batterings of Bolton and Derby and a New year win at Millwall. It was basically all over..

 

I think the league one all those years ago we won late at Carlisle and that started a 20 game unbeaten run or so. 

 

We have the opportunity this Christmas to demoralise the chasing pack and force them all to give us up. 

 

 

[foxes_rule1978]

8 minutes ago, Number 6 said:

 Both Leeds and Ipswich gained a point on us.

Even if we were unfortunate to lose on Monday, yes I hate saying that… we will still be 10 ahead, I know where I would rather be 

[Dr The Singh]

4 minutes ago, foxes_rule1978 said:

Even if we were unfortunate to lose on Monday, yes I hate saying that… we will still be 10 ahead, I know where I would rather be 

Benidorm?

[Lillehamring]

2 hours ago, Chrysalis said:

Seen a few posts like these as if there is a degree of arrogance.

 

It was a freak result and I will take it, their attacking was relentless.

So much like our loss to Hull then?

 

But i agree, it's silly/arrogant to rule anything out. Hopefully, it's delivered with confidence based solely on how well we are playing.

[LCFCJohn]

2 hours ago, foxes_rule1978 said:

So if they could win games, they will do better… okay 

Oh haha. It was a response to you being dismissive of them being ‘in the question’.

Let’s put this more simply. They are on the same points as Leeds. Leeds are crowing about being this amazing team etc whereas Southampton are just quietly collecting points despite a number of draws they would expect to have won. However, they are on a long unbeaten run, longer than we had ourselves this season. It is also a long season which is not yet halfway through. Therefore, to dismiss them being ‘in the question’ is a bit…silly.

 

[LCFCJohn]

1 hour ago, hackneyfox said:

What about if they changed draws to defeats rather than victories?

Oh another hilarious one 

[Lillehamring]

2 hours ago, Chrysalis said:

Didnt watch that game. 

 

But they are definitely an extremely strong team on the games I have watched, and are a danger to our position until its mathematically not possible.

 

Their poor start has given us the buffer we have.  A few earlier in the season predicted we would need it, and was good foresight.

I think what will ruin Leeds' chance is their inconsistency - at their best they look menacing, but they're not at their best often enough, or at least playing they way they do opens them up to be punished:

We've won 81% of our games, Ipswich have won 73%,  Leeds have won 54%

[KingsX]

[Lillehamring]

1 hour ago, Chelmofox said:

You've seriously missed the 'any teams can drop points' comment.  Leeds are undoubtedly one of the top teams in this division, but the hyperbole around them had got out of hand. I've watched their last 2 games, and they were a little like us when we had our poorer results. Had all the possession, but huffed and puffed, and dare i say it looked poor in front of goal. 

 

They aren't immune to dropping points, and will continue to do so all season like everyone else. We know what we need to do, but we will also drop points along the way. Its important we all keep clear heads when we do.

 

Also, don't you think the Leeds players looked like they weren't enjoying their football?

This is perhaps a massively underestimated factor - going into the january break, if leeds are looking at a 10-12 point climb to the automatic promotion places and a desperate team like man u or chelsea come sniffing, what odds on a few of their best players jumping ship?

[Lillehamring]

1 hour ago, Spudulike said:

Psychologically once you are in front then you have something to lose. The pressure doesn't feel as great for those in the chasing pack although it should be. 

 

I still feel psychologically damaged from the Premier League 2015/16 run-in by the thought we could've lost it when in reality it wasn't even close. 

 

The state of the human mind. 

But there comes a point when those chasing start to believe that they'll never catch the leader, the mentality then totally switches, the focus suddenly turns them from being the chaser to being the chased, and not losing the position that they have.

[Lillehamring]

55 minutes ago, cruzFOX said:

I’m cautiously confident because I really worry about losing our African contingent at the worst time. Not sure how strong we will be in our game against Ipswich.

just hope the phatts/mavs ans wilf don’t get injured on tour. 😳

For what it's worth, of the players who we will lose Ndidi has played the most minutes, but he's still only played 57% of the season.  It's not like we're entirely dependant on those players

[TrentFox]

14 wins from 25 remaining matches probably ensures promotion. That means our win ratio can drop from 81% to 56%and we’ll be okay. Wow 😳

Edited 16 December 2023 by TrentFox

[JimJams]

14 minutes ago, Lillehamring said:

This is perhaps a massively underestimated factor - going into the january break, if leeds are looking at a 10-12 point climb to the automatic promotion places and a desperate team like man u or chelsea come sniffing, what odds on a few of their best players jumping ship?

Despite how shite they've been by their historic standards, there's no way in hell a Chelsea or Man Utd come in for any Leeds player.

 

[Dr The Singh]

After watching Ipswich today, my pre impressions were that they were a footballing team that plays to there strengths.  What i saw was a scummy dirty team that were physical and brutal.  I really want to smash them.

[OntarioFox]

9 minutes ago, TrentFox said:

14 wins from 25 remaining matches probably ensures promotion. That means our win ratio can drop from 81% to 56%and we’ll be okay. Wow 😳

Why set sights that low... 19 wins (or 18 and a draw) to break Reading's points record. 

[Dr The Singh]

1 minute ago, OntarioFox said:

Why set sights that low... 19 wins (or 18 and a draw) to break Reading's points record. 

I had being relegated , so were doing ok

[Lillehamring]

10 minutes ago, JimJams said:

Despite how shite they've been by their historic standards, there's no way in hell a Chelsea or Man Utd come in for any Leeds player.

 

I wouldn't be so certain - given how hyped some of their players are, and that they were PL players last season - and they'd be relatively cheap by the standards of those 2 teams.