Championship 🏆 2025/26

[GingerrrFox]

I can see them not sacking Ruud and giving him the opportunity to get us back up. 

[Patrick]

39 minutes ago, ealingfox said:

Would Dyche join us in the Champo if he's still out of work? Probably the best chance we have of challenging for promotion without striking lucky on an untested coach like Maresca.

It'll be Russell Martin, I'm sure of it.

[Buzzell]

All depends on who leaves if we go down. But it’s time we got rid of a lot of deadwood. Theres too many players hanging around that are obviously not good enough. I would say if we got rid of the shit and recruited well then we could stand a chance but our recruitment has been terrible for years now so the chances are next season won’t be any better.

Edited 4 February by Buzzell

[ClaphamFox]

4 minutes ago, Patrick said:

It'll be Russell Martin, I'm sure of it.

It won't be.

[Stuntman_Mike]

6 minutes ago, Patrick said:

It'll be Russell Martin, I'm sure of it.

I could really see this happening if the board remains the same.

[Buzzell]

9 minutes ago, GingerrrFox said:

I can see them not sacking Ruud and giving him the opportunity to get us back up. 

I also think this. I think the only way Ruud leaves will be if he packs up and goes himself.

[The boy Linacre]

2 minutes ago, Buzzell said:

All depends on who leaves if we go down. But it’s time we got rid of a lot of deadwood. Theres too many players hanging around that are obviously not good enough. I would say if we got rid of the shit and recruited well then we could stand a chance but our recruitment has been terrible for years now so the chances are next season won’t be any better.

So the way that fans in their rose tinted spectacles extrapolate that they have lost 7 in 8 games for example suddenly turn that into the next 3 games getting 6pts etc. 

We are where we are coz they repeatedly and constantly didn't recruit well, past performance DOES TEND to be reflective of future performance 

I mean who of us seriously trusts them now??????

My mates always have said over the last few years, lets stay in the pub, home and away, the Football spoils the day, well thats going to be the case for the rest of this season.  We're there for the social, NOT the product or any level of success.

[Buzzell]

3 minutes ago, The boy Linacre said:

So the way that fans in their rose tinted spectacles extrapolate that they have lost 7 in 8 games for example suddenly turn that into the next 3 games getting 6pts etc. 

We are where we are coz they repeatedly and constantly didn't recruit well, past performance DOES TEND to be reflective of future performance 

I mean who of us seriously trusts them now??????

My mates always have said over the last few years, lets stay in the pub, home and away, the Football spoils the day, well thats going to be the case for the rest of this season.  We're there for the social, NOT the product or any level of success.

I don’t trust them to get the recruitment right, I mean they’ve failed in that department for years so the likelihood of them recruiting well next season is highly unlikely unless somebody upstairs loses their jobs and we bring in somebody who knows what they are doing.

[CosbehFox]

2 hours ago, Viva said:

It was vital we got out of the Championship last time. We had two years of massive losses on the books and a huge wage bill. 
We had to sign the players to get out that league, which was successful. 
We did also get Mads and Fatawu, that were great finds, so it wasn’t all about getting in high earners. 

 

It's vital we stay up but we are playing Russian roulette. Showing little transfer acumen in departures and reported wages of £80k to £100k being handed out. An absolute clusterfcuk of a summer window with Skipp (hilariously you commented how he will be okay in the Championship because he's been in the team of the year - yeah £20m spent on a player good enough for the Championship - Gabriel Sara cost Norwich £6 million for a similar quality and they doubled their money on him) and Edouard deal which has cost us at least £5m in a loan fee. 

 

Was the signing of Coady & Cannon at a combined £15m necessary? Coady on paper was a waste of time because he was proven to no longer be good enough for the Premier League. So we spent £7.5m and £70k p/wk on a player that had as much impact as our own Luke Nelson. Doyle, Casadei, Akgun on loan fees were bit part players in the end. 

 

The club has constantly been reactive in their planning which you elude to. Hence it catches up over time. You can't build a team over a transfer window. It's about evolving it over time. It's exactly the reason where we are here. 

 

The whole concept of 'yeah but it's alright because we will get promoted in the Championship' is a plaster to the clubs ills. We would enter the Premier League with less revenue than ever and a £61m allowance FFP loss. Severly impacting our ability to sign quality players. 

Edited 4 February by CosbehFox

[The boy Linacre]

Tell you what though, they have left a forlorn hope to RVN to get a Championship level squad to stay up, harsh.

In 6-8 games we will be adrift of Wolves and they SHOULD start planning their clearout and transfer in strategy for next season, so they can be bought beg July and we hit the straps as soon as the season starts.

 

[happy85]

Mads is gone to Chelsea for 30m to 40m and we have imo ready made keeper to takeover. 

 

All players had between 40% to 60% cut in wages when we were in championship so wage bill be trim again

 

There will be money available to spend .

 

We will be in a strong position to come straight back up again

 

 

[Buzzell]

4 minutes ago, happy85 said:

Mads is gone to Chelsea for 30m to 40m and we have imo ready made keeper to takeover. 

 

All players had between 40% to 60% cut in wages when we were in championship so wage bill be trim again

 

There will be money available to spend .

 

We will be in a strong position to come straight back up again

 

 

It’s the hope that kills you.

[Viva]

3 minutes ago, CosbehFox said:

It's vital we stay up but we are playing Russian roulette. Showing little transfer acumen in departures and reported wages of £80k to £100k being handed out. An absolute clusterfcuk of a summer window with Skipp (hilariously you commented how he will be okay in the Championship because he's been in the team of the year - yeah £20m spent on a player good enough for the Championship - Gabriel Sara cost Norwich £6 million for a similar quality) and Edouard deal which has cost us at least £5m in a loan fee. 

 

Was the signing of Coady & Cannon at a combined £15m necessary? Coady on paper was a waste of time because he was proven to no longer be good enough for the Premier League. So we spent £7.5m and £70k p/wk on a player that had as much impact as our own Luke Nelson. Doyle, Casadei, Akgun on loan fees were bit part players in the end. 

 

The club has constantly been reactive in their planning which you elude to. Hence it catches up over time. You can't build a team over a transfer window. It's about evolving it over time. It's exactly the reason where we are here. 

 

The whole concept of 'yeah but it's alright because we will get promoted in the Championship' is a plaster to the clubs ills. We would enter the Premier League with less revenue than ever and a £61m allowance FFP loss. Severly impacting our ability to sign quality players. 

It’s not vital we stay up. If we go down, we’ll have a strong Championship team on less wages than last time we got relegated and not with two years of heavy losses on the three year PSR cycle like last time as I’ve said before.
I didn’t say Skipp was a great signing. People are talking about us having a crap Championship team that will get relegated to League One. I’m saying Skipp will likely be a good Championship player as he proved before when he helped a team win the league and be one of the best players in the division. 
Cannon was sold for profit, so I don’t see a major problem with that. 

 

 

 

[Viva]

26 minutes ago, CosbehFox said:

It's vital we stay up but we are playing Russian roulette. Showing little transfer acumen in departures and reported wages of £80k to £100k being handed out. An absolute clusterfcuk of a summer window with Skipp (hilariously you commented how he will be okay in the Championship because he's been in the team of the year - yeah £20m spent on a player good enough for the Championship - Gabriel Sara cost Norwich £6 million for a similar quality and they doubled their money on him) and Edouard deal which has cost us at least £5m in a loan fee. 

 

Was the signing of Coady & Cannon at a combined £15m necessary? Coady on paper was a waste of time because he was proven to no longer be good enough for the Premier League. So we spent £7.5m and £70k p/wk on a player that had as much impact as our own Luke Nelson. Doyle, Casadei, Akgun on loan fees were bit part players in the end. 

 

The club has constantly been reactive in their planning which you elude to. Hence it catches up over time. You can't build a team over a transfer window. It's about evolving it over time. It's exactly the reason where we are here. 

 

The whole concept of 'yeah but it's alright because we will get promoted in the Championship' is a plaster to the clubs ills. We would enter the Premier League with less revenue than ever and a £61m allowance FFP loss. Severly impacting our ability to sign quality players. 

What started a lot of the decline, was buying exactly the type of players that people would have wanted, but that just didn’t work. 
After the FA Cup we got in Daka and Soumare early in the summer. You only have to look back at the reaction to signing those on here, to see that they were met with great excitement.  On paper, young, exciting players to help us continue our challenge for European places. There’s no guarantee that those promising players will work either though because as we know they have been terrible. It only takes a couple of bad windows for a club like ours, or someone like Brighton to start to struggle. 

So yes, we made mistakes and got relegated. Can’t pin all that on Top and Rudkin though. The squad was more than good enough to not get relegated. 
 

Strategies then have to change and we did what was needed to get promoted. It was always going to be tough this season, with relegation a strong possibility. 

[Happy Fox]

3 minutes ago, Viva said:

It’s not vital we stay up. If we go down, we’ll have a strong Championship team on less wages than last time we got relegated and not with two years of heavy losses on the three year PSR cycle like last time as I’ve said before.
I didn’t say Skipp was a great signing. People are talking about us having a crap Championship team that will get relegated to League One. I’m saying Skipp will likely be a good Championship player as he proved before when he helped a team win the league and be one of the best players in the division. 
Cannon was sold for profit, so I don’t see a major problem with that. 

 

 

 

 

The likes of Winks, Mavididi et al, won't be sticking around in the championship.

[Les-TA-Jon]

The squad is a right mess

 

[CosbehFox]

3 minutes ago, Viva said:

It’s not vital we stay up. If we go down, we’ll have a strong Championship team on less wages than last time we got relegated and not with two years of heavy losses on the three year PSR cycle like last time as I’ve said before.
I didn’t say Skipp was a great signing. People are talking about us having a crap Championship team that will get relegated to League One. I’m saying Skipp will likely be a good Championship player as he proved before when he helped a team win the league and be one of the best players in the division. 
Cannon was sold for profit, so I don’t see a major problem with that. 

I find fundamentally there are reasons it's vital to stay up. Reasons that step away from PSR. 

 

 

[Viva]

3 minutes ago, Happy Fox said:

 

The likes of Winks, Mavididi et al, won't be sticking around in the championship.

Where would they go?

[Stuntman_Mike]

4 minutes ago, Les-TA-Jon said:

The squad is a right mess

 

Offer Soumare a new deal?

[Dahnsouff]

1 minute ago, Stuntman_Mike said:

Offer Soumare a new deal?

You don’t think he has been a rare highlight this season then?

[CosbehFox]

6 minutes ago, Viva said:

What started a lot of the decline, was buying exactly the type of players that people would have wanted, but that just didn’t work. 
After the FA Cup we got in Daka and Soumare early in the summer. You only have to look back at the reaction to signing those on here, to see that they were met with great excitement.  On paper, young, exciting players to help us continue our challenge for European places. There’s no guarantee that those promising players will work either though because as we know they have been terrible. It only takes a couple of bad windows for a club like ours, or someone like Brighton to start to struggle. 

So yes, we made mistakes and got relegated. Can’t pin all that on Top and Rudkin though. The squad was more than good enough to not get relegated. 
 

Strategies then have to change and we did what was needed to get promoted. It was always going to be tough this season, with relegation a strong possibility. 

You've left out a fair bit of detail there. You are correct on Daka & Soumare - but you don't mention Bertrand, Vestergaard or the obscene contracts. 

 

Who do you have as responsible for the relegation then? 

 

The club has no strategy. You can't change from a manager who's built a squad with his style of football in mind and then appoint Cooper who is such a different style of football. That's madness. That's the choice of Top & Rudkin. 

[Happy Fox]

4 minutes ago, Viva said:

Where would they go?

 

Winks you can see playing as a squad player at Palace etc.

 

Mavididi maybe back to Ligue 1.

 

 

[ClaphamFox]

8 minutes ago, Happy Fox said:

 

The likes of Winks, Mavididi et al, won't be sticking around in the championship.

They're both Championship players, so I'm not sure where you think they'll go.

[Samilktray]

Death, taxes and @Viva defending this smelly football club without question 

[cropstonfox]

8 minutes ago, Happy Fox said:

 

The likes of Winks, Mavididi et al, won't be sticking around in the championship.

Nobody in the Premier league will want them.