Championship 🏆 2025/26

[Tuna]

1 minute ago, iancognito said:

That's the catch though isn't it?

 

Our choices of manager, our recruitment and completely brain dead retention policies is a large part of what's brought us here.

Last season?

[iancognito]

One right choice in amongst Smith, Cooper and RVN.

 

My point is there's no guarantee that we choose the right guy to guide a young squad and certainly no guarantee we offload our deadwood.

[Bilo]

7 minutes ago, iancognito said:

That's the catch though isn't it?

 

Our choices of manager, our recruitment and completely brain dead retention policies is a large part of what's brought us here.

Weirdly, we've done better when we have had to penny pinch. In 2011-2012, out went Sven and the big name Championship All-Stars purchase policy and in came NFP's short back and sides with accompanying no bullshit transfer policy. 

 

That's not to say we go back to a similar character, but you'd hope that someone at some point will say 'hey, we've got some decent younguns who'll cost us nish to replace the has-beens and never-weres we're shipping out, let's save some of Top's baht and give them a runout.' 

Edited 5 April by Bilo

[Pliskin]

Going down.

[alanf0x]

When will we mathematically be put out of our misery?

[StanSP]

19 minutes ago, alanf0x said:

When will we mathematically be put out of our misery?

3 games time, so probably Liverpool at home. 

[Bilo]

This could be an interesting side if we don't/can't make any summer signings. 

[Claudio Fannieri]

1 hour ago, Bilo said:

This could be an interesting side if we don't/can't make any summer signings. 

I really can’t see El Khannous staying and playing in the championship. But other than that not a bad side, plus you can add the likes of Mavididi, Henry Cartwright, Jayden Joseph, Sammy Braybrooke, Logan Briggs, Lorenz Hutchinson, Jeremy Monga etc etc could be an exciting season that the fans can really get behind. 

[honeybradger]

1 hour ago, Bilo said:

This could be an interesting side if we don't/can't make any summer signings. 

This but Cartwright or Baybrooke or Choudhury or the cleaning lady instead of Skipp.

[Bilo]

5 minutes ago, Claudio Fannieri said:

I really can’t see El Khannous staying and playing in the championship. But other than that not a bad side, plus you can add the likes of Mavididi, Henry Cartwright, Jayden Joseph, Sammy Braybrooke, Logan Briggs, Lorenz Hutchinson, Jeremy Monga etc etc could be an exciting season that the fans can really get behind. 

 

4 minutes ago, honeybradger said:

This but Cartwright or Baybrooke or Choudhury or the cleaning lady instead of Skipp.

Some great depth there, and a squad that would have an average age far south of 25. 

 

Bags of pace, energy and effort. This team would excite me.

[StanSP]

25 minutes ago, honeybradger said:

This but Cartwright or Baybrooke or Choudhury or the cleaning lady instead of Skipp.

I hope we don't persist with Choudhury. Time to let him go 

 

[Bilo]

1 minute ago, StanSP said:

I hope we don't persist with Choudhury. Time to let him go 

 

Big wages as well with limited capacity for improvement. 

 

If we can get a semi-decent fee for him, I'd take it. 

[Pita]

3 minutes ago, StanSP said:

I hope we don't persist with Choudhury. Time to let him go 

 

Just a average championship player need to rebuild let him go

[honeybradger]

35 minutes ago, StanSP said:

I hope we don't persist with Choudhury. Time to let him go 

 

Got more about him than Skipp at least but I'd prefer they are both moved on.

[CosbehFox]

Championship 25/26 Line-up:

 

1. Southampton 

[pmcla26]

22 hours ago, Bilo said:

This could be an interesting side if we don't/can't make any summer signings. 

Don’t think it will be this drastic of a change.
 

I can’t see Evans or Golding being ready to start just yet. Think it’ll be Daka and Winks instead of those two. Mavididi is still a better option than Alves on the left at this moment in time at Championship level, too - although he may get a chance behind the striker instead as I reckon someone will pick El Khannouss up. 
 

Doubt our back line will look like that too. Not sure anyone takes Coady, Justin or Ricardo off of us with their wages.

 

Could see the back 4 having them 3 + Nelson in first game of the season. Wouldn’t be shocked to see Okoli go back to Italy, but rather he stayed. 
 

Two things to factor in are the Championship is a big drop off from the Premier League, and we have players in the squad that aren’t attractive assets for teams to buy due to age/wages. Players like Ayew, Coady, Vestergaard, Reid, Winks will be hard to sell, yet at Championship level they will also probably be pretty effective, says more about the standard, than it does them. I can’t see us having money offered for any of them.

 

Soumare, Hermansen, Kristiansen, Okoli, Faes, Ndidi and El Khannouss are the sellable assets in comparison to the others, not including Fatawu as I doubt he’ll move after his injury. 
 

Stolarczyk 

 

Ricardo - Coulibaly 

 

Coady - Nelson - Vestergaard - Souttar - Okoli 

 

Justin - Thomas 

 

Winks - Choudhury - Skipp 

Fatawu - Reid - McAteer

 

Alves

 

Mavididi 

 

Daka - Ayew 

 

Probably be left with something like this to add to with youth/new signings. 
 

Vardy and the back up keepers might resign but not for what they’re on currently. 

 

 

 

Edited 7 April by pmcla26

[The Guvnor]

As much as I dislike the majority of our squad for obvious reasons, we will easily finish in the top six next season. There is such a gulf between the Prem and the Championship shown this season when we knocked six past QPR  (who admittedly aren’t the best team) but were on a roll at the time.

[CosbehFox]

28 minutes ago, pmcla26 said:

 

I can’t see Evans or Golding being ready to start just yet.

Evans is ready. There's a number of players who performed well at Premier League 2 level last season who are playing in the Championship or above this season. 

[Bilo]

Alves and Nelson will be brought back and become key players in my opinion. Evans has potential, but I'm not sure he needs the pressure of being the main striker at his age - particularly with the boots he'll have to fill. I suspect we might keep Daka and bring in at least one more striker.

[Royston.]

3 minutes ago, Bilo said:

Alves and Nelson will be brought back and become key players in my opinion. Evans has potential, but I'm not sure he needs the pressure of being the main striker at his age - particularly with the boots he'll have to fill. I suspect we might keep Daka and bring in at least one more striker.

Dont think that should matter, Vardys departure is the final chapter in our golden era and we can draw a line.

Evans would be playing for a very different Leicester with very different expectations and ambitions.

 

That said, we'll obviously stick Ayew up top on his own and hang him out to dry

[Bilo]

8 minutes ago, Royston. said:

Dont think that should matter, Vardys departure is the final chapter in our golden era and we can draw a line.

Evans would be playing for a very different Leicester with very different expectations and ambitions.

 

That said, we'll obviously stick Ayew up top on his own and hang him out to dry

Ayew might not look all that shit at that level, especially against the weaker sides. I suspect we'll still want a more mobile striker.

[Lambert09]

The rot in this team is going to be incredibly hard to turn around. Anyone involved needs to be removed tbqh. How do you pick yourself up after this? 

[Steve Earle]

7 hours ago, Bilo said:

Alves and Nelson will be brought back and become key players in my opinion. Evans has potential, but I'm not sure he needs the pressure of being the main striker at his age - particularly with the boots he'll have to fill. I suspect we might keep Daka and bring in at least one more striker.

I think Daka made a very strong case tonight for never playing for us again! 
 

But I agree that Evans surely won’t be our starting striker next season. We’ll need one if not two strikers. Hopefully Evans will be second or third choice?

[StanSP]

1 hour ago, Lambert09 said:

The rot in this team is going to be incredibly hard to turn around. Anyone involved needs to be removed tbqh. How do you pick yourself up after this? 

Get rid of those responsible for it. Only then can we truly move on and put this disgusting period of our club to bed. 

[CosbehFox]

From a pure selfish view be good to get some variety on away trips and no VAR. That’s the slim pickings