How does this team do in the Championship?

[murphy]

5 minutes ago, Royston. said:

Nope.

Maresca is gone, Mads will be sold, Ndidi sold, Vardy 2 years older, Faes sold(although that will strengthen us)

Fatawu likely won't be what he was.

 

I'm of the opinion we are better off not going straight back up as we clearly aren't prepared for the step up in quality as proved by the players and boardroom dumb****ery displayed this season.

The only thing that you have said there that we can be sure of is that Vardy will be two years older.

 

We will have a strong team in The Championship and likely favourites to come back up.

 

 

[moore_94]

Top half / competing for playoffs

 

Any higher will depend on how well we do at getting a new "star striker"

[Royston.]

2 minutes ago, murphy said:

The only thing that you have said there that we can be sure of is that Vardy will be two years older.

 

We will have a strong team in The Championship and likely favourites to come back up.

 

 

Maresca coming back?

[BenTheFox]

5 hours ago, everton carr said:

Care to explain how you do that when they are on big contracts that they won't get elsewhere

This is FoxesTalk. We don't do logic here. 

[murphy]

16 minutes ago, Royston. said:

Maresca coming back?

"can be sure of"

 

I was talking about your future predictions.

 

Even if everything you say were to come true.   Even if we were to lose BEK on top of that, even if we didn't replace them our crap summer recruitment would still boss The Championship as Skipp has shown before.  Such is the quality down there.  You've seen it yourself, it was only last year.

 

Add in Alves, Nelson and Souttar.  We will be favourites again.

Edited 23 February by murphy

[whoareyaaa]

4 hours ago, hejammy said:

I think that Enzo probably deserved most of the credit for this. Without a manager like him we won't be anywhere near this. 

I’d say the same doubt we would have came back up if it wasn’t for Enzo 

[murphy]

6 minutes ago, whoareyaaa said:

I’d say the same doubt we would have came back up if it wasn’t for Enzo 

Funny, if you recall, a lot of people on this forum were saying the exact opposite of this last year.  That anybody could have got that squad promoted and that we got there despite Enzo.

 

Truth probably lies in between.  Maresca did a good job, but that squad would have gone up with any decent manager.

[wardyfox86]

33 minutes ago, Royston. said:

Nope.

Maresca is gone, Mads will be sold, Ndidi sold, Vardy 2 years older, Faes sold(although that will strengthen us)

Fatawu likely won't be what he was.

 

I'm of the opinion we are better off not going straight back up as we clearly aren't prepared for the step up in quality as proved by the players and boardroom dumb****ery displayed this season.

Really though, who has?

 

The same 17 teams in the Prem for 3 years running, widening the financial gap, heightening the lure of the teams almost guaranteed top flight football each season. Good luck to the 3 coming up because, if the likes of Man Utd and Spurs are getting dragged into bottom half scraps, they'll need it.

[inckley fox]

2 minutes ago, Royston. said:

Maresca coming back?

I really hope not. His brand of football has been branded outdated by its own creator, and the drop-off we saw post-Xmas, when we weren't even in promotion form, is happening now with Chelsea. When we saw that it wasn't going to succeed with these players at this level we did an about-turn with the next appointment, leading to a whole load of discontent from players and fans who had bought into the great 'idea'. I really don't want to see an impact appointment with little long-term future. His transfer business, except for Mads, was either good enough for the FLC but not for the EPL (Winks, Mavididi and, elsewhere, Cannon), or simply not good enough, but nonetheless costly (Coady). The jury is out on Fatawu in that regard. It was a short-term fix designed to drive some belief, and top-end second tier, quality into a side, and capitalise on its technical superiority, but with little consideration to what came next. That approach, as opposed to bringing in genuine promise, gelling the best of the crop into a unit, and adopting an 'identity' (over-used word I know) which could actually be carried through, played huge part in our current demise. That and him sodding off as soon as the tricky part came around.

 

What Enzo rightly understood was the need for a reset. Without that - say, if we'd have stuck with Rodgers or Smith and established ways of doing things - you really can slide. That's why I expect and hope to see Ruud gone ahead of the next campaign, unless there are actually any new ideas at some point which might help us to make a fist of things, and a willingness to be unpopular with the personnel if it's a consequence of making changes.

 

If there weren't a reset, this side would struggle, just as much of it did in the second half of last season, which is when the wheels really started to come off. I doubt they'll suddenly be regalvanised, even by a good manager. But, unless there's an embargo, we'll have funds from sales to refresh the squad with, and I expect we'll compete, regardless of whether the rebuild is well implemented.

 

Still, I'd prefer us to play it a little less 'safe and steady' with our strategy. Run the risk of more than one year down there, get our financial house in order and build a squad - and style - with the potential for long-term success. And like in the early months of NP's second stint, funds might have to be kept to one side for accepting those lower end offers, taking a bit of a hit, and making sure decks are properly cleared. If we scramble to the play-offs with Daka up front, Coady and Vesty at the back, Ayew, Mavididi and Reid on the flanks etc. then we'll know what's coming next.

[Levi Port]

Walk it, if anyone here watches Championship football this year, you’ll see the league is utter dross. 
 

Last season was one of the most competitive of all time and we won it. 
 

Not saying we’ll do that next season, but this squad currently, Fatawu fit, would piss the league 

[funkyrobot]

I actually think Ipswich might go down stronger than us. They’ll lose Delap and Phillips but not much else. They won’t be carrying too much dead weight like we will. We’ll need to reintegrate Mavididi and Fatawu back as starters and bring the kids in. Nelson, Alves, Evans, Monga etc and we might need to accept that we are playoff level at best as we rebuild. 

[EastAnglianFox]

12 minutes ago, Levi Port said:

Walk it, if anyone here watches Championship football this year, you’ll see the league is utter dross. 
 

Last season was one of the most competitive of all time and we won it. 
 

Not saying we’ll do that next season, but this squad currently, Fatawu fit, would piss the league 

Yes I watch most of the Championship live games.

 

My guess is you haven’t seen the same of us 😂

 

We are vile to watch and tactically clueless like many Championship sides, but they at least fight and chase and put effort into 90 minutes 

 

We have nothing

[inckley fox]

39 minutes ago, Levi Port said:

Walk it, if anyone here watches Championship football this year, you’ll see the league is utter dross. 
 

Last season was one of the most competitive of all time and we won it. 
 

Not saying we’ll do that next season, but this squad currently, Fatawu fit, would piss the league 

Most agree that with Ricardo/Vardy older and KDH gone it's a weaker squad than the one which wasn't even in promotion form for us in the second half of last season. I'm not sure why they'd piss the league, and the collapse of Luton (whose eventual points total was higher than it seems ours will be) is a warning of what can happen.

 

Complacency and arrogance are two of the worst hallmarks of this side and club, and I really can't be doing with more 'don't worry, we'll piss it' voices from the sidelines this time round. Even if we did, it'd be because we'd opted for the sort of short-termism which got us to where we are now.

 

They need to build a young squad with a home-grown base - without a blind adherence to outdated footballing purism - and let it grow. Hopefully it will push for promotion next year, but if it doesn't it wouldn't necessarily mean that all is lost. In fact, if it's a consequence of us restructuring thoroughly, then we may have a better chance of being a good PL side 4-5 years from now than if we broadly stick with the same set-up, again try to capitalise on our experience rather than moving on from it, and add big names that we consider 'a class above' at that level.

[Simonb]

This team as it is will be bottom half as it's toxic. But fortunately a hefty lump will be gone. Realistically I think we'll have the following to start with.

 

Jakub

JJ

Jannik

Coady (year left I think?)

Thomas

Nelson

Souttar 

Coulibaly

Winks

skipp

Mavididi

Fatawu

Daka

 

Mads and Bilal to fetch a decent profit hopefully and then just get what we can to get the others off the wage bill. Don't give any contracts to anyone already here except academy players.

 

So still stuck with some dross, but some deadwood, toxicity and wages off the books. Add 6 or 7 new signings (at least 4 loans) alongside some youth to that lot we'd do ok. Assuming the current top 3 go up the leagues crap, so it'll be Ipswich top and then between us and Southampton for second, maybe Sunderland if they can improve again 

[Cameron Davidson]

Anywhere around 4th - 7th I’d hope for. Could be worse 

[Levi Port]

1 hour ago, EastAnglianFox said:

Yes I watch most of the Championship live games.

 

My guess is you haven’t seen the same of us 😂

 

We are vile to watch and tactically clueless like many Championship sides, but they at least fight and chase and put effort into 90 minutes 

 

We have nothing

Go to nearly all home and away, and I am sadly going to West Ham aha. 
 

You are completely right, we’re simply awful and have regressed to become the worst team in the league as the seasons gone on. 
 

But the level of the prem this season is the highest I’ve ever seen it, it’s quality. 
 

A decent manager with the below line up would win the championship 

 

                              Mads

             Ricardo, Faes, Okoli, VK

                     Ndidi  Winks

                Fatawu, Bilal, Mavididi 

                               Vardy 

 

Dont forget you’ve got Facundo coming off the bench. He has no right being in our squad let alone that league. 

 

I hate this side so much, but it walks the championship 

Edited 23 February by Levi Port

[Winstonthedog]

The team / squad we have in the championship.... needs to be able to survive the first season in the premiership... assuming we can get promoted 

[Levi Port]

42 minutes ago, inckley fox said:

Most agree that with Ricardo/Vardy older and KDH gone it's a weaker squad than the one which wasn't even in promotion form for us in the second half of last season. I'm not sure why they'd piss the league, and the collapse of Luton (whose eventual points total was higher than it seems ours will be) is a warning of what can happen.

 

Complacency and arrogance are two of the worst hallmarks of this side and club, and I really can't be doing with more 'don't worry, we'll piss it' voices from the sidelines this time round. Even if we did, it'd be because we'd opted for the sort of short-termism which got us to where we are now.

 

They need to build a young squad with a home-grown base - without a blind adherence to outdated footballing purism - and let it grow. Hopefully it will push for promotion next year, but if it doesn't it wouldn't necessarily mean that all is lost. In fact, if it's a consequence of us restructuring thoroughly, then we may have a better chance of being a good PL side 4-5 years from now than if we broadly stick with the same set-up, again try to capitalise on our experience rather than moving on from it, and add big names that we consider 'a class above' at that level.

No I agree i don’t think we will piss it next season, players will go and the squad will change, it’s impossible to know.
 

I only said we’d walk it as the original post asks how we’d do with this exact squad. And players like Facundo and Bilal are quality in this league, they would be simply outrageous in the Championship. KDH was a sorry excuse for a footballer the season we were relegated, and then was the main man. Bouba does my head in, but I think he’d be a real class above in that devision. Last time Winks played as a single pivot out of possession and we were hardly exposed and he can’t defend. The difference in devisions is so vast, these plays have enough there.  

 

I agree with your post tho, that’s also how I’d like the squad to be built. I don’t know why we stopped signing some of the best young players in the championship but I always think they’re a worthy gamble and I’d love to see us get a few, usually always hungry and we really lack that. 

[Tielemans63]

[Foxaholic ME]

2 hours ago, Levi Port said:

Walk it, if anyone here watches Championship football this year, you’ll see the league is utter dross. 
 

Last season was one of the most competitive of all time and we won it. 
 

Not saying we’ll do that next season, but this squad currently, Fatawu fit, would piss the league 

ALTHOUGH I DIDNT GO WE BEAT  QPR WHO HAVE A VERY OUTSIDE  CHANCE OF PLAY OFFS 6-2   WHICH   SAYS IT ALL FOR THE STRENGTH OF HE CHAMPIONSHIP  to lose 11 LAST YEAR WAS POOR DESPITE GOOD   POINTS TALLY

[Trav Le Bleu]

My big fear is that, like the EPL, the EFL will fanny about with sanctions they may or may not impose and leave us in a state of limbo such as we had at the start this season so that once again we can't recruit effectively.

[Tielemans63]

4 hours ago, Foxaholic ME said:

ALTHOUGH I DIDNT GO WE BEAT  QPR WHO HAVE A VERY OUTSIDE  CHANCE OF PLAY OFFS 6-2   WHICH   SAYS IT ALL FOR THE STRENGTH OF HE CHAMPIONSHIP  to lose 11 LAST YEAR WAS POOR DESPITE GOOD   POINTS TALLY

Keep your bloody voice down

[LCFCCKEANO]

16 hours ago, LCFCJohn said:

I’m not sure how much luxury we will have financially with the last bit of your post. 
 

Possibly the striker bit but centre halves wise, we have the following:

Faes

Okoli

Vestergard

Coady

Souttar 
Nelson

 

Nelson might be the wildcard as he could go to the top if this injury doesn’t derail him. In terms of being able to get promoted, Nelson and Souttar coming back is literally two new signings for the Championship.

 

Further recruitment in this area (unlike up top where we will be really short assuming Vardy goes), will depend on outgoings.

 

I’d love us to ship out Coady, Faes and Vestergard and add a new addition to Nelson, Souttar and Okoli (who I am not ready to write off yet).

 

But is that realistic? I doubt it. If we could get rid of Coady and Faes and go with the other 4, we’d be well set for a promotion push in that area as I say. But thinking further ahead might have to wait.

Think you’re right, for my part I’m hoping we go off and get someone younger from League one/abroad who could potentially hold up as a squad player, like that Reading centre half we were linked with, up top should be the priority

[LCFCCKEANO]

It’ll be us Ipswich Southampton and the remainers of the current top 4 fighting it out at the top, maybe Brum with their investment. As a reminder for all of the lot here saying we won’t have a shot, Vestegaard was arguably the best cb in the league last year, Winks looked a world beater, Mavididi scored a bunch, Daka looked handy. Club is a shambles and we have a right to be angry, but that is because we missed the opportunity to be a stable top flight time at a time where that door is as closed as ever. I wouldn’t worry so much for next year as the year after if we make it back up tbh

[Happy Fox]

2 minutes ago, LCFCCKEANO said:

It’ll be us Ipswich Southampton and the remainers of the current top 4 fighting it out at the top, maybe Brum with their investment. As a reminder for all of the lot here saying we won’t have a shot, Vestegaard was arguably the best cb in the league last year, Winks looked a world beater, Mavididi scored a bunch, Daka looked handy. Club is a shambles and we have a right to be angry, but that is because we missed the opportunity to be a stable top flight time at a time where that door is as closed as ever. I wouldn’t worry so much for next year as the year after if we make it back up tbh

The players you have named will all be angling for moves in the summer they aren’t sticking around..