Npower Championship > Ante-Post 2011-12 Season

[Leeds Legend]

Re: Npower Championship > Ante-Post 2011-12 Season

£3.25million is the fee it reportedly could reach :unsure Just makes me wonder about Brighton as promotion candidates. Saw with Norwich' date=' and to a lesser extent, Leeds and Millwall, what can happen with a bit of momentum. Nice, new stadium as well. 8.00 for promotion, I believe.[/quote'] £3.25m is excessive certainly. There's better/more proven players you could get for half that. I'm not sure the nice new ground will help either, that other place was a shithole that nobody wanted to go to.... always helps IMO. I think he's a decent player, a million would still be topside I feel. We've seen lots of players that score plenty in league one struggle like hell in the championship, even in good sides with good service. Alright, he's obviously got more to his game than Billy Paynter, but still, at least he was a freebie. That's a lot to be forking out when you can build a decent side with players for half a mill each.

[Alexc]

Re: Npower Championship > Ante-Post 2011-12 Season

£3.25m is excessive certainly. There's better/more proven players you could get for half that. I'm not sure the nice new ground will help either, that other place was a shithole that nobody wanted to go to.... always helps IMO.

They got £1.5m for Bennett from us, so they're probably deducting that from his cost, which is good business. Disagree with the doubters here and think he'll do well in a good side like Brighton. On the ground side it isn't really about the opposition, more the home side. Playing in a better ground usually galvanises teams, and they weren't too bad at their old stadium.

[Leeds Legend]

Re: Npower Championship > Ante-Post 2011-12 Season He might, and good luck to him. It's just another example of a British player being overpriced, that's all. As for the ground, I'd rather play somewhere that opposition teams dreaded coming to, whether it be change rooms that are crap, tight pitch etc - it's definitely a leveller. Look how teams like Southampton did in their old ground, once they moved to the nice, characterless meccano set (that seems to be all new grounds) results began to drop off. I much prefer these old grounds anyway, rather than the tin, concrete and glass things that are popping up everywhere.

[south_eastern_ram]

Re: Npower Championship > Ante-Post 2011-12 Season

He might, and good luck to him. It's just another example of a British player being overpriced, that's all. As for the ground, I'd rather play somewhere that opposition teams dreaded coming to, whether it be change rooms that are crap, tight pitch etc - it's definitely a leveller. Look how teams like Southampton did in their old ground, once they moved to the nice, characterless meccano set (that seems to be all new grounds) results began to drop off. I much prefer these old grounds anyway, rather than the tin, concrete and glass things that are popping up everywhere.

Apart from last season, Brighton's record at the Withdean was very poor, the lack of atmosphere and stands being so far away from the pitch probably helped settle the away sides. I agree, i prefer old ground, but the Withdean wasnt an old ground, it was a converted athletics track. Not sure if you've ever been there but anyone who has wouldnt have enjoyed the experience, especially being in the away stand.

[Alexc]

Re: Npower Championship > Ante-Post 2011-12 Season

Look how teams like Southampton did in their old ground, once they moved to the nice, characterless meccano set (that seems to be all new grounds) results began to drop off. I much prefer these old grounds anyway, rather than the tin, concrete and glass things that are popping up everywhere.

Southampton finished eighth and reached the FA Cup final in their new stadium :lol Agree about the soulless new grounds though. I'd much rather we added a stand and polished up Carrow Road, than moved to some ''modern'' thing.

[Jase82]

Re: Npower Championship > Ante-Post 2011-12 Season We have indeed signed GK Stephen Henderson from Yeovil as competition for Jamie Ashdown. With forward Luke Varney signed as well. Personally I'm not overly thrilled with the signing of Luke Varney. Not when there are a plethora of players equally as adept at this level floating about on frees. Varney has never really justified any of his seemingly over inflated price tags either. This takes his total sales value up to £3.75m. That's a nice £340,000 per goal scored :eyes I hear he's had some injuries, so time will tell whether he can deliver up front. But, having said that, it shouldn't take too much effort to replace Nugent's goal return. Overall, I now think the 40s on offer for us is about right. We had eight players return for pre season training on Monday. With Ben Haim, Lawrence, and Kanu all returning the end of this week. I think this season will be one of consolidation again, with the Championship being as competitive as ever. Especially with the three clubs coming up looking fairly tasty prospects, and then with the addition of Birmingham and West Ham, who will both be strong contenders. One I do like the look of is Blackpool to be relegated at 17s. A lot has changed since Blackpool were last down here, and while momentum can surely carry a side through back to back promotions. So can that momentum work the other way too. I said this when they were in the EPL, but many of their players could easily fit into a League One side just like that, and the style they play can only work well for so long before you get found out. With the sale of Charlie Adam, they've really lost surely an irreplaceable linchpin here. Add to that the possible sale of defender Ian Evatt (A player for the record I don't rate as I think he comes across as slow), as well as midfielder David Vaughan. There is a huge player turnaround at Blackpool, after they released eleven players during the close season. All of a sudden they are looking very thin on the ground, and I personally have never rated Ian Holloway, so can't see him coming up with a plan B. Many other sides over the years have gone down from the EPL, only to be relegated soon after. That is why I think Blackpool offer good value.

[south_eastern_ram]

Re: Npower Championship > Ante-Post 2011-12 Season Although personally i dont rate Varney, he was quite unfairly treated by us, there was rumours that if he played another game for us that we'd have to fork out a load of cash which is strange considering how few games he played, then again it was Jewell who made the signing and i'd put nothing past him. Stuck on the wing quite often when he played for us in his 10-15 games and then sent out on loan despite us having worse strikers at the club. He's not a goal scorer but he'll work his b*llocks off so he does have his uses.

[Jase82]

Re: Npower Championship > Ante-Post 2011-12 Season

Although personally i dont rate Varney' date=' he was quite unfairly treated by us, there was rumours that if he played another game for us that we'd have to fork out a load of cash which is strange considering how few games he played, then again it was Jewell who made the signing and i'd put nothing past him. [b']Stuck on the wing quite often when he played for us in his 10-15 games and then sent out on loan despite us having worse strikers at the club. He's not a goal scorer but he'll work his b*llocks off so he does have his uses.

He'll work well for us then :lol We love putting strikers on the wing. I don't doubt he'll work his socks off, but to me it appears we've released David Nugent and signed an exact replacement using money we don't have :eyes Funny how football works sometime :\

[gettingfatter]

Re: Npower Championship > Ante-Post 2011-12 Season Matt Mills to Leicester for 5 million, that cannot be serious/true?!?

[Alexc]

Re: Npower Championship > Ante-Post 2011-12 Season Interesting market on Betfair, ''teams to finish in top six.'' Leicester @ 1.40 I like the look of. I rate Sven, and the Foxes are obviously improving their squad. West Ham @ 1.33 is all right too.

[Jase82]

Re: Npower Championship > Ante-Post 2011-12 Season

We have indeed signed GK Stephen Henderson from Yeovil as competition for Jamie Ashdown. With forward Luke Varney signed as well. Personally I'm not overly thrilled with the signing of Luke Varney. Not when there are a plethora of players equally as adept at this level floating about on frees. Varney has never really justified any of his seemingly over inflated price tags either. This takes his total sales value up to £3.75m. That's a nice £340,000 per goal scored :eyes I hear he's had some injuries, so time will tell whether he can deliver up front. But, having said that, it shouldn't take too much effort to replace Nugent's goal return.

Greg Halford's signed too. Takes our playing staff to 15 :ok

[RedDevil92]

Re: Npower Championship > Ante-Post 2011-12 Season Looks like Cardiff stll wants to be promoted:they signed Earnsha from Nottingham and Davies from Middlesbrough. But my personally favourite for promotion is Leicester.They have already spent almost 10 million euros on new players and I aasume they are good.No important player has left the club and therefore Leicester is my favourite.

[Mirage]

Re: Npower Championship > Ante-Post 2011-12 Season Earnshaw is a good signing at this level, Davies is ok. The latter is a player who should have done a lot more with his career but his apparent lack of ability to balance the social life and career means he is now nothing more than a good squad player. He'll put his head where it hurts but lacks leadership qualities whilst, like Taylor, his positioning is very very poor.

[western skies]

Re: Npower Championship > Ante-Post 2011-12 Season Hmm...Leicester look like a good thing - they've got the money, a decent squad to start with, a big name manager, but I just don't fancy them as champions somehow. Mainly because nothing that involves Eriksson is ever as straightforward as it should be. Add to that these Thai owners. We don't know how patient they'll be and a slow start might just see Sven packing his bags. Plus their ground is now called the King Power Stadium. :lol Allardyce could be just what West Ham need at this level. I'm gobsmacked that they managed to get Kevin Nolan who's just too good for this level and I can see them bludgeoning their way to promotion at the very least with Big Sam. Shame, as I'd love to see them playing League 1 football in the Olympic stadium, but there you go. No value in either of them at 5/1 though.

[gettingfatter]

Re: Npower Championship > Ante-Post 2011-12 Season Im really starting to like the look of this city side and may take a punt in the hope that the bellamy deal and/or goodwillie gets sorted. Signed Gunnarson today who I think is a cracking signing at this level along with Earnshaw. Really happy with the way the midfield is looking unlike most seasons and I am starting to see us as value to finish top 6 and maybe even for promotion. I think leicesters signings are at best iffy for the money, Mills is a championship centreback and Maynard was injured last year.

[SecondSight]

Re: Npower Championship > Ante-Post 2011-12 Season Andrew Davies at Cardiff is a squad player at Championship level, Boro brought him on loan when they had an injury crisis and he managed 2 games and got injured. Earnshaw struggled a lot season at Forest. I am not a fan of Ericsson and feel Leicester will not be a 5/1 shot. Ericsson had plenty of resources to reach the play offs last season, but failed by a decent margin.

[Bazza75]

Re: Npower Championship > Ante-Post 2011-12 Season Millwall to be relegated - 6/1 Betfred I've been looking for some value in the relegation market and I decided to side with Millwall to get relegated. I think it's very obvious that the loss of Morison will have a massive difference on the amount of goals scored especially with his replacement being Darius Henderson from Sheff Utd. They have also let Ashley Grimes and Neil Harris go which leaves them very short on strikers going into the new season. Rumours are that James Henry could also be leaving which would be a massive blow to them as he was arguably one of their best midfielders last year. I think they will add to the squad before the season starts but I'm still backing them for the drop.

[Mindfulness]

Re: Npower Championship > Ante-Post 2011-12 Season

Millwall to be relegated - 6/1 Betfred I've been looking for some value in the relegation market and I decided to side with Millwall to get relegated. I think it's very obvious that the loss of Morison will have a massive difference on the amount of goals scored especially with his replacement being Darius Henderson from Sheff Utd. They have also let Ashley Grimes and Neil Harris go which leaves them very short on strikers going into the new season. Rumours are that James Henry could also be leaving which would be a massive blow to them as he was arguably one of their best midfielders last year. I think they will add to the squad before the season starts but I'm still backing them for the drop.

This is how I see the Championship relegation shake-up for 2011-2012: Millwall to be relegated is not a bad shout but I'm not sure weather 6/1 is enough for me to have a bet. I believe Coventry are gone already with Watford not far behind. After that there are a number of candidates for the drop with Bristol City, Peterborough, Millwall, and potentially Derby all likely to struggle. Derby is a funny one as I think if they start the season like they ended the last one then Clough will be given his marching orders and then they can improve. Doncaster appear to be strengthening their thin squad and if they keep the holy trinity of Sharp, Coppinger and Hayter plus they keep fit then they should just about stay up under the guidance of O'Driscoll. As it stands Palace need to replace Anthony Gardner at the back but they have signed some experienced, physical internationals in the centre of the park which will make a hard side to break down even more difficult. Dougie Freedman's side likely to finish lower mid-table in 2011-2012.

[paul21144]

Re: Npower Championship > Ante-Post 2011-12 Season Here are my opinions for what they are worth. * Leicester to me are the complete standout team. Splashing the cash, snapping up players, looks to me like this time they will get it right. *Cardiff I initially thought would struggle, however Gunnarson + Cowie + Earnshaw are both very good signings. Have to see who else they sign. * Boro ended last season very well, so I feel they could do well. Likewise Forest under Mclaren could be improved. Andy Reid is a good signing. * Coventry in my eyes look in a mess. Lost their star central mid in Gunnarson, and their keeper Westwood. * I cannot see Millwall struggling. Good home side, will get another striker in. * Derby - I'd be interested in peoples views. Onto my team Ipswich. There have been some reports on people thinking we could do well this season, let me give you my input. As has been mentioned previous, McAuley is a big loss. He really organises the defence, note last season when we went on that horrific run he missed the 11 games that we lost 9 from..... Norris isn't much of a loss. Scored goals but runs around like a headless chicken. Wickham has gone too which is a shame. He's a great player. However, the signings so far are rather good. Chopra gets goals, there won't be many better than Bowyer at CM ( far better than Norris ), Ingarmarrson is a good replacement for MacAuley, Cresswell at LB has been highly rated and tracked by other sides. Ellington is a gamble... not overly sure about him. We're currently lacking a CB ( Delaney isn't good enough ) , quite possibly a RB ( Edwards not too sure about there, better out wide ), a central Mid, maybe winger and maybe striker. We have bids on the table for a wideman + striker, so be interesting to see who they are. More importantly, we have our actual first manager since Royle. Magilton was fine at steadying the ship, but not much else. Keane is the worst manager in the clubs history, an absolute disaster ! 20-1 is value for us, I've got on it. Each way of course.... Last season I got on Norwich at 14-1, the season before Forest at 33-1 e/w. So I'm hoping to make it a hat-trick. Aside from Leicester, we look the busiest side transfer wise. We have cash already due to Evans being wealthy, and also from the Wickham sale so I would expect another 4 players in yet.

[Mindfulness]

Re: Npower Championship > Ante-Post 2011-12 Season

Here are my opinions for what they are worth. * Leicester to me are the complete standout team. Splashing the cash, snapping up players, looks to me like this time they will get it right. *Cardiff I initially thought would struggle, however Gunnarson + Cowie + Earnshaw are both very good signings. Have to see who else they sign. * Boro ended last season very well, so I feel they could do well. Likewise Forest under Mclaren could be improved. Andy Reid is a good signing. * Coventry in my eyes look in a mess. Lost their star central mid in Gunnarson, and their keeper Westwood. * I cannot see Millwall struggling. Good home side, will get another striker in. * Derby - I'd be interested in peoples views. Onto my team Ipswich. There have been some reports on people thinking we could do well this season, let me give you my input. As has been mentioned previous, McAuley is a big loss. He really organises the defence, note last season when we went on that horrific run he missed the 11 games that we lost 9 from..... Norris isn't much of a loss. Scored goals but runs around like a headless chicken. Wickham has gone too which is a shame. He's a great player. However, the signings so far are rather good. Chopra gets goals, there won't be many better than Bowyer at CM ( far better than Norris ), Ingarmarrson is a good replacement for MacAuley, Cresswell at LB has been highly rated and tracked by other sides. Ellington is a gamble... not overly sure about him. We're currently lacking a CB ( Delaney isn't good enough ) , quite possibly a RB ( Edwards not too sure about there, better out wide ), a central Mid, maybe winger and maybe striker. We have bids on the table for a wideman + striker, so be interesting to see who they are. More importantly, we have our actual first manager since Royle. Magilton was fine at steadying the ship, but not much else. Keane is the worst manager in the clubs history, an absolute disaster ! 20-1 is value for us, I've got on it. Each way of course.... Last season I got on Norwich at 14-1, the season before Forest at 33-1 e/w. So I'm hoping to make it a hat-trick. Aside from Leicester, we look the busiest side transfer wise. We have cash already due to Evans being wealthy, and also from the Wickham sale so I would expect another 4 players in yet.

Yeh interesting what you say about Ipswich, they could well be the suprise package this year and a top 6 finish is within their grasp under Jewell. As you say defence is currently the achilles heel but I'm sure he will re-invest a lot of the Wickham money on players. People don't seem to be talking about Ipswich as promoton contenders but for me they are the dark horse and could do some damage.

[djypmisx]

Re: Npower Championship > Ante-Post 2011-12 Season Hi all, first post here and I've had the pleasure of following my team up and down the championship for quite some time now, so hopefully I can contribute. I don't want to talk about odds just yet but merely on the sports side of things. It's clear to see why Leicester are the favourites in so many people's eyes, but you just get the feeling that they're a bit of a trainwreck waiting to happen. It'll be the same as Middlesbrough last year, too much hype coupled with no delivery at the start will crush them soon enough. I actually like the look of the Nottingham Forest side, likely to be rejuvenated under Schteve McClaren who has shown in the past he's had success at clubs who just needed that little kick. His influence is underestimated by a lot of people looking at his England (has that ever ended well for ANYONE?) and Wolfsburg (team on the down) records when really they seem like bad career decisions rather than being an inept manager. I'd also steer clear of Ipswich, as has been suggested in previous posts. Their forward line is likely to consist of past-it players with the physiques of pregnant women - Scotland, Ellington and Chopra are going to manage 7 games between them before rupturing knee ligaments in a pasty eating contest. Now that Wickham has been sold they're going to have very little movement and more importantly desire in the final third. I don't know if you can bet on these things yet but you might want to have a look at Brighton finishing bottom six. Flashing the cash is fine and all, but they've hardly brought in anyone with a great record in this division. Same as my opinion on Leicester, if they don't make a good start then they might find themselves playing catch up a little more than they'd like to - they might have forgotten how. Finally my big hunch is on Southampton. A fantastic academy, great infrastructure and a huge dose of realism from the past decade. I hope they don't fail at the final hurdle but they've got a great manager in Adkins and are on the up. Maybe not wise to put them on first place but promotion is definitely a possibility. I have a good idea on top goalscorers, although I can't find anywhere to lay down any money yet - I only use a few select bookies. If anyone can suggest somewhere that'd be grand!

[boyd]

Re: Npower Championship > Ante-Post 2011-12 Season :welcome to PL. The only two bookies with topscorer markets at present are Skybet and William Hill. http://www.oddschecker.com/football/english/championship/top-goalscorer

[mark00]

Re: Npower Championship > Ante-Post 2011-12 Season hi all Just thought i,d say that the 16/1 on offer at sky bet for Birmingham to be relegated is looking mighty tempting. a possible Charlton or Leeds on the horizon.Managed to get rid of nearly everyone from last season I feel sorry for the new gaffer, as it looks like Pannu and Yeung are just taking every penny they can grab .Get afew lower league loanees in and fill in the spaces with youngsters. I feel sick to the stomach , as i think this could be the start of the end for us.:puke

[aliando]

:welcome to PL dj :ok

[djypmisx]

Re: Npower Championship > Ante-Post 2011-12 Season Cheers lads, hopefully I'll be able to contribute a little more, I'm a lifelong fan of a nPC club which I'm sure you'll all eventually figure out! I've seen the odds on my picks and I do like them, will post more once I've laid my money down :)

[doriva17]

Re: Npower Championship > Ante-Post 2011-12 Season Hello! first post. As a Boro fan I thought i'd post my thoughts on the promotion market this season.. First of all Boro - we ended last season very well under Mowbray and I think we could just about sneak into the play offs this season, however I think ultimately this will be a transitional season for us. There has been a bit of an exodus of our high earners but nobody apart from Arca who were that influential last season. Boyd didn't work for our team as our success was based on Lita, Emnes and Mcdonald's movement, Boyd didn't move at all really. Taylor fitted well into Mowbray's team but he's not irreplaceable. Digard had potential but is too injury prone and we can't afford to be carrying somebody like that. Thomson and Steele have been injured in pre season and are out for 3 months and they could be bigger losses. To sum up I won't be backing us to go up but I think we'll be an exciting team to watch next season. Leicester I think should go up - as people have pointed out though if it doesn't start well it's got the potential to turn farcicial. I never trust anything involving Sven 100%. I don't think most of their signings are spectacular, mostly just good championship players however I think the league is a lot weaker this season and they'll just about get over the line. Don't know if there's value in their price though. West Ham - I think they will go up playing terrible football. Fat Sam will get them into a way of winning matches but it won't be pretty. Nolan is far too good for the championship and I think he'll ensure they go up. Forest - I'm not getting the hype at the minute. They only have about 14 fit senior players at the minute don't they? Losing McKenna could be a big loss and looks like Moussi is off too. I remember Forest's squad not being good enough towards the end of last year. Some of the games I thought their bench was terrible so letting go as many influential players as they have doesn't make sense to me. Also as a Boro fan I know what Stevie Mac is like. Despite managing our best ever period as a club, a lot of fans never warmed to him and he always seemed a better cup manager than league manager. Also Forest fans better get used to 1-0 defeats being described as 'magnificent'. Other teams like Leeds and Cardiff who did well last season appear to have got weaker - I think they'll be somewhere between play offs and mid table this season. I think the value may be with Brighton and Southampton. Brighton remind me of Norwich last season and Southampton seem solid and have players very capable of being good enough for this division. To go down I would say Coventry are nailed on as it stands, they've lost their 3 best players from last season and they just generally look a mess. I think Watford will also struggle this season due to losing Graham. Peterborough I think will make up the 3. I don't rate Ferguson as a manager and i'm not convinced they are any better than they were a couple of seasons ago when they were in this division. Top scorer I would go with Lambert! ;)

[djypmisx]

Re: Npower Championship > Ante-Post 2011-12 Season As promised, I will now give you an insight into my screaming value bet on the top goalscorer odds, and it is at long, long odds. Unfortunately a combination of fat fingers, and crossing a busy junction while placing the bet on my phone meant that I put a little more cash on than I wanted but I still stand by this guy. Marvin Sordell: 66/1 E/W @ Skybet This guy tends to divide opinion amongst Watford fans, some people think he's lazy and would like to see him running himself into the ground, others appreciate that he's just not that type of player but is very good at conserving his energies for the right moment. There is one thing we all agree on and that is that he has bags of talent and pace. He's 20 years old and in his first season (I'm discounting the four or so sub appearances from the year before) he scored 12 goals in 25 starts. Reasons for the lack of appearances below*. The real reason that I like him for top scorer (or at least E/W) is that Danny Graham has moved on to the Premier League and right now we have just two recognised strikers, one of which was played at right wing, so expect him to be the focus of our attacking force and get a lot of games. We've signed two wingers and are still looking to strengthen at the back (I must admit it looks unlikely that we'll do so) so our tactics will definitely be along the lines of "we'll score one more than you", Marvin will be the spearhead. I think the only thing that might hinder Marvin this year will be the departure of Danny Graham: not for his skill or assists, but his work rate which created a lot of space. Still, if you've watched Troy Deeney (our other striker) I think he'll fill that role. It may be a case of heart ruling head, but I genuinely believe Sordell can do this, and I'm not taking him just because the odds are high. * He was given, IMO, unfair treatment from Malky Mackay who dropped him despite his good form for an alleged bust up between the two. The same happened to Will Buckley who has since left for Brighton (MM signed off the deal and then quit Watford) and it is believed Sordell is now very happy that he's gone. Both players were left out for long periods of last season to the dismay of a lot of fans.

[djypmisx]

Re: Npower Championship > Ante-Post 2011-12 Season Also hi doriva17, do you think you'll be losing any other players? I understand you still have a lot of debt to get rid of and wages to trim. I definitely agree with Coventry to go down, and probably Barnsley, although I'm not sure this division is weaker than last year!

[cpo]

Re: Npower Championship > Ante-Post 2011-12 Season As a Boro fan I have backed us to go up this year. Towards the end of last season our form was as good as anyone's and I now feel the manager has the team right were he wants it. I took a while for him to get across his philosophies and style and to find out what was his strongest team but once he did we finished very strongly. I can see us starting well and barring injuries, maintaining it throughout the season. There is most definitely a renewed optimism around the town and much is expected of the team this year. The players that have left us so far this season didn't contribute that much for the team last year apart from Taylor but losing Steele for the start of the season is a blow. I expect we will see some new faces in before the start of the season but we have so many talented youngsters. They will all be a year older and more mature and will have strengthened up. I think Lita will be a big player for us this season. I have backed him for top goalscorer at 25/1 and Mackail Smith at 16/1 who will score plenty for free flowing Brighton. West Ham look the most likely winners of the Championship. I think the other 2 relegated from the Prem will struggle. Reading will have a good season and like someone has already said, I think Southampton could be the dark horses.

[doriva17]

Re: Npower Championship > Ante-Post 2011-12 Season "The players that have left us so far this season didn't contribute that much for the team last year apart from Taylor"..and Arca our player of the season :p As for who else we need to get rid of - I think it is only really Hoyte now on wages we can't really afford, I'm not sure anyone is interested in taking him off our hands though and I don't really blame them. All our best players from last season were either up and coming kids or players on manageable wages which is ideal. The media seem to have got the impression we will accept any bids for players - for example Swansea's pathetic bids for Emnes and Lita. I personally don't think we'll accept less than 3million for each of them and I can't see Swansea bidding that to be honest.