The EFL Thread

[Deleted member 35504]

Going with your director of football as a temporary solution to the end of the season? I think that’s a better option than warnock, I don’t think a new person with different ideas is what you need right now.

From what I saw at carrow road, you’ve got the attributes to get the points you need no problem. But I got the sense playing on the break suits you, and perhaps you’re finding it harder when teams sit in a bit more when you’re at home?

Anyway, I think you can do it. Just need to find a way to free the players up from the pressure a bit and get them just playing without fear. Couple of wins and you’ll be away. Hope you do it, and I think you will.

Yeah I think you've nailed all the points there.

I know all strikers miss chances but Hardie has missed some sitters lately that have cost us, he rounded your goalie and missed an open goal on Friday.

The most disappointing thing is that we were up there with the league's top scoring teams up til January, so even when we didn't get a win we came away saying what a great match it was. Lately it's been dross, but we can only go forward so fingers crossed

 

[Canary_Yellow]

Yeah I think you've nailed all the points there.

I know all strikers miss chances but Hardie has missed some sitters lately that have cost us, he rounded your goalie and missed an open goal on Friday.

The most disappointing thing is that we were up there with the league's top scoring teams up til January, so even when we didn't get a win we came away saying what a great match it was. Lately it's been dross, but we can only go forward so fingers crossed

When you don’t create so many chances you really notice when your strikers miss. I think it also makes strikers more likely to miss as there’s more pressure to score when they do get a chance.

When you’re creating lots, you don’t notice so much. All top strikers miss a lot of chances. I know not everyone is a fan, but xG reflects that - in our game it was 2.2 for us and 1.2 for you, even though hardie missed what looked like two very good chances.

 

[Neilds]

Yeah I think you've nailed all the points there.

I know all strikers miss chances but Hardie has missed some sitters lately that have cost us, he rounded your goalie and missed an open goal on Friday.

The most disappointing thing is that we were up there with the league's top scoring teams up til January, so even when we didn't get a win we came away saying what a great match it was. Lately it's been dross, but we can only go forward so fingers crossed

Rotherham's joint top scorers this year have both scored 4 goals - and one of them isn't even a forward!

This season feels like a round of golf when you hack it round for 17 holes and then birdie the 18th making you think you can get to scratch. The win on Monday was the first since Boxing day and the first time we scored in over 5 games.

 

[Neilds]

Rotherham are a hard watch!
If the score remains the same, we are down and will finish dead last

 

[SaintHacker]

Yet another poor result for us yesterday when teams around us dropped points. Thats our last slim chance of making the automatic slots gone imo, now just have to look forward to the lottery that is the play offs

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Rotherham are a hard watch!
If the score remains the same, we are down and will finish dead last

I was listening to R5 yesterday and they were talking about rotherham. You seem to be the Norwich equivalent of Div 1 / championship, 3 promotions from div 1 but you keep getting relegated.

Lack of money for that next division is usually the problem, is that the case here? How do you think you can break the cycle?

The stats for the season make grim reading, really tough for the fans.

 

[Neilds]

I was listening to R5 yesterday and they were talking about rotherham. You seem to be the Norwich equivalent of Div 1 / championship, 3 promotions from div 1 but you keep getting relegated.

Lack of money for that next division is usually the problem, is that the case here? How do you think you can break the cycle?

The stats for the season make grim reading, really tough for the fans.

The only way to break the cycle is for the other teams to stop spending so much! We have done the administration thing before so the owners are very cash savvy and don’t spend what we don’t have. In the 2 years we have spent in the championship we have only spent money on 1 player, the rest are free transfers and loans - which means they are players the rest of the championship don’t want as they aren’t good enough. Unless we get a rich foreign owner (and that never ends well) we will struggle to compete at championship level

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Responsible owners then. Again, very Norwich. That's not a criticism by the way.

Would you want promotion next year or would you take 4th and lose in the play offs? It's no fun following a team that loses most weeks so maybe some time out if the championship would do everyone involved some good.

 

[Neilds]

Responsible owners then. Again, very Norwich. That's not a criticism by the way.

Would you want promotion next year or would you take 4th and lose in the play offs? It's no fun following a team that loses most weeks so maybe some time out if the championship would do everyone involved some good.

I will take an away win next year - living in Wiltshire only watch them away and we haven’t won away since November 2022!

 

[Canary_Yellow]

Responsible owners then. Again, very Norwich. That's not a criticism by the way.

Would you want promotion next year or would you take 4th and lose in the play offs? It's no fun following a team that loses most weeks so maybe some time out if the championship would do everyone involved some good.

Football is ridiculous these days really. Norwich (my team, obviously), are completely self sustaining, the only cash that comes in is from tv revenue and commercial club revenue. However, in the long term, that isn’t really enough to even sustain a competitive championship side. Every season (until next season) we’ve been in the championship since relegation from the EPL in 2013/14 we’ve had parachute payments to supplement income. Without that, and without external investment, we’d struggle to compete at the top end.

Delia has plenty of critics among Norwich fans who question the ambition of the club under her stewardship, but she’s right when she says the only beneficiaries of extra money in the game are players and agents.

In my opinion all clubs should be forced to be self sustaining, the sad thing about that though is it’s pulling up the drawbridge behind a whole host of clubs that have benefitted from wealthy owners over the last 25 years.

 

[Hobbit]

Is it right to write off Boro’s chances of making the play-offs when they’re only 6 points off with 4 matches left? Mathematically, it’s still possible but to overhaul Norwich in 6th place, the Boro need 2 wins and a draw from those 4 matches, and hope Norwich get nothing. Norwich will get at least one win out of their next 4 matches, 2 of which are at home. And that’s without mentioning Coventry and Preston who are both above the Boro and have a game in hand.

The Boro need 4 wins and, unbeaten in their last 8 matches, it’s doable. But wait, away at Ipswich on Saturday and home to Leeds on the 22nd, the bubble is about to burst. Winning 1 of those matches would be great… oh c’mon, we’re grasping at straws in a hurricane here.

Why are the Boro falling short when the media tipped them for top 4, and some for 2nd? Certainly last season suggested they were more than good enough… but last season’s squad had a significant number of loaners whose names were first on the team sheet. And there was also the Championship’s leading goal scorer who was sold to Ajax at the beginning of this season. Understandably, a stuttering start as new players were bedded in saw them adrift early but a good run around Oct saw them back in the mix.

And then by far the biggest, and longest running, injury crisis I’ve ever seen. At one point there were 11 of the first team squad out injured, that day seeing only 2 established players on the bench, the rest being kids. By early March there was talk of possibly being sucked into the relegation dogfight, and it was a genuine possibility. For weeks there was no recognised striker in the team, and opposition defences were getting an easy ride. Teams were allowed to, comfortably, build from the back and the Boro were shipping goals for fun.

Some players have come back from injury, and there’s been an upturn but it’s too late. This season’s loaners will go back and it’s time to look towards the summer transfer window. No doubt some fringe players will be moved on for small fees, some on a free, and the last player on a big contract sees that contract expire. I doubt it will be renewed - a fully fit squad sees him on the bench anyway. And the captain is 36 next month… great, super-fit player but how much longer can he go on…

If the last few summer transfer windows are anything to go by, at least one top player will have to be sold. Will there be any top signings? No, that isn’t the business model the Boro have adopted. Most of the incoming players will be bought with an eye to their potential and their resale value.

Next season? Less change in the squad should see a better start. With a number of new players coming in, I’ll be happy with 8th after the first 6 games. But those teams coming down will have stronger squads AND the wholly unfair parachute payments. Established Championship teams are competing for 3rd down to 6th.

But it’s the dreams that keep us going and ultimately hurt us.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

@Hobbit great write up, covers most of the teams in that league I'd suggest. Living on a budget, loans, sell the best players, any injuries put you in trouble, managers expected to perform miracles with all of the previous ignored.

It's a tough gig for many clubs in that league, all 3 options are open and genuine at the start of every season for most, promotion, relegation, mid table blandness.

 

[Neilds]

Is it right to write off Boro’s chances of making the play-offs when they’re only 6 points off with 4 matches left? Mathematically, it’s still possible but to overhaul Norwich in 6th place, the Boro need 2 wins and a draw from those 4 matches, and hope Norwich get nothing. Norwich will get at least one win out of their next 4 matches, 2 of which are at home. And that’s without mentioning Coventry and Preston who are both above the Boro and have a game in hand.

The Boro need 4 wins and, unbeaten in their last 8 matches, it’s doable. But wait, away at Ipswich on Saturday and home to Leeds on the 22nd, the bubble is about to burst. Winning 1 of those matches would be great… oh c’mon, we’re grasping at straws in a hurricane here.

Why are the Boro falling short when the media tipped them for top 4, and some for 2nd? Certainly last season suggested they were more than good enough… but last season’s squad had a significant number of loaners whose names were first on the team sheet. And there was also the Championship’s leading goal scorer who was sold to Ajax at the beginning of this season. Understandably, a stuttering start as new players were bedded in saw them adrift early but a good run around Oct saw them back in the mix.

And then by far the biggest, and longest running, injury crisis I’ve ever seen. At one point there were 11 of the first team squad out injured, that day seeing only 2 established players on the bench, the rest being kids. By early March there was talk of possibly being sucked into the relegation dogfight, and it was a genuine possibility. For weeks there was no recognised striker in the team, and opposition defences were getting an easy ride. Teams were allowed to, comfortably, build from the back and the Boro were shipping goals for fun.

Some players have come back from injury, and there’s been an upturn but it’s too late. This season’s loaners will go back and it’s time to look towards the summer transfer window. No doubt some fringe players will be moved on for small fees, some on a free, and the last player on a big contract sees that contract expire. I doubt it will be renewed - a fully fit squad sees him on the bench anyway. And the captain is 36 next month… great, super-fit player but how much longer can he go on…

If the last few summer transfer windows are anything to go by, at least one top player will have to be sold. Will there be any top signings? No, that isn’t the business model the Boro have adopted. Most of the incoming players will be bought with an eye to their potential and their resale value.

Next season? Less change in the squad should see a better start. With a number of new players coming in, I’ll be happy with 8th after the first 6 games. But those teams coming down will have stronger squads AND the wholly unfair parachute payments. Established Championship teams are competing for 3rd down to 6th.

But it’s the dreams that keep us going and ultimately hurt us.

Boro's main problem is they signed 2 players from Rotherham - Barlaser and Crooks. Never a good omen, just look at Wednesday, they also signed Smith and Ihekwie from us and they are (hopefully) joining us in L1 next season

 

[4LEX]

Survival secured for Reading today with a well earnt 2-2 draw at Barnsley.

A remarkable achievement given we were 10 points adrift at one point, had 6 points deducted and the entire squad is made up of free transfers and academy players as we've been banned from paying fees for 4 years. Huge respect to Selles for being big enough to learn from his mistakes, switch formation and stop making needless changes each week.

Hopefully we can keep the squad together, add some decent free transfers and with the takeover we will be a very good bet to go up next year

 

[Voyager EMH]

Championship.
Tight at the top.
Might end up being a very interesting final day.
Playoffs might be good games. So much at stake.
More interesting than the last matches of the Premiership.

 

[Fromtherough]

Is it right to write off Boro’s chances of making the play-offs when they’re only 6 points off with 4 matches left? Mathematically, it’s still possible but to overhaul Norwich in 6th place, the Boro need 2 wins and a draw from those 4 matches, and hope Norwich get nothing. Norwich will get at least one win out of their next 4 matches, 2 of which are at home. And that’s without mentioning Coventry and Preston who are both above the Boro and have a game in hand.

The Boro need 4 wins and, unbeaten in their last 8 matches, it’s doable. But wait, away at Ipswich on Saturday and home to Leeds on the 22nd, the bubble is about to burst. Winning 1 of those matches would be great… oh c’mon, we’re grasping at straws in a hurricane here.

Why are the Boro falling short when the media tipped them for top 4, and some for 2nd? Certainly last season suggested they were more than good enough… but last season’s squad had a significant number of loaners whose names were first on the team sheet. And there was also the Championship’s leading goal scorer who was sold to Ajax at the beginning of this season. Understandably, a stuttering start as new players were bedded in saw them adrift early but a good run around Oct saw them back in the mix.

And then by far the biggest, and longest running, injury crisis I’ve ever seen. At one point there were 11 of the first team squad out injured, that day seeing only 2 established players on the bench, the rest being kids. By early March there was talk of possibly being sucked into the relegation dogfight, and it was a genuine possibility. For weeks there was no recognised striker in the team, and opposition defences were getting an easy ride. Teams were allowed to, comfortably, build from the back and the Boro were shipping goals for fun.

Some players have come back from injury, and there’s been an upturn but it’s too late. This season’s loaners will go back and it’s time to look towards the summer transfer window. No doubt some fringe players will be moved on for small fees, some on a free, and the last player on a big contract sees that contract expire. I doubt it will be renewed - a fully fit squad sees him on the bench anyway. And the captain is 36 next month… great, super-fit player but how much longer can he go on…

If the last few summer transfer windows are anything to go by, at least one top player will have to be sold. Will there be any top signings? No, that isn’t the business model the Boro have adopted. Most of the incoming players will be bought with an eye to their potential and their resale value.

Next season? Less change in the squad should see a better start. With a number of new players coming in, I’ll be happy with 8th after the first 6 games. But those teams coming down will have stronger squads AND the wholly unfair parachute payments. Established Championship teams are competing for 3rd down to 6th.

But it’s the dreams that keep us going and ultimately hurt us.

The injuries this season have had a monumental effect. Coupled with that, the performance of last seasons loanees possibly incorrectly raised expectations. Selling our best players is never going to provide short term success. I suppose we have to hope profits are being invested wisely. I strongly suspect they are not - in terms of a strategic plan to get us back in the Premier League.

However, given all of that we’re not far off. Unbeaten in the last nine league games, in what has been a difficult run of games. I think the key is to keep Carrick and I hope he is given some financial support to have a proper go. And a bit of luck.

 

[backwoodsman]

Mansfield need just1pt from their last three matches in order to go up! (Ok, mathematicaly MK Dons could still catch them on points - but realistically, they are not going to overturn a difference in GD of 28 in two matches).

 

[Hobbit]

The injuries this season have had a monumental effect. Coupled with that, the performance of last seasons loanees possibly incorrectly raised expectations. Selling our best players is never going to provide short term success. I suppose we have to hope profits are being invested wisely. I strongly suspect they are not - in terms of a strategic plan to get us back in the Premier League.

However, given all of that we’re not far off. Unbeaten in the last nine league games, in what has been a difficult run of games. I think the key is to keep Carrick and I hope he is given some financial support to have a proper go. And a bit of luck.

You’ve only got to look at how well they have played since Marcus Forrs, Latte Lath & Isiah Jones have returned. Imagine if Hackney hadn’t been out, and still out. McGree missing again. Lenihan missing virtually the whole season. 8 points off a play-off position. Only 3 wins off being right in the mix.

Wonder who will be the big sale in the summer. In the last 3 seasons they’ve sold Spence, Tavernier, Akpom & Rogers for a whacking good price but the accounts still make poor reading. Looks like they need to make at least £10m out of every summer window.

 

[Fromtherough]

You’ve only got to look at how well they have played since Marcus Forrs, Latte Lath & Isiah Jones have returned. Imagine if Hackney hadn’t been out, and still out. McGree missing again. Lenihan missing virtually the whole season. 8 points off a play-off position. Only 3 wins off being right in the mix.

Wonder who will be the big sale in the summer. In the last 3 seasons they’ve sold Spence, Tavernier, Akpom & Rogers for a whacking good price but the accounts still make poor reading. Looks like they need to make at least £10m out of every summer window.

I think Hackney will go unfortunately.

 

[Hobbit]

I think Hackney will go unfortunately.

I did wonder if they’ve got him in cotton wool pending the completion of a deal that’s already been talked about.