The EFL Thread

sunshine

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Bit harsh on Ainsworth. He came into a stinking mess. Good to see them starting to make progress though

Ainsworth inherited a squad of technically gifted players which had been assembled by Warburton and Beale to play passing football. They were low on confidence after Mick Beale did the dirty, and then 3 months of Critchley, who was essentially a youth team coach out of his depth in the Championship.

What Ainsworth did was tell the players to stop passing it and play kick and rush. He wanted to play long ball and lump it into the box. Obviously this didn't play to the strengths of the squad, so it demoralised them even more. Plus this outdated way of playing no longer works at Championship level or above. There is a clear correlation that the teams with very low possession % get relagated.

New manager Cifuentes has told the players they are now allowed to pass the ball on the ground again, and suddenly things are looking up. But it takes time to become a cohesive unit, other clubs in this league prepare meticulously and are well drilled.
 

sunshine

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For context, this is what training was like under Ainsworth:

There is a longer version on youtube if you want to see the full cringeworthy experience o_O

Just waiting for David Brent to show up.
 

HomerJSimpson

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The Championship is miles more entertaining than the Premier League.
Not sure about entertaining as there was still some durge when Fulham were last in it. It is a far more even league where all sides are capable of beating anonother unlike the PL where its seen as a shock when the likes of Fulham beat Man United and it is normally a given the top 4 will roll over most other sides
 

Neilds

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Not sure about entertaining as there was still some durge when Fulham were last in it. It is a far more even league where all sides are capable of beating anonother unlike the PL where its seen as a shock when the likes of Fulham beat Man United and it is normally a given the top 4 will roll over most other sides
Obviously not seen Rotherham play this season - or any of the last 4 that we have been in the Championship! 😭
 
D

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Not sure about entertaining as there was still some durge when Fulham were last in it. It is a far more even league where all sides are capable of beating anonother unlike the PL where its seen as a shock when the likes of Fulham beat Man United and it is normally a given the top 4 will roll over most other sides
In the Championship there are some poor team/games and the technical quality of many of the players might not be quite as high as in the PL.
But, I find the games to be more entertaining. They tend to be a bit more physical and faster paced. PL games are often quite slow, you see defenders with loads of time to stand with the ball and roll it round at the back. It’s boring.
 

fundy

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Not sure about entertaining as there was still some durge when Fulham were last in it. It is a far more even league where all sides are capable of beating anonother unlike the PL where its seen as a shock when the likes of Fulham beat Man United and it is normally a given the top 4 will roll over most other sides

Seems a funny season to make that statement. The top 4 in the championship are as dominant as the top 4 in the premier league this year from what ive seen (shout out to Villa and Ipswich for trying to crash the party in both!). And yes that is largely driven by who came down and who went up last season and sadly the ever growing gap between the 2 leagues.

Its interesting that the financial gap between the top of the championship and the bottom currently is arguably as bad if not worse than the one in the premier league. For Man City and Luton you can easily see the same with Leicester and Plymouth. Almost impossible to see a pathway for any of the non yoyo clubs in the championship to make it into the premier league and stay there which can only be bad for football
 

fundy

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I see Reading been docked another 2 points for Dai Yongge not paying HMRC again.

The embodiment of everything that doesnt work with the fit and proper owners test
 

4LEX

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I see Reading been docked another 2 points for Dai Yongge not paying HMRC again.

The embodiment of everything that doesnt work with the fit and proper owners test

Yep and with a further 2 suspended apparently. That uncertainty when in a relegation battle of knowing things are out of your control makes it ten times worse.

The team have done well to cope with all the chaos off the pitch but it seems likely this parasite (can't say what I really think as I'd not only be banned but probably arrested) will have the final say in relegating us. Shame on the EFL for punishing the club, staff, players and fans for something the owner has done. To put it into context, we got off lighter for a pitch invasion that saw a game abandoned, than the owner paying HMRC a few months late.

It's a total mess and complicates the sale process as how do you value a club when you don't know what league it will be in? Or when it sells 4 of it's best youngsters for absolute peanuts? Those things will knock value off yet this parasite isn't bothered in the slightest.

The only positive is the team we've got is a lot better than our relegation rivals and now the inexperienced manager has learnt from his mistakes, our form since November is play off level, so hopefully we can continue that.
 
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Not sure about entertaining as there was still some durge when Fulham were last in it. It is a far more even league where all sides are capable of beating anonother unlike the PL where its seen as a shock when the likes of Fulham beat Man United and it is normally a given the top 4 will roll over most other sides
Basically you've just described the Championship now.

The top teams are miles ahead of the rest and Fulham aren't there any more so what's your point?
 

Voyager EMH

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Well, that makes the top places of The Championship look more interesting.
Three losses in a row for Leicester despite beating Premiership opposition away from home in the week.
 

babylonsinger

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Unbeaten in 3 for us now after looking like we'd be sucked into the battle at the bottom a few weeks ago. Very tight down there as a few teams have seemed to picked up some form
 
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Unbeaten in 3 for us now after looking like we'd be sucked into the battle at the bottom a few weeks ago. Very tight down there as a few teams have seemed to picked up some form
Yes, today was a bit of a nightmare for Argyle 😳
 

Billysboots

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Well, that makes the top places of The Championship look more interesting.
Three losses in a row for Leicester despite beating Premiership opposition away from home in the week.

Looking at the stats they had all of the game. Not sure if those stats actually reflected events on the pitch but QPR had only three shots and scored with two of them, and Leicester had something like 80% of the ball.

That said, its results which count and they need to stem the tide. A play off spot given the first third of the season would be a nightmare.
 
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Can’t believe we didn’t beat the dog botherers 🤦‍♂️

It’s tight at the top now.
 
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