Championship thread 25/26! (14 Viewers)

Samueljames1991 said:

And have him on 50k a week

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Gotta love it. Hopefully 4 year contract too. Let him bleed them dry.

wingy said:

Thought it was speculated was £15m the other day, certainly does.

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Price has gone down after Wolfsburg scouts read some of the daft opinions of him on here.

shepardo01 said:

Norwich -

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Some very nice signings there.

I think Norwich could be dark horses this season

PUSB-We_are_going_up said:

I think Norwich could be dark horses this season

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TBF they massively underperformed last season, they looked one of the better teams we had faced even in January imo. Given the squad that they've got even before additions you'd expect them to be challenging for at least the play offs.

Lost some good players though. Sainz, Doyle from his loan, Sargent will probably still go too.

TomRad85 said:

Looks like Championship players just don't go for what we think atm. Nowhere near the original reported price and a good player too who was one of the very few to come out of that Prem season with any credit.

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A bit of context needed here. The whole offer is worth over £15m. Within that will probably be several relatively easily accomplishable add-ons.

I believe he also had one year left on his existing deal so they weren't in a brilliant negotiating position.

PUSB-We_are_going_up said:

I think Norwich could be dark horses this season

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More like bright yellow Canaries

I can see Derby challenging for the playoffs to be honest

procdoc said:

I can see Derby challenging for the playoffs to be honest

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Eustace is a very good manager.

procdoc said:

I can see Derby challenging for the playoffs to be honest

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Yeah Derby have strengthened very well. Not sure about playoffs but they'll give a lot of teams a run for their money.

SeaSeeEffCee said:

Eustace is a very good manager.

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Never understood why people were so opposed to the idea of him succeeding MR

Brighton Sky Blue said:

Never understood why people were so opposed to the idea of him succeeding MR

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I wouldn’t have been disappointed

OPTA on the promotion hopefuls​

The OPTA Bet: Back Coventry City to be promoted @​

Coventry City's 2024/25 campaign ended with a heartbreaking extra-time defeat to Sunderland in the play-off semi-finals, as Daniel Ballard's 122nd-minute header dashed the Sky Blues' promotion hopes.

Coventry's fifth-place finish was their joint-highest since being relegated from the Premier League way back in 2001, and they will hope Frank Lampard's first full campaign in charge brings further improvement.

After Lampard's arrival on November 28 - at which point they were 17th in the table - Coventry claimed 52 points from 29 Championship matches, with only Burnley (67), Leeds (65) and Sheffield United (55) collecting more in that timeframe.

A price of for Coventry to win promotion makes them fifth favourites, according to the Betfair Sportsbook, though the supercomputer has them as its fourth-most likely team to reach the big time, making the top two in 14.3% of scenarios and winning the title in 7.3%.

Besides Sheffield United, Leicester, Ipswich and Coventry, no other team are given more than an 11.2% chance of automatic promotion, with Southampton being the supercomputer's fifth favourites.

Coventry should certainly be an entertaining watch, with only high-flying Leeds (61.9) bettering their 49.8 xG in the Championship after Lampard took charge. Talismanic midfielder Jack Rudoni registered the fourth-most goal involvements in the division (10 goals, 12 assists), and it is something of a surprise that he has seemingly not attracted serious Premier League interest.

Haji Wright is working his way back from injury, with his 28 Championship goals across the last two seasons the joint third-most in the division, while Ellis Simms, Victor Torp and Brandon Thomas-Asante are decent options too.

The key for Lampard will be tightening up the defence - only six Championship teams faced more shots than Coventry after the Chelsea legend took charge last season.

A kind fixture list could help them play their way into form, with only four clubs having an easier start according to the Opta Power Rankings. Hull, Derby County, Queens Park Rangers and Oxford United - all of whom were battling relegation last season - are their first four opponents