Championship thread 25/26! (40 Viewers)

Evo1883 · 2026-03-09T08:37:29+0000

Ipad Boro said:
I've thought this not absolutely, but to a degree before. You're kind of like the championship version of Chelsea under Mourinho during the years when they dominated the Prem? You're perfectly capable of popping up with a "wow" performance too, such as your 7-1 in the first half of the season among others, but the second half of the season for Mourinho's 00s side was all about grinding out wins to get them over the line. It's bloody effective though and most sides need a degree of that to their game if they want to be successful.

Ipswich are a bit like the championship version of Man City on one of those seasons where they've been pipped to the title; on paper the best squad and the most strength in depth of all, but go through patches where it doesn't all click together and everyone is wary of the fact they might spring into life at any time and start demolishing opponents like their talent pool should, becoming the Man City that did triumph.

We're most akin to a championship version of Wenger's Arsenal. Can dominate a league through intricate play, the team being greater than individuals as a cohesive unit and able to move as one, full of complex fluid patterns that teams often get run circles around by. Can be absolutely breathtaking to watch, and go on runs where they rip sides to absolute shreds, but aren't as proficient at the gritty side to their game, meaning that we have an achilles heel period of trying to adapt in between going all guns blazing, before Hellberg comes up with a solution. We could do with an Henry mind!

Millwall are like Leicester the year they won the Prem. Hugely unfancied, have came from nowhere and just kept going while the rest of the league looks on open-mouthed. The epitome of a side that has a couple of standout players, but are far greater than the sum of their parts. Can counter attack with precision and their team spirit is probably second to none.

I actually feel like you can compare us to arsenal this season .

Winning games at all costs and try and utilise set pieces but can play amazingly well when needed

Was listening to brighton fans on talksport saying how they should have won and arsenal arent that good .. thought of fans moaning about us

A bristol reporter suggested coventry purposely let teams play then try and exploit them

All i know is lampard has made us very efficient

22 wins and 6 losses in 36 games at this level is not easy

SwanLane · 2026-03-09T08:46:03+0000

The way Burnley played last season was an absolute piss take. I hope they finish bottom and do what Norwich and WBA have done since coming down.

No doubt we will have to be pragmatic next year if we go up. Might see more of the back 5, in which case there could be a part to play for the Woolf after all.

Sky Blue Pete · 2026-03-09T08:48:03+0000

Boicey said:
A long way to go. Most Cov fans will be on edge until we're mathematically safe.
My main concern is we still haven't been playing that well for a few months despite grinding out results. Yeah I know that's the sign of a good side but I'd like to see us click again and actually play really well for 90 mins.

We were excellent against Oxford
Middlesborough
First half against West Brom
We’ve played well
What Frank has realised is away from home you just have to be good enough
Is it 4 wins away on the spin or just 3

Evo1883 · 2026-03-09T08:51:12+0000

Sky Blue Pete said:
We were excellent against Oxford
Middlesborough
First half against West Brom
We’ve played well
What Frank has realised is away from home you just have to be good enough
Is it 4 wins away on the spin or just 3

Its 3 away in a row

I know form overlaps but weve won 7 of our last 10 games too including the last 5

The dodgy spell we has can be seen in many different ways now because of how form overlaps , but really it just looks like an inconsistent 8 games now on paper

Ccfcisparks · 2026-03-09T08:52:58+0000

Ipad Boro said:
I've thought this not absolutely, but to a degree before. You're kind of like the championship version of Chelsea under Mourinho during the years when they dominated the Prem? You're perfectly capable of popping up with a "wow" performance too, such as your 7-1 in the first half of the season among others, but the second half of the season for Mourinho's 00s side was all about grinding out wins to get them over the line. It's bloody effective though and most sides need a degree of that to their game if they want to be successful.

Ipswich are a bit like the championship version of Man City on one of those seasons where they've been pipped to the title; on paper the best squad and the most strength in depth of all, but go through patches where it doesn't all click together and everyone is wary of the fact they might spring into life at any time and start demolishing opponents like their talent pool should, becoming the Man City that did triumph.

We're most akin to a championship version of Wenger's Arsenal. Can dominate a league through intricate play, the team being greater than individuals as a cohesive unit and able to move as one, full of complex fluid patterns that teams often get run circles around by. Can be absolutely breathtaking to watch, and go on runs where they rip sides to absolute shreds, but aren't as proficient at the gritty side to their game, meaning that we have an achilles heel period of trying to adapt in between going all guns blazing, before Hellberg comes up with a solution. We could do with an Henry mind!

Millwall are like Leicester the year they won the Prem. Hugely unfancied, have came from nowhere and just kept going while the rest of the league looks on open-mouthed. The epitome of a side that has a couple of standout players, but are far greater than the sum of their parts. Can counter attack with precision and their team spirit is probably second to none.

lovely back handed compliment there!

I’d say we are both mourinhos chelsea and arsenals wenger.

We are very much capable of the intricate play you attribute yourselves with

Ipad Boro · 2026-03-09T08:55:22+0000

Evo1883 said:
I actually feel like you can compare us to arsenal this season .

Winning games at all costs and try and utilise set pieces but can play amazingly well when needed

Was listening to brighton fans on talksport saying how they should have won and arsenal arent that good .. thought of fans moaning about us

A bristol reporter suggested coventry purposely let teams play then try and exploit them

All i know is lampard has made us very efficient

22 wins and 6 losses in 36 games at this level is not easy

That's not a bad shout with this season's Arsenal tbf. I was just going on classic sides that are remembered throughout the history of the Prem.

The thing with Wenger's Arsenal though was that they almost HAD to play that way, it was Wenger's ethos and it was the one way they could be surprised.

Most significantly, our head to heads remind me of Chelsea meeting Arsenal in the Champions League semi finals.

Ipad Boro · 2026-03-09T08:58:12+0000

Ccfcisparks said:
lovely back handed compliment there!

I’d say we are both mourinhos chelsea and arsenals wenger.

We are very much capable of the intricate play you attribute yourselves with

The thing is the analogy fits very well and it's not a "back handed compliment." Chelsea were an efficient well oiled machine which was their strength above all, but they too were perfectly capable of skillful play when needed, most notably in the first half of the season's they won.

If I was trying to give a "back handed compliment", supposedly aimed at a side that did absolutely nothing but grind out wins whilst their matches bored everyone to tears as you seem to have somehow garnered from my comparison, I'd have painted you as something akin to George Graham's Arsenal. But that wouldn't fit in the slightest, the championship version of THAT was none other than Eternally Bouncing Burnley last season.

I'm sure Lampard wouldn't mind being compared to Jose in the slightest. He was a master tactician and could employ different sides to his game, Drogba was bloody lethal and I can't think why you'd assume that they didn't have that side to their game. Look at the 06/07 season for example, they had a few 4-nils, 3-nils, even back to back 3-2 wins?? All entertaining stuff, so you can't even suggest it as a "back-handed" anything, IMHO. However their main strength was their efficiency, driven by Mourinho. I think it's an excellent analogy.

Sky Blue Harry H · 2026-03-09T08:58:39+0000

TomRad85 said:
I wonder if we still have members on the Sunderland forum?

I was one of the guilty ones, but haven't been on this season (maybe once?)

Evo1883 · 2026-03-09T09:00:53+0000

Ipad Boro said:
That's not a bad shout with this season's Arsenal tbf. I was just going on classic sides that are remembered throughout the history of the Prem.

The thing with Wenger's Arsenal though was that they almost HAD to play that way, it was Wenger's ethos and it was the one way they could be surprised.

Most significantly, our head to heads remind me of Chelsea meeting Arsenal in the Champions League semi finals.

Theres a boro fan at my work in coventry , goes to all the matches .

Been some good banter this season so far

fernandopartridge · 2026-03-09T09:04:46+0000

TomRad85 said:
I don't buy into us being a bad watch anyway. Goals are what fans live for and we consistently rack them up. Neither do we employ shithouse anti football tactics much which is why it was a surprise Rushworth did at Sheffield United what is done to us pretty much every week.

Burnley are an example of a team that stink their way to promotion.

We're headed towards scoring 94 goals at current rate. The very attractive Leeds side scored 95 goals last season.

Ccfcisparks · 2026-03-09T09:08:37+0000

Ipad Boro said:
The thing is the analogy fits very well and it's not a "back handed compliment." Chelsea were an efficient well oiled machine which was their strength above all, but they too were perfectly capable of skillful play when needed, most notably in the first half of the season's they won.

Chelsea were built on a solid defence.

If anything thats been our weakness this year, it totally doesnt fit us. The way Lampard likes to play is back and forth outscoring other teams we are much more like one of the late 2010's Man City who scored shit loads of goals with leaks in defence.

Sick Boy · 2026-03-09T09:10:00+0000

fernandopartridge said:
We're headed towards scoring 94 goals at current rate. The very attractive Leeds side scored 95 goals last season.

They were quite dishy, to be fair.

Evo1883 · 2026-03-09T09:14:37+0000

Sick Boy said:
They were quite dishy, to be fair.

Never seen nothing like it down here last season .. felt hopeless .

But would be a better game this season

DT-R · 2026-03-09T09:46:07+0000

Ipad Boro said:
Yes of course, more than here it probably won't surprise you to know. On our own forum there's a Hull, Bournemouth and Norwich fan who are on quite a bit. Sunderland occasionally and there used to be a regular Derby poster on all the time, but she died unfortunately.

I've used to post on the Derby and Brighton ones years ago, but haven't been on for ages. I've been on the Oxford forum here and there.

I genuinely struggle.to keep up with half th the shit chatted on here. I couldnt ve arsed with having to do it again on a different teams forum! Fuck that!

Sent from my SM-S711B using Tapatalk

AOM · 2026-03-09T09:56:12+0000

clint van damme said:
I'd be fuming if we had Burnleys resources and played like they did last season in the championship.
Fair enough in the PL when you're battling for survival.

I remember reading that the ball was in play for 46 minutes at the CBS against Burnley last season.
The way they played worked for them (think they had the best defensive record in Europe at one point?), but it was infuriating to watch

fernandopartridge · 2026-03-09T09:59:19+0000

Ccfcisparks said:
Chelsea were built on a solid defence.

If anything thats been our weakness this year, it totally doesnt fit us. The way Lampard likes to play is back and forth outscoring other teams we are much more like one of the late 2010's Man City who scored shit loads of goals with leaks in defence.

In fairness we've only conceded 3 more than the best defence in the league.

Skybluekyle · 2026-03-09T10:00:24+0000

Ipad Boro said:
Yes of course, more than here it probably won't surprise you to know. On our own forum there's a Hull, Bournemouth and Norwich fan who are on quite a bit. Sunderland occasionally and there used to be a regular Derby poster on all the time, but she died unfortunately.

I've used to post on the Derby and Brighton ones years ago, but haven't been on for ages. I've been on the Oxford forum here and there.

Your keyboard must be worn down to a nub

Calista · 2026-03-09T10:05:59+0000

TomRad85 said:
I have a feeling Wrectum beat Ipswich in the play off semis. Want Millwall to win them though, or just go up in second place.

Wrectum LOL

David O'Day · 2026-03-09T10:12:20+0000

Ccfcisparks said:
lovely back handed compliment there!

I’d say we are both mourinhos chelsea and arsenals wenger.

We are very much capable of the intricate play you attribute yourselves with

The smoggies still trying to pretend "Hellball" is brilliant when it is basically the same way Carrick played.

Ccfcisparks · 2026-03-09T10:13:16+0000

David O'Day said:
The smoggies still trying to pretend "Hellball" is brilliant when it is basically the same way Carrick played.

Its just patronising. All the nonsense about hoodoo, and well oiled machine really discredits our quality.

mark82 · 2026-03-09T10:22:11+0000

Ccfcisparks said:
Its just patronising. All the nonsense about hoodoo, and well oiled machine really discredits our quality.

We're the best team in the league for a reason. We can play the way that Boro play, but we can also adapt to a different style when needed. We were too gung-ho at times earlier in the season, but that adaptability has brought us back from the brink of collapse.

Boro have scored the second most goals in the league, but we're miles ahead with 16 more scored. Not exactly defensive football.

shmmeee · 2026-03-09T10:24:08+0000

mark82 said:
We're the best team in the league for a reason. We can play the way that Boro play, but we can also adapt to a different style when needed. We were too gung-ho at times earlier in the season, but that adaptability has brought us back from the brink of collapse.

Boro have scored the second most goals in the league, but we're miles ahead with 16 more scored. Not exactly defensive football.

Honestly think Boros passing and movement is above ours TBH. We’ve had flashes, but in terms of what we produce consistently we’ve done it maybe for a few halves all season. Obviously we’re more effective, but talking purely on the eye test.

Grendel · 2026-03-09T10:25:01+0000

Ccfcisparks said:
based on?

If we had 80 points we’d need a maximum of another 9 in the last 8 games. Even then teams would have to win a crazy amount of games to catch up.

David O'Day · 2026-03-09T10:25:11+0000

Ccfcisparks said:
Its just patronising. All the nonsense about hoodoo, and well oiled machine really discredits our quality.

Yep, we attacked them away and did them 4-2.

They have a decent midfield but a defence with a glaring weakness and shite strikers.

Yes they are doing well but they have spent a lot so you'd expect that

Mcbean · 2026-03-09T10:25:46+0000

AOM said:
I remember reading that the ball was in play for 46 minutes at the CBS against Burnley last season.
The way they played worked for them (think they had the best defensive record in Europe at one point?), but it was infuriating to watch

Reminds me of the Norwich game when most of their players were on the floor for 46 mins on their way to A&E

fernandopartridge · 2026-03-09T10:31:43+0000

I think the more pragmatic way we've played recently is more sustainable in the Prem if we get there.

Skybluekyle · 2026-03-09T10:40:04+0000

shmmeee said:
Honestly think Boros passing and movement is above ours TBH. We’ve had flashes, but in terms of what we produce consistently we’ve done it maybe for a few halves all season. Obviously we’re more effective, but talking purely on the eye test.

The way I see it is If they had a decent striker I could see them being top, to be honest. But they don't, so we are. Their midfield wants a team to press on to them, as they are very close to one another and can easily ping it around a team.

Fortunately for us, we got our press and tactics spot on against them. Plus, they seemed to have severe "headloss" from our more physical game at times.

David O'Day · 2026-03-09T10:43:15+0000

Skybluekyle said:
The way I see it is If they had a decent striker I could see them being top, to be honest. But they don't, so we are. Their midfield wants a team to press on to them, as they are very close to one another and can easily ping it around a team.

Fortunately for us, we got our press and tactics spot on against them. Plus, they seemed to have severe "headloss" from our more physical game at times.

need a better defence as well as decent teams will target that

Samueljames1991 · 2026-03-09T10:49:13+0000

David O'Day said:
The smoggies still trying to pretend "Hellball" is brilliant when it is basically the same way Carrick played.

And they couldn't defend long balls all the game when we played against them.

I bet Ayling still sees haji in his nightmares after that game

Ipad Boro · 2026-03-09T10:49:18+0000

Ccfcisparks said:
Its just patronising. All the nonsense about hoodoo, and well oiled machine really discredits our quality.

It doesn't discredit you in the slightest. It won Chelsea numerous titles, Mourinho was hailed as a master tactician and their attacking players regularly and rightfully got plaudits.

Not my fault you can't take a bloody compliment!

As for the Hoodoo that doesn't detract from your performance either, there are different ways of a Hoodoo being borne out. We have the exact same Hoodoo over Brum, but likewise it shouldn't detract from our performance on that day, like yourselves against us, we found another way to win, thereby fulfilling the Hoodoo.

Personally I don't know what fans of other clubs have said on here in the past, but I suspect you're tarring me with the same brush and assuming that almost everything I say is some kind of dig for whatever reason. It's not. I don't mind a bit of craic, that's all good fun, but persistently making digs isn't my style at all.

There's similarities between Carrick and Hellberg, but there's also major differences in their setup. What we have now is more fluid, with each player having less nailed down positions. Subs will also be made as soon as they're needed, rather than waiting until 75 minutes to get "even fresher legs" which Carrick would not deviate from and above all else if we went off the boil for a few games, Hellberg mixes it up and does the unexpected. Carrick had little in the way of a Plan B.

David O'Day · 2026-03-09T10:59:11+0000

Samueljames1991 said:
And they couldn't defend long balls all the game when we played against them.

I bet Ayling still sees haji in his nightmares after that game

Soft as anything at the back

shmmeee · 2026-03-09T11:07:00+0000

fernandopartridge said:
I think the more pragmatic way we've played recently is more sustainable in the Prem if we get there.

I think it’s going to be really interesting to see how we set up. Also because I’d expect us to buy most of a new team which means Lampard isn’t working with what he’s given and can build around whatever style he wants. If it’s us Boro and Ipswich who do go up I think we’ve got the best chance of staying up personally.

Championship thread 25/26! (40 Viewers)

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