So, 7 Games In... Championship or PL?

[NoFixedAbode_Claret]

Championship: Best league in the world. Full Stop.

A lot of hot air in here. Full Stop.

[jollyjack]

Been spoiled since 2009. We are one bad managerial appointment from losing all the benefits of the last decade and ending up back in League 1/2. Hopefully that is a long way off and I am loving this season, as the last one in this division. Need to keep in mind what our realisitc reach is if we don't get a regular dose of the PL coffers. PL is VITAL to the existence of so many Clubs. we're only one hoping for that opportunity to stave off the near impossible costs of competing at the higher end of this league without access to the riches of the PL.

[houseboy]

This.

Too many here thi k this is sustainable for long term. It isn't without more investment or crowds. 2 or 3 years at this level and we rrop back to 12-14k per game and the drudge of a long season with shitter opposition.

Think the Prem was a slog? Wait for it in the Champ.

Premier league every time and I can't understand why anyone wouldn't want it either. The whole point of professional sport is to be as successful as possible.

If successful is scraping along the bottom of the barrel feeding off scraps. It’s no secret on here that I hate the PL, it’s destroying football in my opinion with the money obsession. Pundits creaming themselves when some oil rich club pays stupid money for an ordinary player. Fans of big clubs thinking there is a trophy for spending the most on players. Players being paid obscene amounts to dive around and fall over in a breeze. Many players being paid more in a week than most people earn in 2 years for watching a game from the bench. The hype of ‘the best league in the world’ (ask a German/Italian/Spaniard etc). Trying to find actual football news in papers or online without having to wade through turgid stories around United/Arsenal/Spurs etc.
Alas our top division, something we should aspire to, is just a money oriented circus that has very little to do with football in the real world. It’s fantasy football at its worst.

[BabylonClaret]

If successful is scraping along the bottom of the barrel feeding off scraps. It’s no secret on here that I hate the PL, it’s destroying football in my opinion with the money obsession. Pundits creaming themselves when some oil rich club pays stupid money for an ordinary player. Fans of big clubs thinking there is a trophy for spending the most on players. Players being paid obscene amounts to dive around and fall over in a breeze. Many players being paid more in a week than most people earn in 2 years for watching a game from the bench. The hype of ‘the best league in the world’ (ask a German/Italian/Spaniard etc). Trying to find actual football news in papers or online without having to wade through turgid stories around United/Arsenal/Spurs etc.
Alas our top division, something we should aspire to, is just a money oriented circus that has very little to do with football in the real world. It’s fantasy football at its worst.

You don't need a season ticket, you need a DeLorien

[Claret3495]

Shame that we've only got 39 games left before we have to go back to the Premier League

[superdimitri]

It's a shame that football has become what it has. If it wasn't for the massive gap in finances the premier league wouldn't be such a slog.

At the moment I'm scared of being promoted because with the way we now play and with the lack of quality we'd get completely and utterly smashed compared to our last tenure.

Hopefully we can do what Brentford have done and get the balance right and attack teams more if we do get promoted.

[FeedTheArf]

Championship is definitely more enjoyable. Were it not for the urgent need to get back to the financial riches the Prem offers, I’d be more than happy here for a few years. I’ve missed the Championship more than I’ve realised.

I’ve definitely not missed VAR, diving, media bias, entitled fans, even more entitled managers and desperately trying to scrape a 17th placed finish.

[houseboy]

Shame that we've only got 39 games left before we have to go back to the Premier League

[Spijed]

Championship is definitely more enjoyable. Were it not for the urgent need to get back to the financial riches the Prem offers, I’d be more than happy here for a few years. I’ve missed the Championship more than I’ve realised.

I’ve definitely not missed VAR, diving, media bias, entitled fans, even more entitled managers and desperately trying to scrape a 17th placed finish.

Diving is just as common in the Championship as it is in the Prem. Ashley Barnes will see to that.

[houseboy]

Championship is definitely more enjoyable. Were it not for the urgent need to get back to the financial riches the Prem offers, I’d be more than happy here for a few years. I’ve missed the Championship more than I’ve realised.

I’ve definitely not missed VAR, diving, media bias, entitled fans, even more entitled managers and desperately trying to scrape a 17th placed finish.

Reading this thread it appears I’m not as alone as I thought in my dislike of the PL. Championship is more enjoyable but because of the hyper inflation caused by the super rich in the PL and, dare I say it, the parachute payments the Championship is being caught up in that same hyper inflation but without the financial benefits of the PL. This is why I say PL is killing football because it is creating a financial problem in the lower divisions that is not offset by lucrative deals given to members of it. In the longer term I think we will see lower divisions moving to part time unless something is done to stop the stupid and unrealistic spending of the big PL clubs.

[Bosscat]

The Premier League has become a necessary evil now for clubs such as ours financially.

I am enjoying this start to the season and hope it carrys on and if it does it means we are back in the EPL ...

So the cycle will carry on ad infinitum.

[tiger76]

The Premier League has become a necessary evil now for clubs such as ours financially.

I am enjoying this start to the season and hope it carrys on and if it does it means we are back in the EPL ...

So the cycle will carry on ad infinitum.

A sad reality I'm afraid Bosscat, and although right now folks are enjoying the Championship, that's mainly because we're among the big hitters in the division, however if we don't go up in the next 2 seasons that won't remain the case for long.

And it's worth reminding some posters how dire our finances were before Coyle worked the oracle, and that's not a scenario I for one wish to see repeated anytime soon.

The Champ is great when we're challenging up the top end, but not so great if we're mired in mid-table mediocrity, or even worse embroiled in a relegation battle, which was often the way during our Championship tenure prior to reaching the PL.

Also without all the PL riches we'd never have been able to develop Barnfield for one, or employ someone of Kompany's stature.

[clarethomer]

I'm loving what I have seen over the summer and the start so far.

However, I would like us to be able to compete in the PL like we are competing now in the Championship (in terms of not expecting to be beat in every game) and for the board to be working on that as a plan.

I am loving football and the club at the moment and it's certainly what I needed given how I was feeling last season and to a degree the season before.

I accept there are shortcomings in the league with the way VAR has been implemented and the big club bias that is shown at times but I think we should be aspiring to be back there.

Don't want to open this up to another financial discussion but I wonder if part of Pace's thinking is that if we do get back up, his ability to market the club and attract both investors and different types of players because of VK and the style of play, it would help us be more competitive and provide a budget to enhance the squad further as we would have a manager that players want to play for.

Our style of play seems to have made us more attractive and we are able to get players that would never have come to us before based on that alone.

If (and it's a big IF btw and not one that I am saying will happen) we go onto score say 100+ goals this season and continue as we are then I think that we would all be excited by the prospect of seeing what this team could do in the PL. Being able to buy some additional quality and I think we would have the chance to be able have another season that saw us finish in the top half.

I don't think you need billionnaire owners but equally you do need a board that want to invest in the squad and not have one eye on the exit for a quick sale.

[FeedTheArf]

Diving is just as common in the Championship as it is in the Prem. Ashley Barnes will see to that.

Barnes is and always has been a terrible diver. Falling over in such a way to force the ref into a decision is his game, and he doesn’t do it half as well as he used to!