Championship - 2023/24

PNE look worse than us at our worst. Fair play to those QPR fans up there on a freezing Friday night

 

Sky showed the underlying stats, they indicated that they were very much overachieving to get in the mix with the big boys to start with

 

Fully aware we are on a hot streak, and that we are in the middle of a difficult run, but what is the limit for this squad? We've closed the gap to the play-offs, are they possible?

 

YEP!!!

 

Anything is possible, I just think the worst is now less likely. If we continue the way we played yesterday, playoffs are achievable.
But don't forget but for a penalty save and a wonder goal, for all our good work yesterday could easily of been a loss.

 

18 points from the last 9 games is an excellent return, but a number of those performances were a bit dodgy, at least in part. Let’s see how we do against Saints and Ipswich.

 

Them's the breaks, we have had a few games where we've been short-changed only to get a point (or less). Sort of like in the Prem when we were chasing Europe, I think below the relegated 3 and Ipswich, there is not that much between basically all the teams in the division, so we'll have to do extremely well to come in the top 2 of that 'mini-league', but it's not beyond the realms of possibility

 

We have had many bad results this season when similar fine margins have gone against us as well don't forget.

 

Agreed, we should comfortably be an upper middle team. Without bad luck should have a shot at the playoffs.

 

Lots of green shoots , some of them turning into daffodils.

If we managed to get 4 points from Soton and Ipswich , I think it’s time to get excited. At least I will , although it doesn’t take much .

 

And up another spot as Sunderland have binned off Mowbray now too!

https://x.com/SunderlandAFC/status/1731795470962352457?s=20

 

The Sunderland sacking seems harsh, they only got back up to the second tier last season and overachieved a bit by reaching the playoffs but I thought their results were OK this season.

 

Put it this way, if you'd told me when we played them that one of the two managers involved would be gone by the start of December, I wouldn't have guessed it would be theirs!

 

Maybe expectations are high with them being a big club and they’re expected to push on towards a return to the top flight, especially with the season Ipswich are having. There have been a number of big clubs at least for League 1 who’ve challenged after coming back up and in some cases gone straight through the Championship to the Prem. Of course it hasn’t always worked out like that, especially in recent seasons - look at Sheffield Wednesday every time they come back up, Bolton, Charlton and to a lesser extent Blackburn who’ve never made the play-offs since being relegated from the Prem in 2012 and look like they might fall short again this season.

 

I think Mowbray has health issues? Not sure. It may be a decision agreed by both sides?

 

Maybe he was only ever a stop-gap manager, you have to say he did a tremendous job, but maybe they think someone else is likelier to get them promoted now they are settled in the division

 

Sunderland are in a fantastic position. Are they expecting to be mixing it with Leicester, Soton and Leeds??

 

Poor Duff never recovered from the shame of being the first side to lose to us at home for months.

 

My my my. Lots of sackings and we aren't one of them.

 

It's actually very refreshing to have a manager that we have "stuck by" compared to previous managers. VI would have been sacked after 11 games in any of the other Pozzo seasons. In a way, I hope we have a good season but don't go up so we can continue to build and improve next season. If we do go up, I fear it will be the same old nonsense that we had to endure in previous Premier League campaigns.

 

What does xG say ? That gives us our real league position, forget all this published table’s nonsense.

 

Shocking. Some of these owners simply have no patience.

 

Not the Championship (this season), but now Sheffield Utd have sacked Heckingbottom to replace him with... err, Chris Wilder.

Bizarre.

 

Totally. I do think his style of play suits the Prem though. Just needs players that could step up which our budget wouldn't give him.

 

So five of our past Head Coaches are now in the PL, and all in the bottom half of the table.

 

Kompany to be replaced by Bilic at full-time today then?