Championship Promoted Teams

[johniescfc]

As a stoke city fan,the nerves are starting to bite in now as the season comes to a climax.Who do you fancy for the two promotion spots and who for the next four in play offs.

goooooonnnnnnnnn stoke

[Richie1971]

WBA

Bristol Shitty

Charlton

Plymouth

Hull

Stoke

[johniescfc]

quite possible ritchie 1971.the 6 you mentioned isnt rocket science though lol,but if i am unbiased i would say the top 2 are right with stoke 3rd.

[Richie1971]

As a Plymouth Fan, I could not live with myself if I didn't put them in - Karma and all that......

[JacknDanny]

As a stoke city fan,the nerves are starting to bite in now as the season comes to a climax.Who do you fancy for the two promotion spots and who for the next four in play offs.

goooooonnnnnnnnn stoke

West Brom and Watford, for the top 2.

Bristol City, Ipswich, Crystal Palace, Wolves for the places

[mrtoad]

Still think WBA will win it, but hope that Bristol City go up as well automatically.

As for the playoffs -I'd like PLymouth to go up, but my head says Watford or Charlton, sorry if I've offended the Stoke fans.

In the end it's all set up for an intriguing run in.

[johniescfc]

Not upset mr toad,them days are long gone now,you have your views and i appreciate them.stoke have won 5,drawn one and lost 2 in the last 8 games so the wheels havent fallen off yet.some hard games to come just like the rest and if we can get a result home to bristol city and away to watford we will get promotion i think.never mind,good luck to all supporters with a vested interest and could be a good idea for a good piss up at the end of a very interesting season.i am in pattaya,and lived there for 4 years.

[chavy]

Well, after so many years in the doldrums I hope you do it. Though I do think that you may get pipped at the end of the season tbh.

[johniescfc]

Hope not chavy but possible.may the best 2 teans win.

[mrbojangles]

It's a tough one cos there are only 11 points between 7th and 1st. Quite close really but on another note, who do you think out of that lot could cut the mustard and stay up if they got promoted?

[johniescfc]

Supposed to be 60 million for the two promoted sides,and stoke chairman has already stated he will spend at least 25 million quid,but sunderland has spent over 35 million and they are only just above religation.also i think roy keane has not spent wisely.increased wages etc and having to have a bigger squad will always be the promoted teams will struggle.

to answer your question i think west brom could stay up and maybe charlton and thats it realy.hope stoke would be being a realist i have to say they would not.would be great watching them most weeks though,here in pattaya.

[Sunderland]

I could only see West Brom staying up out of the teams in with a chance of promotion. Bristol City, Watford, Stoke and the rest would be odds on for a quick return to the Championship next season. If Sunderland go down, then I would expect them to pass the forementioned teams on the way back up to the Premier League at the end of the 2008-9 season.

[johniescfc]

Would be better if newcastle went down wouldnt it lol.

keegan for heart attack i say.

[mrtoad]

Supposed to be 60 million for the two promoted sides,and stoke chairman has already stated he will spend at least 25 million quid,but sunderland has spent over 35 million and they are only just above religation.also i think roy keane has not spent wisely.increased wages etc and having to have a bigger squad will always be the promoted teams will struggle.

to answer your question i think west brom could stay up and maybe charlton and thats it realy.hope stoke would be being a realist i have to say they would not.would be great watching them most weeks though,here in pattaya.

I think the problem with Keane this year, is that he had bought in afair few players last season, who were clearly bought to get them promoted the following season, i.e. good championship players. He's been loyal to a few of them, although he has made a couple of good signings such as Jones, Reid and to a certain extent Yorke. IMO, and probably share with a few others, Sunderland got promoted one year too early.

As regards to staying up next season, think WBA could stay up if they get promoted, they certainly have the strongest squad on paper of all the main teams challenging, plus they are still getting parachute payments. Charlton similar to WBA.Watford have been a bit up and down of recent, but they have an excellent manager who has done a fantastic job on fairly limited resources, and he was no way out of his depth in terms of tactics and management when they were in the EPL last year.

I'd fear for Bristol City or Plymouth if they went up, but again it would depend on the budget available. Gary Johnson at Bristol City is a very experienced and wily manager, with a good knowledge of the game in Europe and at an international level, he has also won promotion from Conference up, so only needs this one to complete the set. If Bristol had adequate cash, they might just manage to stay up, but they will have to overhaul the current squad, which too many could be seen as overacheiving this season.They have a decent stadium and are well supported.. Plymouth on the otherhand, would be very well supported, but there doesn't appear to be much funding there, and a lot of players are running down their contracts, and a few of the better players have already left.There also seems to be the ususal political bullshit floating around in the boardroom, with even rumours of Don MaCauley returning, not sure how true these are though. Sturrock is a good manager at this level, but maybe not in the Premiership. Stoke again, would struggle, but as Johnnie has suggested they may have 25 mil to speand, so it will depend on how Pullis spends. Money doesn't guarantee survival, and just remeber Peter Taylor at Leicester a few years ago an established EPL side, a good coaching reputation when he started but ended up buying some pretty expensive duds -Akinbiyi, Benjamin and Jones to name but a few and they went down quicker than a girl in Lolita's.

Suppose we shouldn't rule out Wolves, Ipswich, Burnley or Palace, as it is often the case that a team hitting a strong run from behind does well in the Play -Offs.

Totally fascinating league.

[johniescfc]

mrtoad.may i ask how you know about lolitas lol lol lol.

[mrtoad]

mrtoad.may i ask how you know about lolitas lol lol lol.

A friend told me :0

[johniescfc]

better go find out for myself then pmsl

[Spit the Dog]

From what I've seen of West Brom, they look good. They only thing which might hinder them is the distraction of the FA Cup. Nevertheless, they should get enough points to go up automatically.

Usually one of the relegated teams from the season before goes straight back up so, I'd fancy Watford to return also.

From the play offs I'd go for Ipswich. I don't know why, but they must be due a return to the top flight.

I know that Stoke have done well to be where they are in the league but any team that loses 4-1 to a 10 man Newcastle side obviously isn't ready to be promoted. If Stoke did go up they could be another Derby.

While we are on the subject of Championship football, as I am unfortunately a fan of the Toon, where can I watch Championship football in Bangkok next season? It looks like there could be some lonely Sunday evenings sat by myself in a bar watching Newcastle v Swansea.

[jasreeve17]

Ipswich are going up this year, I can feel it in my bones...

[hanibal7]

Another stokie here.As of the 22nd march we are 1 point clear of bristol city.I know west brazil and watford have got 2 and 1 game to play to catch up but i would rather have the points in the bag.We cocked up against blackpool but bristol lost and watford,charlton drew.6 games to go and i feel that stoke have the easier run in but the way results have gone that dont mean jack shiiiiiiiit.Hull seem to be the ones who are putting good results together so watch out west brazil,hull are coming after you.