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I am bored and have been thinking about our side and the possibility of us surviving in the championship.i think  we would be ok and currently I think many of our players are good enough.
 Foderingham ,Thompson,ward,Devera,ferry,Roberts caddis,Williams,storey, all good enough with Collins,flint,henvile and maybe little thompson ok on the bench.so maybe 4/5quality players short of decent midtable side? Thoughts anyone?

Not sure about Williams or Roberts, haven't seen enough of Henville, but the rest should be adequate enough.
If we do go up, I would say we would need a couple of strikers, a midfielder, left back and a couple of wingers to strengthen the squad.

Poor league 1 this season and don't think our squad is a patch on the one Wilson took to the play offs. Think we'd need 8 quality players at least to come in if we go up. Some will step up ok but i'm buggered if i know who. Foderingham will be ok but the jury is out on the rest of them for me.

Caddis is already proven and surely you must rate Thompson as good enough.

The only ones who i think are championship quality are Foderingham, Thompson, ferry. Its all very well having a squad who performs on those special "big day out" cup days, but it wouldnt be a squad that would perform consistently at a higher level.
My players that would be maybe's or players to develop over time would be Mcceverly, mccormack, ward, roberts, collins, storey.
The rest of them would stand a chance im afraid!

I think some of our squad could easily hold their own in the Championship.
Foderingham is the one that is a massive definite, the way it's going this lad will be a Premiership Goalkeeper one day.
McEvely, yet having been proven at that level before I feel has left his prime and doubt he will be Championship standard, one for the bench.
Ward and Flint I feel could be a decent partnership at that level, with Flint still having age on his side, Devera will probably be a bench warmer and Troy may potentially be Championship standard if fully fit.
In regards to Thompson, I think the lad is absolutely class, great in the tackle, good position and marking, can dazzle through defences when going forward.
If Caddis was open to a return, I'd put the lad at Right wing, his crossing is second to none and has decent dribbling, him and Thommo on the right could be interesting.
Ferry is Championship standard, Miller and Navarro, not so much, albeit Navarro was a proven Championship Anchorman prior to joining us.
Roberts has flashes of brilliance but feel he lacks pace to perform at Championship level. No idea how Raffa or Luke Rooney would get on.
Williams would be good I imagine, but his finishing would need improving, but his all round game makes up for it. Collins has the potential for sure, as does Storey once his first touch is improved.

After the first half on Tuesday night I sat there thinking neither team are good enough to go up automatically let alone stay up.

On reflection that was probably a bit harsh/pessimistic, but I still think that unless we added fairly significantly then we'd struggle. Remember a lot of the squad were signed as league 2 players, although obviously that's not to say succeeding 2 levels higher can't be done. Ferry, Fods, Cads, Thompson would continue to thrive IMO, the likes of Roberts, JMac, AMac, Williams, Collins could do a job but probably wouldn't set the world alight, others not sure. Lets hope we get to find out  :)

Roberts should be playing at a higher level you know.

Don't agree with Ferry being Championship standard. He's too weak and slow.

Foderingham, Thompson, Devera & Williams would all do well. Think Collins would probably do well in a less physical league, as he has a good touch and holds the ball up well, but wouldn't get smashed in the back week after week.

Foderingham.

The rest aren't good enough for a higher level.

Think are team as it is now wouldn't stand much chance of staying up in the Championship, on that basis I think only Foderingham, Ferry & Thompson are the only really potentially decent players at that standard. Flint, Devera and couple others would be bench/squad depth standard.

Massive leap in standard between the 2 leagues

Foderingham is certainly good enough, I would say that Caddis (if he ever came back) would be, Ferry, Ward & Thompson (if he cools his over eagerness in tackles down) could also be good squad players, Williams, Collins and Roberts MAY be able to step up, the rest probably couldn't IMO.

yep

somewhere in the Andes

Ferry won't be here next season. Gut feeling.

Thompson is far too rash and positionally lacking, may improve but would need to do so quick if we get promoted.

Ward would get ripped to shreds because of his lack of pace.

Ferry is too small and weak to be a force in the championship. It's his only real flaw but in such a key postition in that high quality league he will be found wanting. If we go up then i hope the board finds some serious money. I won't hold my breath but we will need it.

I don't believe the current team would last a season in Div 1.
Mind you I would love to be given the opportunity but have we got a sustainable "off field set up" ? .....unlikely at present.

Blimey the way most people are talking, if we go up we're jumping straight into the Champions League rather than the Championship. We'll need to reinforce for sure but none more so than we did this season IMO.

Martin Ling and Micky Hazard coped.

Utterly ridiculous comparisons

Hazard maybe, not Linger though. Spent most of his career at at a lower level - before, during and after he played for us.

Were they not light and weak?

Erm....... Ling was a first team regular for most of the five years he spent at Town between '91 and '95, with about 150 appearances to his name. I might be wrong but I seem to remember those years being spent in the top two divisions.

The "he spent a lot of his career in the lower leagues" argument is bollocks is that player then goes on to actually play successfully in a higher league.

I like Ferry , he is a good player ( at this level ) but i dont think being small and weak would be the problem , he just isn't good enough and nowhere near the talent of Hazard and Lingo , IMO

My point exactly. Being small and weak doesn't stop someone playing top class football. Shaun Taylor could have tucked Ossie Ardiles under one arm and wandered around all day without noticing he was there, but I know which one was capable of playing top flight football.

I agree with Fodders and Thompson being able to adjust to the Championship . I love Flint and if he keeps  his head down and finds his true potential he could also . Rafa has got quality but inconsistent , Alan Mac ....100% commitment  but not sure at a higher level, i dont think Williams has enough self confidence ( thats a guess ) and Collins?  maybe . the rest would struggle i think .

Just read that back and it's not very helpful just my opinion.

 :yikes:

 :no:

Look at Leon Britton: very similar in stature and style and gradually worked his way up league by league from the 4th division to the Prem. Probably Swansea's most important midfielder in one of the best teams in the top division (and he's smaller and weaker than Ferry!)

Why is size more important in the Championship. Is it full of big lumps or something?

I agree. People seem to have an almost mythological view of the quality of the Championship.

The kind of performances we put in against Tranmere, Stoke, Carlisle, Villa second half etc., certainly good enough to win games in the Championship from the quality of some of them I've seen. We've also brushed aside Brighton and Burnley easily enough this season and outplayed Leicester the season before.

I think a lot of footballing success is built around attitude.

On the one hand, footballing quality (which has to realistically be bought) is an attribute that can overcome a bad attitude (e.g. Man United keep on winning ugly on their way to the title), but equally, a good attitude (something that can be taught/ implemented) can overcome a gap in quality, as we've shown with results against higher division teams this and the previous season.

If we got promoted it would be this latter attribute we'd be most reliant on if we wanted to survive, as we're never going to be able to compete with other teams on transfer fees and wages etc.

 Beating a team/teams in higher divisions happens all the time in cup competitions , playing them every week is an entirely different kettle of fish. I would of thought most clubs in the championship would have a good  attitude , so it would come down to how good the players are.

I agree that you can't read too much into one off results in cup competitions.

But Blackpool, Hull, Reading, Derby, Burnley and Stoke are all excellent examples of 6 clubs recently promoted to the Premiership who managed to out compete their rivals over the course of a full season despite ostensibly weaker squads/ budgets. 

The primary attribute of most of those teams was not the transfer value or individual quality of their players, but a better team-ethic, a positive attitude and a collective willingness to work hard.

I know it can happen , it's happened to us in the past but we had a brilliant team at the time , all im saying is i dont think we are good enough to stay in the championship with the players we have however good their attitude is . This could all change of course with better players coming in .

Fods and Ferry, right now. That's it

Ferry at our current level struggles off the ball or when he looses it. He will see less of it if we get promoted. He's decent with the ball but won't get the time up a level.
I rate him but can't see him stepping up a level to the required standard week in week out.
Of course you can be small and good enough at any level,but you have to be good enough first. If you're netting goals week in week out or making a big difference to the side then fair enough(to his credit he's got a couple recently)at this level is one of our best players but the step up to the Championship should not be underestimated.
Squad player yes,regular think the odds are against him.

Hazard is one of the most gifted footballers i've ever seen in a town shirt but he spent alot of the time on the bench remember. Ferry is nowhere near as good as him.

Ling wasn't weak either and spent alot of time wide. Centre mid big ask in the Champ,particularly if we go with 2 in there. If we go with 3 then his chances rise

In my opinion the new players we have that are good enough for the Championship are Foderingham, Thompson, Ward and Ferry. The rest are already at their level.

It weird, and this isn't a dig, but pundits always infer you get more time on the ball when you move up a level. Not seen much evidence of that, good players make the space and there are more good players there. Bad players get exposed more.

Its a difficult question to answer, I think I agree with just Ferry (Central) and Fods, though Roberts and Ward have already done it there too. But we've probably all seen players we thought couldn't make it move up a league without issue, and players who looked a class above struggle in the next league up.

In my opinion as a squad we don't have enough quality to sustain championship football. We just aren't clinical enough and I think we'd get punished even more up a league.

Cannot disagree with any of that Batch.

Agree with arriba.....Ferry is a good player,but i wouldn't have him down as a player who could hold down a place in a good Championship team....to many poor matches added to his good.....Yeovil is a case in point.

I hope to be proven wrong because he certainly has quality....but seems to struggle with the pace of matches at times.
As others have said you dont find out untill they are tested.....many people(not me i may add) thought Thompson wouldn't cut it......player of the season for me so far.

All about opinions though as my mate from work would give it to Ferry!

When we sell Foderingham in the summer to balance the books Luke mccormick will be available on a free

Thompson is an excellent example Leefer. My initial thoughts, putting a kid in to fill Caddis boots is madness. Then I thought he couldn't keep it up all season, but he nearly has.

But what has most impressed me is his ability to cope with everything. Best example - Coventry away. Made a mistake, got booked and was awful for 10-15 minutes.  Seasoned pros often fall to pieced under these circumstances. Credit to Mac because he kept him on. And Thompson corrected all that was wrong and had a great 75 minutes.

Still think Caddis is better right now, but being older he should be.

Save it for the Twitter billy goat gruffs that stomp over your bridge!

:)

The current squad of players would not have a chance of staying up in the championship we only have to look down the M4 at  Bristol City to see their quality probably wont be enough for them to stay up. I think the gulf between the divisions is massive and we would have to strip the team completely to have any chance of survival. Also the players in the team aroud the late 80's & early 90's were a different class i:e bodin, kerslake, taylor, calderwood, moncur, hoddle, ling, Alan Mac etc and I could never see us attracting that type of player here again

See where you're coming from but my reasons are this. The calibre of the oppostion will be higher,both in quality on the ball but also off it. The things Ferry does well won't work quite as well up a level.He might get a bit more time on the ball(cannot see it myself) but the options infront of him will decrease if that happens as the oppostion will be tighter to break down. I suspect the team in general will see less of the ball too and defensive work will increase. He will have to improve a fair bit imo.

As you rightly point out though,only when they are thrown in will we know for sure.

Its something I've not noticed about Ferry before (the off the ball stuff). I'll now be looking out for it :)

we didnt look too out of our depth against Stoke or Villa.I think most of our squad will be fine bar Williams unfortunately.If we can get Danny Hollands back and one quality striker if we go up I'll be happy.