Championship players

[GoSWINDON]

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 .

[DiV]

Fods and Ferry, right now. That's it

[Arriba]

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

[Bukkake Regiment]

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.

[Batch]

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.

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.

[Peter Venkman]

Cannot disagree with any of that Batch.

[leefer]

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!

[tans]

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

[Batch]

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.

[Batch]

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

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

[tans]

[Topcat]

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.

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

[Arriba]

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.

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.

[Batch]

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

[adje]

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.