Are we looking forward to the Championship?

[BlackHillsPaul]

Relegation is a fact of life in English football. It lays bare a club's inability to compete at certain levels. The fun part of promotion is to see if our club could rise to the next level and compete. We got teased in the first season back under Bielsa. But it wasn't sustainable. We have now demonstrated that we can't compete in the Premier League. So after two miserable seasons I'm very happy to drop back down to the Championship. Because we CAN be competitive at that level. And that is just more fun to watch.

All that said, I want Leeds United to compete for trophies. Winning the Championship and making an FA Cup run should be the objective. Dropping down to the Championship should not mean we abandon ambition. And the next time we earn promotion to the PL the club will have another opportunity to prove they can compete at the highest level.

[geronimo]

Relegation is a fact of life in English football. It lays bare a club's inability to compete at certain levels. The fun part of promotion is to see if our club could rise to the next level and compete. We got teased in the first season back under Bielsa. But it wasn't sustainable. We have now demonstrated that we can't compete in the Premier League. So after two miserable seasons I'm very happy to drop back down to the Championship. Because we CAN be competitive at that level. And that is just more fun to watch.

All that said, I want Leeds United to compete for trophies. Winning the Championship and making an FA Cup run should be the objective. Dropping down to the Championship should not mean we abandon ambition. And the next time we earn promotion to the PL the club will have another opportunity to prove they can compete at the highest level.

but leeds have been out of the equation far too long , how many times should we have to bounce back? when we have the likes of fulham , brentford , brighton , bournemouth in the premier league , you would think after taking sixteen years to return , lessons would hve been learned but obviously not . unless your over the age of forty a leeds fan has never seen the club win a major trophy . the way the club has been run for such a vast length of time is a travesty . fans getting excited about us winning a few more games next season , makes us look more of a laughing stock than we actually are , and we have the cheek to call ourselves arch rivals to man utd the club is a joke from top to bottom

[Irish Ian]

but leeds have been out of the equation far too long , how many times should we have to bounce back? when we have the likes of fulham , brentford , brighton , bournemouth in the premier league , you would think after taking sixteen years to return , lessons would hve been learned but obviously not . unless your over the age of forty a leeds fan has never seen the club win a major trophy . the way the club has been run for such a vast length of time is a travesty . fans getting excited about us winning a few more games next season , makes us look more of a laughing stock than we actually are , and we have the cheek to call ourselves arch rivals to man utd the club is a joke from top to bottom

This idea that we are a laughing stock is truth be told a load of old bollocks mate.

Every fan base spends most of its time worrying about their own concerns rather than what is happening elsewhere.

Agree we shouldn't see ManU as our major rivals mate but that again is more about perception than reality

[Irish Ian]

Relegation is a fact of life in English football. It lays bare a club's inability to compete at certain levels. The fun part of promotion is to see if our club could rise to the next level and compete. We got teased in the first season back under Bielsa. But it wasn't sustainable. We have now demonstrated that we can't compete in the Premier League. So after two miserable seasons I'm very happy to drop back down to the Championship. Because we CAN be competitive at that level. And that is just more fun to watch.

All that said, I want Leeds United to compete for trophies. Winning the Championship and making an FA Cup run should be the objective. Dropping down to the Championship should not mean we abandon ambition. And the next time we earn promotion to the PL the club will have another opportunity to prove they can compete at the highest level.

We will have a few more wins Paul
The problem comes when we either find ourselves with a sniff of promotion and the anxiety comes back as each game is perceived as " must win" or we dont do that and it becomes another aimless season.

s**t show all round

[lufc1304]

Its a gamble that back four. Altho i haven't seen much of either Dramah, Cresswell & Hjelde there doesn't seem a lot of pace and i don't know if there is a ball player amongst them all. But still this is the championship.

It is, which is why I'm unsure that any new manager will risk it. Good point re the lack of a ball player; from what I've seen, Wober isn't, though he is a solid defender. I suppose my point is I'm not as confident as faaip is that we're set defensively.

[1964white]

Relegation is a fact of life in English football. It lays bare a club's inability to compete at certain levels. The fun part of promotion is to see if our club could rise to the next level and compete. We got teased in the first season back under Bielsa. But it wasn't sustainable. We have now demonstrated that we can't compete in the Premier League. So after two miserable seasons I'm very happy to drop back down to the Championship. Because we CAN be competitive at that level. And that is just more fun to watch.

All that said, I want Leeds United to compete for trophies. Winning the Championship and making an FA Cup run should be the objective. Dropping down to the Championship should not mean we abandon ambition. And the next time we earn promotion to the PL the club will have another opportunity to prove they can compete at the highest level.

Excellent Paul.

I'm happy again after reading your post.

[pjm2019]

My hope is that we are much more competitive, play a decent style of football and give our young pups a go to see who can cut it. But a lot needs to happen in a relatively short period of time, so I wouldn't be surprised if things are a little bumpy initially.

Faaip, I'm interested in who you see as being our back four. I'd be happy enough with Drameh-Cresswell-Wober-Hjelde, but I'm not sure any new manager will pitch three of that four straight in, and we might lose Wober.

i like this back 4

[pjm2019]

Am I looking forward to next season??

What do you think?

Funny !! Only james would make it in my selection and then it would be on the bench

[BlackHillsPaul]

Excellent Paul.

I'm happy again after reading your post.

Thanks Leon!

Also, I forgot the League Cup. We should try and win that too. We will have 3 trophies to play for next season. The objective of our club should be to win every one of them. THAT is what football is all about. Winning the trophies in front of you. What a fantastic opportunity we have.

The worst mentality a club could have is to just try and earn promotion. Promotion without winning trophies is a meaningless rinse and repeat cycle.

[weasel]

New managerial team - Depends who they are

New players arriving at ER - Depends who they are

Our best young stars featuring in the first-team - our best young stars Cree and Gnonto may be off - no guarantee that any of the young stars are even championsip class and I include Cresswell in that.

Approach games with a winning mentality - hopefully but we may end up losing just as many and usually even in a champiosnhip winning year you lose a few games. We lost 9 when we were promoted.

We'll win more games - hopefully

Make Elland Road a fortress once again - hopefully, it could easily turn into a very hostile place for our players to play if things don't go well, like towards the end of Grayson's reign and the toxicity around Bates

Quality of football, better to watch from a Leeds perspective, can't be worse than last season - equally losing to absolutely sh*t teams won't have me dancing in the street.

Score more goals - should do but depends who we have up front etc

Players playing for the shirt I think the majority gave their all last season, just poor management and some players not being good enough

Not feeling miserable after virtually every game - equally though a certain resignation set in last year whereas a defeat was expected so you don't have the comedown after expecting a win. THe considerable wobble over the christmas period of our title winning season left most of us miserable.

SKY darlings of the championship, we'll be on tele every other week - don't see any benefit there as premierleague games are all on tv via streams and there were lots of streams, will be harder to get streams in the championship as there isn't the worldwide interest

No VAR - will renmind of that when countless terrible decisions go against us

Not as many prima donnas in the championship - there will still be plenty just we don't know as much about them.

Only one team can win the Premier League, and a select few can make the top six, not the case in the championship - it was fun watching Arsenal implode

Sorry Barlow

[Jimang]

In many ways I am. Chance for us to reset, and build a new competitive team. Back four of Drameh, Cresswell, Wobber and Hjelde is the one I was thinking of too. Manning of Swansea seems a possible left back also, and Kristensen and Montiogo will give us cover at CB. Just need a Manager brave enough to give these players a chance.

[The Subhuman]

Diaz & Gyorkes are proven in the champs & would be decent signings. Signing Che Adams would be dependent on whether the Saints retain or sell Nathan Tella ( I'd consider him) after his successful loan season at Burnley, 17 goals in 39 games.

A goalscoring central midfielder is essential. Can't believe we played without one for two seasons in the PL.

Which is what Che is for me, he's not an out and out striker but best coming from deep. He's strong on the ball and can pick a pass too

[The Subhuman]

We should be considering Joel Piroe at Swansea as well

You are very probably right, I've just never heard of him

[The Subhuman]

This idea that we are a laughing stock is truth be told a load of old bollocks mate.

Every fan base spends most of its time worrying about their own concerns rather than what is happening elsewhere.

Agree we shouldn't see ManU as our major rivals mate but that again is more about perception than reality

Absolutely, if you're worried about us being a laughing stock it's time to support someone else ....

[The Subhuman]

It is, which is why I'm unsure that any new manager will risk it. Good point re the lack of a ball player; from what I've seen, Wober isn't, though he is a solid defender. I suppose my point is I'm not as confident as faaip is that we're set defensively.

Everything is a gamble ..... a 50% hit rate on signings is high, 60 % is excellent.. A world class elite player could walk into a new club and fail ... it's happened a lot, especially at striker.

[The Subhuman]

A back 4 of Ayling (I think Drameh goes and plays prem for a season) Kristensen (assuming Koch moves) - Cooper and Wober would be among the best in the division assuming the manager knows what he's doing and finds the enforcer in front.

A back 4 of Monteiro -Cresswell - Hjelde and Firpo would probably the best back up 4 in the division

[Musicman1965]

No, not really, the championship is a tough league and the players need to ready to go through a long season of close competitive games. Our current team has suffered in the Premier League down to the fact that they are just not good enough. Our defence has be the area where I would totally rebuild with the exception of Wober. He is decent if he stays fit but as for the rest most need to be shown the door or play a support role. If we do not reinforce in this area we are going to be torn apart. Middle of the park we need a mixture of experience and creativity, but for me it has to be about keeping the ball and finding the gaps. We need two decent strikers, so spend some money on a proven goalscorer and not some kid with the potential. Mind you all of this is a complete waste of time if we don't have a decent manager, director of football that knows how to build a squad and an owner that is not going to pop out for a pizza in different country when the going gets tough.

[Jaydog]

How do you look forward to playing in the Championship? The Premier League is the big toilet and the Championship is the cesspit underneath

[The Subhuman]

My hope is that we are much more competitive, play a decent style of football and give our young pups a go to see who can cut it. But a lot needs to happen in a relatively short period of time, so I wouldn't be surprised if things are a little bumpy initially.

Faaip, I'm interested in who you see as being our back four. I'd be happy enough with Drameh-Cresswell-Wober-Hjelde, but I'm not sure any new manager will pitch three of that four straight in, and we might lose Wober.

I've posted elsewhere and assumed the loss of Drameh and Koch, though both could easily stay we'd certainly make a profit on both if they are sold and I'd imagine both want to move for differing reasons

So:

Ayling - Kristensen - Cooper - Wober would be my opening day back 4 assuming the above

Monteiro - Cresswell - Hjelde - Firpo would be damn decent to

A name not mentioned anymore but should be because he's played out of position for me too much, is Jamie Shackleton, his best position is right wing back imo, never let us down there and for me lacks the physicality to play DMF or CMF which I think is where Millwall played him... He just looks a natural at right back to me and he has anothe ryear on contract and don't think Millwall had a guarantee to buy clause

Llorente is a classy on ball CD imo, struggles a bit with the off ball stuff but his first season saw him top 3 in our ratings till injury halfway through the season. He hasn't played much, for us, at RCB since and he maybe a better ball playing DMF or third CB/sweeper. It's likely though he's sent on loan again

[Jaydog]

Like going on holiday to the Maldives and saying “oh it was lovely but I prefer Blackpool”. And Blackpool is a f**king shithole. It’s a f**king great big f**king shithole like the Championship