The 2021/2022 Championship

[grumswall]

Ht3 has to be the doorest c*nt on this forum. Everything is terrible and nothing will ever be good.
We came up last season and were unlucky not to finish second. It's definitely doable if you have a team good enough. Mccall is no mug either so I don't see thistle having to worry about relegation. In saying that, i don't know how big an overhaul you've had since you were relegated. That team was brutal and easily beaten by us in the challenge Cup where we went on to be crowned Co-champions.

[Paco]

In the last ten years only one League 1 champion hasn’t finished in the top five, and that was Cowdenbeath who finished 8th and avoided relegation which I’m sure was success for them.

Partick should definitely be aiming at the play-offs. If Raith, QoS and Morton can come up and finish 5th or higher, there’s no reason they can’t. Even part-time Arbroath were in 5th, and very much challenging for 4th, when Covid stopped things.

[Fuctifano]

2 hours ago, grumswall said:

Ht3 has to be the doorest c*nt on this forum. Everything is terrible and nothing will ever be good.
We came up last season and were unlucky not to finish second. It's definitely doable if you have a team good enough. Mccall is no mug either so I don't see thistle having to worry about relegation. In saying that, i don't know how big an overhaul you've had since you were relegated. That team was brutal and easily beaten by us in the challenge Cup where we went on to be crowned Co-champions.

Of the guys who played 10 or more games that season only Bannigan and O'Ware are contracted for this season and it wouldn't totally surprise me if the latter is moved on a free if we can get a taker. 

Gordon and Penrice also played a fair bit and have been offered deals but neither will be a first choice starter if they do sign. 

Graham, Brownlie and Rudden were on the books in 19/20 and will be key players next season but played 6,5 and 4 league games respectively (and Rudden was half fit for all but his first) between signing at the end of the January window and the season being stopped so I don't really count them as huge parts of that squad. 

Edit :an easier way of looking at it might be that of the 14 that played against Raith that night 9 have gone and only 2 of the other 5 are likely to be first picks 

Edited May 26, 2021 by Fuctifano

[grumswall]

Of the guys who played 10 or more games that season only Bannigan and O'Ware are contracted for this season and it wouldn't totally surprise me if the latter is moved on a free if we can get a taker. 
Gordon and Penrice also played a fair bit and have been offered deals but neither will be a first choice starter if they do sign. 
Graham, Brownlie and Rudden were on the books in 19/20 and will be key players next season but played 6,5 and 4 league games respectively (and Rudden was half fit for all but his first) between signing at the end of the January window and the season being stopped so I don't really count them as huge parts of that squad. 
Edit :an easier way of looking at it might be that of the 14 that played against Raith that night 9 have gone and only 2 of the other 5 are likely to be first picks 

I was bored at work. I don't think for a second you will be as bad as you were that season. Is Graham not much of a starter for you anymore? Our squad still has a relative core from that game but was evidently improved when we came up. Which is exactly what I expect to happen with you. I always look back to when ourselves, yourselves and county were battling it out for the now league 1 title and beyond to see what a mcall thistle team is like. It was good football and always worrying to watch you attack.

[TxRover]

For all the talk of X and Y, there are some pretty clear signs that next years Championship will be a great unknown:

Arbroath and Ayr are both returning a coach and  a similar team, but finishing where they did, that isn’t necessarily a great thing.

Raith are completing the switch to FT, likely having to replace Hendry, fine a cohesive offensive threat and rejigger the defense.

Queens emptied the team, once again, and we’ll see what AJ comes up with after bobbing for players.

Partick are in the position of needing to improve the quality of a team that was pretty dreadful for the first half of last season and then came on strong. As Raith showed this year, keeping mostly the same team can deliver results, but they were also lucky to avoid many injuries. There is also a money disadvantage versus the rest of the league after a season in League One, and a smaller payment.

The Accies and Killie are in a similar boat, with a team in need of wage downsizing and wholesale renovation. The money advantage is for perhaps one year, but is somewhat mitigated by the fact that the other Championship teams were gifted £500k while the Premiership teams could only get loans. Killie will also be reshaping the team.

Morton are a complete overhaul, almost nothing can be gleaned from this years dreadful showing.

The Pars and ICT will be bringing in new managers, and the resulting reshaping of the teams could render this years results moot for evaluation.

 

To be honest, I’d say that Killie and the Accies have a small advantage, but it will be seen if they can use it. The Pars should be able to do something, but the manager choice could scupper that, while ICT are a little less steady and subject to the same caveat. Partick and Raith should be reasonable bets for a decent finish. Morton are the likely trapdoor favorites, but any of Ayr, Arbroath or Queens could easily change that dynamic., or just as easily push much higher.

[Fuctifano]

I'm not saying what we will or won't do, but I've seen a couple of comments on here (in the Ayr thread I think) saying "it's the same squad they went down with" , which it really isn't. 

[Cardle is Magic]

The Championship is a fairly poor standard most years and can’t imagine it will be any different next season. Fans being back should bring some excitement for a few months at least.

[D'Jaffo]

If Partick can add a quality attacking player like McCowan and a solid goalie then I could see them challenging. I’ve no idea how good Docherty was last season but I always felt he was fairly inconsistent in the Championship. Very capable of strolling games but also capable of having an absolute stinker.

[R&Y99]

5 hours ago, Highlandmagyar Tier 3 said:

Expecting us to waltz into the play offs is a rather arrogant view on the sides we will be facing

I definitely won’t be saying we are going to waltz into the play offs. I said in my first post it is going to be a very competitive league. Given we will have one of the larger budgets next season and hopefully can use the momentum of winning League One to boost us, then I don’t think suggesting we should be aiming for Top 4 is a crazy statement. A 4th place finish would be a good first season back up, if you look at the last few sides to come up after winning League One they have all finished in or around the top 4. 

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

59 minutes ago, Cardle is Magic said:

The Championship is a fairly poor standard

f**k right off.

[C4mmy31]

On 25/05/2021 at 22:57, TONTROOPER said:

Kiltie staying?....I've heard St Johnstone and Dundee are in for him.

Bolton are in for him to, he's also been made an offer to stay with us.....

[Cardle is Magic]

1 hour ago, Zen Archer Esq. said:

f**k right off.

Not sure if I’m being whooshed but I felt I was being quite kind tbh!

Pars won 1 away game and still finished in a play-off place, which sums up the quality on show.

[RossBFaeDundee]

6 hours ago, Paco said:

In the last ten years only one League 1 champion hasn’t finished in the top five, and that was Cowdenbeath who finished 8th and avoided relegation which I’m sure was success for them.

Is it just me or is that an absolutely nutty statistic? Eight straight seasons of newcomers finishing in the top half, don't know how much that says about the lack of difference in quality between the Championship and League One (though Morton's pasting of Airdrie seems to say otherwise) or the complacency of teams once they're stalworts in the Championship, but I find that fact really interesting.

Edited May 27, 2021 by RossBFaeDundee

[renton]

8 hours ago, grumswall said:

 

 

I was bored at work. I don't think for a second you will be as bad as you were that season. Is Graham not much of a starter for you anymore? Our squad still has a relative core from that game but was evidently improved when we came up. Which is exactly what I expect to happen with you. I always look back to when ourselves, yourselves and county were battling it out for the now league 1 title and beyond to see what a mcall thistle team is like. It was good football and always worrying to watch you attack.

 

Albeit, from the 14 who played that night: Dingwall, Bowie, Baird and McLean left at the end of that season. K. McDonald has already left this season and we expect Hendry and Davidson to leave, and of the remaining 7: Robbie Thomson and Dave McKay won't be regular starters. Of the remaining 5, we still don't know if Armstrong or Spencer will stay. So actually, of the team that night we can only guarantee that three of them would be starters: Benedictus, Matthews and Tait.

Edited May 27, 2021 by renton

[1320Lichtie]

Arbroath in 2021 alone would’ve finished like 3rd/4th or something I’m sure behind Dundee and Hearts, could be wrong but I’m sure that’s right. And while we have lost a couple of players big part of that squad still here just now, so it’s giving me hope that we could maybe surprise a few and have another decent season. In my mind though I’m just praying for 8th cause the league does look extremely competitive and the goal is just to stay up and in it.  
 

ETA - sure this was before our last 2 games where we lost 4-3 to Dunfermline then drew with Morton so might not look as impressive now. It was a very good calendar year though.

Edited May 27, 2021 by 1320Lichtie

[Nightmare]

10 hours ago, grumswall said:

 

 

I was bored at work. I don't think for a second you will be as bad as you were that season. Is Graham not much of a starter for you anymore? Our squad still has a relative core from that game but was evidently improved when we came up. Which is exactly what I expect to happen with you. I always look back to when ourselves, yourselves and county were battling it out for the now league 1 title and beyond to see what a mcall thistle team is like. It was good football and always worrying to watch you attack.

 

Graham is one of our key players. Fuctifano’s point was that he only signed late in the 19/20 season and thus only made a handful of appearances for us in that miserable campaign.

Thankfully plenty of Caldwell’s deadwood from that season have since been moved on.

[Tattie36]

8 hours ago, Cardle is Magic said:

Not sure if I’m being whooshed but I felt I was being quite kind tbh!

Pars won 1 away game and still finished in a play-off place, which sums up the quality on show.

Competitive doesn’t mean it’s a poor standard. On the contrary, I think this season past was brilliant in the fact that it was so close. Literally anyone could beat anyone and there was loads at stake right to the wire. It would be brilliant if all leagues were like that every season.

[Cardle is Magic]

3 minutes ago, Tattie36 said:

Competitive doesn’t mean it’s a poor standard. On the contrary, I think this season past was brilliant in the fact that it was so close. Literally anyone could beat anyone and there was loads at stake right to the wire. It would be brilliant if all leagues were like that every season.

Most games I watched over the season were absolutely dire, whether it be Pars matches or a few on BBC.

If other folk really enjoy the standard, then that’s great.

[Rudolph Hucker]

8 minutes ago, Tattie36 said:

Competitive doesn’t mean it’s a poor standard. On the contrary, I think this season past was brilliant in the fact that it was so close. Literally anyone could beat anyone and there was loads at stake right to the wire. It would be brilliant if all leagues were like that every season.

Sure you didn't mean "competitive doesn’t mean it’s a GOOD standard"? I take your point in that there was still a lot to play for for all but the top and bottom teams right till the death - of those eight I think only Queen of the South had nothing much to play for jn the last two rounds of fixtures - but as for actually watching the games in near-empty grounds it was in the main pretty grim stuff. 

A season that would have been interesting in a console game, or for those not watching much of it, but otherwise best forgotten. 

 

[Tattie36]

1 minute ago, Rudolph Hucker said:

Sure you didn't mean "competitive doesn’t mean it’s a GOOD standard"? I take your point in that there was still a lot to play for for all but the top and bottom teams right till the death - of those eight I think only Queen of the South had nothing much to play for jn the last two rounds of fixtures - but as for actually watching the games in near-empty grounds it was in the main pretty grim stuff. 

A season that would have been interesting in a console game, or for those not watching much of it, but otherwise best forgotten. 

 

Fair enough. Personally, I don’t think games/leagues need much quality to be very entertaining. Football is entertainment after all. Some of the most awful spectacles I’ve ever watched have been EPL, La Liga, Serie A games. Granted, they are full of this magical “quality” but full of awful entertainment - watching, low risk, formulaic fitba played by robotic multi-millionaires passing the ball sideways for 90 minutes can be grim viewing. I watched the FA cup final the other week, followed by the Dundee v Raith playoff. There was more entertainment and excitement in the first 5 minutes of the playoff than in the entire 90 of the FA cup. Perhaps we should all give up and start watching the EPL like arseholes all over the world.