English Championship Promotion?

[johntheclaret]

Just watched Wolves v WBA. Baggies won it 3 -2. Absolutely brilliant advert for the CCC for the nuetral fan. Phillips got two and Kamara with a brilliant run and score. wolves a bit unlucky, as they had more of the ball but just lacked that killer punch.

All to play for next Wednesday and certainly wouldn't write off Wolves. They are a different team to the one 2 months ago. Watched them lose 3 -2 to Birmingham and today and must say very impressed. Mc Carthy done a good job. Trouble is they have been the bridesmaids too many times and WBA seem to have the up on them.

Saints travel to Derby on Tuesday night trailing 2 - 1. Another good result to the Rams but like Wolves v WBA, it's still only half time.

good to see such close games that aren't dower scrappy affairs. Today, like yesterday, great matches, losts of goal action and all four teams went at it 100 mph for the whole game. Sure Rams and WBA will try to slow it down this week, both with a goal advantage and both at home. WBA home form has been p1ss poor lately, losing 4 of their last 5 (Barnsley excepted) and I am sure McCarthy will have noted this and you can expect Wolves to come out firing.

Next up on Sky, Man U v West Ham and Sheff U v Wigan on interactive, followed by Oldham v Blackpool (League 1 play off), then 2 live La Liga games, including Barca and Villareal. This is a good day for football, and I am gonna end up with bedsores if not careful

[TroyGFC]

I see Hammers won 1-0 against Man U to keep from being dropped!!

[MAY-Z]

Derby beat Southhampton 2-1 on the saints dunghill...return leg Tuesday....go the Rams

what exactly do you mean by that?

the only thing that resembled dung was derbys brand of hoof it, which continued this morning, where is the away goals rule when you need it

[heater31]

JTC, have they played the league 1 playoff final yet? I follow Blackpool a little bit and noticed that they made the final

[johntheclaret]

JTC, have they played the league 1 playoff final yet? I follow Blackpool a little bit and noticed that they made the final

Playing Saturday mate. Blackpool v Yeovil. 3:00 pm. Dunno if they are showing it over there.

Being a Claret fan, I hope that blackpool win. We have had manay a great game against them over the years. Even when we were both on the 3rd league, used to get 17,000 on. Magic stuff, great banter with the fans and all out for the win by the teams.
Yeovil on the other hand are so far south, they are nearer Adelaide than Burnley. Onlt been a league club for 5 years, so would bring maybe 200 with them. No contest.

Pool are on a roll too, think they have won 10 on the bounce although Yeovil had a great win over favourites Nottm Forrest, after being 2 - 0 down at home in the 1st leg, went on to win 5 - 2 at Forrest.

Good luck mate and to Pool.

[johntheclaret]

By the way Heater 31.

If Blackpool don't make it this year, will be happy to keep you posted on their progress next year.

Cheers JTC

[heater31]

thanks for that I've discovered that finding out info for the lower leauges a bit hard since I saw the ticket info for the final went to 'pool's site but you have to sign up to get any info these days.

my interest stems from the Championship Manager computer game where i always got a good run with Blackpool. Also its handy to have a back up side as I follow Everton in the EPL and they are always going to be mid table

[scoob]

http://www.bbc.co.uk is what i use to keep up to date with the lower league scores... have to seeing as i follow brighton and hove albion

[Maddogmike]

Heater31 - Yeovills comeback against Notts last week was phenomenal, and they will be hard to beat, but on the flip side they may have played their best a week too soon?

Blackpool is a sheithole anyway haha.

[johntheclaret]

thanks for that I've discovered that finding out info for the lower leauges a bit hard since I saw the ticket info for the final went to 'pool's site but you have to sign up to get any info these days.

my interest stems from the Championship Manager computer game where i always got a good run with Blackpool. Also its handy to have a back up side as I follow Everton in the EPL and they are always going to be mid table

Hey there Heater31. Blackpool have made it to the CCC. They beat Yeovil 2 - 0 on Sunday. (Sorry I said Saturday in a previous post). Won it well too. Had most of the play and most of the chances. Yeovil got back into it later in the 2nd half but Blackpool looked the better team.

Also broke a club record by winning 10 games on the bounce. Looks good for them next year if they can get off to a decent start. They have a millionaire Estonian / Latvian owner and during the after match interviews, he said he would back the club financially, as his plan is to get them into the EPL by 2011. Maybe a bit of a pipedream and he did say all of this on the pitch immediately after they won so we will have to wait to see how things pan out.

I for one am pleased it was Blackpool who won. Mainly because Burnley have had some great games over the years against them and it is always a good crowd and a good atmosphere. The alternative is a 300 mile trek to Somerset in the West Country.

Look forward to the banter with you next year.

Finally, another bit of history. This is the 1st time Blackpool have graced to top two divisions in over 30 years. Lets hope it's not just for one season.

Regards JTC

[heater31]

Yep I did follow the result on the BBC website, actually early in the season I glanced at the results here in the paper and saw them winless thought they are in a bit of trouble. Never gave it a thought again until I noticed that they were in the final and looks like they really got their act together.

As I don't follow it too closely from here but, what is the jump up from league 1 to the championship like? Realistically is it possible to do what the owner wants? I suppose its a question of how much cash he is willing to spend.

[Maddogmike]

Derby gained promotion yday beating West Brom 1-0 in the Championship Playoff at Wembley.

Teams going up: Sunderland, Birmingham, Derby
Teams going down: Watford, Sheff United, Charlton

[McAlmanac]

Derby gained promotion yday beating West Brom 1-0 in the Championship Playoff at Wembley.

Teams going up: Sunderland, Birmingham, Derby
Teams going down: Watford, Sheff United, Charlton

To be honest, the three clubs going up are certainly bigger than the three going down.

[johntheclaret]

Yep I did follow the result on the BBC website, actually early in the season I glanced at the results here in the paper and saw them winless thought they are in a bit of trouble. Never gave it a thought again until I noticed that they were in the final and looks like they really got their act together.

As I don't follow it too closely from here but, what is the jump up from league 1 to the championship like? Realistically is it possible to do what the owner wants? I suppose its a question of how much cash he is willing to spend.

Not as big as the jump from the CCC to the EPL. Clubs coming down from the EPL get around £10m as a sweetner to soften the blow.
Clubs going up to the EPL will get around £60m.

He will have to invest in a few new players but at this level they are easier to come by and cost a lot less. Both Barnsley and Colchester survived last year, with Colchester just missing out on the play off's. They have lost Iluwemo this year and that will be a big loss.

Noticeably, there are no stand outs in the Blackpool team. They have got there in a good team effort, hard working and physically strong.

You are right heater31, they went 11 without a win at the start of the season and fans were calling for the managers head. Turned it around though and went 10 wins in the bounce at the end of the season.