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The Most Exiting (sic) League in the World: Div 2, 2019-20

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    The Most Exiting (sic) League in the World: Div 2, 2019-20

    A minor, but worthwhile bit of positivity. Gongs and such are mainly bollocks, but there are some people who despite doing their jobs really well, don't make a fuss, take it on the chin sometimes without complaint, and no one has a bad word to say about them. One of them is Chris Ramsey, QPR's technical director. Yesterday he was an awarded an MBE, and I think it couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

    #2
    The bookies currently have us to finish mid-table, but ignore them as the year ends in a 0 and we'll change division like we always do, so we're going to storm to promotion. Or we'll be relegated.

    1900 - Division 2, champions
    1920 - Division 1, relegated
    1930 - Division 1, champions, the most recent time we won the league
    1950 - Division 2, promoted on the last day
    1970 - Division 1, relegated on the last day
    1980 - Division 3, promoted on the last day
    1990 - Division 1, relegated on the last day
    2000 - Premier League, relegated
    2010 - Championship, relegated on the last day

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      #3
      Originally posted by longeared View Post
      The bookies currently have us to finish mid-table, but ignore them as the year ends in a 0 and we'll change division like we always do, so we're going to storm to promotion. Or we'll be relegated.

      1900 - Division 2, champions
      1920 - Division 1, relegated
      1930 - Division 1, champions, the most recent time we won the league
      1950 - Division 2, promoted on the last day
      1970 - Division 1, relegated on the last day
      1980 - Division 3, promoted on the last day
      1990 - Division 1, relegated on the last day
      2000 - Premier League, relegated
      2010 - Championship, relegated on the last day
      And in 1960 you lost two and drew four of your last seven games and missed out on the title to Burnley (one of the ones you drew with 3-3) by six points.

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        #4
        ♪♪ Oh it's all change for Wednesday when the year ends in O
        Will they go up or down, well I'm fucked if I know ♪♪

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          #5
          It's looking increasingly likely that, after a farcical few months since Darren Moore was sacked, the West Brom board are ready to appoint Slaven Bilic as our new manager. Hopefully anyway. I say hopefully not in anticipation of his managerial ability. I know little of it. (Although I am a little concerned that, having checked, his last managerial role lasted all of 5 months in Saudi Arabia, where he won 3 out of 15 for Al-Ittihad) but it'd just be nice to have someone, anyone really, in place for the start of pre-season..

          In terms of hopes and fears for the coming season, I really believe we're on the slide. The Chinese owner doesn't appear to be interested in the slightest. I don't think he even bothered to make it to the two play-off semi-final games. Therefore, investment in the team will be extremely limited and will depend on how much we get from player sales this summer.The youth set-up, however, is very strong so there let's hope that the new manager, be it Bilic or whoever, will start to give more playing time to the younger academy players.

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            #6
            I wouldn't mind Bilic. But the thought that we've been considering appointing Lee Bowyer just over a year after giving Darren Moore the job almost makes me physically sick. In fact, could there be two managers/coaches with a greater gulf in class between them than Moore and Bowyer?

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              #7
              Oh, I didn't know about the Bowyer connection. To be honest, so many names have been bandied about recently that I have tuned out to some extent. Yes, Bailc would be an infinitely better choice as our manager and much more experiences, despite being untested in the Championship.

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                #8
                Looks like the Riverside will have a "dream team" coaching duo of Jonathan Woodgate and Robbie Keane.

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                  #9
                  Jonny Woodgate ticks at least two boxes, what with being a red and hating Geordies.

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                    #10
                    Hello again! I'll just sit here on GO's chair for a season or two until we swap back over again.

                    Despite finishing only three points behind Champions Luton and ahead of turmoil-in-the-boardroom, loan playered up Charlton, Barnsley are favourites for relegation again.
                    This despite having owners worth billions (which they won't spend on us, but I'm not letting that spoil my indignation), no loan players last season and a young squad that will only get better.

                    (Please don't mention this post if we're down by Christmas.)

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                      #11
                      As if.

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                        #12
                        Originally posted by Diable Rouge View Post
                        Looks like the Riverside will have a "dream team" coaching duo of Jonathan Woodgate and Robbie Keane.
                        Holy fuck. Of course the poisonous bastard will still hang around the Ireland set up like a bad smell. Of course. Good old manager Mick wants the blank eyed fool as his man no matter what. Why the fuck did the FAI not just appoint Stephen Kenny?

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                          #13
                          Because they're the FAI?

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                            #14
                            Well, yeah.

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                              #15
                              So, what do we make of the recent managerial Championship managerial appointments?

                              Bilic to West Brom, Woodgate at Boro and Steve Cooper at Swansea.

                              I'm hoping for decent things from Bilic. Experienced, although not in the Championship. Initially, my thoughts are that he might be a good fit. I'm certainly surprised that we were able to attract him. Can't see him being given much money to spend.
                              Last edited by Jon; 18-06-2019, 23:15.

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                                #16
                                Not sure about Woodgate. I'm never totally comfortable with a "Club Lege" becoming manager. It mainly seems like a way of placating fans when the suits upstairs can't decide what to do. I've got no feelings one way or the other about Cooper, but Angel Rangel has still to sign a contract with us, so maybe he's playing a long waiting game.

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                                  #17
                                  "It mainly seems like a way of placating fans when the suits upstairs can't decide what to do."

                                  Yes. And often he'll be a reaction to (and, in many cases, the antithesis of) what's come before. In this case, Pulis.

                                  Darren Moore was a similar appointment at West Brom last year. He got so much good will from the fans who obviously wanted so badly for him to be a success. Moore was harshly treated and prematurely sacked but it was starting to go a little sour and, to some extent, the board's sacking of him meant that he could still leave the club with his head held high and with continued status as a club legend.

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                                    #18
                                    I'm not sure Woodgate qualifies as a club legend to be honest. As a local lad who was also a fantastic player he is certainly well-liked, but he had his most successful playing years at other clubs, including two of our most-hated rivals. Mowbray he is not, and I don't think there's anywhere near the same level of excitement about his appointment.

                                    As I said on another thread, I suspect the main reason he got the job is that we're skint and would have been unlikely to attract any big name manager given that there probably won't be anything to spend in the transfer window. My expectations are pretty much zero at this point, I hope we can stay up relatively comfortably, but anything beyond that would be a pleasant surprise.

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                                      #19
                                      Cooper looks like his dad and also looks much older than 39. As an appointment I'm really not sure but compared to the other names of those who made the interview stage it was either him or Cameron Toshack for me. I hope we've not employed him for his connections, like we did with Paul Clement. We'll know what he's like within a handful of games tbh.

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                                        #20
                                        Originally posted by Fussbudget View Post
                                        I'm not sure Woodgate qualifies as a club legend to be honest. As a local lad who was also a fantastic player he is certainly well-liked, but he had his most successful playing years at other clubs, including two of our most-hated rivals. Mowbray he is not, and I don't think there's anywhere near the same level of excitement about his appointment.

                                        As I said on another thread, I suspect the main reason he got the job is that we're skint and would have been unlikely to attract any big name manager given that there probably won't be anything to spend in the transfer window. My expectations are pretty much zero at this point, I hope we can stay up relatively comfortably, but anything beyond that would be a pleasant surprise.
                                        Yep. Pretty much this.

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                                          #21
                                          So it looks like we are on the telly. Away to Luton on the Friday night to start the season.

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                                            #22
                                            Looks like the FA Cup Final is on Saturday 23rd May with the Championship Play Off Final on Monday 25th May. I really hope that the not inconceivable thing of one club getting to both happens just so the FA & EFL have to deal with the fallout of a team playing a complete reserve side and throwing the FA Cup Final, just for the sheer arrogance of the scheduling.

                                            I was hoping Luton would be away first game of the season as it is my Dad's 65th birthday / retirement party that weekend. Although he's just informed me that as it's on TV on the Friday night he's already rung the venue he has hired to make sure they will show the game during it so it's probably worked out after all.

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                                              #23
                                              Originally posted by Jon View Post
                                              Oh, I didn't know about the Bowyer connection. To be honest, so many names have been bandied about recently that I have tuned out to some extent. Yes, Bailc would be an infinitely better choice as our manager and much more experiences, despite being untested in the Championship.
                                              Bilic's reign at West Ham was closely aligned with Dmitri Payet's form. In the first season, Payet's general brilliance largely outshone the negatives of Bilic's teams, such as a lack of match fitness and defensive frailties. Bilic's second and truncated third seasons, when Payet went off the boil and then subsequently left, were awful in the extreme.

                                              The pattern of his stints at other clubs before he joined West Ham, seemed to indicate strong starts before a tailing off of results leading to an inevitable sacking. Hope he does well for West Brom, I'm very interested to see if his performance follows a similar trend to what has gone before.

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                                                #24
                                                Well it's no longer Frank Lampard's Derby County, for the second season running our gaffer has gone to a PL side. Fair to say Lampard goes with far better wishes that Rowett.

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                                                  #25
                                                  Wednesday's season starts tomorrow and we still don't have a manager after the previous incumbent fucked off to Newcastle. Various names have been linked with the job - Chris Coleman, Gianfranco Zola, Fatih Tekke, Tony Pulis, Carlos Carvahal, Chris Hughton, Gary Rowett - but no appointment has been made and the club announced as far back as Monday that Lee Bullen would take the team tomorrow. Bullen has to be in with a chance of getting the role full time given the relatively undemanding fixture programme we have before the international break. Whatever happens there also need to be appointments to cover the coaching staff that went Tyne-ward, Bullen's assistants in pre-season were goalkeeping coach Nicky Weaver and head of the development squad Neil Thompson.

                                                  We've had familiar financial issues over the summer too. The accounts for the 2018 season were massively late and showed we've "sold" Hillsborough to a company run by the chairman. (I use inverted commas there as it appears to be a paper sale and no changes have been registered with the Land Registry) We had a soft transfer embargo for much of the off season, our only signings have been free transfers. We've also had the familiar and baffling refusal to sell players for money, largely because the chairman doesn't like selling players but also it reflects the fact that we have an ageing squad with little resale value. We don't have a kit sponsor - word is that the EFL weren't happy with the chairman's companies sponsoring the kit and wanted us to see what market rate we could get for this. Against Espanyol last week we had a one-off sponsorship from a Chinese bookie who aren't licensed to trade in the UK - this may have come about as Espanyol have a Chinese player.

                                                  A couple of more specialist divisional previews (i.e. not the national ones that furiously wank themselves off over Fulham) have got us as dark horses for relegation. I think we'll be OK but there's obvious flaws in the team and it won't take a lot to go wrong for us to be involved in a struggle.

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