Are all these pre-season Spanish fixtures a mistake

[wallyback]

We need to be primed for the roughty tufty Championship football

 

[Springal]

We need to be primed for the roughty tufty Championship football

Yep. Paul Barbers fault.

 

[Bladders]

Plus they'll be no Harveys at Getafe's ground.

Barber Out!

 

[footychick]

Might see some players we could buy

 

[Icy Gull]

Yeah, I'd rather a tour of local non league clubs like the old days, with a quick tour of Ireland for some fisticuffs on the pitch

 

[mejonaNO12 aka riskit]

Putting a pre-season schedule together is pretty much lose-lose in terms of PR.

The risks you run:

1 - Picking lower teams. Fans response "why are we playing teams worse than who will be facing week in week out".
2 - Picking higher teams - Fans response "Why are we playing teams who could just turn us over. This isnt the standard we will be facing week in week out".
3 - Picking a team from your division - Fans response if team loses - "This is terrible. It's a sign of things to come this season. How can we lose to IPSWICH".

 

[Diego Napier]

That's right, it didn't help us prepare for last season did it, we only finished....um, 4th

 

[HawkTheSeagull]

We need teams to challenge us, as well as games to ease the players back into playing.

Playing a mixture of teams like Whitehawk, Crawley, Norwich and Villarreal will do this.

 

[Icy Gull]

3 - Picking a team from your division - Fans response if team loses - "This is terrible. It's a sign of things to come this season. How can we lose to IPSWICH".

Does anyone play pre-season friendlies against teams in their own division?

 

[Cadiz Seagull]

Getafe are a good side, finished 10th in La Liga, they will be a good test for us, probably better than us. Sporting Gijon are in Div 2, although the Segunda isn't as strong as the Championship so we should be better than them. Pity we aren't playing them the other way round.

But these trips are as much about team bonding as they are about the football. and doubly important this year with a new boss.

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

We need to be primed for the roughty tufty Championship football

By playing teams like Norwich and Crawley?

 

[Landgull]

It promotes player and management bonding which generally helps with team spirit.

 

[gordonchas]

Sporting Gijon are in Div 2, although the Segunda isn't as strong as the Championship

I beg to differ. Bearing in mind the differences in style they are broadly very comparable.

Apropos nothing, from a support base point of view there couldn't be a sharper contrast between Getafe and Sporting.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

That's right, it didn't help us prepare for last season did it, we only finished....um, 4th

Pre season Portugal - won league one
Pre season Portugal - finished 10th
Pre season Spain - finished 4th

It is also useful for team bonding especially for the newer additions to the team. And the weather is nicer.

 

[Cadiz Seagull]

I beg to differ. Bearing in mind the differences in style they are broadly very comparable.

Apropos nothing, from a support base point of view there couldn't be a sharper contrast between Getafe and Sporting.

I think the top third, maybe top half, of the two leagues are pretty similar standard, but the quality in the Championship edges it a bit in my opinion. Last season, there were very little to choose between teams, everybody was beating everybody else. Didn't Peterborough do the double over the Champions Cardiff yet still get relegated? I think the quality of Segunda A teams varies more than it does in the Championship. But I do agree they are different styles.

 

[HastingsSeagull]

No league is as balanced as the Champ, but I agree with the above point yeah. Big drop off in Spanish pyramid (and most others) from British league.

That said I think they've picked a good balance of clubs, ability and domestic/international wise.

 

[mejonaNO12 aka riskit]

Does anyone play pre-season friendlies against teams in their own division?

A lot of the prem teams do.