[Football] The EFL Championship thread

[Normal Rob]

Yes, I know that it's not our league at this time, but it's proper football and, most importantly, it's on now.

And for starters Vincent Kompany's Burnley look like another team compared to the one that played under Dyche. Only 1-0 at time of writing but it's not the Burnley I remember! Huddersfield just can't cope and their fans look in shock!

 

[Albion_Dave]

First time I’ve seen Burnley play football in many years.

 

[Is it PotG?]

Ash was 'off', but a nailed on penalty.

 

[MattBackHome]

All eyes on the Cardiff teamsheet at 2pm tomorrow to see if a certain O Tanner is making his bow. Bestill my [emoji3590]

 

[Jolly Red Giant]

Burnley were impressive - I think Kompany is the real deal. Josh Cullen bossed the game and is PL standard. Kompany knows him well - he brought him to Anderlecht from West Ham and then to Burnley. Cullen will make a major impact in the Championship this season.

From an Irish perspective I was also delighted to see Dara Costelloe - an impressive debut. I know Costelloe and when he played locally he was very raw. I didn't think he was close to being developed to the point of making the Burnley first team as an 18 year-old - so major credit to him for how he has applied himself since he joined Burnley two years ago.

 

[Swansman]

Burnley were impressive - I think Kompany is the real deal. Josh Cullen bossed the game and is PL standard. Kompany knows him well - he brought him to Anderlecht from West Ham and then to Burnley. Cullen will make a major impact in the Championship this season.

From an Irish perspective I was also delighted to see Dara Costelloe - an impressive debut. I know Costelloe and when he played locally he was very raw. I didn't think he was close to being developed to the point of making the Burnley first team as an 18 year-old - so major credit to him for how he has applied himself since he joined Burnley two years ago.

Wouldn't life be easier for you if you just unzipped and watched Sligo Rovers vs Finn Harps instead?

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

Burnley were impressive - I think Kompany is the real deal. Josh Cullen bossed the game and is PL standard. Kompany knows him well - he brought him to Anderlecht from West Ham and then to Burnley. Cullen will make a major impact in the Championship this season.

From an Irish perspective I was also delighted to see Dara Costelloe - an impressive debut. I know Costelloe and when he played locally he was very raw. I didn't think he was close to being developed to the point of making the Burnley first team as an 18 year-old - so major credit to him for how he has applied himself since he joined Burnley two years ago.

Kompany the real deal? & Cullen Premier League standard? Yes admittedly Burnley looked a class outfit last night, but lets wait until a few weeks of the season have passed before we start making comments like that!

 

[Acker79]

Kompany the real deal? & Cullen Premier League standard? Yes admittedly Burnley looked a class outfit last night, but lets wait until a few weeks of the season have passed before we start making comments like that!

Quite. They had a lot of chances and only managed to convert one. Scoring is hard, we know that. We've had games where we've had boatloads of chances and only converted one (if that!). But was last night one of those games for Burnley, or was it a sign of how they are not clinical enough in front of goal? We won't know until they've played some more games. And even then there may be other factors - look at how high energy pressing affected Leeds and how they struggled to maintain that approach all season. I imagine the pause for the world cup may help with that, if it is a factor. Have Huddersfield weakened a bit too much since last year, and thus were an easy start.

Would be nice to have another good footballing team, so hope my cynicism is misplaced.

 

[Durlston]

That Hull City penalty was ridiculous.

There was minimal contact but the Hull player went down nearly two seconds later! Nigel Pearson had every right to go mad at the officials - not that he did. He chose his words very carefully. I think Dean Ashton was spot-on when he said there can be contact in the box without it being a penalty. Same as anywhere else on the field - they wouldn't even get a free-kick if he stays on his feet.

EFL highlights on ITV now until 11.25am.

 

[Bodian]

That Hull City penalty was ridiculous.

There was minimal contact but the Hull player went down nearly two seconds later! Nigel Pearson had every right to go mad at the officials - not that he did. He chose his words very carefully. I think Dean Ashton was spot-on when he said there can be contact in the box without it being a penalty. Same as anywhere else on the field - they wouldn't even get a free-kick if he stays on his feet.

EFL highlights on ITV now until 11.25am.

He did stay on his feet, and actually had the ball at his feet, and could have shot. Instead he chose to dive after the event. Astonishing!

 

[Jolly Red Giant]

Wouldn't life be easier for you if you just unzipped and watched Sligo Rovers vs Finn Harps instead?

Nah - Sligo Rovers are a good club, but I can't stand Finn Harps - and I have no interest in either of them.

Kompany the real deal? & Cullen Premier League standard? Yes admittedly Burnley looked a class outfit last night, but lets wait until a few weeks of the season have passed before we start making comments like that!

Kompany has been managing in Belgium for two years - he brought stability and consistency to an Anderlecht team that went through something like 7 managers in the pervious three seasons. Cullen was signed by Kompany when he took over at Anderlecht and became the key figure in the team over two years. The first thing that Kompany did when he took over as manager at Burnley was to sign Cullen (and the only player he brought from Anderlecht) - a player who is noted for being the ultimate team first player (it is also the reason why Cullen has become a fixture in the Irish midfield).

Of the new batch of recent former PL players who have become managers - Kompany looks far more like he knows what he is doing than the likes of Lampard, Rooney and even Gerrard and Arteta. I would rank him with Vieira and Parker above the others.

Quite. They had a lot of chances and only managed to convert one. Scoring is hard, we know that. We've had games where we've had boatloads of chances and only converted one (if that!). But was last night one of those games for Burnley, or was it a sign of how they are not clinical enough in front of goal? We won't know until they've played some more games. And even then there may be other factors - look at how high energy pressing affected Leeds and how they struggled to maintain that approach all season. I imagine the pause for the world cup may help with that, if it is a factor. Have Huddersfield weakened a bit too much since last year, and thus were an easy start.

Would be nice to have another good footballing team, so hope my cynicism is misplaced.

The Burnley team has been gutted since relegation - Pope, Mee, Tarkowski, Collins and McNeil (and they will probably lose Cornet in the next couple of weeks). The defense has had to be rebuilt and that is where most of the available money has gone to date. In contrast Norwich have pretty much the same squad as last season.

Remember the new owners who took over at Burnley effectively mortgaged the club's future in the expectation that they would stay in the PL. They borrowed £65m from MSD, £12.5m from an australian bank and a further £37m from the club's own bank to fund the purchase of the club. Relegation triggered the automatic repayment of the £65m loan to MSD. Effectively the parachute payments and a huge chunk of the transfer fees that they have received have been swallowed up by the antics of the new owners when they bought the club.

Now - the squad is a lot smaller than last season - and they have a pile of kids in it (something like 25 players were released - including Aaron Lennon, Dale Stephens, Erik Pieter, Phil Bardsley, and Wayne Hennessey - and Weghorst was sent out on loan because of his wages). They still have Ashley Barnes and Jay Rodriguez, who could score a few goals in the Championship (Rodriguez didn't play against Huddersfield) - although I'd say Kompany will try and sign another striker. However, given the mess that Burnley were left in by the owners - the performance against Huddersfiled was very impressive, suggests that Kompany is having a positive impact, and bodes well for the rest of the season. The Championship is a very hard division to get out of - but I'd be surprised if Burnley weren't there or thereabouts at the end of the season.

 

[Ooh it’s a corner]

Viktor has just scored a cracker v the Mackems

 

[beardy gull]

Gyökeres just scored a cracking equaliser for Coventry. How much did we let him go for. He’s looked very handy at Championship level.

 

[GT49er]

Gyökeres just scored a cracking equaliser for Coventry. How much did we let him go for. He’s looked very handy at Championship level.

About £1M I think.

 

[Jaxie]

Good goal by Gyökeres, interesting to hear the commentators saying how well admired he is at that level.

 

[Swansman]

Not a good day for Burnley and their army of world class-Irishmen.

Sheffield looks good. Ahmedhodzic is the best CB in the league, Norwood and Fleck are great in the Championship and up front Oli seems reborn and they have plenty of quality, experience and game winners on the bench.

 

[Motogull]

The promotion race looks over already.

Who will get the glory of winning the league?
Who will get the glory of a play off win?