The team everyone wants to beat

[aaronmcguigan]

-Goalkeeper has played in the WC final 4 years ago
-Just spent up to 11m on a player
-Purchased the top scorer of the league the previous season
-Have a player who scored twice in the recent world cup and got them to the quarter finals
-Have a manager who has won league titles in Germany
-Potential front line cost over £20m to construct

Im not saying this means we should do well this season, but has ANY team entered the championship season with those kinds of credentials? We are all looking to our academy and new players thinking we havent a clue about the season ahead whereas going by the stats above, we will be the team everyone wants to beat this season! Regardless of the fact its Stek and Mitroglou, we have some massive big time players on our books still.

[dannyboi-ffc]

Definitely. All the clubs that are biggerthan us, notts forest, etc and the minnows, bournemouth, huddersfield, brentford, millwall wouldnt of played us in atleast 13 years not including cups.

A european final not long ago too, we are a much more established name with the premier league than norwich and cardiff by about 10 consecutive years at least. There will of been alot of envy from clubs who think we shouldnt of been doing better than them. Plus the reasons you said, I would say we are the team everyone is looking forward to playing which makes for a very nice change

[Black, White and Fred]

Man United of South at last eh?

[TheDaddy]

Man United of South at last eh?

0001.jpeg

[The Enclosurite]

Well, that could also work in our favour in much the same way that some of our very own players over the years have seemingly already lost a match in their heads before they even step onto the pitch against some of the bigger teams.

[Apprentice to the Maestro]

-Goalkeeper has played in the WC final 4 years ago
-Just spent up to 11m on a player
-Purchased the top scorer of the league the previous season
-Have a player who scored twice in the recent world cup and got them to the quarter finals
-Have a manager who has won league titles in Germany
-Potential front line cost over £20m to construct

Im not saying this means we should do well this season, but has ANY team entered the championship season with those kinds of credentials? We are all looking to our academy and new players thinking we havent a clue about the season ahead whereas going by the stats above, we will be the team everyone wants to beat this season! Regardless of the fact its Stek and Mitroglou, we have some massive big time players on our books still.

You could put together a list of points like that for us pre-season last season or when Magath arrived and look how that turned out.

I don't see that we particularly stand out. Stekelenburg seems to be out of the picture. Are Ruiz and Mitroglou really going to excite Championship fans? Are they going to be here even? Otherwise we have a team of promising youngsters and a few imports that few of us had heard of before they signed plus McCormack.

Yes, Championship fans will enjoy a day out by the Thames but I suspect that they will most enjoy beating their local rivals and whoever is at the top of the table somewhat more than measuring their performances against Fulham.

[the nutflush]

-Goalkeeper has played in the WC final 4 years ago
-Just spent up to 11m on a player
-Purchased the top scorer of the league the previous season
-Have a player who scored twice in the recent world cup and got them to the quarter finals
-Have a manager who has won league titles in Germany
-Potential front line cost over £20m to construct

Im not saying this means we should do well this season, but has ANY team entered the championship season with those kinds of credentials? We are all looking to our academy and new players thinking we havent a clue about the season ahead whereas going by the stats above, we will be the team everyone wants to beat this season! Regardless of the fact its Stek and Mitroglou, we have some massive big time players on our books still.

I think you're making something out of nothing.  Stek won't play at this rate.  Ruiz and Mitro probably won't be here much longer.  We are just another team.

[Burt]

Most people viewed us as a small club in the premier league and I doubt that we will be adding hundreds let alone thousands to the gates of the other teams we will be visiting...

...unless we take the league by the scruff of the neck and steamroller any and all opposition.

I do think that the Championship is a tough league to compete in and bouncing back up to the premier league will be a difficult ask, particularly given the amount of change we are going through at the moment.

Bring it on!

[love4ffc]

I'm with Burt and Wolly.  If all you think is that people are gunning for you than you are constantly worrying.  If you are confident and just believe in yourself and your team then the team will do well. 

Bring on the season and let clubs big or small know, we're here to play!