The Coca-Cola League Championship 2006/07

Rasiak-9 wrote:It'll definately be West Brom in the final though

Im not sure mate it all depends onthe first leg cos if wolves win they will make it hard for wba. If WBA can get a draw then they shoukd be ok, they score loads at home, its quite well poised.

I'd much rather have West Brom in the final tbh

if we lost to Wolves in the final it would be such a kick in the teeth after we have a 8-0 head to head record against them this season

and if we beat them, the simple fact that we have that record against them would cheapen it IMO.

http://www.cardiffcityfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewStadiumDetail/0,,10335~1022933,00.html

excellent news

No talk about the Saints-Derby game?

I thought it was a brilliant game of football, you could see the eagerness from both sides and Southampton were unlucky not to get a draw, but it's a fantastic result for Derby and I expect them to be in the final now

No.

But I seen the highlights on SSN, yes I know its limited. Surmans strike was brilliant and Sagnowski looked to be unlucky been he hit the woodwork.

I wouldn't rule Southampton out yet. In one way it surprises me that Saints couldn't make home advantage count today - in another it doesn't hence my correct prediction.

I have given the play offs great thought. And I'm going with a Wolves victory. So often the worst side of the four gets up.

I was at the game yesterday and we were dead unlucky not to get anything out of the game, very dirty team Derby who play ugly football and yet still win! - infuriating. (Terrific support from the Saints fans though)

It aint over but its going to be very difficult now.

Unlucky Wolves, but i think that there in a pretty much identical situation to ourselves, possibly harder actually since West Brom are harder to beat at home than Derby IMO - God i really don't want West Brom OR Derby to go up!

But with away goals not counting double its still by no means over in either tie. Btw - does anyone know what the odds are on Saints and Wolves making the final?

2-2 atm

it doesn't look like were going to do it

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/c/cardiff_city/6661557.stm

thommo out, thank fook. if we'd had a 15 goal man up front alongside chopra we'd have been in the play offs for sure

Be prepared to lose Chopra this summer, mark my words.

Saints are almost a Championship winning side, we would have finished higher had our team had time to gel. There's really nothing missing from our team at the moment, although i'd say we need a creative central midfield player. Surmans pretty good, but assuming Bale goes i would think Burley will play Surman on the left of midfield

Bit of an early tip, but try and get money on Peterborough to get promoted next season asap. They have plenty of cash (and will spend big this summer )and have already started to build a good team, signing Dean Keates (Walsall's player of season) and Chris Westwood from promoted Walsall this week. They also have Arber, Futcher, Branston and Morgan at the back who have all done well in that league, Josh Low and Micah Hyde in midfield who have done well at higher levels, whilst George Boyd, Aaron Mclean and Danny Crowe are very promising youngsters.

They also only lost 2 of their last 13 games of the season. Darren Ferguson took over in late January and i think he looks a decent boss, maybe its in his blood.

Obviously dont blame me if they do f@ck all, bet at your own risk but i think they will do very well next season.

Sgoater1 wrote:Bit of an early tip, but try and get money on Peterborough to get promoted next season asap. They have plenty of cash (and will spend big this summer )and have already started to build a good team, signing Dean Keates (Walsall's player of season) and Chris Westwood from promoted Walsall this week. They also have Arber, Futcher, Branston and Morgan at the back who have all done well in that league, Josh Low and Micah Hyde in midfield who have done well at higher levels, whilst George Boyd, Aaron Mclean and Danny Crowe are very promising youngsters.

They also only lost 2 of their last 13 games of the season. Darren Ferguson took over in late January and i think he looks a decent boss, maybe its in his blood.

Obviously dont blame me if they do f@ck all, bet at your own risk but i think they will do very well next season.

their chairman was talking about them getting in the prem within 5 years earlier in the season

but i do agree, they probably will be strong, along with the relegated teams and mk dons ( )

debaser wrote:

Sgoater1 wrote:Bit of an early tip, but try and get money on Peterborough to get promoted next season asap. They have plenty of cash (and will spend big this summer )and have already started to build a good team, signing Dean Keates (Walsall's player of season) and Chris Westwood from promoted Walsall this week. They also have Arber, Futcher, Branston and Morgan at the back who have all done well in that league, Josh Low and Micah Hyde in midfield who have done well at higher levels, whilst George Boyd, Aaron Mclean and Danny Crowe are very promising youngsters.

They also only lost 2 of their last 13 games of the season. Darren Ferguson took over in late January and i think he looks a decent boss, maybe its in his blood.

Obviously dont blame me if they do f@ck all, bet at your own risk but i think they will do very well next season.

their chairman was talking about them getting in the prem within 5 years earlier in the season

but i do agree, they probably will be strong, along with the relegated teams and mk dons ( )

maybe mate, i think Shrews will do very well tomorrow and i think whoever wins that game will go up.

hope so.

did you see the game monday? it was pretty low quality for the most part (although asamoah almost scored an awesome overhead). could go either way really. we kept mcleod very quiet, which was a good sign.

sadly i can't go to the 2nd leg, and i'm really not sure what pub is going to show shrewsbury on a friday in bath! i'm going to have to beg someone...

Yeah it was scrappy and i thought both teams didnt really want to go for it. I think MK will go for it a bit more on friday but it will be a tough to break the Shrews down. Its a shame its not the final but i think whoever loses will do very well next year andif the Dons go out i really want the Shrews up.

Sgoater1 wrote:Bit of an early tip, but try and get money on Peterborough to get promoted next season asap. They have plenty of cash (and will spend big this summer )and have already started to build a good team, signing Dean Keates (Walsall's player of season) and Chris Westwood from promoted Walsall this week. They also have Arber, Futcher, Branston and Morgan at the back who have all done well in that league, Josh Low and Micah Hyde in midfield who have done well at higher levels, whilst George Boyd, Aaron Mclean and Danny Crowe are very promising youngsters.

They also only lost 2 of their last 13 games of the season. Darren Ferguson took over in late January and i think he looks a decent boss, maybe its in his blood.

Obviously dont blame me if they do f@ck all, bet at your own risk but i think they will do very well next season.

Boyd is quality and I know all about Micah Hyde

Sgoater1 wrote:Bit of an early tip, but try and get money on Peterborough to get promoted next season asap. They have plenty of cash (and will spend big this summer )and have already started to build a good team, signing Dean Keates (Walsall's player of season) and Chris Westwood from promoted Walsall this week. They also have Arber, Futcher, Branston and Morgan at the back who have all done well in that league, Josh Low and Micah Hyde in midfield who have done well at higher levels, whilst George Boyd, Aaron Mclean and Danny Crowe are very promising youngsters.

They also only lost 2 of their last 13 games of the season. Darren Ferguson took over in late January and i think he looks a decent boss, maybe its in his blood.

Obviously dont blame me if they do f@ck all, bet at your own risk but i think they will do very well next season.

Good tip mate. Peterborough will be the strongest side next year by far. That Northern Irish property magnate will stop at nothing to get them promoted and promoted again. He recently broke a non League record by getting McLean from Grays Athletic. Now with players like Keates they will be adding experience. They also have Mark Tyler who is one of the best goalkeepers in the lower Leagues. If he was a few inches taller he would be in a better League.

It might be worth putting a decent amount on.

Bluebirds sign Capaldi (ex-Plymouth) on a free as he was a free agent.

we've got at least a 5 million initial payment from the sale of Bale as well as however much left we have from Walcott's sale as well as the installments we're getting - who do we buy though?

Its pretty awkward, i'd love to see us bring in Jason Koumas but assuming West Brom go up i suppose thats a no-go, its damned annoying cause we need an attacking midfielder of serious quality as well as of course a new left-back unless we convert Skacel.

Rasiak-9 wrote:we've got at least a 5 million initial payment from the sale of Bale as well as however much left we have from Walcott's sale as well as the installments we're getting - who do we buy though?

Its pretty awkward, i'd love to see us bring in Jason Koumas but assuming West Brom go up i suppose thats a no-go, its damned annoying cause we need an attacking midfielder of serious quality as well as of course a new left-back unless we convert Skacel.

Not sure which position you need to buy but with the money id be looking to go for the likes of ...

Billy Sharp, Izale McLeod, Billy Jones (Crewe), Lee Hendrie, Routledge (Tottenham), Hoyte (Loan From Arsenal) Aliadiere, (Loan From Arsenal) , Cahill (Loan from Villa a great young CB), Chris Eagles (Loan from Scum), Sam Sodje (Reading), Danny Webber (Sheff Utd).

These are players that are good for the CHamponship available and at a decent price or could be loaned.

Don't think we would let Hoyte go on loan, he is our reserve fullback. I would imagine we will release Aliadiere, I think he will be out of contract this summer, but we should let him leave anyway. Boro are rumoured to be after him again, but I think he would be better suited to a Championship team.

We could let Kerrea Gilbert go on loan again. He did well at Cardiff City, it was a shame it was cut short because of injury.

Aliadiere will end up a lower Premiership side. That guy needs to get his career back on track.

Sgoater1 wrote:

Rasiak-9 wrote:we've got at least a 5 million initial payment from the sale of Bale as well as however much left we have from Walcott's sale as well as the installments we're getting - who do we buy though?

Its pretty awkward, i'd love to see us bring in Jason Koumas but assuming West Brom go up i suppose thats a no-go, its damned annoying cause we need an attacking midfielder of serious quality as well as of course a new left-back unless we convert Skacel.

Not sure which position you need to buy but with the money id be looking to go for the likes of ...

Billy Sharp, Izale McLeod, Billy Jones (Crewe), Lee Hendrie, Routledge (Tottenham), Hoyte (Loan From Arsenal) Aliadiere, (Loan From Arsenal) , Cahill (Loan from Villa a great young CB), Chris Eagles (Loan from Scum), Sam Sodje (Reading), Danny Webber (Sheff Utd).

These are players that are good for the CHamponship available and at a decent price or could be loaned.

Eastwood would also be a good signing, although if you keep Marek Saganowski then with Rasiak, Jones, Best and BWP who only need maybe one more cos i think maybe one of Jones, BWP or Best might leave. I think a couple of defenders like Jones, Cahill or Sodje and mids like Eagles, Routledge, Hendrie and your squad would be great.

I think Gilbert will get another year on loan, maybe Matthew Connolly and Mark Randall. If Ryan Garry ever gets fit he might be loaned out as well.

The problem with Aliadiere is that he just doesn't score any goals. If a lower Premiership club has a proven goalscorer and needs a support striker he might do well, otherwise he will struggle to get enough goals to satisfy most clubs.

Also, do people think Liverpool would loan Diao out again? He did well for Stoke this year, if a club could sign him he would be a good signing.

Sheffield gunner wrote:Also, do people think Liverpool would loan Diao out again? He did well for Stoke this year, if a club could sign him he would be a good signing.

I think they want rid, so it probably wouldn't cost much for someone to buy him outright.

kas wrote:

Sheffield gunner wrote:Also, do people think Liverpool would loan Diao out again? He did well for Stoke this year, if a club could sign him he would be a good signing.

I think they want rid, so it probably wouldn't cost much for someone to buy him outright.

Diao isnt a Liverpool player anymore, they freed him and stoke signed him on a deal to the end of the season, so now he is a free agent but has been offerd a new contract is expected to stay at Stoke along with Dom Matteo, Rus Hoult and John Eustace.

Stoke are another team that with 4 or 5 good signings could do very well next season. With Simonsen in net, Matteo, Higginbotham and Hoefkans in defence, Lawrence, Diao, Delap and Eustace in Midfield and Fuller upfront they have the base of a really good squad.

Sgoater1 wrote:

kas wrote:

Sheffield gunner wrote:Also, do people think Liverpool would loan Diao out again? He did well for Stoke this year, if a club could sign him he would be a good signing.

I think they want rid, so it probably wouldn't cost much for someone to buy him outright.

Diao isnt a Liverpool player anymore, they freed him and stoke signed him on a deal to the end of the season, so now he is a free agent but has been offerd a new contract is expected to stay at Stoke along with Dom Matteo, Rus Hoult and John Eustace.

Thanks Sgoater. I haven't been keeping up with all the contract and transfer speculation in the Championship. Diao did well last season so if Stoke can keep him that will be a very good signing. I think they were one of the sides that showed just how successful teams could be by exploiting loan transfers, getting the likes of Hendrie and Diao last season.

Still the team i am looking forward to watching in the summer is Leicester. I really rate Martin Allen as a manager (even though i have lost money betting on his Brentford and MK Dons sides) he really gets the best out ofhis players and always makes great signings. With Mandric in charge he is bound to have funds to add to a team that already has a few decent players like Ste Hughes, Hume, McAuley, McCarthy, but really needs an overhaul, somehting Allen is great at doing.

Sgoater1 wrote:

Rasiak-9 wrote:we've got at least a 5 million initial payment from the sale of Bale as well as however much left we have from Walcott's sale as well as the installments we're getting - who do we buy though?

Its pretty awkward, i'd love to see us bring in Jason Koumas but assuming West Brom go up i suppose thats a no-go, its damned annoying cause we need an attacking midfielder of serious quality as well as of course a new left-back unless we convert Skacel.

Not sure which position you need to buy but with the money id be looking to go for the likes of ...

Billy Sharp, Izale McLeod, Billy Jones (Crewe), Lee Hendrie, Routledge (Tottenham), Hoyte (Loan From Arsenal) Aliadiere, (Loan From Arsenal) , Cahill (Loan from Villa a great young CB), Chris Eagles (Loan from Scum), Sam Sodje (Reading), Danny Webber (Sheff Utd).

These are players that are good for the CHamponship available and at a decent price or could be loaned.

Sharp is a possibility but we already have 3 proven goalscorers at this level in Jones, Rasiak and especially Saganowski and BWP is a decent player too who probably deserves more goals. - the strikers are pretty much sorted.

Lee Hendrie would be a very good buy - we're in desperate need of an attacking midfield player who can chip in with 8-10-ish goals a season as well as drive us forward, our top scorer from midfield in all competitions i think has been Surman with 5 and that includes the playoff games and another when we let him take a nothing penalty so he could get a hattrick.

Viafara, Pele, Wright and Guthrie are all great "destroyers" in the middle of the park and can pass the ball well, but we need attacking midfielders and probably a new left-back, especially with Belmadi going as well as Bale