Relegation watch

[The Enfield Royal71]

So a new season. Hopefully we will be better then the last 2 and show the kind of form that we did at the back end of last season. I'm not too optimistic though. A thread to monitor us and those around us/the bottom 8. I have a sneaky feeling we will be right in the thick of things again so here we go!

I think some of the teams who will be fighting off relegation with us are:

Birmingham- survived for too long on luck after sacking a good manager. They have done it again and let one of their best players go. Hopefully this is their time.

Forest- for some reason always find a way to pfuck things up when good. Bizarrely sacked a decent manager who was preparing for this season. See Birmingham.

Barnsley- always have been a yo-yo team àla Rotherham.

Luton- the majority of their good players will get pinched but KeniLOLworth Road is a horrendous place to play

Millwall- see above.

Hull- just don't seem to have enough without Bowen and Grosiki.

QPR- I hate them. I hate their fans. I hate their stadium and their stupid small shitty seats. I hate everything about them. Especially that pink pfucking kit. They are also pretty bad.

Looking at the table, and on paper (yes it is early and we could still sign Messi/Ronaldo/Random League 2 striker) but relatively speaking we have a pretty weak and thin squad. I believe us and the above teams will be fighting relegation.

Anybody agree/disagree? Who do you think will be?

I will try update this thread after every game tracking teams.

[Franchise FC]

I’m interested to see who’s going to punch the decent Luton players and whether the refs see it and brandish red

[The Enfield Royal71]

I’m interested to see who’s going to punch the decent Luton players and whether the refs see it and brandish red

Don't know what you are talking about

[Crowbar6753]

Not to sure about Forest, think they will be safe mid table tbh, but i would add Charlton and Blackburn to that list. Both should keep their heads above water but will flirt with the bottom 8.
Maybe Sheff Weds as well, they are rumoured to be on a soft transfer embargo as well and their form wasn't great at the back end of the season. Wigan have just come to mind as well lol....

[The Enfield Royal71]

Not to sure about Forest, think they will be safe mid table tbh, but i would add Charlton and Blackburn to that list. Both should keep their heads above water but will flirt with the bottom 8.
Maybe Sheff Weds as well, they are rumoured to be on a soft transfer embargo as well and their form wasn't great at the back end of the season. Wigan have just come to mind as well lol....

Blackburn seemed to do quite well last season.

I think Charlton might be okay. Probably the best of the 3 who had gone up.

Wigan.... interesting. They are so irrelevant I forgot about them!

[Crowbar6753]

Regarding us (Reading Fc) this season, i honestly think that with a trimmed down squad (If the 6 mentioned) all leave and with Jose's philosophies and feel good football, as well as bringing the U-23s into the team, and of course with the odd addition to the squad (Keeper, CB and Midfielder) i think we may just surprise a few people and stay out of the bottom 8.
The club is slowly moving in the right direction, and trying to recreate the "Reading Way" and of course "Club 1871" and the new improved atmosphere, all this can only bode well for the future.
FFP will causes some headaches but it will also be a good leveler in the championship and stop these money crazy teams buying their way to promotion.
But i guess we will find out over the next few weeks how we prepare for the new season, but i for one am quietly optimistic.

[Franchise FC]

I’m interested to see who’s going to punch the decent Luton players and whether the refs see it and brandish red

Don't know what you are talking about

You do remember that edits are shown with a time and date

[Hound]

I’ll be surprised if we don’t spend some time flirting with the relegation zone tbh

Can see Wigan, Barnsley, Charlton, Millwall, QPR and Birmingham making up the bottom 7 with us at the top of that grisly bunch

It’s not a strong year in the champ I don’t think

[NewCorkSeth]

Any bets on a surprise relegation contender? I'm gonna go with Bristol as they are doing far too well in the transfer market.

[Hound]

Any bets on a surprise relegation contender? I'm gonna go with Bristol as they are doing far too well in the transfer market.

relegated teams are quite often a good bet. Or failed Play off contenders. So on that basis, Huddersfield and Derby

[Hendo]

Any bets on a surprise relegation contender? I'm gonna go with Bristol as they are doing far too well in the transfer market.

Brentford?

[NewCorkSeth]

Any bets on a surprise relegation contender? I'm gonna go with Bristol as they are doing far too well in the transfer market.

relegated teams are quite often a good bet. Or failed Play off contenders. So on that basis, Huddersfield and Derby

Derby are stuck in a groundhog day style event whereby they will always finish in and around the playoff positions but never get promoted. Cant see them ever leaving the championship.

[URZZZZ]

Any bets on a surprise relegation contender? I'm gonna go with Bristol as they are doing far too well in the transfer market.

relegated teams are quite often a good bet. Or failed Play off contenders. So on that basis, Huddersfield and Derby

Agreed with you on Huddersfield. Think they’ll start off really poorly but may just have enough in the tank. Also think Stoke will struggle

Disagree about Charlton though, I think them and Luton will be mid table ish. And actually think well be OK, I think you’re right when you say it’s a weak league this year

Can see Wednesday and Brentford (if they sort their away form out) being up there, but I think West Brom will win the league with a good manager in charge

[earleypr]

16 Blackburn I think they'll be OK but not expecting much from them this season.
17 Hull: They've got players like Bowen and Grosicki that can keep them up, or be sold on to make room for new investments.
18 Charlton: Hard to say but I think they've got the goals in them to stay up.
19 Luton: Interested to see what they'll do, for me they're the most likely dark horse on this list.
20 Millwall: Don't see any signs of them making real progression.
21 QPR: They look like they're slowly downgrading the quality of their team much. Based on current squad I'd be concerned.
22 Barnsley: I think they've sold some key players and it could be a struggle, but they're a bit of an unknown for me.
23 Wigan: Currently I'd say they look weaker than last season. Not many players I'd take for the Reading team.
24 Reading: Not trying to be negative, as it stands though it doesn't look good. They'll have little to spend even if they sell the players they're letting go. I'm hoping a few youth players will emerge and Danny Loader will have a big season. Plus a few good loans could change everything.

Preston and Brentford often seem to get thrown into the mix by pundits but I think they're better than all of these. Surprise contenders could be Forest or Swansea for me, but I'm not expecting major shocks toward the bottom this year.

[NewCorkSeth]

16 Blackburn I think they'll be OK but not expecting much from them this season.
17 Hull: They've got players like Bowen and Grosicki that can keep them up, or be sold on to make room for new investments.
18 Charlton: Hard to say but I think they've got the goals in them to stay up.
19 Luton: Interested to see what they'll do, for me they're the most likely dark horse on this list.
20 Millwall: Don't see any signs of them making real progression.
21 QPR: They look like they're slowly downgrading the quality of their team much. Based on current squad I'd be concerned.
22 Barnsley: I think they've sold some key players and it could be a struggle, but they're a bit of an unknown for me.
23 Wigan: Currently I'd say they look weaker than last season. Not many players I'd take for the Reading team.
24 Reading: Not trying to be negative, as it stands though it doesn't look good. They'll have little to spend even if they sell the players they're letting go. I'm hoping a few youth players will emerge and Danny Loader will have a big season. Plus a few good loans could change everything.

Preston and Brentford often seem to get thrown into the mix by pundits but I think they're better than all of these. Surprise contenders could be Forest or Swansea for me, but I'm not expecting major shocks toward the bottom this year.

What would you trying to be negative look like?

[Lower West]

Any bets on a surprise relegation contender?

Sheffield Wednesday. Reckon there's similar issues to ourselves.

[Snowflake Royal]

Don't think Wednesday or Forest will spend long in the bottom 8 even if they don't have great seasons.

I expect one of Luton and Charlton to do quite well, the other could well struggle but not in my relegation favourites. I'd Say Luton more likely to struggle than Charlton.

Blackburn and Wigan are good shouts. Brentford as a dark horse for strugglers not a bad call.

Think Huddersfield will be fine. As has been said, Derby won't win Andie McDowell, but they also won't make suicide stick.

[Brain Traysers]

Any bets on a surprise relegation contender? I'm gonna go with Bristol as they are doing far too well in the transfer market.

relegated teams are quite often a good bet. Or failed Play off contenders. So on that basis, Huddersfield and Derby

Derby are stuck in a groundhog day style event whereby they will always finish in and around the playoff positions but never get promoted. Cant see them ever leaving the championship.

I think Derby will be in the bottom half, and have a good chance of getting drawn into the relegation battle. Their finances are tight (I think Mel Morris has put them up for sale?) and their squat is bloated with old players. Last season they massively over-performed largely thanks to Mount being far too good for this league and Wilson continually scoring goals he had no right to - neither are with them this season.

They basically were us in our false third season - cashing in on Lampard before he got found out might be a masterstroke

[Zip]

I wasn’t impressed with Bristol City at all last season and thought their League position flattered them. I think they may be near the bottom in the coming season.
At the moment our squad looks weak but will await to see what happens over the next five weeks before making any prediction.

[Hampshire Royal]

Reading this post just convinced me we're going up. Lots of posters are saying it's a weak division. Funnily enough people were saying exactly the same thing when we went up.