27 Aug 2026 21:32:57
It's been an interesting start to the season.

3 wins and a draw whilst playing fairly well!

3 things to acknowledge.

1. The new manager seems to be getting far more out of the squad than the previous manager (s) have.

2. Fer Lopez has been a revelation.

3. The quality of opposition is far lower than I had suspected would be the case.

Obviously all 3 are correlated.

On paper the squad contains some of the best players in the league.
Whatever you think about Sa and Krejci and their commitment, they - especially Krejci, assuming he stays - are top class at this level.

Trippier and Raul - although with question marks over their ability to go 46 games week in week out - should be head and shoulders above anything else in the division this season in their positions.

Andre will be one of the very best players in the division whilst Lopez and possibly/hopefully James will be up there as well.
Add in H Bueno, Yerson and Armstrong - more than competent at this level - plus young talents like Mane and Gomes R and it is ridiculous.
Obviously even with severe qs over depth this squad should be far too good for the Championship.



However, and this is the tragic part of it, the squad/side is barely improved from the one cast adrift last season, {many of you won't like that statement but there are only 4 changes from last season - 2 old boys jettisoned as too old for the Prem, and 2 youngsters who may or may not be able to step up. The Rest were totally out of their depth last season!} and if it doesn't go up this year will almost certainly be torn down.

Andre, Raul and Trippier are one year options - the latter two obviously won't play in the Prem regardless - and Lopez, James and Krejci will probably have to be sold to keep within the ever tightening SCR rules - parachute payments decline sharply after the first season.
So whilst it's great winning games, and a corner seems to have been turned this year, the club has one year to grow into a sustainable one both on and off the pitch.

Sadly this summer, whilst clearly adequate for the short term job at hand, has been hugely underwhelming in respect of both those aims.

Consequently the last few days of the window will also be interesting - let's hope they aren't also underwhelming.

1.) 28 Aug 2026
28 Aug 2026 08:34:29
Just watched cup highlights. From the first 3 games, I've noticed the quicker movement from all players. No sideways or backward movement. There has been an improvement in the last 2 games, with the defence more secure, due to a reliable keeper behind them.

I think the pace of our game will be enough to give anybody in the Championship a good run for their money. Up the Wolves, and another 3 points tomorrow.

2.) 28 Aug 2026
28 Aug 2026 09:16:37
Not sure Championship teams can build Premier League ready teams any more. We were able to do so last time we got promotion, but the prices the top tier are now paying for average players puts them way beyond the reach of the Championship. The new model appears to identify players and then spend big and early when promoted. New Premier teams are amongst the biggest spenders this window, and Sunderland set this trend last year.
Don't think we should be complaining that we are not adding Prem-ready players at the moment. Trippier and Raul have been bought to get us promoted, not to be the backbone of a Premier League team next year. Two-year contracts will see them as bit part players next year if we get promoted.
On a totally different note (pun), teams having a song sung by fans and players at the end of a winning game is a developing trend.

England's Oasis song in the World Cup being a good example. The tunes and the teams don't appear to have any direct link: Forest sing Mull of Kyntyre and Brentford break into Hey Jude. There are some which are long standing, Man City's Blue Moon and Birmingham's Keep Right on to the End of the Road.
We don't presently have one. Any ideas?
My choice is very apt for our 150th anniversary celebrations, which celebrates our industrial roots. Dirty Old Town by The Pogues. It acknowledges our working class, industrial heritage, is a tongue in cheek, self deprecating choice. With the lyrics on the big screens, its short stanzas can be sung / shouted easily, and most importantly it is an anthemic tune. It wasn't written for the Black Country, but it captures the landscape which shaped our history. It's also one of my favourite songs.

3.) 28 Aug 2026
28 Aug 2026 10:17:34
If, and hopefully we do get promoted as it stands now, I think we would have to sign 5+ good players. When we got promoted under Nuno, we were lucky enough to have very talented players already too good for the Championship. As already mentioned, I don't think that is possible to do now, unless you get very lucky finding hidden gems. Not forgetting, we had an outstanding manager and coaching team under Nuno.

When Sunderland scraped promotion, they had a poor side and got some luck to go up. They spent 161 million on 15 players, and with a bit of luck as well they turned out to be good players. The year before, all 3 promotion teams spent a combined 276.5 million, and all got relegated. You have to spend wisely, with an added bit of luck, as every player you sign is a gamble.

4.) 28 Aug 2026
28 Aug 2026 10:39:04
Wolfthistle, go along with your idea - but just for the local derbies I would go for Tina Turner's 'Simply The Best', especially when we stuff WBA next month.

5.) 28 Aug 2026
28 Aug 2026 12:43:24
First priority is to stabilise the club in the Championship, both on the field and financially. Promotion will be a bonus.

Regarding building a Premier League side at this level, it probably isn't possible. The nucleus of our last promotion side was bolstered by Raul, Moutinho and Patricio. Without that quality we wouldn't have been half as successful.