Championship games 7/8 Aug

Don't want to tread on anyone's toes here but I would have thought someone would have started a thread on the weekend games by now, so Im posting the Div 1 (whoops!!)fixtures for comments/analysis.

Saturday 7th August
Leeds v Derby (12.15 kick off)
Burnley v Sheff U
Reading v Brighton
Wigan v N Forest
Crewe v Cardiff
Ipswich v Gillingham
Leicester v WHU
Plymouth v Millwall
Preston v Watford
QPR v Rotherham
Coventry v Sunderland (5.35 kick off)

Sunday 8th
Stoke v Wolves (12.15 kick off)

[kompressaur]

Shite i thought you had posted the odds to Onedun and deleted my fine thread. I'll post em here.

Leeds v Derby 1.83 3.20 3.75
Burnley v Sheff Utd 2.62 3.10 2.37
Crewe v Cardiff 2.37 3.10 2.62
Ipswich v Gillingham 1.66 3.10 5.00
Leicester v West Ham 2.20 3.10 2.87
Plymouth v Millwall 2.25 3.20 2.75
Preston v Watford 1.90 3.20 3.50
Q P R v Rotherham 1.80 3.10 4.00
Reading v Brighton 1.72 3.25 4.20
Wigan v Nottm Forest 1.90 3.20 3.50
Coventry v Sunderland 2.37 3.10 2.62

Thanks - I was thinking of starting a separate thread on odds. Most bookies don't even have them up yet and with no form to go on, there must be some difference of opinion between them which might give the punter an edge. What do you reckon?

[keemanan]

Could be ODM.

Anyway it's good to see the fixtures up again , could be a watching brief only this week.

i think maybe QPR could be a nice return , they have come to terms with beating teams like Rotheram so I'll have a look at them.

Ipswich for me this week......its in the stars

I have a fancy for all the newly promoted sides this weekend. QPR are awesome at home, and Plymouth will turn on the kind of intimidating atmos more usually associated with their opponents. Millwall themselves are well-overrated, thanks to a lucky Cup run which saw them evade top flight opposition till the Final! They've also lost arguably their two best players, Cahill and Warner. I suspect Wise is about to be exposed as the managerial idiot I always expected him to be.

Reading and BHA have swapped managers, and I somehow can't see MCGhee coming off worse. Perhaps a draw in that one.

This weekend sees the first of many overly short odds on Leeds. I'm tempted to just lay Leeds for the first two months till the bookies realise they're not going to win gaes simply because they're a big club. How annoying that Sky have chosen to feature Leeds when the top two teams in the Division are playing at Filbert St.

My great grandson tells me Leicester Fosse stopped playing at Filbert St a couple of decades ago. Pardon me.

That Frank Worthington is a good prospect though.

I agree with going against Leeds, I think they could be relegation candidates.
I'll be backing Derby and Leicester as the odds on both look too long. Small stakes at this stage though.

[Paul Ross]

I'm not saying this is the best way forward for the first week, but let's see how it turns out. I'm going to put the last 3 pre-season games of say, Leeds v Derby and see how they compare in relation to prices available. I think the last 3 pre-season games should show realistic form.

Leeds v Derby

Leeds

Valencia Home 2-2 Draw
Darlington Away 2-4 Won
Hibernian Away 1-3 Won

Forget the 1-1 with York this week, that was a complete youth side. More impressed with the 3-1 win at Hibs than 2-2 with Valencia, as they must be in pretty good physical shape too.

Derby

Macclesfield 0-0
Kilmarnock 0-0
Aston Villa 2-1

A good win over Villa, but slightly disappointing against weaker opposition.

-----------------------

Burnley v Sheff Utd

Burnley

Burnley 1 Everton 1
SV Wacker Burghausen 1 Burnley 1
1860 Munich 1 Burnley 1

Sheff Utd

Tavistock 2 Blades 5
Bodmin 0 Blades 1
Sheff Utd 2 Spurs 1

-----------------------

Reading v Brighton

Reading

A Sun 25th Brentford (F.) 1 - 0
A Tue 27th Carshalton Ath (F.) 1 - 0
August
H Mon 2nd Man City (F.) 1 - 4

Brighton

A Mon 26th Stevenage (F.) 1 - 0
A Sat 31st Cambridge Utd (F.) 2 - 2
August
A Tue 3rd Lewes (F.) 2 - 2

-----------------------

Wigan v N Forest

Wigan

A Tue 27th Halifax (F.) 0 - 3
A Wed 28th Burscough (F.) 4 - 5
A Sun 1st Blackpool (F.) 0 - 5

N Forest

A Sat 24th Lincoln (F.) 0 - 0
H Tue 27th Middlesbrough (F.) 1 - 4
H Sat 31st Tottenham (F.) 0 - 2

-----------------------

Crewe v Cardiff

Crewe

H Tue 20th Everton (F.) 2 - 1
A Mon 26th Accrington Stanley (F.) 1 - 1
A Fri 30th Port Vale (F.) 0 - 0

Cardiff

H Sat 31st R Santander (F.) 0 - 1
August
H Mon 2nd Lazio (F.) 2 - 3
A Tue 3rd Forest Green (F.) 1 - 3

-----------------------

Ipswich v Gillingham

Ipswich

A Tue 20th Oxford Utd (F.) 1 - 5
H Sat 24th Crystal Palace (F.) 2 - 1
H Wed 28th Newcastle (F.) 2 - 1

Gillingham

A Mon 26th Welling (F.) 3 - 2
A Tue 27th Canvey I (F.) 1 - 2
H Fri 30th Charlton (F.) 0 - 0

-----------------------

Leicester v WHU

Leicester

A Sat 24th St Johnstone (F.) 0 - 2
A Mon 26th Partick Thistle (F.) 0 - 1
A Wed 28th Kilmarnock (F.) 2 - 3

WHU

A Wed 28th Colchester (F.) 1 - 2
H Sat 31st Anderlecht (F.) 4 - 4
August
A Mon 2nd Purfleet (F.) 1 - 1

-----------------------

I'll do some more tommorrow, these are from skysports.com btw.

[PTDSEI]

Cant say I`m a fan of betting on the opening day, But someone mentioned QPR should turn Rotherham over, my mind goes back to the opening day 2 seasons ago and...Millwall 0-6 Rotherham

Will probably have a wee bet on Reading to beat Brighton (after I check up on team news)

[Rumlesen]

Paul. last year we had a little chat about Leeds getting relagatet. You said that you thaught they would be and midtable team, because they had alot of talentet youngsters. Are they still at Leeds? and how do you rate their chances this season?

[Paul Ross]

Rumlesen,

The Leeds players most haven't heard of much that are of a high standard are Matthew Kilgallon (Def), Frazer Richardson(Def or Mid), Jamie McMaster (Attacking Mid), Simon Johnson and Aaron Lennon (Both Strikers).

The ones likely to be playing a fair bit are Kilgallon & Richardson. Both are likely stars in Div 1 imo, but it's down to Blackwell who he plays. McMaster is another very talented player, but was on loan all season at Chesterfield, apparently the best player in that Division by some distance as well. McMaster scored 2 against Darlington recently too.

Lennon and Johnson will be used sparingly I imagine as they are both still young, but talented.

Where do I think they'll finish ? In or around the playoffs, forget relegation, although I said that last year, there was a bit more to it last year than just players, ie change of managers, financial etc... Now it's all about the players and team, no way will they be relegated, top 10 certs. They could even win the division if things click quickly, as I don't see any team being particularly stronger than another out of the top 10.

Also, just a fact that is maybe meaningless to some, but Kevin Blackwell is (I'm told) the most qualified coach in the UK, ie the amount of coaching badges he has etc...We'll see if that transfers to Management.

I am not wanting to doubt your knowledge of your Leeds players but I fail to see how you can make statements like

McMaster is another very talented player, but was on loan all season at Chesterfield, apparently the best player in that Division by some distance as well.

when he was only on loan there for half a season and made the grand total of 4 starts and 2 sub appearances in the league for Chesterfield? How exactly did 6 games make him the best player in that Division by some distance?

I would leave Leeds/Derby game alone unless you really know what you are doing, my gut feeling is that Leeds will finsih a little above Derby over the season, but there have been so many changes. I will try and catch some of the game so I can make my own assessment of the new Leeds.

Rotherham look interesting at odds of 7/2. I don't think they are much behind QPR. I thought QPR were a bit flattered by their finishing position last season and see this as a very close game.

The first few games can be difficult calls IMO so I would keep any stakes conservative, this first set of Championship matches looks a tad tough.

With all teams starting on a level playing field value may lie in longer shots like Rotherham and Gillingham but both clubs don't exactly inspire. Was looking to oppose Brighton who I feel will struggle this year and also miss key man Leon Knight for the first few games, but Reading are not quite tempting enough price wise for a first day nod.

Many games are just too tight, though looking forward to Sky's treble offering plus another 3 games during next week. For anyone who didn't know ITV launch 'The Championship' this Sunday and every Sunday at 10.30 AM which will be a dedicated Coca Cola highlights programme. (especially this division)

Recommendation

No Bet

FA

[Paul Ross]

Henrik,

That came from a Chesterfield website, I can only say what I've been told and this kid McMaster has been touted as the new Kewell for quite some time.

I suppose if you put a quality player in the division 2 below the Prem, it doesn't take many games to see he is miles above the rest. I personally won't be betting in the first week, looking forward to see if the new Leeds are any good, and looking forward to seeing the new players in action.

Paul Ross, if I may say so, you seem to be exhibiting symptoms of the Leeds malaise whereby everything outside the Premiership is deemed to be vastly inferior to anything Leeds-related. You assume that Jamie McMaster was the best player in Div 2 last season simply because he was a Leeds player on loan there. I have to tell you that, if he had been the best player in that Division, he would a) have played more than four games, and b) been in the PFA Team of the Season.

Here's a reality check. Of the present Leeds squad, I estimate two players (Seth Johnson and possibly Ricketts) would make the Cardiff City first XI. Last season we finished 13th in this league.

I personally feel that this year is going to be a learning curve for Leeds, fans and players alike, and I think that Leeds fans' dismissive talk of the standard at this level will have disappeared come season end.


To add some kind of betting dimension to this post - Leeds are talkinga good game, and the bookies are fallig fr it, so cash in and lay them till October!

[Paul Ross]

BBIE,

You're entitled to your opinion, but you clearly don't know me that well and you are wrong.

I have said already it will probably take Leeds 5 years to fully recover. I don't assume McMaster was the best player in Div 2 because he was a leeds player on loan, re-read my comments.

I can't find the chesterfield website that they were raving about him on, but here is a link I posted on Leeds rivals boards.rivals.net/default...2130252993 note what the guy below (chesterfield fan) says.

Seth Johnson wouldn't get into the Barnet XI, so I don't know why you have even mentioned him. I agree it will be a learning curve for Leeds too, but I still believe they are top 10 certs.

The bookies are falling for what exactly ? We are 14/1 7th favourites for the division, not outright favourites, a fair price, no more no less.

Another link to McMaster comments boards.rivals.net/default...2130170599 and boards.rivals.net/default...2130176416

[Rumlesen]

Thanks Paul, wish you luck with your beloved Leeds.

I've just read one of those threads you linked to on the Chesterfield site. In ten posts, the only positive comments on McMaster were "the report I read said he played well" and "he'd be better off at Chesterfield than Darlington".

The subject of the thread was that McMaster had managed to play a game against Darlington without the Darlington fan actually noticing.

Sorry if I jumped the gun in assuming you suffered from Leeds Malaise. It's just that I've read umpteen quotes from Leeds fans this summer along the lines of "at this level, we'll do this that and the other". I feel that "this level" may be a bit tougher than these fans realise, and if the players share this attitude that they only have to turn up to win, I'll be backing the away team at Elland Rd from now till May.

Half the teams in the CCC have played Premiership football, and so have four in League One. I'd say it's harder to go back up than the bookies realise.

Anyway, good luck for the season from an ex-Leeds resident!