The overall impression from many seasoned Championship watchers is that this has not been a vintage year for the second tier. Reading are worthy champions and their extraordinary run has been something to behold, but the remarkable has been few and far between this term in comparison with the 2010/11 campaign. Here are six reasons why.
Fewer goals
The headline reason is the average number of goals scored per game …
Ian Harte’s ball in. Mikele Leigertwood’s side-foot finish. The goal that gave Reading a 1-0 victory over Nottingham Forest last night. A goal that meant thousands of Royals fans ended up on the pitch carrying Leigertwood off it on their shoulders. That goal meant Reading were promoted to the Premier League. But that’s not enough for some people…
Instead, Leigertwood’s goal was quickly labelled “a £100million goal”, because promotion to …
The Seventy Two has canvassed the opinion of several Football League writers from a variety of different clubs to ask one simple question: what do you want from your football club? Given around 300 words to play with, there were numerous responses so we will be looking at a cross-section every day this week, continuing with the thoughts of Nottingham Forest, Derby County, Leicester City and Notts County supporters.
Nottingham …
Although not an issue focused solely on the Football League, the hot topic is once again the introduction of goal-line technology. It seems inevitable now, but my air is one of resignation rather than anticipation. I’ve written about this before, but perhaps it bears repeating.
Yesterday, Tottenham Hotspur managed to get themselves into such a situation that the ball was millimetres from crossing their goal line. Today, the quote …
The large man fiddles with his awkward, tilted claret and blue rosette. As he does so, he mutters to himself and even his whispers boom out like an announcement at a county fair. He cuts a strange figure, his face somehow as big as his head and his constant chattering providing a soundtrack to his every move.
“It wasn’t meant to be this way”, he says with a glance up …
Ben: Sounds like an interesting read - and a useful companion-piece to Tony...
sean smith: Brilliant article. Shared. COYS...
Steve: C.f. Phil Neville on MOTD2 talking about Rosicky's audacious blind pas...
Steve: Excellent article....
Winch: An enjoyable read. I'm not sure they bring back any good memories, but...
