Very true. What also didn't help WBA, Swansea and Stoke was the fact that all 3 promoted sides held their own last season, which is fairly unusual. Normally at least one promoted team finds the step-up too much that first season and occupies a relegation spot, but not this time.
Agreed. Whoever comes up out of the current top 6 (Leeds, Sheff Utd, Narch, WBA, Boro, Derby) would be better equipped to survive in the PL than Huddersfield, with the possible exception of Sheffield Utd, who have come a long way in a relatively short space of time.
Huddersfield look like...
Well, it was being described quite widely across the media as being a "miracle", and now he's sloped off, I've seen the word several times since last night. The BBC even called it a "fairytale" today. Its a bit like Plucky - once the notion of a miracle gets floated, the lazy journalism kicks in...
They finished 5th, 12 points behind us. Which considering they were hot on our heels for so long, and the utter PIGS EAR we made of our last 3 games, is quite surprising. Their form must've dropped off a cliff in that last month or two.
First club to be promoted on a minus goal difference, and they didn't actually manage to score a goal in the playoffs so you could say it was a slightly fortuitous promotion. They then managed to be a bit better than the shambles that were Swansea, Stoke and WBA last season (and Southampton, to...