How excited are you about this season

10 being very excited and expecting a top 2 finish
9 being excited and expecting a top 6 finish
1 being worried and a relegation battle

anything else..take your pick

Is there any point in the "other" option other than NSC tradition? Maybe for posters of other teams who don't give a shit but feel the need to vote?

9 for excitement but I'm not relating that directly to a top-x finish. I think we're going to be massively entertained by the football but it's such a tough league I'm not thinking "automatic promotion" or "playoffs". Nor, after last season, do I care that much. I'm more than happy for us to stay in the Championship forever (finances allowing).

Not sure I would want us to be in the 'championship forever' but agree it is certainly a good place to be. I am always very optimistic at the start of a season. Thinking play offs again.

With the current squad top 6 with the addition of ? We might even be able to push on

Excited about the appointment of Oscar certainly.

I'm very excited about the season. I wouldn't say I'm confident of a top 6 finish. If we have a decent start and manage to sign a few more players and keep Bridcutt, then we will have a decent chance.

I am just excited that the season is starting in 2 weeks and, after all the uncertainty of the summer, we can move on with an exciting new manager.

I don't know enough about other how well other teams have recruited this summer to know where I expect us to finish.

Ten games in and we'll have a better idea of how excited we can all get.

Top 6 is on target but I believe OG CAN take us to auto. Excited, but we need 2/3 New players.

Walt Jabsco said:

I don't know enough about other how well other teams have recruited this summer to know where I expect us to finish.

Ten games in and we'll have a better idea of how excited we can all get.

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I would expect all three relegated teams to challenge as things stand (although I thought that last season). Reading look like they have a better team than won the title in 2011/12, QPR have a lot of very good players for this level and Wigan have a very strong midfield and signed Holt, who will score a lot at this level.

Watford have kept most of their key Udinese/Granada players and signed a few new players, Leicester are a similar side to the one who made the play offs last season, Bolton had a great end to last season and will definitely challenge in my view and Forest look strong. Having said that, with a couple of signings, I am confident we can challenge too and there are always teams who do better/worst than expected.

I believe we will be playoffs or autos for the following reasons:

• The subtle change in the body language of the players in the training gallery pictures from the Gus days to now (far more relaxed)
• The identification and admission of a skill gap (unheard of by Gus!) and thus the subsequent hiring or Nathan Jones
• The greater experience as a management team in coaching, 3 of whom this is the third club together.
• The experience in developing and using youth to support the 1st XI
• A more attacking philosophy (shown in the change in Orlandi's role and position)
• A more professional 'focused' approach which is less likely to alienate parts of the dressing room and fan base.

I also think we will be playing with a weaker squad but believe the quality of an individual does not make a team. We will have a team that is greater than its parts and will be promoted.

o

Walt Jabsco said:

I don't know enough about other how well other teams have recruited this summer to know where I expect us to finish.

Ten games in and we'll have a better idea of how excited we can all get.

Click to expand...

I imagine the fans of more than half the teams in this division are excited and expecting a top 6 finish, that is the beauty of pre-season. In reality we probably won't have a clue about who's going to finish where until into the New Year unless one or two teams run away with it in the first three months. Didn't we win the 1st 5 games last season and Palace lose their 1st three? If this division is half as exciting as last it should be fantastic. Peterborough beating Cardiff home and away and still getting relegated shows just how competitive it was. Throw in Harry and QPR along with Adkins at Reading, the shenanigans at Watford, the resurgence of Forest, Bolton and Charlton late in the season and virtually every game will hold real interest. No doubt some will underachieve dramatically and unexpectedly (maybe even us?) and others overachieve, can't wait.

We also have a month and a half of the transfer window open and with FFP teams will probably hold out to the last minute hoping to negotiate lower wage packets at the 11th hour. This will all happen after the season has begun too, so it will be really interesting to see how it pans out for all our rivals too, not much activity at the moment. Not sure we need to even start getting concerned about lack of signings just yet.

Squad is lightweight at the moment and significantly worse than last year but hopeful they'll be new additions to come in

moggy said:

Squad is lightweight at the moment and significantly worse than last year but hopeful they'll be new additions to come in

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I'm not sure it is significantly weaker. We're missing 3 key players from the team at the end of last season but this time last year, neither Lopez or Hammond were even at the club. I genuinely believe we have a stronger squad than at this stage last season when we came 4th, especially with Upson and Ulloa being here for the whole season!

Finchley Seagull said:

I'm not sure it is significantly weaker. We're missing 3 key players from the team at the end of last season but this time last year, neither Lopez or Hammond were even at the club. I genuinely believe we have a stronger squad than at this stage last season when we came 4th, especially with Upson and Ulloa being here for the whole season!

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Personally I don't rate Hammond at all.
I was referring to bridge, Lopez and Vicente

moggy said:

Personally I don't rate Hammond at all.
I was referring to bridge, Lopez and Vicente

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Whether you rate him or not, Hammond had a much more key role in our fourth place finish last season than Vicente, who barely played at all. My point is that, Bridge is the only first team regular to go who was with us this time last season so there is still plenty of time to strengthen.

moggy said:

Personally I don't rate Hammond at all.
I was referring to bridge, Lopez and Vicente

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Vicente hardly played, so I wouldn't say he was key last season. Hammond, Bridge and Lopez were key definitely and need to be replaced or OG thinks he's seen something in the DS squad to replace them?

We won't know till end of 31st August on how he feels about the squad

Walt Jabsco said:

I don't know enough about other how well other teams have recruited this summer to know where I expect us to finish.

Ten games in and we'll have a better idea of how excited we can all get.

Click to expand...

This seems a pretty comprehensive list, taken from a chat room for Championship teams.


AFC Bournemouth
Manager:
Eddie Howe

Ins: Elliott Ward (Norwich City, free), Ian Harte (Reading, free), Mohamed Coulibaly (Grasshoppers, free)

Outs: Jonathan Meades (Oxford United, free), Charlie Sheringham (AFC Wimbledon, free), Frank Demouge (Roda JC, free), Steve Fletcher (retired)


Barnsley
Manager: David Flitcroft

Ins: Dale Jennings (Bayern Munich, £250k), Chris O’Grady (Sheffield Wednesday, undisclosed), Christian Dibble (Bury, free), Lewin Nyatanga (Bristol City, free).

Outs: Stephen Foster (Tranmere Rovers, free), John Rooney (Bury, free), Matt Done (Rochdale, free), Rob Edwards, Marlon Harewood (both released)




Birmingham City
Manager: Lee Clark

Ins: Andrew Shinnie (Inverness Caledonian Thistle, free), Oliver Lee (Barnet, free), Darren Randolph (Motherwell, free), Lee Novak (Huddersfield Town, free), Neil Eardley (Blackpool, free), Tom Adeyemi (Norwich City, free), Dan Burn (Fulham, loan), Matt Green (Mansfield Town, free), Kyle Bartley (Swansea City, loan), Scott Allan (West Brom, loan)

Outs: Adam Rooney (Swindon Town, free), Steven Caldwell (Toronto FC, loan), Curtis Davies (Hull City, £2.25m), Nathan Redmond (Norwich City, £3.2m), Fraser Kerr (Motherwell, free), Deqwon Ebanks (Tamworth, free), Olly Grant (Barnet, free), Akwasi Asante (Shrewsbury Town, loan), Jack Deaman, Graham Hutchison, Morgaro Gomis, Keith Fahey, Pablo Ibanez (all released), Stephen Carr (retired).


Blackburn Rovers
Manager: Gary Bowyer

Ins: Chris Taylor (Millwall, free), Alan Judge (Notts County, free), Simon Eastwood (Portsmouth, free), Todd Kane (Chelsea, loan), Matt Kilgallon (Sunderland, free), Devarn Green (Burton Albion, undisclosed), Alex Marrow (Crystal Palace, undisclosed), DJ Campbell (QPR, free)

Outs: Christian Dilo (St Mirren, free), Adam Evans (Inverness Caledonian Thistle, free), David Goodwillie (Dundee United, loan), Martin Olsson (Norwich City, £2.5m), Micah Evans, Reece Hands, Ryan Humphreys, Danny Laverty, Jamie Maclaren, Osayamen Osawe, Peter Wylie, Nuno Gomes, Danny Murphy (all released)



Blackpool
Manager: Paul Ince

Ins: Gary MacKenzie (Milton Keynes, undisclosed), Bobby Grant (Rochdale, undisclosed)

Outs: Alex Baptiste (Bolton Wanderers, free), Stephen Crainey (Wigan Athletic, free), Ashley Eastham (Rochdale, free), Chris Kettings (York City, loan), Neil Eardley (Birmingham City, free), Gerardo Bruna, Kevin Phillips, Paul Bignot, Alex Addai, Adda Djeziri, Tiago Gomes, Elliot Grandin, Matthew Challoner, Jamie Menagh, Curtis Thompson (all released)


Bolton Wanderers
Manager: Dougie Freedman

Ins: Marc Tierney (Norwich City, free), Alex Baptiste (Blackpool, free), Hayden White (Sheffield Wednesday, undisclosed), Conor Wilkinson (Millwall, fee yet to be agreed), Robert Hall (West Ham United, fee yet to be agreed), Gary Fraser (Hamilton Academical, free), Jermaine Beckford (Leicester City, Undisclosed)

Outs: Alex McQuade (Shrewsbury Town, free), Joe McKee (Greenock Morton, free), Marcos Alonso (Fiorentina, free), Kevin Davies (Preston, free), Rob Lainton (Bury, free), Sam Ricketts (Wolverhampton Wanderers, free), Jack Sampson (Morecambe, free), Gregg Wylde (Aberdeen, free), Adam Blakeman, Ben Hampson, Lewis Fielding, Ben Dennis (all released)


Brighton Hove & Albion
Head Coach: Óscar García

Ins: Matthew Upson (Stoke City, free), Adam Chicksen (Milton Keynes, fee yet to be agreed)

Outs: Stephen Dobbie (Crystal Palace, undisclosed), Anton Rodgers (Oldham Athletic, free), Vicente, Marcos Painter, Gary Dicker, David Lopez (all released)




Burnley
Manager: Sean Dyche

Ins: Tom Heaton (Bristol City, free), Joseph Mills (Reading, free), Alex Cisak (Oldham Athletic, free), Daniel Nizic (Sydney FC, free), Nick Liversedge (Whitby, free), Scott Arfield (Huddersfield Town, free), Ryan Noble (Sunderland, free)

Outs: Lee Grant (Derby County, free), Chris McCann (Wigan Athletic, free), Shay McCartan (Accrington Stanley, free), Martin Paterson (Huddersfield Town, free), Wes Fletcher (York City, free), Alex MacDonald (Burton Albion, free), Brian Jensen, Jon Stewart (both released)


Charlton Athletic
Manager: Chris Powell

Ins: Mark Gower (Swansea City, free), Richard Wood (Coventry City, free)

Outs: John Sullivan (Portsmouth, free), Scott Wagstaff (Bristol City, free), Danny Haynes (Notts County, free), Matt Taylor, Ricardo Fuller, Salim Kerkar, Yado Mambo, Bradley Wright-Phillips (all released)



Derby County
Manager: Nigel Clough

Ins: Johnny Russell (Dundee United, £750k), Lee Grant (Burnley, free), Chris Martin (Norwich City, free), Craig Forsyth (Watford, £150k)

Outs: Gareth Roberts (Bury, free), Frank Fielding (Bristol City, undisclosed), Ross Atkins (Alfreton Town, loan)



Doncaster Rovers
Manager: Paul Dickov

Ins: Marc de val Fernandez (Real Madrid, free), Dean Furman (Oldham Athletic, free), Jean Yves M’Voto (Oldham Athletic, free), Mark Duffy (Scunthorpe United, undisclosed), Harry Forrester (Brentford, fee yet to be agreed)

Outs: Lee Fowler (Kidderminster Harriers, free), Martin Woods, Gary Woods, Jordan Ball, Patrick Mullen (all released), Neil Sullivan (retired)


Huddersfield Town
Manager: Mark Robins

Ins: Jake Carroll (St Patrick's Athletic, undisclosed), Adam Hammill (Wolverhampton Wanderers, undisclosed), Jon Stead (Bristol City, free), Martin Paterson (Burnley, free), James Vaughan (Norwich City, undisclosed).

Outs: Tom Clarke (Preston North End, free), Lee Novak (Birmingham City, free), Scott Arfield, Alan Lee, Connor Loftus, Scott Kay, Israel Johnson (all released)




Ipswich Town
Manager: Mick McCarthy

Ins: Cole Skuse (Bristol City, free), Daryl Murphy (Celtic, free), Jay Tabb (Reading, free), Dean Gerken (Bristol City, free), Paul Anderson (Bristol City, swap deal), David McGoldrick (Nottingham Forest, free), Frederic Veseli (Manchester United, free)

Outs: Jay Emmanuel-Thomas (Bristol City, swap deal), Andy Drury (Crawley Town, free), Lee Martin (Millwall, free), Gunnar Thorsteinsson (IBV, Free), Joe Whight (Bury Town, free), Arran-Lee Barrett, Jack Ainsley, Ronan Murray, Cormac Burke (all released).


Leeds United
Manager: Brian McDermott

Ins: Matt Smith (Oldham Athletic, free), Noel Hunt (Reading, free), Luke Murphy (Crewe Alexandra, £1m)

Outs: Steve Morison (Millwall, loan), Paul Connolly, Davide Somma, Patrick Kisnorbo, Paul Rachubka (all released), Leigh Bromby (retired)


Leicester City
Manager: Nigel Pearson

Ins:

Outs: Joe Jones (Yeovil, free), Jermaine Beckford (Bolton Wanderers, Undisclosed), Conor Brennan, Steven Smith, Karlton Watson, Jide Maduako (all released)





Middlesbrough
Manager: Tony Mowbray

Ins: Josef Varga (Debrecen, loan), Dean Whitehead (Stoke City, free)

Outs: Stephen McManus (Motherwell, free), Nicky Bailey (Millwall, free) Julio Arca, Andre Bikey (released)


Millwall
Manager: Steve Lomas

Ins: Jermaine Easter (Crystal Palace, free), Stephen Bywater (Sheffield Wednesday, free), Steve Morison (Leeds United, loan), Lee Martin (Ipswich Town, free), Richard Chaplow (Southampton, free), Nicky Bailey (Middlesbrough, free)


Outs: Chris Taylor (Blackburn Rovers, free), Steve Mildenhall (Bristol Rovers, free), Tamika Mkandawire (Shrewsbury Town, free), Darius Henderson (Nottingham Forest, free), Shaun Batt (Leyton Orient, free), Conor Wilkinson (Bolton Wanderers, fee yet to be agreed), Therry Racon, Maik Taylor (both released)


Nottingham Forest
Manager: Billy Davies

Ins: Darius Henderson (Millwall, free), Eric Lichaj (Aston Villa, free), Gonzalo Jara (West Bromwich Albion, free), Jamie Paterson (Walsall, undisclosed), Dorus De Vries (Wolverhampton Wanderers, free), Jack Hobbs (Hull City, loan)

Outs: Matt Regan (Tamworth, free), Lewis McGugan (Watford, free), David McGoldrick (Ipswich Town, free)



Queens Park Rangers
Manager: Harry Redknapp

Ins: Danny Simpson (Newcastle United, free), Richard Dunne (Aston Villa, free)

Outs: Tal Ben-Haim (Toronto FC, loan), Chris Samba (Anzhi Makhachkala, £12m), DJ Campbell (Blackburn Rovers, free), Djibril Cisse (FC Kuban Krasnodar, free), Troy Hewitt (Walsall, free), Frederick Champion, Adam Francis, Taylor Parmenter, Tommaso Trani, Jay Bothroyd, Radek Cerny, Rob Hulse (all released)



Reading
Manager: Nigel Adkins

Ins: Royston Drenthe (Alania Vladikavkaz, undisclosed), Wayne Bridge (Manchester City, free), Danny Williams (Hoffenheim, undisclosed).

Outs: Joseph Mills (Burnley, free), Noel Hunt (Leeds United, free), Jay Tabb (Ipswich Town, free), Mikkel Andersen (Randers, loan), Uche Ikpeazu (Watford, fee yet to be agreed), Ian Harte (AFC Bournemouth, free), Nick Arnold (Wycombe Wanderers, loan), Josh Shama (Oxford United, free), Ryan Edwards (Perth Glory, loan), Daniel Carrico (Sevilla, loan), Nicky Shorey, Simon Church, Nick Bignall, Charlie Losasso, Angus MacDonald, Joshua Webb, Brett Williams (all released)



Sheffield Wednesday
Manager: Dave Jones

Ins: Jacques Maghoma (Burton Albion, free), Jeremy Helan (Manchester City, undisclosed),

Outs: Bastien Hery (Rochdale, free), Hayden White (Bolton Wanderers, undisclosed), Chris O’Grady (Barnsley, undisclosed), Stephen Bywater (Millwall, free), Nicky Weaver (Aberdeen, free), Julian Bennett, Necj Pecnik (both released).


Watford
Manager: Gianfranco Zola

Ins: Lewis McGugan (Nottingham Forest, free), Christian Battocchio (Udinese, undisclosed), Marco Cassetti (Udinese, undisclosed), Daniel Pudil (Granada, undisclosed), Uche Ikpeazu (Reading, fee yet to be agreed)

Outs: Chris Iwelumo (Scunthorpe United, free), Jack Bonham (Brentford, free), Stephen McGinn (Sheffield United, free), Craig Forsyth (Derby County, £150k), Mark Yeates (Bradford City, free), Prince Buaben, Piero Mingoia, Stephen Hamilton-Forbes (all released)

Wigan Athletic
Manager: Owen Coyle

Ins: Chris McCann (Burnley, free), Grant Holt (Norwich City, £2m), Marc Antoine Fortune (West Bromwich Albion, free), Scott Carson (Bursaspor, undisclosed), James Perch (Newcastle United, undisclosed), Thomas Rogne (Celtic, free), Stephen Crainey (Blackpool, free)

Outs: Maynor Figueroa (Hull City, free), Antolin Alcaraz (Everton, free), Arouna Kone (Everton, £6m), Mauro Boselli (Club Leon, undisclosed), Ronnie Stam (Standard Liege, free), Peter Aylmer, Albert Crusat, Franco Di Santo, David Jones, Adrian Lopez, Jonathan Lynch, Callum Morris, Filip Orsula, Joshua Sumner, Ryan Watson (all released)

Yeovil Town
Manager: Gary Johnson

Ins: Joel Grant (Wycombe Wanderers, free), Sam Hoskins (Southampton, free), Joe Jones (Leicester City, free), Kieffer Moore (Dorchester, undisclosed), Billy Clifford (Chelsea, loan), Michael Ngoo (Liverpool, loan)

Outs: Reuben Reid (Plymouth Argyle, loan), Dominic Blizzard (Plymouth Argyle, free), Richard Hinds (Bury, free), Gavin Williams (released).

Finchley Seagull said:

I'm not sure it is significantly weaker. We're missing 3 key players from the team at the end of last season but this time last year, neither Lopez or Hammond were even at the club. I genuinely believe we have a stronger squad than at this stage last season when we came 4th, especially with Upson and Ulloa being here for the whole season!

Click to expand...

Orlandi wasn't with us at this stage last year either.

Wow - only Watford, Reading and Wigan investing. Amazingly quiet really - ffp may well have the effect that i was doubting. I thought Leicestaer and Blackburn etc would carry on regardless take the fine and cross their fingers

Bolton, Birmingham and Wigan have been busy!