The standard of this league

[BetterCallSaul]

I used to never understand when people said this was a shit league and not very good, and then we spent a season in the championship. The gulf between league one and the championship is imo, massive. League one is dire compared to the championship where you seem to get punished 9/10 for the smallest mistake, not something that happens in league one.

 

[leedsvaliant]

I don't recall previous threads like this but it's definitely the worst standard for a while. Even the teams at the top are dog dirt unlike years when Bristol City etc. ran away with it.

Put it this way, we've been terrible and I mean terrible for 3 months - we've been playing players who wouldn't stand out for the Dog and Duck on a Sunday, yet have still picked up the odd win here and there. Win our couple of games in hand and we're about 7 to 8 points off the play off places which is frankly ridiculous. We played Southend, Rochdale and Scunthorpe at home and they were all poor yet find themselves up there by default.

As others have said, it basically comes down to strikers. If you've got someone who scores 20+ goals in this league, you'll be up there irrelevant of how the rest of your team is.

 

[valefan16]

I used to never understand when people said this was a shit league and not very good, and then we spent a season in the championship. The gulf between league one and the championship is imo, massive. League one is dire compared to the championship where you seem to get punished 9/10 for the smallest mistake, not something that happens in league one.

Well a good example of this... we must have conceded on average 8 or 9 real good chances a game at home over the last few months prior to Brown taking over and we still managed to only lose 3 of those and in 1 of those (Walsall) we weren't exactly battered so the amount we got away with at home and still got results was crazy! Luckily we were just pretty clinical at the time.

 

[Sheffsteel]

I think the standard at the top of league 1 is lower than normal
But I think then standard at the bottom is higher than normal.

I remember the first season we were down here.

We had an outstanding team that season (slightly better than this seasons team) and were pipped right at the end to finish 3rd.

I remember Huddersfield Town going about 30 matches unbeaten under Lee Clarke. They has an outstanding side that season, the best performance from an away team at Bramall Lane that I've seen in the last 6 years of league 1 but they could only finish 4th behind Charlton, Wednesday and Sheff U.

 

[Jockney]

Yeah, it's weaker. Think we had a bit of a golden period in this league from about 2008-2015, but the bigger clubs have since departed and the financial gap between this league and the Championship has widened to such an extent that it's probably bigger than the gap between the second-tier and the Premier League now.

Add to that the increased competitiveness of non-league clubs and League One has been sandwiched-in and the quality levelled off recently. Teams don't play with fear anymore because club size is not as significant as it used to be. I think clubs like Yeovil, Burton, Scunthorpe, Bournemouth and Brentford, et al, have shown that there really isn't any mysterious aura to the historically successful clubs: they've just been backed by a shit ton of money.

 

[hold'um Oldham]

I've not looked at the betting. I'm not a betting man, but I bet (pun intended) there ain't too many games in this league with a clear favourite. Most will be give or take even punts. For example Bradford are riding high while we are in the doldrums but I reckon the odds for the win will be similar for both teams.

It's more a case of picking the best of a bad bunch these days.

 

[GasAttacK]

First let me put it out there.


Latics are shite. This is the worst team we have had in most people's living memory. We are on course to set new records in fewest goals scored and deserve to go down.

But my point is we are still in the mix. How we can be this bad and still have more than a slim hope of staying up is beyond me. The last 3 games at home the opposition have been beyond bad. Port Vale Gillingham and Peterborough all deserved to lose without us ever actually playing that we'll.

But it's been like this all season. Teams have come, looked absolute dross and took 3 points. I would go as far to say that 3 quarters of this league are that bad they would all be relegated 10 years ago. The standard really has dropped that much.

The only team I've seen this year that looked half decent was bolton and even they didn't set the world alight

Having been in L2 last season I can safely say there is a step up in class in L1. You only have to look at our goals against column to see that.

Last season in L2 we conceded 46 goals in 46 games, this season in L1 we've conceded 50 goals in 28 games. Teams are far more clinical at this level and punish you for most defensive mistakes.

The step up in class has been roughly as I expected.

 

[Hedonist Puncture]

Having seen us in the Championship, L1 and L2 over the last few years, I see big differences in the standard between the divisions. A couple of years ago, L2 was the worst standard that I have ever seen in professional football in England and I have been watching the Iron for decades. The Championship is much tougher than L1, as the likes of Bristol City, Burton and Wigan are finding out. Well done to Barnsley though, who are giving it a good go.

As far as the standard of L1 goes, it is difficult for me to judge, as we have been doing a lot of yo-yoing between Championship, L1 & L2. I do not see a general trend of things getting worse though. This season, as opposed to last, there appears to a more even standard among the teams. The old cliche of anyone can beat anyone is fairly true and more so than last year. The same inconsistencies in performance exist though, which is a major concern for all fans at our level, particularly those of one of the bottom 4 teams. I am one fan who does think his team is decent this season. I expected us to do well this year and was looking for a top 6 finish.

L1 is what it is and will remain so, somewhere between the decent standard of the Championship and the crap of L2. Money does plays a big part, but that is true in all divisions and throughout football in general.

 

[miagsygas]

I can only judge on what I personally have seen.

I would say that the standard is far superior than L2. Mainly based on the ruthlessness of some teams. Last season, we had one of the better defensive units in the league. This year we have one of the worst in L1 and we have been on the end of a couple of spankings. We seem to get punished a hell of a lot more this season that last. That being said, I would say the last time we were in the league the top teams were better that this season's top teams, Southampton Leeds etc had good teams. But i'd say the overall league is more competitve and on par with eachother.

 

[GEORGE]

Standard this season is not bad. Top three or four teams are considerably better then the rest.Saying that the best team I've ever seen at this level was the QPR one in the 1966/67 season that included Marsh,Lazorus & the Morgan twins. They even went on to win the league cup after completely dominating the league.Only team to come close was the 1983/84 Oxford United side.

 

[Bobbin']

I think the standard at the top of league 1 is lower than normal
But I think then standard at the bottom is higher than normal.

I remember the first season we were down here.

We had an outstanding team that season (slightly better than this seasons team) and were pipped right at the end to finish 3rd.

I remember Huddersfield Town going about 30 matches unbeaten under Lee Clarke. They has an outstanding side that season, the best performance from an away team at Bramall Lane that I've seen in the last 6 years of league 1 but they could only finish 4th behind Charlton, Wednesday and Sheff U.

Think you've hit the nail on the head.

The season you mention, we were daylights ahead of everyone and then yourselves and Wednesday comfortably better than the rest and that includes a very good Huddersfield team. I seem to recall the rest of the league being pretty bad though, I mean Stevenage made the play-offs.

I think that season backs up the point that you really need a striker perfectly. The top four that year all had a 20+ goals a season player. Wright-Phillips, Madine, Evans and Rhodes.

That being said, I think the season two years previous was even stronger. Ourselves, Norwich, Leeds, Millwall and Swindon all occupied different spots in the top two during the afternoon of the last game. Southampton would have been right up there too had they not been deducted 10 points.

 

[Indian Dan]

Standard this season is not bad. Top three or four teams are considerably better then the rest.Saying that the best team I've ever seen at this level was the QPR one in the 1966/67 season that included Marsh,Lazorus & the Morgan twins. They even went on to win the league cup after completely dominating the league.Only team to come close was the 1983/84 Oxford United side.

Hello! I think you may have conveniently forgotten we won the League Cup in '69 and ripped up Division 3 on the way to promotion.

 

[joethegill]

Think you've hit the nail on the head.

The season you mention, we were daylights ahead of everyone and then yourselves and Wednesday comfortably better than the rest and that includes a very good Huddersfield team. I seem to recall the rest of the league being pretty bad though, I mean Stevenage made the play-offs.

I think that season backs up the point that you really need a striker perfectly. The top four that year all had a 20+ goals a season player. Wright-Phillips, Madine, Evans and Rhodes.

That being said, I think the season two years previous was even stronger. Ourselves, Norwich, Leeds, Millwall and Swindon all occupied different spots in the top two during the afternoon of the last game. Southampton would have been right up there too had they not been deducted 10 points.

The last example you've used is the strongest I remember this division being. The 6 teams you mentioned were all very fine teams, plus there was Huddersfield who scored a shitload thrown into the mix as well. We had a cracking home record, beating Leeds, Millwall, Huddersfield, Southampton and Swindon, plus draws with the other two of the top 7 - but didn't win an away game all season!

 

[Bobbin']

The last example you've used is the strongest I remember this division being. The 6 teams you mentioned were all very fine teams, plus there was Huddersfield who scored a shitload thrown into the mix as well. We had a cracking home record, beating Leeds, Millwall, Huddersfield, Southampton and Swindon, plus draws with the other two of the top 7 - but didn't win an away game all season!

Yet were relegated! Definite strong league that one especially as you consider Norwich then went straight up again to the PL and Southampton did same thing a year later.

 

[Deepcut Cobbler]

Hello! I think you may have conveniently forgotten we won the League Cup in '69 and ripped up Division 3 on the way to promotion.

Don Rogers Final, remember it well.
John Trollope, Roger Smart and Peter Noble...

 

[GEORGE]

Hello! I think you may have conveniently forgotten we won the League Cup in '69 and ripped up Division 3 on the way to promotion.

Yea sorry about that you were bloody good as well. Still think the QPR side was the best at this level though.

 

[AdamStag]

I've watched about 10 league 1 games this season - Mainly 3 sides (I won't name who) and the quality is certainly better than league 2 at the top of the league, the shooting is better that's for sure.

As you'd imagine, the bottom half of league 1 doesn't really appear to be any better than most of league 2 - but then the bottom 5 or so of league 2 are absolutely dire.