just thought i would start this after i did the thread the worst premier league players , so was just wondering which players do you think has been the best in the championship's history , i was already thinking the likes of Holt and Lambert but i didnt want to name loads , wanted to know who you guys think?
Marlon King. HAHAHAHAHA. The Championship has only been an entity for a few years...are we talking since the Prem was created? Adel Taarabt comes to mind straight away...he got QPR up on his own a couple of seasons ago. Portsmouth signed Ropbert Prosinecki for a year about a decade ago and he was FAR too good for this division at the time. Those were only single seasons though. If we're talking over a period of time then that's more difficult as the best players will end up playing in the Prem, so unlikely to stick around in the second tier for too long. Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott played for Southampton in the second tier for a short time.
Louis Saha, Pieere van Hoijdonk(sorry ranny) if we're going back far enough. And for Stoke, Peter Hoekstra Since it's been called the Championship Jason Koumas maybe?
The trouble with a thread like this is; what exactly is it that constitutes a "Championship" player..? Many players have come with their clubs down from the Premiership. Some of those have flourished, possibly due to "finding their level", but others will look good because their Premiership experience has given them just that little bit extra over players who have never played in the upper tier. If we were to define it as: A player who has played the overwhelming majority of his career at Championship level then that would probably be as close as we're likely to get. Speroni at Palace has been a good, solid goalkeeper in the Championship. I kinda reckon he'll be back at that level next season so I think he can be recognised as a Championship player David Nugent at Leicester has been a consistent and reliable goalscorer over a reasonably long period of time. Nugent did have a spell in the Premiership with Portsmouth, but it was terribly unsettled, shuttling back and forth to Burnley on loan, so it can be reasonably discounted as having a beneficial effect on his playing abilities. He's done well in the Championship for Preston and Leicester so I would suggest his name should be in the mix.
Darren Huckerby absolutely destroyed full backs on a weekly basis when Norwich won promotion in 2003/04. One of the best players to ever pull on the yellow shirt. Genuine excitement whenever he was on the ball.
^Huckerby is a good shout. Pierre Van D!ckh3ad only had 1 year. Chris Bart-Williams was a class above most other players in the second tier for a few seasons with Forest. Koumas is also a good shout...always wondered how he never quite made it in the top division. Wes Morgan? Consistently one of the best defenders in the league for years now. Ashley Williams is even better but I don't think you could class him a Championship player! Speroni yes. Class goalie. Consistent. Steve Bull! Kevin Phillips? How many seasons in the second tier?
First off, I'd say it would have to come off the single greatest team the championship has seen, Reading's 106 pt 2005-06, so Doyle or Sids are the obvious choices. That season also produced the two best US seasons in championship history, with Convey and Marcus absolutely brilliant. I'd also think from later on, Gylfi Sigurðsson gets some consideration. Only one season at the top of his game in the championship, but an amazing season. Unless you're also talking about the second and not just post 2004, then it is much tougher
As a Forest fan what about Andy Ried? He strikes me as the perfect second tier player, not mobile and athletic enough for the Premeriship but with more natural ability than lots of Premier league players.
Okay, certainly quality but did Duff et al play in the "Championship?" As noted, if this is simply the second, the discussion gets much, much broader (wasn't Best briefly in the second near his prime?) Still, I'd put Little, Doyle, Kitson, Convey up against Duff, Dunne and Jansen, at least for that one year.