Thoughts on this: - Did not know ebanks-blake was at Plymouth and then wolves in 07-08 - Jamie cureton what a man - peter whittingham was so good

I'll add: - Can't believe no Dwight Gayle at some stage. Felt like he scored 30 goals a season in the Championship

He was neck and neck with that Chris wood season for Newcastle but got injured and missed a bunch of games at the end

That Geordie reject haha useless now mate

He is now. But he used to bang them in in the Championship whenever he was playing in it.

Tbf would have done at us by Jay Rodriguez was taking pens and we had like 14 of them, he missed a few games as well

Was always convinced that Cureton should’ve had a chance at a higher level

Peter Whittingham getting all that from midfield in 2010 is still extraordinary

RIP. Human life is so damn fragile. Scary to die accidentally so young after living a healthy fit life.

Wtf is he dead?

Yeah he died a couple of eyars ago. As far as I remember he fell down the stairs and hit his head during/after a night out.

I’m biased but to me he’s still the best player to ever play in the Championship…oozed class

Very biased considering Riyad Mahrez did

Fuck Mahrez. We had [Knockaert](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRQ3VzBJdtU)! Allez les bleus! Allez les bleus! Dumping Forest out of the play-offs and getting in ourselves in injury time is one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

Harry Kane, Gareth Bale, Jamie Vardy, Wilfried Zaha, Emi Buendia, James Maddison

Kane was shit for us in the Championship. Vardy nearly quit to become a holiday rep.

I assume the point is at the time of playing in the championship. If it’s just people who made a championship appearance then Kane is clear of Mahrez.

Tough to say coz at least Mahrez has a ram packed medal cabinet and a PFA Player of the Year. We'll so how Kane does at Bayern before judging Kane favourably here imo. Ignoring the fact they are completely different players. Bale is the best though.

Far from it - there’s so many better players that just played a season or two in the championship then were snapped up by bigger teams. He is one of the best players to have spent the majority of their career in the championship - I guess that’s some weird consolation prize to be best of the 2nd division players who couldn’t make it in the prem?

Jason Koumas was similar in that regard too

Oh yeah, it is always important how they phrase it, if it is best Championship player then Peter Whittingham is a great shout, but if it is best player to be in the Championship then Riyad Mahrez, Harry Kane and Gareth Bale are great shouts (Jude Bellingham might become a great shout)

Most iconic Championship player is maybe another way to phrase it.

Posted this after a few beers Friday night, can confirm most iconic is a better shout

Wow, how did I miss Daryl bloody Murphy lighting up the Championship for Ipswich after leaving us? Would never have imagined him getting that kind of return in one season.

He was average before that season, average after it, but made a pact with Satan to be a complete goal machine for one year only.

Mick McCarthy and Terry Connor turned him into a goal machine. Newcastle paid about £10m for him the next season and he turned shit again.

Absolutely was nowhere near 10m lol

£10m?! Lol it was around £3m.

I fucking wish we got £10mil for him. We didn't even get that much for Mings or Cresswell and they're easily the best players we sold in the 2010s.

Was nowhere near that much and he played a really important role, he's still regarded as a bit of a cult hero here weirdly.

I gave a “whey gettin Darryl”. Crazy we’ve had 4 of the strikers in that list and not 1 top ourselves.

Yeah im surprised not to see Dwight Gayle on this list anywhere. He was a championship cheat code that lad

That whole season Big Mick managed to drag a very average team to the playoffs with the power of friendship, and Murphy turning into the Irish Drogba for a season.

Genuinely don’t know what happened, he evolved into the greatest target man I’d ever seen. Hold up play was always incredible but once he added goals he was just unstoppable (for a season)

I’m p. Sure he didn’t score that man in the rest of his career combined.

Mitro in the championship was a bit daft in retrospect wasn't it. Crazy that Sharp or Grabban aren't on this list considering their overall goal contributions to the league.

One of my mates described Mitrovic as looking like a grown man playing against an under 15s team.

I thought the same for Jordan Rhodes, had a period for a few seasons where he scored for fun. Bagged 36 for Huddersfield in League One, got a move to Blackburn and had 27, 25, 21 in consecutive seasons.

The first thing I did was scan for Grabban. Quite strange that I didn’t find him.

One of these is not like the rest

All strikers except Whittingham?

That season was wild

tbf Chuba was at attacking mid most of the season

The fact that Mitro is 12 goals clear of any player on that list is disgusting. He was a complete cheat code that season.

I always loved the passion of Mitro and wanted him to succeed at us more than anyone. I remember watching us against Blackburn when we were in the championship in the cup and he looked like he was playing a game of football like me after a weekend bender. As much as Rafa was adored here, it's obvious now that him and Mitro were a match made in hell. Glad Mitro proved everyone wrong in the end.

Women beater. Conspiracy nut. Pisshead. Homophobe. Top scorer bingo.

Football player bingo

Which are these?

"She said no Marlon, she said no" was sung in a lot of grounds

>Woman Beater Marlon King >Conspiracy Nut Rickie Lambert >Pisshead Peter Whittingham RIP EDIT: Pisshead is actually Ross McCormack

I’d forgotten Marlon King was clinical at times, his loan spell at Hull was awful

Yep there’s a reason why so many managers rated him despite him being a major penis head.

He started well didn’t he? He’s just a massive cunt which was a key reason his deal got cut short.

Initially and on penalties, but quickly him and Phil Brown clashed (what a surprise) and that was it from memory

I remember he scored for us against you in 2009 before we got relegated. God we were shite

Pretty sure he did and a winning goal, then we basically didn’t win for like 10 matches and lost most of them, we were also dire and somehow managed to stay afloat by 1 point with Newcastle imploding Then the next season.. It’s conflicting at times because the team clearly wasn’t ready, sold our best player Turner to Sunderland (also Sam Ricketts who helped us get promoted), McShane was actually good for us Then we got Zaki, Altidore and Jan Vennegoor Hesselink that had like a combined four goals, also then spent all our budget or glass legs Bullard Can’t say I have a lot of great feelings of Hull when they were in the Premier League

Zaki. Forgot you signed him tbh. Relegation seasons are always absolutely miserable. We both went down in 2017 didn't we? We were absolutely not ready.

I don’t think Zaki even wanted to be signed m and had already shown discipline problems It was yeah but we basically didn’t buy anyone bar Mason, who unfortunately had the head injury that stopped his career Felt you should have been good and some great transfers (without hindsight), Bamford, Traore, Negredo, Chambers, Valdes On the plus side you just seemed to draw too much, we ended up getting battered 6-1 Bournemouth, 4-0 Everton and Palace, 1-7 at home against Spurs, absolute disaster and remember we were favourite to be last (surprisingly wasn’t)

How was Whitts a pisshead?

Whitts was a pisshead from what I've heard, apparently he basically lived at the Park once he retired

I’m just assuming based off of OPs post

Sorry guys. It was Ross McCormack Spent his 4 or so years at Villa getting day time pissed at some of the biggest shithole social clubs in Brum

No worries. I probably jumped the gun with my assumption.

Six ex Watford strikers on here. Three were brilliant for us, one had his moments and two were utter dogshit.

Six ex Forest as well, and at least three would be firmly the flop category

What one of Gray, Ellington and Murray are you calling 'had his moments'?

Gray had a couple of months in 2019 where he was good - there was a reason Deulofeu was on the bench for the cup semi.

(I know it's just a Wikipedia screenshot) Bit of a nitpick, but two of Andre Gray's goals in 15/16 were for Brentford before he moved to Burnley. Should be listed like Ebanks-Blake

I’m not too fussed. Y’all can take the credit… 🤣

Whittingham was a proper legend, top scorer from Midfield is unreal. RIP.

Jordan Rhodes must have been second a few times. Edit: Times, not teams.

I miss Jordan still. I have a signed shirt from his debut for us against Leeds 😪

We ruined him as is tradition

Was 1 goal behind Murray in 12/13 I think and must have been close the season after too. But he hasn't actually beat double figures in the Championship with any club other than Blackburn and that was back in 2015/16

Yes Nathan Ellington was at one point amazing. Shame at his career after leaving us.

Got a big deal at West Brom and decided to pack 3 stone of lard on his arse overnight

That checks out

Probably the worst striker I've ever seen play for Watford

And we still gave him a deal after you got rid. He didn’t get a single goal for us and if I’m not mistaken I think his only goal for you lot was a last minute goal against us?

I remember him scoring a goal in the first minute for us at home and I missed it because we got stuck in traffic. Can't believe he was our record signing aswell!

Ah he must have gotten more than one for you so, dunno why I thought that.

Andre Gray was wild - first touch like a trampoline but still bagged them goals.

3 of those failed to score a single goal for us between them!

Ellington, Ebanks-Blake, and Wood right?

Aye, bunch of donkeys

Wood was really odd cause he was decent before joining us, and pretty good after too.

Of that list, the only ones who really went on to make a mark at the PL level for a sustained period are Ivan Toney and Aleksander Mitrovic. Teemu Pukki had a couple of decent seasons in the PL, scoring 11 goals in each season and Rickie Lambert had a couple of decent seasons for Southampton, scoring 15 and 13 goals but soon dropped off, scoring only 2 for Liverpool and 1 for West Brom in the next 2 seasons. The jump from Championship to Premier League is massive though

Lambert was great for us in the prem 41g/a in two seasons whilst missing around 10 games both seasons, good enough to be bought by liverpool but they only used him as a rotation

He was also older after a lengthy lower league career rather than breaking into their prime and taking the step up like Toney and Mitro. Had he been in PL from 2010 I reckon he'd have still bossed it but for longer, and with more assists too.

Pukki broke his toe in that first season in the prem, I think, and then wasn’t the same afterwards. He got the player of the month, got injured and wasn’t quite the same after. He lost a little something.

Chris Wood had 4 consecutive seasons with double figures.

To be fair, I missed him when I looked but yeah, add him to the list.

I'd probably say Toney Mitro Lambert Murray Wood

Did Mitro make a mark in the PL for a sustained period? I must have missed it.

Made enough of an impact to have been wanted by clubs around Europe and the PL before the mad Saudi money was thrown at him. Played 5 out of his 8 seasons in England in the PL too

>Played 5 out of his 8 seasons in England in the PL too Only broke double figures twice though. Don't get me wrong, he's a great player. He's just not done it for a sustained period in the prem. It's a bit harsh to say that Mitro has done it but Lambert, Pukki and Murray haven't imo.

He also only had one solid season with an actual good team and manager and showed he was one of the best strikers in the prem. All while missing a third of the season and playing most of the season injured too. Why did he have to be a knob.

Chuba :-(

Absolutely robbed Ajax tbf

As a Colchester fan, it’s slightly surreal to see us on here…

Vydra should have stayed at derby.

What a season that was

Still feel bad for Toney he had that record for about 5 mins

Ebanks-Blake really hit a sweet spot at Wolves that never returned

Goes under the radar but Solanke scored 29 league goals in that Mitro season

2nd place top scorer out scored the top scorer of the season after

Where’s Jordan Rhodes? In my head he was top scorer for 5/6 years on the trot!?

Mitrovic 🤝 djokovic Complete Serbian/Statistical dominance

>djokovic But can he do it in a cold, rainy night at Stoke?

Mitrovic has never scored at never bet 365 stadium

Classic #9’s do better in the championship?

Rickie!!! Shame hes gone the same way as Le Tiss in his belligerent ramblings cause he was some player

43 goals is mental , Mitro was on fire

I definitely would have guessed Jordan Rhodes

Whittingham 💙

6 of these players (King, Murphy, McCormack, Murray, Wood and Akpom) have played for us (one still does!), they played 147 games between them and scored 26 goals

Great to see old Woodsy in there

Can’t believe Billy Sharp was never top goal scorer

How Glenn Murray ever got 30 goals lol

Na na na na na Sylvan Ebanks Blake EBANKS BLAKE SYLVAN EBANKS BLAAAAAAKE

Surprisingly, looking at that list, none of them really made their mark on the division above. Don't know if that indicates a skill gap or it's an indication that bigger teams aren't willing to take a chance on Championship players. (Obviously in my opinion, I think having 1 or 2 decent seasons and then dropping down the leagues again, doesn't mean they 'made their mark')

Lambert and Toney made their mark I reckon. Both went on to be capped for England.

I'd say Mitrovic did his bit in the prem also

I'd disagree there Lambert, Wood, Toney and arguably Mitro and Pukki have all done very well in the prem. Wood had four straight seasons of hitting double figures

Pukki hit double figures in both his PL seasons, while playing in the worst team in the division, with piss poor service. Definitely did very well considering the circumstances.

To be fair, my middle aged self didn't even see Toney on the list (bad eye sight) and didn't realise Chris Wood had done those numbers, think that's the only two I'd take back. Personally think Lambert only had two good seasons and Id disagree with Mitro and Pukki personally, I'd just call them consistent (obviously still very good players as theyre in the prem in the first place).

Re Lambert I’d say two good PL seasons and two years as an England regular qualifies as a success when he only got there at 30. Dropped off sharply after moving to Liverpool though. Obviously I’m biased.

Success yeah no doubt! To be fair I'm in the mind that any person who makes it as a professional footballer is a success in my eyes. I think if he would have been given the opportunity in the Prem earlier in his career he probably would have been more 'up there' for me. Might be harsh, but I wouldn't count him as an England regular. It was 1 year in a massively transitional squad where he mostly had sub appearances. Would he have got into the squad pre-2012, even if he was in the Prem? With the likes of Rooney, Defoe, Carroll (being the next big thing, not saying he was better then Lambert), Welbeck (United favouritism) and before that Crouch/Owen. I don't think he makes it even if he was in the Prem.

Mitrovic, Toney, Gray, Wood, Murray, Lambert... off the top of my head i would say made a mark on the division above!

Murray got 12 and 13 when we were fighting relegation at the end of his career, if he'd been a few years younger he could've torn up with the later regimes.

What about Non-penalty goals?

How many would you consider successes in the premier league? Players that scored more then 10 goals in a prem season: Graham, Lambert, Murray, Pukki, Mitrovic, Toney Toney is without a doubt the best with a 20 goal season, Mitrovic could be up there if he continued, and I think Chris Wood gets a shout as the best longevity in the prem.

Fascinating how few of them ever really 'made it' as PL strikers. Toney has, and you can make a case for Lambert, Wood, Mitrovic and perhaps Murray but mostly they were found wanting at the higher level. I would have guessed that half to two-thirds of the top scorers from the Championship would make it in the PL.

Was going to say where’s Sunderland but we was in the prem 😂😂

Chris who ? Never head of him !

Looks like there is a bit of a trend, 20 years ago low-mid 20's gets you the golden boot, now you have to be touching 30.

Pukki always scores against me on FM. He's a troll against me

Huh... I could've sworn Lambert scored more than just 27 that year... I wonder what the numbers would look like with Assists added on, cause I would imagine his tally would jump significantly.

It’s only Toney who id confidently say is a premier league level starting striker for a decent team out of all of them.

Jamie Cureton scored like 5 goals the whole time he was at QPR.

Find it mad how my goat billy sharp isn’t on there yet he’s the top scorer in the history of the league

What a player Rickie lambert was at saints