CollinsBeans takes a look through the contenders for both promotion and relegation in a league which looks extremely competitive again this year
Championship Preview: 2011 – 2012
Wow, these things seem to come around earlier and earlier don’t they? Today marks the start of the new football league season in England and to cap of your undoubted excitement, allow CollinsBeans to give you a preview of what should be another unpredictable and dramatic season in England’s second tier (don’t worry, the Premier League one’s coming next week...)
Tips for the top
They say money isn’t everything, but when it comes to modern football it doesn’t half help. With that in mind, Leicester City and their ‘Svenolution’ must be considered a serious threat for promotion. Inconsistent last time out after Sven Goran Eriksson took over, 6 months ago it was about loan players who besides a couple of odd moments largely failed to gel as a team. This time round they’ve virtually gone out and bought a whole new one. While I personally, can think of better things to spend 5.5 million pounds on than Matt Mills, Leicester have added players such as Neil Danns, Paul Konchesky, Michael Johnson, and David Nugent who have the pedigree to perform well at this level and while the outlay on players inevitably brings with it pressure, their squad will be the envy of most.
The other side with a squad that most will envy is West Ham. Their disastrous performances over the past couple of seasons saw relegation finally catch up with them and while they will be the scalp that everyone wants to take they have a manager in Sam Allardyce that won’t allow them to fall into the trap of ‘big time Charlie’s that think they will walk the league (as was the case when they came down last time). Big Sam has gone shopping at his former club Bolton to secure Matt Taylor and Joey O’Brien but the biggest acquisition has been the arrival of Kevin Nolan from Newcastle. Inspirational as the Tyneside club were able to get out of the Championship at the first time of asking, his arrival is a definite coup. What’s more, at the time of writing they still have the reigning Football Writers Player of the year in Scott’s Parker – not bad for a second tier side.
Finally (and not just because I’m writing this after they won in the opening game of the season and are thus top of the league) but Blackpool, minus Charlie Adam and David Vaughan have pretty much kept the nucleus of the team that for at least half the season took the Championship by storm. With Ian Holloway still at the helm and with their passing style, they could definitely be one to watch; although now they are not the underdog anymore (as they have been for the past couple of years) will they know how to cope?
Outside Bets
A lot of people are putting their bets on Nottingham Forest, and they definitely have a manager in charge with something to prove. Around this parish there has always been a lot of respect for Steve McClaren; especially his impressive spell at Twente in Holland (the less said about the one at Wolfsburg the better) but at this point their squad after more departures than arrivals looks thin at best. The opposite could be said to be true of Ipswich who have signed a number of new players with the money banked form the sale of star pupil Connor Wickham. Whether they can be gelled into a new force quickly remains to be seen but they improved a lot under Paul Jewell and Michael Chopra will always score goals at this level.
Chris Hughton is the new manager at Birmingham and he has a Championship title winners’ medal on his resume, but while Birmingham will come with a big reputation their squad has been gutted and ongoing financial insecurity from the issues surrounding owner Carson Yeung is not going to help. Neither is the fact that, strangely they might have a European run to contend with. Another new manager is Malkay MacKay at Cardiff. The Welsh club have been there or thereabouts for a while now but under Dave Jones couldn’t seem to make that final step up. The big names from last season have gone but in their place an impressive, low key squad has been quietly put together and they will come close.
Finally, the promoted sides of Brighton and Southampton (not the best of friends from last season) are both making loud noises about a making a splash in the division. Both have impressive squads but the step up might be harder than they both think. Inspiration might come from what teams like Norwich, Leeds and Millwall did last year, but the latter two this year, with more departures than arrivals will do well to match their seasons from last time out.
Dreading the drop
It says it all, and how competitive the division is this season that quite a number of teams think they are in for a good season, but ultimately some will be looking over their shoulders. Doncaster play good football and have an excellent manager but an alarming run of form at the end of last season which almost saw them relegated needs to be averted earlier. Similarly Nigel Clough’s Derby (aside anecdotally being the worst team this fan saw all last year) need their new signings to dwell to be able to look up rather than down.
Last time they were promoted two years ago, Peterborough’s dream turned into a nightmare and they went down with a whimper. This time out they are not coming up as brash with a larger degree of realism, but it remains to be seen how they will cope with the loss of star striker Craig MacKail-Smith to Brighton. Both Bristol City and Coventry have not added much but if the former can keep hold of Nicky Maynard then they should have enough firepower to stay up. One club a lot seem to be tipping for the right end of the table, this writer has a sneaking suspicion might struggle. Even after Tony Mowbray took over, big spending Middlesboro were still pretty dismal last year. While they may have lost a lot of the SPL deadwood, on face value there doesn’t seem much evidence for why everyone is predicting them as challenging for the top rather than worrying about going down.
Finally, if you will allow the self indulgence, what of Crystal Palace? Well, after basically two pretty poor campaigns with last gasp battles for survival it would be nice for something, well, a little more mundane. Under the potentially excellent stewardship of Dougie Freedman (good evidence so far) and some pretty shrewd signings a season of boring mid table mediocrity could well be on the cards.
Signing of the summer
Kevin Nolan from Newcastle to West Ham has already been mentioned, but (and why the brain trust at St James’ Park had deemed him surplus to requirements) he could well be a talismanic figure in West Ham bouncing back at the first time of acting. In and amongst all the big money buys at Leicester, one bargain is the free transfer of Neil Danns from Crystal Palace. A dynamo of a box to box midfielder with an eye for goal, the Foxes seem to have got themselves a bargain. Finally newly promoted Brighton adding League 2 top scorer last season, Mackail-Smith is a real coup and if he clicks could fire the new boys right up the table.
Young names to watch out for
Here are a few names that you can come back and tell us so, when they end up working in your nearest Carphone Warehouse outlet, or worse turn into the next Adie Mike, but in new particular order some young men who should *theoretically* take the league by storm and help you sit up and take notice.
Jonathan Parr (Crystal Palace) - versatile Norwegian international who will add dynamism up and down the left flank at Selhurst Park
Robbie Brady (Hull city) – old school looking wide man and jinking winger on loan at the KC Stadium from Manchester United
Jay Rodriguez (Burnley) – an explosive forward, he is not an unknown, having a real breakthrough season last year and ending up with 16 goals, but this could be the season when he really has people notice him and becomes a name everyone is talking about
Tom Lees (Leeds United) – a classy young centre back, heavily tipped in Yorkshire to have all the talent to go to the top. Player’s Player of the year at Bury last season where he spent it on loan
Mile Addison (Barnsley) – despite being around for a few years now, Addison is still only 22 and after seeming to stagnate a little at parent club Derby a fresh move for the strong powerful defender cum midfielder could be just what the doctor ordered
Ibra Sekajja (Crystal Palace) – the striker’s first touch last season was to score the goal that confirmed the clubs place in the Championship for this year. A supremely gifted young attacker who is brimming with confidence
Roland Bergkamp (Brighton & Hove Albion) – recognise the name? He is the nephew of the former Arsenal and Holland great. Only 20, the calm and assured striker who arrived this summer already has around 60 senior appearances to his name
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