1st – Sheffield United (9th)
Finished strongly last season, should have plenty of goals in Beattie and Sharp. Doubts remain over Kevin Blackwell’s ability – now is the time to prove himself.
2nd – Wolverhampton Wanderers (7th)
Underachieved last season, but David Jones and Richard Stearman look like decent signings. Star man Kightly needs to stay fit.
3rd – Reading (-)
A decent bulk of the club’s Premier League stars have stayed around. If they can overcome the disappointment of relegation Reading could be in for a decent season.
4th – Birmingham City (-)
Plenty of fire-power, but very little depth at the back. The capture of Phillips could prove a master-stroke.
5th – Ipswich Town (8th)
There’s money to burn at Portman Road. A couple of decent signings before the end of August will make a real difference.
6th – Preston North End (15th)
Alan Irvine appears a shrewd operator and will ensure Preston are always well organised. If they could sign a reliable forward they might have a real chance of success.
7th – Crystal Palace (5th)
With Neil Warnock at the helm Palace will always be there or there-about, but the squad looks a little short on talent to make a real assault on promotion.
8th – Bristol City (4th)
City have kept with mostly the same side which did so well last season. Even with Nicky Maynard on board a lack of goals may be their undoing.
9th – Cardiff City (12th)
With the ageing stars now gone and last year’s excellent defence left in tact Cardiff should improve on last season.
10th – Derby County (-)
After a disastrous year in the Premier League, Derby may take a while to find their feet – especially given a glut of new signings.
11th – Queens Park Rangers (14th)
Big on glamour (off the pitch at least), possibly a little short in managerial substance. Ian Dowie has enjoyed spectacular failures in his last two jobs.
12th – Coventry City (21st)
Since relegation from the Premier League back in 2001 Coventry have consistently flirted with relegation to League One. This is the season where that all changes.
13th – Burnley (13th)
Burnley have been midtable fodder for a number of seasons. Expect much the same.
14th – Norwich City (17th)
Defensive frailties could prove Norwich’s downfall. Roeder is another manager in the last chance saloon.
15th – Swansea City (-)
The Liberty stadium should be a difficult place for away teams. Swansea are probably the best placed of the promoted sides to succeed at Championship level.
16th – Watford (6th)
No money, no strikers, not a lot of hope. Expect aggressive long ball football.
17th – Nottingham Forest (-)
The jury’s out on Colin Calderwood, but with Forest finally back in the Championship, it would be a surprise they didn’t manage to stay up.
18th – Charlton Athletic (11th)
Could be this season’s Leicester. Pardew has been handed little to spend and will need to get the best from the players already at his disposal.
19th – Plymouth Argyle (10th)
Argyle have been resisting gravity’s pull for way to long now. This season could be a reality check.
20th – Southampton (20th)
Things don’t look like getting much better for Southampton. Much will depend or just how many of their better players they can afford to hold on to.
21st – Barnsley (18th)
Plucky Barnsley will again be battling the drop on a modest budget. With Simon Davey leading the side they may just survive for another season.
22nd – Doncaster Rovers (-)
The rise and rise of Donny Rovers is the stuff of fairytales, however the Championship is a very tough league.
23th – Sheffield Wednesday (16th)
Time is running out for Brian Laws. A slow start could see Wednesday flounder after an uninspiring summer.
24th – Blackpool (19th)
The Seasiders had a strong start to last season, but tailed off after Christmas. Blackpool may struggle to beat the drop this time around.
Filed under: football | 2 Comments
Tags: 2008-2009, coca cola championship, kevin blackwell, league one, mick mccarthy, predictions, premier league, sheffield united, wolverhampton wanderers
I’m new to this whole blog scene and ran, quite by accident, into this your blog – and enjoyed it immensely.
Found that we have similar interest; from music such as David Dray (I agree he is underrated and one of Britain’s great songwriters), Oasis and Kasabian to Bond, Morse and Fawlty Towers. I also have an immense football interest and Ipswich is my favorite team, even though I’ve never set my foot in the town…
Unfortunately I can’t tune in to Championship football, but follow it keenly on the internet sport pages. Found it surprising that you value Wolves as highly as you do and personally Birmingham looks very impressive to me (on paper). Also, I have greater expectations for Blackpool and Nottingham than you seem to, but, as I can’t actually see the matches for myself it is difficult to criticize your predictions of course.
Overall, I very much enjoy your blog, and, if you don’t have any objections – I’ll be adding it to my blogroll on http://www.roblogg.com so I can keep an eye on your future entries…
Keep up the good work! /Rob
Just passing by.Btw, you website have great content!
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