1) West Brom – With the best squad in the league (Newcastle don’t
really count), new-boy Roberto Di Matteo has it all to do
2) Sheffield United – The Blades will hope to bounce back from the
disappointment of defeat in last season’s play-off final
3) Middlesbrough – Boro have the potential to bounce straight back into
the Premier League, but doubts remain over Gareth Southgate’s
managerial nous.
4) Ipswich Town – Having floundered at Sunderland, despite having spent
the best part of £100m, Keane will be anxious to prove himself at
Portman Road.
5) Nottingham Forest – Forest have spent big on the likes of Gunter,
McGoldrick and McKenna and will be hoping on a significant improvement
on last season
6) Bristol City – The Robins lacked consistency last season, but have
bought well over the summer.
7) Preston – Alan Irvine enjoyed a hugely successful first full season
with Preston and will be hoping for more the same this time around
Cardiff City – The goalkeeping position has finally been resolved with
David Marshall having arrived from Norwich, but Roger Johnson has
moved on to Birmingham and could prove a real loss.
9) Reading – A handful of big names remain, but this isn’t the same
Reading which stormed the Premier League three seasons ago
10) Crystal Palace – Palace were poor least season and it does not appear
as though too many of those weaknesses have been addressed, but you
can never discount a Neil Warnock side
11) Peterborough United – a strong first eleven could be undermined by a
lack of depth, particularly in defence
12) Swansea – Despite the departure of Roberto Martinez and a couple
of big names, Paulo Sousa should have enough to guide the Swans to
mid-table safety
13) Leicester City – Nigel Pearson’s common-sense approach worked wonders
in League One and Leicester should have enough to deal comfortably
with life back in the Championship.
14) Derby County – If Nigel Clough is up to the job, Derby should improve
on last season.
15) Sheffield Wednesday – Brian Laws Wednesday will remain mid-table
fodder, unless the Owls new board choose to spend big later in the
season
16) Coventry – The Sky Blues have been unluckly to lose a couple of
their better players in Fox and Dann, but should still have enough to
survive
17) QPR – Jim Magilton seems a particularly uninspired choice as manager
and with Flavio Biratore to impress will do well to reach Christmas
Coventry City – More outs than ins for Coventry; another season spent
flirting with relegation is on the horizon.
18) Newcastle United – At the current time Newcastle appear to be in a
total state of disarray; with such a huge wage bill, they need new
financial backing if they are to make progress.
19) Blackpool – Ian Holloway proved a solid pair of hands working with a
modest budget at both QPR and Plymouth.
20) Scunthorpe – Despite being written off by many, Scunthorpe seem much
better prepared for survival than when they were last in the
Championship two seasons ago
21) Plymouth Argyle – Given the lack of new arrivals at Home Park,
Plymouth may have a battle on their hands to stay out of trouble
22) Doncaster Rovers – Rovers have as weak a squad as any in the
Championship and will do well to match last year’s 14th place.
23) Barnsley – Manager Simon Davey seemed close to losing his job at the
end of last season. With few reinforcements, the Tykes look set for
another season of struggle.
24) Watford – A selling club with a rookie manager in Malky Mackay
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