' Favourites for Promotion & Favourites for Relegation '

Championship Previews

The 2014-15 Football League Championship preview
By Tim Simon

August 7th 2014

The Championship season gets underway this weekend and as ever, it is extremely unpredictable. Promoted Leicester City, Burnley and QPR have been replaced by last season’s relegated Premier League sides Fulham, Norwich City and Cardiff City while at the other end Wolves, Brentford and Rotherham United take the places of relegated Yeovil Town, Doncaster Rovers and Barnsley.

It promises to be a thrilling campaign in a division which always throws up major surprises at the top and the bottom of the table. This season, 18 of the 24 sides in the Championship have played in the top flight before, meaning it is arguably the most competitive the league has ever been. Boasting average attendances that rank amongst the top five of all leagues in Europe, the Championship promises to be as enthralling as ever this season.

Let’s preview the upcoming season, predicting the promotion battle, the relegation drama, who will take the title of top goal-scorer and the potential surprise packages of the division.


' Promotion favourites '

As ever, the relegated clubs from the Premier League are among the favourites to make an immediate return to the ‘promised land’.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Cardiff are the bookmakers favourites, probably because they have experience of a long promotion battle and plenty of firepower in their attack. A few of their starting line-up from last year may have left but the core of the squad remains and any Championship attack including Kenwyne Jones, Adam Le Fondre, Nicky Maynard and Federico Macheda is an extremely dangerous one.

Likewise, Fulham, managed by the organised Felix Magath, are expected to make a swift return after their 13-year stay at the top table came to an end last season. Top level experience such as Scott Parker, Hugo Rodallega and Fernando Amorebieta has been joined by players from the Cottagers’ impressive youth system and the Championship’s most expensive ever player Ross McCormack, who they bought for £11million from Leeds.



Norwich have a very impressive squad for this level. They may have lost Robert Snodgrass to Hull City, with talented players such as Ricky van Wolfswinkel, Nathan Redmond and Leroy Fer likely to follow the Scot out of Carrow Road, but it still a talented team. Lewis Grabban has been brought in from Bournemouth to bolster an already strong front-line including Gary Hooper. The Canaries should be there or thereabouts come May.

Derby County will once again be contenders. The play-off runners-up from last year have managed to keep their exciting, youthful squad together, after star midfielders Craig Bryson and Will Hughes signed new contracts this summer.

2013 F.A Cup winners Wigan Athletic are also amongst the favourites. Only Jordi Gomez has left for pastures new this summer and the Latics have added James Tavernier, Oriol Riera and Don Cowie to an already strong squad.

Perhaps the most impressive team in the transfer market this summer have been Watford, who have re-signed Matej Vydra on loan from Udinese alongside the likes of Heurelho Gomes, Juan Carlos Paredes, Lloyd Dyer and Craig Cathcart. If they can hold onto star striker Troy Deeney, a promotion push is definitely on the cards.



' Relegation candidates '

Blackpool’s much publicised problems off the pitch have made them strong favourites to be relegated this season. After a recent spree of signings, they currently have just 15 players on their books but have finally signed a new goalkeeper. The sheer lack of squad depth at Bloomfield Road means that they must surely be considered relegation favourites before a ball has been kicked.

Ian Holloway’s Millwall side may not be the most fashionable but they know how to scrap for points. Although they are likely to be overpowered by the wealthier clubs, they will shock a few favourable teams. The Lions are pre-season relegation candidates but the acquisitions of Ricardo Fuller and Magaye Gueye offer some hope. The former Blackpool boss will set his side up to frustrate most opponents but Millwall are likely to struggle to stay in the division as they do lack quality in key areas.

Love him or hate him, Steve Evans has done a fantastic job at Rotherham. This time two years ago they were in League Two and now they are in the second tier of English football. If it wasn’t for Blackpool’s problems, they would be favourites for relegation but holding onto star man Kieran Agard and the signings of Matt Derbyshire, Kirk Broadfoot and Jordan Bowery offer them hope of survival.

After penalty heartbreak against Doncaster just one year previously, Brentford finally made it to the Championship in the second automatic promotion spot. They will be carrying plenty of momentum off the back of last season’s success but the fact is their squad isn’t as strong as many of the leagues heavyweights.

Birmingham will just be glad to still be in the Championship after a Paul Caddis equaliser away at Bolton saw the Blues survive on the final day. Lee Clark has managed to add eight free transfers to his squad despite a lack of funds but it remains to be seen if they have enough quality to avoid another relegation fight.



Who could be top goalscorer?

There are many strikers in the Championship who are looking to fire their side to the top flight or impress potential suitors from the Premier League. Last season, Danny Ings was the man to make a name for himself, finishing with 22 goals in Burnley’s promotion season. Let’s take a look at this year’s main contenders.

Ross McCormack was last year’s top scorer as he notched up a staggering 29 goals, which equated to 49% of all Leeds United’s strikes. The Scot’s record move to Fulham means that the pressure is on him to retain his personal crown.

Jordan Rhodes almost guarantees goals at this level. He backed up the 26 he scored in his first season at Blackburn with 25 last time around. Having signed a new contract this summer, Rhodes will be hoping his goals can fire Rovers back to the Premier League.

Should 24-goal forward Troy Deeney move to the Premier League as expected, Matej Vydra will be tasked with scoring Watford’s goals. The Championship player of the season from 2012-13 will be looking to return to Vicarage Road with a bang after an unsuccessful spell at West Brom.

Adam Le Fondre’s move to promotion favourites Cardiff from Reading means that he is in with a big shout whilst Norwich striker Gary Hooper is proven at this level despite bagging just six times in the top flight last season. Middlesbrough have splashed around £3million on Kike from Real Murcia, if he can live up to his price-tag and match his 23 goals from last season, the Spaniard could be a dark horse to finish as top scorer.


' Surprise packages '

Last season, Burnley surprised everyone with their run to a second placed finish in the league despite having an extremely limited squad. There are several sides vying to emulate the Clarets this time around, here are a few potential surprise packages.

Promoted Wolves are considered many people’s dark horses for back-to-back promotions. Kenny Jackett has managed to keep together his title-winning squad, adding Tommy Rowe to it for good measure.

Charlton Athletic have bought well this summer. Backed by their rich Belgian owner, new boss Bob Peeters has been able to bring in the likes of Johann Berg Gudmundsson, who scored a phenomenal hat-trick in Iceland’s World Cup qualifier in Switzerland last year, the experienced Tal Ben-Haim and several free transfers to bolster an already strong squad.

Anyone armed with the fire-power of Rhodes has a chance of mounting a serious play-off push. Blackburn have other talents but there is no doubt that the Scot is their key. Middlesbrough are another side to have bought well, with Matthew Lowton, Emilio Nsue, James Husband and Tomas Mejias joining Kike at the Riverside next season.

There is no doubt someone from the pack will surprise us with how well, or badly, they perform. Although teams such as Ipswich, Nottingham Forest, Brighton, Bolton, Leeds, Reading, Sheffield Wednesday, Bournemouth and Huddersfield aren’t considered favourites at either end of the table, it wouldn’t be the Championship without some uncertainty. Expect twists and turns galore over the next nine months and it all kicks off on Friday night.

Good little article, it's going to be as unpredictable and interesting as ever, really looking forward to it

There is no way Annis wrote that!! lol

Its got to be a copy and paste job.

But in fairness a great read and article!

Enjoyed reading that. About right on balance. I think Wolves could end up in a playoff spot and Derby should be up the top with us come the end of the season. Mind you their new signing George Thorne has an awful injury ruling him out of a long time.

There is no way Annis wrote that!! lol

Its got to be a copy and paste job.

But in fairness a great read and article!

It doesn't say Annis wrote it; just that he put it out there! LOL

These things are usually put out under "Latest News" for the reasons you just compounded!

There is no way Annis wrote that!! lol

Its got to be a copy and paste job.

But in fairness a great read and article!

Of course he didn't, the spelling is right for starters

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... eason.html