Main Challengers for Promotion?

[HawkTheSeagull]

Promotion - Reading, Watford, Forest, Bolton, Leicester, Wigan, Leeds and of course Brighton
Play-Offs - The above + QPR, Leicester, Charlton, Birmingham, Burnley and Derby.

So any 3 out of those 8 clubs could get promotion and any 6 out of 14 could be the top 6 - only in the Championship !!

 

[Pevenseagull]

I reckon 16 clubs fancy a go at getting in the top 6.

I love this league!

 

[Paris]

Top 6 in no particular order - Forest, Reading, Watford, Brighton, Leicester, Bolton

Relegation - Blackpool, Yeovil, Doncaster

 

[Pavilionaire]

On the Sportinglife website they preview the Championship and asked a fan of every club for their relegation and promotion three.

13 thought Reading would go up, 12 Watford, 10 QPR, 8.5 for Bolton and Forest, 7 for Wigan then 5 for the Albion.

Interestingly, 18 picked Yeovil to go down, with Barnsley and Millwall the other two. No one picked Ipswich or Wednesday to go up or down.

 

[Phat Baz 68]

Can't see QPR being in there tbh.
Reading, maybe Albion, Def NOT Watford ! Bolton and Forest.

 

[Bolton va va]

I share your thoughts regarding Wigan and Coyle. Do you get the feeling Coyle's brief success at Burnley was a flash in the pan?

As Kev the Rev mentioned earlier on the subject of QPR, they may well struggle. If Redknapp does a bunk they will probably end up with McClaren at the helm.

Oh and SussexHoop - you might need a few more points on the board than 50 if last seasons Championship was anything to go by

I struggle to speak rationally about Owen Coyle after the damage he did to Bolton, transforming an established premier league club into a club sliding straight through the championship into div 1.

Coyle is fine while things are going well, spouting soundbites, letting the players "express " themselves & sticking to his one & only tactic of throwing more & more forwards on......but when things go wrong he is utterly clueless. After we were rid of Coyle, it came out that the players played table tennis instead of training, & that no work was done on any tactical preparation or defensive work. I could go on at tedious length about that man

 

[Notters]

On the Sportinglife website they preview the Championship and asked a fan of every club for their relegation and promotion three.

13 thought Reading would go up, 12 Watford, 10 QPR, 8.5 for Bolton and Forest, 7 for Wigan then 5 for the Albion.

Interestingly, 18 picked Yeovil to go down, with Barnsley and Millwall the other two. No one picked Ipswich or Wednesday to go up or down.

Wednesday

 

[Stat Brother]

No mention of Leeds ? Decent manager and law of averages say they have to do something soon.

I'm not buying the love for McDermott.

He was a handful of games away from losing his job at Reading cos they were pony.
They went on an unrealistic run, and then he was pony again.

The Premier League might be impossible to win, but with the dross at the bottom an adequate team and manger should survive.

McDermott will be the first manager sacked in the Championship, this season.

 

[joeinbrighton]

People are writing QPR off too prematurely. Love him or loathe him, he is the best manager in the Championship and he has got previous for getting out of this division. His signings so far are 'big characters', because it is pretty evident they lacked moral fibre last season. He's rooting out the players that didn't pull their weight and I would expect there to be more signings to come before August is out. He missed out on Gary Hooper who would have scored a bag of goals at Championship level, but if they can bring in another forward with a track record at this level, they will be up there. I think they will need some time to get going, but by the end of the season, I'd be very surprised if they didn't make the top 6.

Not sure I agree with Stat Brother that McDermott will be the first Championship manager to be sacked, as I think that honour will fall to Nigel Pearson. However, I definitely don't see Leeds as promotion candidates in any way, shape or form. It's a very different challenge for McDermott after Reading because there he was at a well-run club that he had worked at for over 10 years before he was given the manager's job. He knew the mechanics at Reading and knew the best way to get them playing after Brendan Rodgers had gone there and tried to reinvent the wheel. He's going into a club that has had a turbulent few years and where the fans are impatient to return to the top flight, despite not having the resources to equip them to do so. I don't think Leeds will struggle, but I can't see them challenging either. I think they will be marooned in mid-table again.

Reading are the team I expect to take all the beating and I also think Nottingham Forest will be major contenders this season. Billy Davies has unfinished business with them and they have made smart signings so far. Watford and Bolton will be up there too, and Brighton will definitely be in with a shout as well. Wigan won't be far off, but one thing with them is how long they are in the Europa League for. If they get to the group phase and are playing Thursday-Sunday up to Christmas then that could have an adverse effect on their chances. Outside of the favourites, I expect a strong showing from Charlton and Ipswich this season, although they might fall just short of the play-offs.

Yeovil, Doncaster and Blackpool would be my 3 tips for the drop.

 

[Paris]

I struggle to speak rationally about Owen Coyle after the damage he did to Bolton, transforming an established premier league club into a club sliding straight through the championship into div 1.

Coyle is fine while things are going well, spouting soundbites, letting the players "express " themselves & sticking to his one & only tactic of throwing more & more forwards on......but when things go wrong he is utterly clueless. After we were rid of Coyle, it came out that the players played table tennis instead of training, & that no work was done on any tactical preparation or defensive work. I could go on at tedious length about that man

Thanks for your insight. Much appreciated

Joeinbrighton - I heard recently that Wigan will go straight into the group stage of the Europa League due to being the FA Cup winners.

I'm surprised that Callum Mcmanaman hasn't been snapped up by a premier league team. That horror tackle aside he looked some player towards the end of last season. Guess there are a few weeks to go in relation to the transfer window.

 

[Munkfish]

Hardly anyone mentioning Wigan? Sorry but I think they're going to absolute dominate the Championship.

Did you not say Barnes would finish top goalscorer last season and score 20+ goals? I assume you never paid that bet to REMF.

Wigan will do well to finish in the Playoffs in my opinion.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

I can see Redknapp flouncing off after 10 games or so claiming he has produced a miracle by leading QPR to mid table and how is hasnt been backed

Reading and Wigan for me, neither of those clubs imploded on the way down and have good teams.

 

[hybrid_x]

Reading, Wigan, and Forest the ones to watch......then about 8 other teams (including us) in with a chance.

QPR, Leeds, and Leicester to have indifferent first two months.

 

[Rugrat]

Will be a lot tougher than the very poor league last year. I think we might struggle, as there could still be some Poyet fallout to get through and I think Oscar will take a bit of time to adjust to Brit footie. Tried to chunk it into 4:

Going for Auto ....... QPR, Reading, Bolton, Forest

"Expecting" play offs ...... B&HA, Leeds, Leicester, Blackburn, Watford, Derby, Ipswich, Wigan

Aspire to play offs but will need slip ups elsewhere ..... Barnsley, Brum, Blackpool, Burnley, Charlton, Boro

(Sort of) happy to stay up ...... Bournemouth, Donny, Hudders, Wednesday, Yeovil

Ask again end of Sept and likely to be all change!!

 

[Buckley's Mad Eye]

Every year is the 'toughest year in the championship' though isn't it?

 

[perseus]

No middle of the table obscurity, either going for the play-offs or fighting relegation.


Bolton
Reading
------------------
Watford
QPR

then the others

Birmingham
Ipswich
Charlton
Leeds
Wigan
Brighton & HA
Forest
Middlesbrough
Leicester
Blackburn

unlikely

Sheffield Weds

but not

Burnley
Blackpool
Barnsley
Bournemouth
Doncaster
Derby
Huddersfield
Millwall

Relegated:

Yeovil

and two others (any two from the not list).

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

It will be very very competitive. I'd only rule out Yeovil, Blackpool, Burnley, Doncaster, Derby and Huddersfield from challenging for promotion. And only Reading, Forest, Leicester and Watford from flirting with relegation

 

[Pavilionaire]

I can't see Wigan going up because apart from anything else they have this European competition like a millstone round their necks.

There are a few 'big' teams showing signs of post-parachute payment fatigure: Birmingham, Middlesbrough, Leicester. I also happen to think a couple of sides are overrated, chiefly Bolton and Watford.

Harry Redknapp is a good manager and still has a lot of talent at that club, while Reading under proven manager Adkins already start with a decent squad but have plenty of cash to blow in the 2 transfer windows. For me, QPR and Reading are the 2 teams to stay with, and if all goes well under Oscar it could be 3-horse race.

 

[Stumpy Tim]

The reason this is a great league is the fact that there isn't a single team you can be sure will do well and not a single one you'd rule out of struggling. We're all just guessing, but this is what I think:

QPR: Bottom half but safe. Too many overpaid players who don't care, although they've done well to ship out a few but they are still paying Barton, Ferdinand, Park, Zamora, Johnson, SWP, Granero, Young and more, all of whom I can't see contributing much. I wouldn't be particularly excited by signing Karl Henry, Danny Simpson or an ageing Richard Dunne either. More this year's Blackburn than Wolves I think.

Wigan: Top half but no play-offs. They've arguably got a very decent squad for this division, full of players who were respectable in the EPL but not good enough to be snapped up by other clubs. You won't get many better midfields than McCarthy, McArthur, McManaman, Watson and Gomez. Holt and Fortune aren't pretty, but they're probably going to be pretty effective upfront too. Their major Achilles heel is that shockingly naïve defence and signing up a chump of a manager in Owen Coyle, and I think that will cost them.

Reading: Definitely top six, possibly top two. Adkins seems to know how to get the job done and they've got plenty of players who should be good at this level. We know how good Bridge is and Drenthe in the SBC should be amazing. Possibly a bit too reliant on Le Fondre upfront though?

Leicester: Mid-table. I'm amazed Pearson hasn't gone. They will probably now have to sack him in October when they're off the pace and that'll cost them another season. Bit of a bruising team who will always be competitive though, albeit ugly.

Watford: Top six again, maybe better. If Zola can turn them from no hopers to play-off finalists in a few months then he should be able to match it again this season, particularly with the likes of Abdi signed up permanently and McGugan from Forest. They play good football so I've no problem with them, I hope they do well.

Brighton: Mid-table. I think we've left it a bit late and wasted too much of the summer, I suspect it'll be a case of failing to prepare is preparing to fail. Nothing disastrous as there are plenty of much worse teams than us, but I'm not convinced our defence is as good as the stats from last season suggest or that we have anywhere near enough to support Ulloa upfront. We also have a total wildcard of a managerial choice. Hopefully we can challenge for the play-offs to keep the season interesting, but I don't expect much more.

Of those who weren't involved last season, I think Forest will do well and also it's about time a team like Ipswich made a bit of an attempt to challenge near the top. I don't rate Bolton, Middlesbrough or Leeds though, I think they might all fall backwards.

Flucking hell. I basically agree with all of that, though am a little more optimistic about our own chances. I think Ipswich will be up there