A far harder league next season

Ok so now we know who will be in this league next year apart from either Reading/Swansea and Huddersfield/Peterborough of course!

New Teams: Birmingham, Blackpool, West Ham, Brighton, Southampton, Huddersfield/Peterborough and Reading/Swansea.

Then of course we have Notts Forest, Cardiff (if they keep their players), Hull, Burnley, Middlesborough and Leeds to add to the mix!

You could argue that West Ham, Birmingham and to a lesser extent Blackpool will need time to get their affairs sorted out. Personally I think West Ham could be relegated again and Birmingham will struggle.

There is no doubt that next season will be a lot tougher for us to make an impact and we will be lucky to get a play off spot. This will put even more pressure on Clegg & PJ to get in some much needed quality including a proven goal scorer or 2! Even then we may well face another season of struggle.

With what we already know about the look of the Championship next season do you think it will be a lot harder next year? Who do you think will be the teams to beat?

 

Leicester will do rather well.

I think Boro under Mowbary look like their getting their arse together also.

Brum down - rather surprised by that,,,, they'll do well

Cardiff don't phase me, think they could be in a sticky situation next year.

The losing finalist also concerns me....

West Ham look to be a spot of bother - that said Newcastle did when they came down too - Blackpool have too many out of contract.....

Forest / Leeds / Hull / Burnley I'm really unsure about - there will be expectation....

Coventry I think could struggle...

 

I was doing a very ambitious prediction for each team but then realised just how many teams there will be that will have a very real chance of promotion and many more that will think they can do well and will be dangerous so it became impossible to do predictions infact of the top of my head i'd say because they're in free fall only West Ham are potential relegation canditates.

It is going to be a very tough competitive league and we need to get a good squad together to stand any chance. My only prediction i want to stick my neck out for is that there wont be a team that'll run away with it like QPR this year

 

Do you know what JWM? Our squad is so far off the pace I don't think we need be concerned with the competition next season. We need to just be thinking about assembling a squad for ourselves and take it from there, but we need to strengthen in these areas:

Goalkeeper
Full backs
Centre Backs
Midfield
Wingers
Forwards

I'm not at all convinced that Blackpool, West Ham or Birmingham have got what it takes... West Ham and Birmingham are in a complete mess and gawd bless Ollie he's going to have his side torn up this summer and I wouldn't be surprised to see him move on.

Maybe West Ham or Birmingham can mount a challenge if they keep their team together, but if we can get close to Nottingham Forest, Swansea and Reading that'll really take some doing next season never mind thinking about top two!

 

far too early to tell at the moment...who'd have thought this time last year that the League 1 promoted teams Leeds and Millwall would do as well as they have done this season??

it's all about the players coming in and going out of all the teams in the Championship, and even then it's unpredictable...

still...looking forward to a trip to the seaside at Brighton away next season!

 

Totally agree. At the present time, and I stress at the present time, I could only see us finishing in the bottom third. JWM is absolutely right, it will be an incredibly diffcult league next season and one where you really wouldn't want to be in a relegation fight come late December.

Given this level of competition in the league, we need to add some real quality to the squad (prominent goalscorer first and foremost) just to stay out of trouble. Anything like a top six finish will require something very special indeed and we can only hope that Jewell has the ability to bulld a more robust and positive team (which I believe he has) and that this is supported by the club cheque book.

 

I agree with pretty much what everyone has stated..next season will be the toughest championsip i can remember! I think Brum and West Ham will be challenging for the title, so that just leaves the other 22 teams fighting for the next spot. You can probably only rule out a handful of teams. Out of the 3 that are coming up, i can only see Southampton doing ok. As long as we are iin the mix for the play-offs come April, i'll be well chuffed. It's gonna take Jewell another season to fully build his team.

 

Stretchy I think West Ham and Birmingham are in complete disarray and they will both struggle next season. Remember last time West Ham went down it took them 2 years to go back up. I think the real threat lays with the teams that have just come up namely Brighton and Southampton. They both have strong forward momentum and like Norwich, Leicester, Leeds and Millwall have all proved in recent years at least 1 or 2 of the newly promoted teams will be up there come the end of the season.

 

JWM,

I was hoping that Wigan & Blackburn would come down as I feel that with their poor fan base they would just drop again! i think we will struggle again. Another happy season to look forward to!

 

It all depends on who we sign and how quickly they can all gel as a coherent team. If come late July we are still scrapping about trying to bring in players that no one else wants like last year, we will definately struggle. Surely Evans can see that we need players in quickly to give them time to settle in.

 

The teams that drop down will lose a few of their players I feel and those that are coming up will add to their squads. All I really want is to get a team together who can at least stay in the top half all season. We need to make ourselves a more attractive location for players and this can be acheived by consistently getting good results. Sure anyone who visits our ground can see we have a fantastic stadium and pitch and great facilites but if you're at the wrong end of the table that's not reason enough for most players to join us.

 

Guys i think Cardiff may be in the doodoo as they have already lost Bothroyd/Burke and Mathews and half their team were on loan and are returning to their parent clubs.
I think that we should try and get Burke in, he is a good winger and would be free as out of contract!!

 

Leicester will probably have the most financial backing. I think that Boro will be much stronger than last season.

 

Without improvement in many areas we're in trouble. This league is like a treadmill - you have to keep moving or you'll fall off the end (like the very sexy Georgie Thompson). The new additions are going to be a tough test and there is a good chance that we'll be stuck in the Championship quicksand once again. We'll see how we stand after pre-season signings and about 10 games as to how we're going to handle the Championship this coming season. I don't have high hope right now, but I'm sure come August I'll be expecting 1st place as always.

 

I agree with most of the sentiments voiced on here already. Of course we’re dealing with a lot of ifs and buts. Nobody can correctly predict what will happen next season because I can see a lot of surprises happening.

If Leicester spend wisely and resist the temptation to keep changing their manager every time they hit a rough patch, then they will surely clinch a top six finish. Likewise, Middlesbrough’s good form under Tony Mowbray should continue into next season.

I don’t think Blackpool will be coming straight back up, Holloway is likely to move on because Charlie Adam will certainly move this summer and without him Blackpool didn’t have a spine. Regarding the Hammers, I think a lot of it comes down to what manager they end up with. This Keen character looks like he will focus almost exclusively on youth. In my opinion, you don’t get promoted doing that. You need to find the right blend in the squad. Clubs like Watford and Crystal Palace rely on youth because they have too, and both clubs finished in the bottom half of the table. Chris Hughton could get West Ham promoted.

Birmingham may struggle if they fail to replace players. If they somehow manage to keep hold of the likes of Liam Ridgewell, Ben Foster and the rest of the defence, they have a good opportunity. In Alex McLeish, the Blues have a talented manager who have already got them out of the Championship once before.

If there’s one thing we should remember, it’s never to write off Dave Jones’s Cardiff side. A lot depends on whether he stays, but if he does then he can keep rebuilding that Welsh side and they’ll always challenge for a top six place. Out of the Welsh teams, I would fear Swansea the most. We always seem to get good results against Cardiff and seem to struggle against Swansea. In a way I hope they go up because they’ll comfortably finish top four next season.

Hull, Leeds United and Burnley are also good contenders as well as Nottingham Forest. Watford were doing really well at one stage and if they can bring in the necessary experience, I expect them to cause a shock. As for us, we have a capable manager in Paul Jewell who has experienced promotion a few times before. We also play a lot better and confidently under him, however we need talent to come in. Losing both McAuley and Norris is a blow, but I trust Jewell to spend more wisely than Keane ever did.

 

I agree with most of the sentiments voiced on here already. Of course we’re dealing with a lot of ifs and buts. Nobody can correctly predict what will happen next season because I can see a lot of surprises happening.

If Leicester spend wisely and resist the temptation to keep changing their manager every time they hit a rough patch, then they will surely clinch a top six finish. Likewise, Middlesbrough’s good form under Tony Mowbray should continue into next season.

I don’t think Blackpool will be coming straight back up, Holloway is likely to move on because Charlie Adam will certainly move this summer and without him Blackpool didn’t have a spine. Regarding the Hammers, I think a lot of it comes down to what manager they end up with. This Keen character looks like he will focus almost exclusively on youth. In my opinion, you don’t get promoted doing that. You need to find the right blend in the squad. Clubs like Watford and Crystal Palace rely on youth because they have too, and both clubs finished in the bottom half of the table. Chris Hughton could get West Ham promoted.

Birmingham may struggle if they fail to replace players. If they somehow manage to keep hold of the likes of Liam Ridgewell, Ben Foster and the rest of the defence, they have a good opportunity. In Alex McLeish, the Blues have a talented manager who have already got them out of the Championship once before.

If there’s one thing we should remember, it’s never to write off Dave Jones’s Cardiff side. A lot depends on whether he stays, but if he does then he can keep rebuilding that Welsh side and they’ll always challenge for a top six place. Out of the Welsh teams, I would fear Swansea the most. We always seem to get good results against Cardiff and seem to struggle against Swansea. In a way I hope they go up because they’ll comfortably finish top four next season.

Hull, Leeds United and Burnley are also good contenders as well as Nottingham Forest. Watford were doing really well at one stage and if they can bring in the necessary experience, I expect them to cause a shock. As for us, we have a capable manager in Paul Jewell who has experienced promotion a few times before. We also play a lot better and confidently under him, however we need talent to come in. Losing both McAuley and Norris is a blow, but I trust Jewell to spend more wisely than Keane ever did.

 

My top 6 would be...

1st Middlesboro
2nd Birmingham
3rd Swansea or Reading
4th Notts Forest
5th Watford
6th Leicester

As for us; sadly I think 10th would be a good expectation but of course I'd be delighted to be proved wrong and find us much further up the table than that! Really don't think West Ham will feature and despite what Norwich and Leeds did last season I don't think the newly promoted clubs will rise to the same heights next season. Surprise package could be Hull.

 

Nuggets

Cardiff are a spent force, with or without DJ!! Bothroyd/burke/Mathews gone and then lose the likes of Bellamy/Olifinjana and several others they had on loan. Sorry bud but think Cardiff will be in the lower half, they had their chance and blew it!!

Still think Chris Burke would be a great signing!!

 

well guys,be thankful yr not playing the mighty YELLOWS.Two games you would have definitely lost.

 

Wow Crowey thanks for gracing our board with your cutting wit.