Snap....I've read some posters talking about automatic for Swansea. I just don't see them anyway near the summit. Mawson's on his bike. Ayew's gone along with the keeper.
I work with Swans and Baggies fans, and they are not expecting an instant return. The Swans fan in particular is very pessimistic as to their chances. Stoke look like a good bet to bounce back up. Boro look like one of those clubs that will keep threatening to go up but managing to screw something up. Leeds and Derby have a bit of a chaos factor about them. I think both will start well but may struggle as soon as they lose a couple of games. Forest seem to be getting a lot right, but given that they've signed Dawson and tried to sign Clark, I'm not convinced that they're quite promotion material. We could well see a club from out of nowhere go up, a la Huddersfield or Bournemouth (or us in 2008). Preston and Millwall look possible candidates for that, while I really like Wilder at the Blades as a manager so I wouldn't write them off. We won't go down but we'll not escape the lower-middle reaches of the table. Birmingham, Rotherham, Bolton, Reading and QPR seem to have poorer squads than ours.
Afternoon lads. I'd be amazed if Stoke and Derby don't go straight up. The third can be one of 7 or 8
Why do you like Wilder? Seems like a right petty little prick to me. When he booted that ball away when w scored was ace. I just don't see Derby. Serial bottlers. Novice coach. Never played in the championship, mebbe some loans in his early days, never managed. Entrenched older players, cliquey dressing room, hard for new young loanees. He's a good bet for first manager out. Though he could piss the league as well
Title challengers The Championship has a reputation as an exciting, unpredictable division and this season the outcome seems even more uncertain than usual. With no clear favourite for automatic promotion, never mind the title, and a list of play-off contenders that could stretch halfway down the table. The potential excitement only increases when you factor in the reams of talent that will be both on the field and in the dugout of English football’s second tier. Excitement is not necessarily Tony Pulis’s stock-in-trade but his Middlesbroughside look as well-placed as any to challenge for the title this season. Having signed on at the Riverside last December Pulis steered Boro to the play-offs with 11 wins from 22 matches. The majority of that side remains intact, including the explosive Adama Traoré who finally looked like delivering on his potential under Pulis’s direction (a release clause in the Spaniard’s contract means it will be an anxious wait to the transfer deadline, however). With two astute additions in the shape of Bristol City’s towering centre-half Aden Flint and Paddy McNair, the one success in Sunderland’s brutal relegation season, Boro may have had a mixed pre-season, but look to have the most complete squad in the division and the most experienced coach. Last season Wolverhampton Wanderers rewrote the rule book by bringing Champions League quality to the Championship and, as a result, earning promotion at a canter. The team most closely fitting the template of “doing a Wolves” this summer has been Nottingham Forest. Bankrolled by Greek shipping magnate Evangelos Marinakis, Forest have spent over £25m on players, including two prospects from Benfica in midfielder João Carvalho and winger Diogo Gonçalves. Will they be the next Rúben Neves and Diogo Jota? Maybe, but even if they are not Forest can still look for goals from other new signings 30-year-old Algerian international Hillal Soudani and the tried and tested Lewis Grabban. Forest beat Bournemouth in pre-season and Málaga too and expectation is high for Aitor Karanka’s team. Keeping everyone happy in a substantial squad, however, is one potential blot on the landscape. Stoke City are another club who have spent like they mean it. The Potters were relegated from the Premier League in 19th place but with a squad full of top-fight experience. They’ve kept hold of most of it, losing only Xherdan Shaqiri and Ramadan Sobhi to date, and have tied linchpin Joe Allen down on new terms till 2022. Owner Peter Coates has also recruited Gary Rowett, who jumped ship from Derby. Their player signings, Tom Ince, Benik Afobe and James McLean, all tick the Premier League experience box too. It feels like a classic Stoke squad, except they will be playing one tier lower. The Potters have set out their stall and there’s no place to hide, not least for the regarded Rowett. please log in to view this image Joao Carvalho is a key signing for Nottingham Forest. Photograph: Sam Tebbutt/Frozen in Motion/Rex Shutterstock Going about their business more quietly have been Darren Moore’s West Bromwich Albion. After almost pulling off escape from relegation last season the local hero was given the job full-time only to promptly lose goalkeeper Ben Foster and key centre-half Jonny Evans. But Moore has steadied things since. Foster was replaced with Sam Johnstone, who impressed on loan at Aston Villalast season, and Kyle Bartley was brought in from Swansea at centre-half. Moore may lose more players yet – from Salomón Rondón to Craig Dawson – but still has a strong squad at his disposal. West Brom went unbeaten in pre-season and if they can carry that form into the new season (not a small ask with an inexperienced manager) they have as good a chance as anyone. Play-off contenders It’s in this bracket that the really interesting stuff is going on. Marcelo Bielsa, El Loco, the man who inspired Pep Guardiola and shattered the physical limits of any number of players with his intensive pressing style, has landed at Elland Road. The Argentinian has started cautiously at Leeds United, introducing a back three during pre-season but persisting with much of last year’s squad and completing only the Championship-tested permanent signings of Barry Douglas and Patrick Bamford to date. The loans of Chelsea midfielder Lewis Baker and winger Jack Harrison from Manchester City have the potential to be exciting but with cynicism hanging in the air after a disappointing 2017-18, Bielsa still has to earn the trust of the crowd. The project could explode into either greatness or infamy, but there’s no doubting Leeds will be a team to watch. please log in to view this image Leeds United’s new manager Marcelo Bielsa poses for a photo with a fan. Photograph: Simon Davies/ProSports/Rex Shutterstock Down the M1 and the Championship’s second most glamorous managerial appointment has been shaking things up at Derby County. Frank Lampard’s first job in management tasks him with refreshing the perennial play-off candidates after another promising season ended in disappointment. Lampard’s emphasis has been on hard work, regularly extolling the efforts of his players in pre-season, and starting to rejuvenate an aging squad. Jack Marriott, a consistent goal threat in League One for Peterborough, and the Brentfordwinger Florian Jozefzoon are intriguing signings, while Lampard has recruited some of the best young talent in the country on loan. Doubt still remains over the future of last season’s top scorer Matej Vydra, but the question everyone wants answering is whether one of the Premier League’s greatest ever players can begin a second successful career. Disaster averted, the buy out of Aston Villa by Nassif Sawiris and Wes Eden has plugged a financial gap that had looked like swallowing up one of England’s grandest clubs. Now the main problem appears to be playing catch-up in a transfer window where rivals have strengthened. Steve Bruce, who has won the support of the new owners (at least in the short term) built a play-off bid on the back of five loan signings last year and will be forced to look at similar again this term. Underneath, however, Villa still have a strong squad and expectations will rightly remain high at Villa Park. For those who just missed out on the top six last term hope springs up once more. Millwall went on a late-season charge that caught everybody by surprise and the majority of last season’s squad are still available to Neil Harris, including the permanent acquisition of chief provider Jed Wallace. Alex Neil’s Prestonhave strengthened with four new signings that fit Preston’s unheralded and hungry template and have slotted straight into the first team. Brentford may have lost some key talent in Jozefzoon and defender John Egan, but that doesn’t knock the model: both players have been replaced by Dean Smith with centre-half Ezri Konsa from Charlton a particularly exciting prospect. Bristol City have similarly sold and strengthened, adding experience to the squad in Ipswich’s Adam Webster and Andreas Weimann from Derby. Lee Johnson will want to replicate the first half of last season rather than the second. Relegation candidates Garry Monk this week admitted he is still not sure whether Birmingham City are under a transfer embargo with only a fortnight of the window remaining. Since signing full-back Kristian Pedersen in June, all has been quiet at St Andrews where they are still trying to reduce a wage bill that has seen them face challenges under Financial Fair Play rules. This is not a great atmosphere under which to begin a new campaign, especially for a Blues side that only just escaped relegation last season. A similarly cloudy mood has descended on Reading who avoided relegation by just three points, failed to win in pre-season and have seen key defender Liam Moore submit a transfer request. Manager Paul Clement is preaching calm but has been forced to recruit largely from free transfers this summer. Bolton had the closest call of all last season but Phil Parkinson appears to have recruited well, adding the experience of Clayton Donaldson, Jack Hobbs and Marc Wilson to his squad. Hull have lost a number of senior players, most notably Abel Hernández, their main goal threat, and have replaced with unproven signings while antipathy from fans towards owners the Allam family has hardly dissipated. Rotherham enter the division as League One play-off winners and will be favourites to continue their recent yo-yo status but Paul Warne’s team will relish being underdogs. Three players to watch Mason Mount, Derby County With the title of ‘golden player’ at the European under-19 championships last summer, followed by 14 goals in the Eredivisie for Vitesse Arnhem, Mount had a sparkling reputation even before he signed up to play under Frank Lampard. Now the manager has a chance to develop a player whose prodigious talents as a box-to-box midfielder match his own. please log in to view this image Mason Mount in action for Derby against Wolves in pre-season. Photograph: Andy Clarke/Rex Shutterstock Harvey Barnes, West Brom Another young English midfield talent, Barnes won the golden boot at last year’s Toulon tournament. He scored five times on loan at Barnsley last year before being recalled to parent club Leicester where he shone in FA Cup cameos and made three Premier League appearances. Both creative and strong on the ball, a berth on the left of midfield for the Baggies should provide the best platform yet for his talents. Mo Eisa, Bristol City This 24-year-old striker has taken a very different career path to Mount and Barnes. Born in Sudan and raised in north London, Eisa developed his game outside the professional system and two years ago was plying his trade in the eighth tier of English football at Greenwich Borough. Fifty-two goals in 81 league appearances drew the attention of Cheltenham Town where he moved last summer. Another 23 league goals later (a Cheltenham club record) and Eisa is a million pound player. With pace, height and calmness in the finish Eisa could be a great fit for Lee Johnson’s slick City.
Like here, despite all the ****, it's a well paid gig still. Not much pressure on him either, if they go down he has a shed load of excuses.
Derby Leeds Forest Top 3 Reading Bolton Rotherham Bottom 3 CITY 10th South Shields Scarborough Top 2 evo premier division
The physical, cosmological & economic perspective on City's prospects: 104 years of existence before reaching the top league. Even if the owners changed our name to Hull "Halley Comets", Halley's return is only approx 0.72 X City's existence in years. City have already had 2 "dead cat bounces" in their recent history. Despite a cat having 9 lives, more than 2 bounces confounds all odds. Mid-table mediocrity is the fate My glass is always more than half full. I drink directly from the can.
Remember this is City. Poor start followed by slight recovery then crucial injuries/January sale (Bowen), and a frustrating squeaky bum last third ending in just avoiding the drop. Worst of all no change of owners.
I'll play the crazy Yank and pick Hull City to win the Championship, joined in promotion by Stoke and Leeds (via playoffs). Wouldn't you locals love an away trip to Elland Road in the Prem? Hey, a fella can dream, can't he?
I'd love to see 'em play at Elland Road. Never seen them play there. Lived in Headingley 7 years before I emigrated to Canada and went to watch 'em when I wasn't playing myself or couldn't get to Boothferry Park to watch the magnificent 60's City team. Great era too - the Revie years 65-72. I have played on the same team over here with an ex-LUFC player (later vintage), a great lad and good mate, so I'd try to coax him into taking a trip/vacation to watch them battle it out in the PL. He actually is very fond of HCAFC as his dad lived in Welton for many years, and was pals with a couple of City's players in his time with TWS. Bring it on. PS: I hope the charmed Yank luck & positivity comes to fruition
I’ve said I think we'll be top 2. Leeds? No. I hope they struggle on the lower half of the championship. At best.
I don't doubt that he's a petty little prick. I just think he's a good manager. Sadly the two often run hand in hand.
I disagree. They have made some really good signings. Moritz Leitner will be a great midfielder at Championship level
