A really good article and comments. Just why do we bother with the championship predictions before the season has even started. I know that when each week I looked at the results to see how many points I had narrowly missed out on in SLBs league, I could not believe that so many teams had failed to live up to my expectations.
Great article Chris and in general I agree with you. My top 2 would be Leicester West Ham . Followed by Blackpool, forest, Brighton, Leeds for the play off's . Relegation would be Bristol city, Palace & poss Cardiff! I think MM has bitten off more then he can chew and will suffer, he has made alot of signings and I don't think they will tell quickly enough, fingers crossed he will be on the dole come December . .
I think that we have a decent enough squad to be safe. However I think it will be a major test for SD to get them into a unit and to establish a confident playing style. For the moment I am watching from afar (US to be precise) but I'll be back for Derby.
I think we have a bit more reason to be optimistic than at the start of the previous two seasons. For one I think there are a number of clubs are in a worse position then us, with Peterborough and Coventry in pretty dire straights with the former unable to bring in any sort of quality whilst the latter have lost King and Westwood without replacing them. i think for the other spot you might be looking at one from Barnsley, Doncaster and Millwall in my opinion. There is always one team that gets relegated from left-field, so this year I am plucking for Burnley, Blackpool and Cardiff to all struggle, teams who have lost key players, haven't replaced them with as much quality and could suffer under the weight of expectation. As for us, the general view is that we will finished in the region of 14th-17th. i think that is about right as we have lost last season's top scorer but I think as a result we have been able to create a more balanced squad with Mirfin and Dickinson strengthening our defence, Bauben and Yeates looking like smart acquisitions in midfield, and Iwelumo will score goals up front, though we are still a striker short. Our squad is a lot more experienced then this time last year, and we have still have the ability to bring in a couple of loans. It won't be an easy season, but I think we should have relegation at an arms length throughout the season before we finished around 14th. Going to the first game of the season and looking forward to 3 points...COYH!
I feel the key to this season if it could be put down to one player would be the form of Loach. If he has another poor season then with all the changes and inexperience of SD we will struggle but if Loach returns to near his best form we could end up a surprise team.
I must admit I am interested to seeing how Cardiff do get on. They definately aren't as strong as last year and if MM cannot gel the team he has bought then they could definately be down the bottom. I would like to be optmistic but Burnley will be a tough game away, hoping for a point or more though.
Only 1 Watford manager has won there and he did it twice. Not GT, but Ray Lewington. Let's hope SD becomes the second.
