As much as I think this is a pointless thread, there is a point in it....somewhere... We are no longer the 'big boys of the league' However, there are probably around 15 teams this season that realistically could be in with a chance of promotion to the Prem this season Will be very exciting However, like NA I will take it one game at a time
I think that this will be a fascinating league. We were discussing this in the poffice this afternoon and it is currently difficult to predict which teams will be the strongest and who look like being the relegation candidates. My guess would be that both West Ham and Birmingham will get their acts together and mount a serious challenge to return immediately to the top flight. Leeds United would also have to be amongst the favourites although Blackpool will find things much harder this time around despite having a manager with a good record of acheiving promotion. I also wouldn't be taken aback if Leicester dominated next season's league either. The stragglers are perhaps easier to call. I think Brighton will go straight down, especially with the added problem of playing in an unfamiliar stadium and think that other teams like Palace, Peterborough, Watford, Bristol City, Millwall and Coventry will all finish below us. The squad we have assembled over the last two seasons is well capable of maintaining a Championship position. What will be interesting is to watch which team will be the surprise package. No one would have ever predicted Swansea nor Norwich last year and Blackpool's promotion the season before was perhaps even more inlikely than the Swans. Three teams i think could creep in are Nigel Pearson's Hull City , Middlesborough (a team who have underperformed since their relegation several years ago) and Portsmouth. I rate Cotterill and this season will see him able to assemble a squad more to his liking with the financial backing of the new owners. Prior to this takeover, I had them down as relegation certainties but I could envisage them stealing the third berth through a play-off final. They just seem to be so jammy - everytime you think Pompey are down and out, they seem to embark on the upward leg of their roller-coaster journey !! Saints will finish a healthy mid-table with the possibility of the play-offs. All in all, I think this will be a good season and probably the toughest the Championship has been at any time within the last 10-15 years???
Last season Div 1 teams treated us as their Cup Final, this year it is us that will be in awe of our opponents when we visit such magnificent emporiums as Fratton Park e.t.c. that could be our Cup Final, nurse, I have run out of my medication!
i think that there are 10-12 teams in the championship that are capable of getting promotion - going to be very competitive. We must make St Marys a fortress this season where we are very hard to beat.
My missus is threatening to hide the lap-top. I hate this time of year, nothing to do but sit in the garden drinking red wine and wondering if POOPEY will have more than 8 players come start of season. HAY HO.
