Championship Season Preview

With the new season upon us and squads gradually taking shape ahead of the transfer deadline at the end of the month, C offers a view on the final Championship table...

Champions: Middlesbrough

I don't know, eh! All these other Championship clubs crying foul at QPR's spending ought to sit up and take notice of Middlesbrough's financial clout - over £5m splashed out on Stewart Downing, £2.5m on a striker from Espanyol, the vast majority of last year's playoff finalists still in the squad and even an EIGHT figure bid for Jordan Rhodes!! I genuinely thought Boro were going to win the playoff final this year and definitely think that Aitor Karanka will ensure they don't "do a Derby". Many of the bookies' favourites, and easy to see why.

Runners Up: Hull City

Another club flexing their financial muscles, this time using parachute payments following their relegation. Moses Odubajo is an excellent signing and I can't help but think that they got a better deal in going for him than Norwich managed for Robbie Brady. Andre Gray is also linked and it does look likely that Hull's business for the Summer isn't finished just yet. Defence is just a bit too suspect for me to have them down as champions - losing James Chester was a big blow. They'll be back up in the Premier League come May I am sure.

Playoffs: Derby County

I still don't see these guys as the finished article. Paul Clement is an appointment I am definitely jealous of, but it feels like the same calibre of players as last year and the year before that have finished up as bridesmaids (or capitulated in the case of last season). They are what Cardiff were for many years - stuck in a rut. Maybe the playoff lottery will deliver for them this year. At least they feel like a cert for the playoffs this time around. Predict that they will lose fewer than five home games at the iPro, but it's the Tuesday night away game problem again that will trip them up. Carlo Ancelotti won't be able to advise you on those, Paul.

Playoffs: Wolves

This is a solid outfit that is hard to beat. They will miss Bakary Sako but Dicko and Afobe will be banging the goals in and there were no further losses to the squad which took the Championship firmly in its stride after winning the League One title the year before. They look capable of taking the next step but are not good enough for automatic promotion.

Playoffs: Burnley

Burnley have lost some but recruited adequate replacements in Matt Lowton and Jelle Vossen. Crucially, they have kept Sean Dyche on to manage them and he found an excellent formula to Championship success which made a little go a very long way last time around. I predict the same again, albeit with some better teams to compete with this time. 

Playoffs: QPR

I can't help but think there is a great deal of unknown about QPR this year under Chris Ramsey, with some solid Championship signings made and it not being clear yet if there will be any high profile departures before the transfer window is out. Let's hope this time we've not decided on one formation to use for the season, bought players to play that formation and then abandon it after two matches of the season. That's what happened to the 3-5-2 wing back formation Hoddle and Redknapp recruited for last Summer!!!

Tjaronne Chery is highly rated in his home land as a free kick specialist and creative midfielder but how will he cope on a Tuesday night away to Blackburn?

Jamie Mackie and James Perch have brought much needed professionalism and determination to the QPR squad and I am certain our defence against Charlton is still not the fully assembled defensive lineup for the new season.

I do think QPR can make the playoffs - just because I think there are as many as 18 squads worse than ours in the division!

Relegation: Rotherham United

This isn't only because I hate Steve Evans, by the way! I toyed with the same three going down that came up but I am convinced that MK Dons will be hard enough to beat to stay in the league. Evans has signed a couple of Sheffield Wednesday cast offs and Emmanuel Ledesma, who in spite of a number of spells at Championship clubs and his obvious talent, hasn't managed to deliver the goods on a sustained basis in his career thus far.

I sure am glad they stayed up last year though - The New York Stadium is required!

Relegation: Bristol City

These guys stormed to the League One title last year however there were a number of players let go and the Championship really does require strength in numbers. As it stands going in to the opening day they have just eighteen senior players on their books, including highly rated Ryan Fredericks, signed in the week from Tottenham. That size of squad will not cope with the Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday-Tuesday demands of the Championship, as Blackpool found last year. I have real concern for Cotterill's paper-thin side.

Relegation: Preston North End

Simon Grayson has a solid League One outfit that appears to have accidentally pitched up in the Championship after buying a winning lottery ticket in the playoffs. Jermaine Beckford will score goals but the supply line to him doesn't look of the standard of the new division they are in. Will Keane has made a career out of having Manchester United on his CV so far, and failed to impress in spells at QPR and Sheffield Wednesday. I hope I am proved wrong as Preston and Bristol City do feel like Championship clubs, but I can see them both returning to League One after one season in the sun.

Predicted table:

1	Boro
2	Hull
3	Derby
4	Wolves
5	Burnley
6	QPR
7	Ipswich
8	Brentford
9	Blackburn
10	Foolham
11	Forest
12	Birmingham
13	Cardiff
14	Leeds
15	Sheff Wed
16	Bolton
17	Charlton
18	Brighton
19	Reading
20	Huddesfield
21	MK Dons
22	Rotherham
23	Bristol City
24	Preston

So there you have it! Straight to the Bookies now I presume!