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!

Weekend Preview: The consistently inconsistent world of AVB

This week was a mixed bag for English clubs in Europe yet again. The weekend, however, could see some sorting out of managerial issues and ambitions for the season...

We're up and running for the weekend already as Friday night, which together with Monday night are the nights every football fan prays that a fixture won't get switched to - apart from Middlesbrough and Sheffield Wednesday fans it seems (28,229 packed into the Riverside for last night's game - I expect ticket prices were reduced, Boro's form of late and the fact that there can't be much else going on in Middlesbrough on a Friday night had much to do with it). Still, the red army will have gone home happy with what they saw after the home side shot down the Owls, beating them 3-1. Once again, Emmanuel Ledesma, who promised so much in his early days as a QPR player that T-Shirts were on sale after a hat-trick against Carlisle in the League Cup, was the star of the show for Boro, involved in most things good about their play. Ledesma is undoubtedly a very talented player but I am still surprised that he is plying his trade in this country when it is obvious to me that his style better suits something like La Liga or a South American league. Still, good luck to the guy, I always like to see talented players fulfilling their potential.

Plenty more lies ahead of us this weekend, of course:

Southampton v Swansea - The annual sack race in the Premier League looks set to culminate soon with what seems to be a sprint finish between Nigel Adkins and Mark Hughes. This weekend could determine who wins that race with QPR travelling to almost struggling Stoke, while bottom-placed Southampton take on Swansea at St Mary's. These two teams have only met twice in the last 29 years and Southampton haven't won either of these meetings (which took place in the Championship in 2008/09), with one draw and one Swans win. Swansea haven't won in their last 2 games but considering their last outing was a draw against Chelsea it must have felt like a win to them. Between them in the league so far this year there have been an average of 3.55 goals in games involving this teams so it's a very decent bet there will be more goals here! Saints have conceded a staggering 28 goals in 10 matches which is a joint Premier League record along with Barnsley in the 1997/98 season. Swansea have actually failed to score in 5 of their last 7 away league games, but it is extremely hard to imagine that run will continue. Saints haven't won in 5 and Swansea have only won 1 game in their last 8. However, since their victory against Wigan, Swansea have narrowly lost to the Man City at the Emptihad and drawn to the team who sat at the top of the table going into the weekend of that game so they seem to have turned a corner. It is incredibly hard to see anything but a Swansea win here, and it could spell disaster for Nigel Adkins. It would be harsh - especially considering the team have had 2 successive promotions to get here, and also it seems like there is a lack of talent to replace him. The only name that leaps at you is Harry Redknapp, yet he is the exact man who relegated Saints last time they were in the Premier League and you can't imagine he'd be very welcome at St Mary's! This could be an interesting one...

Prediction: Southampton 1-3 Swansea

Man City v Tottenham - For the first 2 games of the season we were told that Andre Villas Boas was a flop who had got his players backs up and wouldn't succeed at White Hart Lane. Then for a spell of about 4 or 5 games he was the next coming of the Messiah and could do no wrong. Now he's back to being a disaster after losing 2 out of his last 3 league games! Which is right?! Maybe we'll find out this weekend - a win at the Emptihad for AVB and Tottenham would arguably banish a lot of his critics surely! Tottenham have won their last 3 away games and after last weekend's grumblings at White Hart Lane you have to feel it may be beneficial for them to be away from home after all. This isn't an easy place to come though with City having won 27 of their last 29 league games at home. Tottenham's problems have arguably centred around their leaky defence - which has conceded 14 in 10 games - over a goal a game. City will have been stung (yet again) by a pretty dismal performance in Europe and they seem to have a knack of grinding out results at the moment - as shown by the fact they're the only unbeaten team in the league without really impressing at all, so they could easily compound Tottenham's problems. A lot could depend on Gareth Bale and whether he is given freedom to play in his preferred position on the left or is moved around by AVB, which seems to have happened too often this season. Tottenham haven't won away at both Manchester clubs in the top flight since 1959-60 and it's hard to see that run coming to an end as well.

Prediction: Man City 2-2 Tottenham

Chelsea v Liverpool - A clash that would have been billed as a 'Top four Grand Slam Super Sunday' special on Sky a couple of years ago, this fixture has produced some decent controversy over the last few years, mainly in the Champions League though rather than domestically. Fast forward to 2012 and it's kind of difficult to get excited about this game in the fixture calendar. Chelsea managed a lucky midweek win over Shakhtar after their opponents were guilty of over-committing on an attack at the end of the game, then some QPR-esque marking from said corner. Liverpool put out a bunch of reserves (even Carragher played) in Russia with Sunday's fixture in mind so I don't think they'll particularly suffer from any effects of their midweek exertions, but even a slightly tired Chelsea side are good enough to sweep the Scousers aside at the moment. Yes, they turn up for the big games, but I can't look beyond Torres piling misery on his former side here.

Prediction: Chelsea 3-0 Liverpool

In the Championship there are some tasty local derbies around, Barnsley v Huddersfield looks like a League One tie on paper but having said that the two have looked far from League One teams, the latter particularly flying high currently. Blackpool v Bolton looks like it could be a classic, I'd go with a score draw! The standout fixture has to be Leicester City v Nottingham Forest though. The away side have been wildly inconsistent this season so far, producing some outstanding football at times but then having taken two steps forward they take one back with performances like that which saw them lose 4-1 at home to Millwall. They don't have a great record at the Walkers Stadium (their last win there was in 2005) but they have only lost once on the road so far this season and Leicester's form has dipped slightly of late with unexpected defeats to Crystal Palace and Watford. Still, I fancy Leicester to beat them here, probably not as comprehensively as they did in the FA Cup earlier in the year, but still fairly comfortably. Nugent on the scoresheet.

Prediction: Leicester 2-0 Nottingham Forest

Our sides are all in action this weekend and, for the first time in god knows how long, all playing today (albeit with staggered kick-off times). 

1.FC Union Berlin are underway against VfR Aalen hoping to continue where they left off with that fine away win in Dresden. That confidence should translate into an excellent atmosphere at the Alten Foersterei this afternoon and hopefully they will extend a decent record which they have against today's opponents, who they last played at Division Three level!

C is unbelievably missing the mouthwatering prospect of Stoke v QPR at the Britannia this weekend (part timer!). QPR have a fairly decent record away at the Potters' ground but with Stoke not having lost in their last eleven home games and Peter Crouch up against an incompetent back line that aren't practising marking from set pieces, we don't hold out much hope for the travelling R's faithful today. Having said that, there is the continued saving grace that Rory Delap is out injured and the home side are, together with Sunderland, the League's draw specialists. I know QPR need more than one point from games at the moment, but a point at a hard place to go would certainly be looked upon favourably.

Crewe Alexandra are home to league table neighbours Colchester this weekend and will be hoping that the goals against Wycombe in the FA Cup and in the outstanding away win at Doncaster midweek has breathed life back into the seasons of their strikers. Mathias Pogba has been in amongst the goals again whilst loan signing Lauri Dalla Valle introduced himself to the Alex fans with the opener in the victory at the Keepmoat. Colchester haven't yet recovered from their TOWIE derby defeat to Chelmsford City in the FA Cup but on their day are more than capable of competing at this level. 

Tea-time sees Manchester United travel to the West Midlands to take on Paul Lambert's Aston Villa. United should have beaten Arsenal by more last week but a convincing ending to the match at Braga should mean their tails are up for this one. Villa won at Sunderland last weekend by virtue of the fact they were able to finish a chance on the day whilst Sunderland haven't looked like scoring in a month of Sundays. I'm not really convinced by Lambert's Villa revolution yet and I can see United winning comfortably here.

Enjoy the weekend's football and we'll be back with C's review of QPR v Reading and a weekend review later this weekend.

C&J