Championship

The Championship: Preview.

This weekend saw the return of one of the most competitive leagues in Europe in the form of England's second tier, The Championship. And this term's competition promises to be just as exciting as it has been in recent years.

As close and unpredictable as The Championship normally is, it would take a brave man to bet against recently relegated West Ham United gaining promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking. With experienced manager Sam Allardyce now at the helm and new signings Kevin Nolan and Matt Taylor joining the ranks (arguably signings that would have kept the Hammers up if made a year ago), and most of the club's big names still not having left it will take a pretty big effort by their rivals to stop them winning promotion.

Fellow ‘relelgatees’ Birmingham City and Blackpool have not been so fortunate in the close season. The Blues have lost manager Alex McLeish to cross city rivals Aston Villa and rumour would have it that they may be heading into administration sometime soon. Meanwhile Ian Holloway has lost star striker DJ Campbell to Premiership new boys Queens Park Rangers which won't make his side's chances of a return to the top tier any easier.

Two teams that will more than likely be challenging for a promotion spot alongside West Ham will be Leicester City, managed by former England boss Sven Göran-Eriksson, and Nottingham Forest who have recently appointed Sven's successor as England manager Steve McLaren. Whilst both men famously didn't have the best of times coaching the English national team, their club records speak for themselves.
(Although the days of Sven are looking quite rose-tinted now- Ed.)

Southampton would be my pick of the newly promoted teams with star striker Rickie Lambert finally getting a shot in The Championship, along with a host of other talented players. League One winners Brighton and play-off winners Peterborough may find themselves a little out of their depth, but as we've seen time and time again anyone can beat anyone in this league.

It also remains to be seen what a very new look Cardiff City can do this season. It's been all change in South Wales, upstairs and on the pitch, and with bitter rivals Swansea gaining promotion you would think The Bluebirds will be even more desperate to find that extra something they've been missing for the past few seasons.

The likes of Watford, Crystal Palace and Doncaster Rovers have done little to improve their squads since finishing in the lower echelons of the league last season so it wouldn't be too surprising to see similar relegation-battling seasons for them and a few others.

Mid-table finishers such as Ipswich Town and Bristol City may be ones to watch with both sides adding some pretty solid signings to their squads. Significantly City managed to fight off interest from Leicester, Forest and a host of other clubs for star striker Nicky Maynard, and both clubs are well enough equipped to be there or there-abouts.

So with all of that said, all that's left to do is to enjoy the kick off to the new campaign, and after that, the highlights! Twenty four teams all starting on a level playing field in a league where it seems that literally anything can happen, and despite all of your predictions and the ones made here, it is almost impossible to tell how The Championship is going to pan out.


Work by Josh Coulson