Barnsley
Keith Hill did a
tremendous job in 2011/12 to keep Barnsley in the division despite working with
one of the smallest budgets. Barnsley's recruitment for the coming season is a
little bit more ambitious with Hill picking up players released by Premier
league clubs and the signing of ex-Middlesbrough and West Ham lardarse Mido.
It's hard to see anything other than another season of struggle for the Tykes
especially given the loss of Jacob Butterfield to Norwich City at the end of
his contract. Butterfield was the most talented kid to come through Barnsley's
academy in years. Keith Hill is a really likeable guy who's worked his way up
into the Championship and I'd love to see him succeed again but it's doubtful.
IN: Lee Collins
(Port Vale), Kelvin Etuhu (Portsmouth), Jacob Mellis, Mido (Zamalek [EGY]), Ben
Alnwick (Spurs), Toni Silva (Liverpool), Tomasz Cywka (Reading)
KEY OUTS: Jacob Butterfield (Norwich)
KEY OUTS: Jacob Butterfield (Norwich)
PREDICTION: 24th
Birmingham City
It hasn't been the
summer of turmoil some feared at St. Andrews with the financial implosion
either an overblown rumour or an accident still waiting to happen. Birmingham
lost their talented manager Chris Hughton to Norwich which was a major blow
after he worked miracles last season leading the Blues to the Championship
play-off semi-finals. The appointment of Lee Clark looks a very shrewd move
though. Clark was one of the free agents on the market after being fired by
Huddersfield last season despite the club sitting in the top 6 in League One
and having lost only a handful of games in the prior 18 months.
Goalkeeper Ben
Foster, who made his loan move to West Brom permanent, and Jordan Mutch have
been the only departures from Birmingham this summer so far and Clark has made
several excellent signings, making good use of the loan and free market. He
also picked up Darren Ambrose for a song as the goalscoring midfielder had only
a year left on his contract at Crystal Palace. Birmingham are working with a
relatively small squad and still have one or two players such as Curtis Davies,
Jack Butland and Nathan Redmond who may attract interest from the Premier
League before the end of the summer transfer window which would make repeating
last season heroics unlikely.
IN: Peter
Lovenkrands (Newcastle), David Lucas (Rochdale), Hayden Mullins (Portsmouth),
Darren Ambrose (Palace), Ravel Morrison (West Ham loan), Ben Gordon (Chelsea
loan), Alan Maybury (St. Johnstone)
KEY OUTS: Jordon Mutch (Cardiff), Ben Foster (WBA)
PREDICTION: 13th
Blackburn Rovers
Who could possibly predict
Blackburn Rovers season? They were relegated from the Premier league last
season after 18 months of turmoil with supporter unrest towards the clubs
Indian owners and manager Steve Kean at the heart of the problem. Kean inherited
a good squad from Sam Allardyce and spent a fair amount of money but barring
one or two impressive results, failed to get anything out of the talented
players at his disposal. In his defence, while he spent good money on first
team players, the squad eroded in terms of depth of quality and so Kean was
forced to blood a number of young players last season, particularly in defence.
Kean's recruitment
this summer looks terrific on paper. Midfield schemer Danny Murphy is a
terrific signing as is his ex-Fulham team mate Dickson Etuhu who'll bring real
strength to their midfield. Signings like these and powerful striker Leon Best
(who will unfortunately miss 6 months of the season) suggest that Kean knows
what it will take to get out of the Championship. His other signings are a mixed
bag but former Portugal international Nuno Gomes could set the division alight.
He and the lesser known Portuguese signings join an eclectic squad and while
the likes of Vukcevic, Formica and Rochina have talent, they struggled to cope with the physical
element of the premier league so may find it impossible to impose themselves on
the Championship.
IN: Danny Murphy (Fulham), Leon Best (Newcastle), Nuno Gomes (Braga
[POR]), Fabio Nunes (Portimonese [POR]), Paulo Jorge (Porto [POR]), Edon
"Edinho" Junior (Olhanense [POR]), Dickson Etuhu (Fulham), Colin
Kazim-Richards (Galatasaray [TUR] loan)
KEY OUTS: Yakubu (Guangzhou Fuli [CHI]), Junior Hoilett (QPR), Vincenzo Grella (Released), Miguel Salgado (Released)
PREDICTION: 2nd
Blackpool
Blackpool is another side whose season is tough to predict. Ian Holloway
is their wildcard. He got a very ordinary looking squad of journeymen players
promoted to the Premier league, almost kept them up and then, following the
departure of Charlie Adam last summer, led them to the play-off final. Their
recruitment also looks ordinary and they haven't really lost anyone of real
importance given that Lua Lua was used mainly as a substitute last season and
Keith Southern spent most of the season fighting cancer. They have a couple of
real talents in wingers Matt Phillips and Tom Ince plus the evergreen Kevin
Phillips up front and a bunch of players who know how to win games at this
level. When you add in Holloway's ability to get an extra 25% out of anything in
an orange shirt, hence the number of tango-men going on stag do's in Blackpool
at the moment, it'd take a fool to write them off.
IN: Jake Caprice (Palace), Isaiah Osbourne (Hibs), Tiago Gomes
(Hercules [SPA]), Scott Robertson (Dundee U)
KEY OUTS: Lomana LuaLua (Karabukspor [TUR]), Keith Southern (Huddersfield)
PREDICTION: 7th
Bolton Wanderers
Owen Coyle's Bolton probably weren't fancied by too many people to slip
out of the Premier League but they never really got going and despite the
talent in the squad they never really picked up the form you thought they might
be capable of. It was felt that the trauma of Fabrice Muamba's collapse at
White Hart Lane might have fired up the united Bolton squad but instead they
were drained of energy and emotion and after 11 years, they slid out of the
"Barclays Premier League". Despite the loss of a number of big-name
players, Bolton have plenty of talented players remaining such as the marvelous
Chung-Yong Lee, Stuart Holden and Martin Petrov, players who know how to get
out of the Championship like Sam Ricketts, Darren Pratley and Chris Eagles and
plenty of physical presence from the likes of Zat Knight, David Wheater and
Kevin Davies.
Their recruitment looks pretty impressive too with Matt Mills and Keith
Andrews having had impressive spells in the Championship in the past (though
Mills disappointed big style at Leicester last season) and promising young
forwards Gregg Wylde and Benik Afobe. Bolton's weakest point appears to be in
goal with the erratic Adam Bogdan backed up by their butter-fingered signing
from Leeds United, Andy Lonergan.
IN: Gregg Wylde (Rangers), Keith Andrews (WBA), Matt Mills (Leicester),
Joe McKee (Burnley), Andy Lonergan (Leeds), Benik Afobe (Arsenal loan)
KEY OUTS: Nigel Reo-Coker (Released), Ivan Klasnic (Released), Jussi Jaaskelainen (West Ham), Ricardo Gardner (Released), Gretar Steinsson (Released), Paul Robinson (Released), Sean Davis (Released)
PREDICTION: 1st
Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton enjoyed a good season back in the Championship last season
under the management of Gus Poyet. They play a good brand of football and press
from the front when they don't have the ball. Last summer’s surprise signing
Vicente has committed himself to the club for another season and has been joined
by an ex-Valencia team mate in full-back Bruno (Saltor). Bruno played for
Valencia in the Champions League last season and brings extensive experience
with him from Spain. The signing of goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak from Manchester
United and ex-England left-back Wayne Bridge on a season long loan from
Manchester City are impressive pieces of business. Andrew Crofts has returned
to the club from Norwich and he'll bring composure to the midfield.
Brighton have shown they are ambitious in the transfer market and have
not courted interest in the likes of Craig Mackail-Smith and Lewis Dunk. They
now have a squad that is balanced in terms of experience which may have let
them down at times last season.
IN: Tomasz Kuszczak (Man Utd), Bruno Saltor (Valencia [SPA]), Wayne
Bridge (Man City loan), Charlie Oatway Jr., Andrew Crofts (Norwich)
KEY OUTS: None
PREDICTION: 4th
Bristol City
Derek McInnes took over last season but failed to turnaround their poor form.
They've let a lot go of a lot of fringe players in the summer but haven't
excited the fans with their signings so far. They found Jody Morris working the
morning shift at a little chef just outside of Perth in Scotland, rescued Greg
Cunningham from his career as a full-time loanee and signed Paul Anderson whose
career has gone off the boil of late. Anderson will be a fine signing if he can
recapture the form he previously showed in loan spells at Swansea and Forest
while Tom Heaton should be an upgrade on a well past his calamitous best David
James. City struggled to score goals even before they lost Nicky Maynard to
West Ham last season so unless they fill that void, they'll be in big trouble.
IN: Jody Morris (St. Johnstone), Greg Cunningham (Man City), Paul
Anderson (Forest), Tom Heaton (Cardiff)
KEY OUTS: David James (Released)
PREDICTION: 23rd
Burnley
The Clarets were on of the most inconsistent teams in the division last
season following clumps of good results with larger clumps of poor ones. They've
trimmed a squad that wasn't particularly big to start with and have sold their
prized asset, striker Jay Rodriquez, to Southampton. Eddie Howe doesn't appear
to have been given a great deal of the Rodriquez money to re-invest but has
made several decent signings in defender Jason Shackell, tidy midfield player
Brian Stock and Wales striker Sam Vokes. Vokes is a promising young forward but
may feel the pressure of having large boots to fill. Burnley will need Vokes
and Charlie Austin to have exceptional seasons to make any impression on the
Championship and will have to rely on good fortune unless they significantly
bolster a thin squad.
IN: Luke O'Neill (Mansfield), George Porter (Orient Compensation),
Jason Shackell (Derby), Joseph Mills (Reading loan), Sam Vokes (Wolves), Brian
Stock (Doncaster)
KEY OUTS: Jay Rodriguez (Southampton), Andre Amougou (Released)
PREDICTION: 17th
Cardiff City
The Redbirds made one of the most controversial moves of the summer when
they sold their history down the river and signed a deal with the Malaysian
devil. It's a shame that the rebranding issue has over-shadowed the job that
Malky Mackay did at Cardiff last season as he took over a squad shorn of talent
who'd either returned to their parent clubs following loan spells or left
through freedom of contract. Mackay re-built the squad without spending a lot
of money and brought through several promising players from the club's youth
academy. A pretty quiet summer transfer-wise exploded in the past couple of
weeks with Mackay making two excellent additions in Icelandic striker Heidar
Helguson, a proven Championship goalscorer, and football's angriest dwarf,
Craig Bellamy. Mackay may still face his biggest challenge this summer by
holding on to Peter Whittingham but if he can, they look sure to be involved in
the promotion race again and should benefit from the playing staff being
familiar for the first time in a while.
IN: Joe Lewis (Peterbro), Jordon Mutch (Birmingham), Etien Velikonja
(Maribor [SVK]), Heidar Helguson (QPR), Craig Bellamy (Liverpool)
KEY OUTS: Kenny Miller (Vancouver Whitecaps [CAN]), Anthony Gerrard (Huddersfield), Tom Heaton (Bristol C), Lee Naylor (Released)
PREDICTION: 5th
Charlton Athletic
It's been a quiet summer for Addicks boss Chris Powell who signed nearly
20 players at the same time last year. The League One champions have a squad of
talented players but don't have too many who've exceled in the Championship and
will face a tough battle to stay in the division. They should have momentum
early on and have a few seasoned pros like Leon Cort and Johnnie Jackson to
lean on when times get tough. I think they'll survive but only just.
IN: Jordan Cook (Sunderland), Lawrie Wilson (Stevenage), Salim Kerkar
(Rangers)
KEY OUTS: Gary Doherty (Wycombe)
PREDICTION: 21st
Crystal Palace
It could be a difficult season for Palace who enjoyed a stress-free
ending to the 2011/12 season under Dougie Freedman. It was their first for a
while. Freedman has expertly guided a young squad showing maturity far beyond
his years as he did as a player. He'll have to perform above himself again this
season as Palace have lost four good players in hot young right-back Nathaniel
Clyne, Darren Ambrose, lanky one cap wonder Anthony Gardner and winger Sean
Scannell. Scannell hasn't lived up to his promise in the game but still has all
the physical attributes to make it big. Peter Ramage is a gnarly old centre
half who'll do well and Joel Ward showed promise at times in a sinking Pompey outfit.
It seems unlikely that Aaron Wilbraham will improve their attack though. He's a
hard working guy but he's not a difference maker. Palace is another side whose
squad looks small this season and may rely on "emergency" loans for
depth.
IN: Joel Ward (Portsmouth), Aaron Martin (Southampton Loan), Aaron
Wilbraham (Norwich), Peter Ramage (QPR)
KEY OUTS: Anthony Gardner (Sheff Weds), Sean Scannell (Huddersfield), Darren Ambrose (Birmingham), Nathaniel Clyne (Southampton)
PREDICTION: 16th
Derby County
I admire the way Derby County is run under Nigel Clough. They spend
wisely, invest in young players and don’t allow older players to block the
development of their own products. They’ve improved year on year and have a
nice blend of youth products and shrewd acquisitions. That will be tested this
season. Chris Maguire is no-loss, he failed to deliver after his signing from
Aberdeen, but Jason Shackell and Paul Green could really be missed. Also
worrying for the Derby fans is the seemingly imminent departure of Steven
Davies. On the plus side, Clough has signed Northampton's classy young
midfielder Michael Jacobs, tough tackling Preston midfielder Paul Coutts,
centre-half Richard Keogh and Doncaster's attacking right-back James O'Connor.
Their squad was looking a little thin but Clough has done a decent rebuilding
job while staying true to his philosophy. The Rams are unlikely to mount a
promotion bid but should be too good to fall into a relegation battle too.
IN: Michael Jacobs (Northampton), Paul Coutts (Preston), Richard Keogh
(Coventry), James O'Connor (Doncaster), Michael Hoganson (Newcastle)
KEY OUTS: Paul Green (Leeds), Chris Maguire (Sheff Weds), Jason Shackell (Burnley), Callum Ball (Coventry loan)
PREDICTION: 14th
Huddersfield Town
Manager Simon Grayson has made a statement of intent following
Huddersfield’s return to the second tier after an 11 year absence. Grayson
cleared the decks following their League One play-off final win and allowed
some older players such as Tommy Miller, Danny Cadamarteri and Gary Naysmith to
move on. He took Crystal Palace striker Sean Scannell, once linked with
multi-million pound moves to Spurs and West Ham, for just £400,000. Scannell
has lost his way a little in the past couple of seasons but is still a young,
dynamic player who has excellent dribbling ability and an eye for goal. He
could be the steal of the summer window. They've strengthened the midfield
significantly the signings of Manchester United midfielder Oliver Norwood, who impressed
on loan at Coventry last season, Keith Southern and Adam Clayton from Leeds
United. Grayson's defensive signings are equally impressive. Anthony Gerrard
could form a formidable partnership with skipper Peter Clarke while Joel Lynch
had an excellent season in a struggling Forest side last year. The difference
between Huddersfield merely staying up comfortably and muscling in on the fight
for a play-off place will depend on whether they hold on to Jordan Rhodes.
Blackburn and Fulham are amongst his admirers.
IN: Sean Scannell (Palace), Paul Dixon (Dundee U), Oliver Norwood (Man
Utd), Adam Clayton (Leeds), Joel Lynch (Forest), Keith Southern (Blackpool),
Anthony Gerrard (Cardiff)
KEY OUTS: Gary Roberts (Swindon), Antony Kay (MK Dons)
PREDICTION: 11th
Hull City
The Tigers have spent July recovering from 6 weeks of self-inflicted
woe. Nick Barmby’s plan to transform City into the Barcelona of Yorkshire was
ripped up and replaced with the Steve Bruce plan. That seems to be a return to
playing with two up front, one of whom is a big lad, and having proper wingers
who supply the ammunition. This plan will appeal to the supporters who didn’t enjoy
the dominant but low-scoring performances under Barmby (and originally Pearson).
Bruce has recruited well and quickly identified the gaps in the Tigers squad. Perhaps
most importantly though the club has held on to some of the coveted young players
like Cameron Stewart and James Chester while Robert Koren rejected the
overtures of his former manager to sign a two year contract.
It’s easy to forget given the upheaval that Hull City finished 8th
in the Championship last season. Under Barmby, progress seemed inevitable.
Under Bruce, it’s a tad more questionable. The squad is better but so are
plenty of others. In a Championship that looks more competitive than ever, you
have to move forward just to stand still.
IN: Ben Amos (Man Utd loan), Eldin Jakupovic (Aris [GRE]), Nick Proschwitz
(Paderborn [GER]), Abdoulaye Faye (West Ham), Sone Aluko (Rangers), Alex Bruce
(Leeds)
KEY OUTS: Kamel Ghilas (Reims [FRA]), Kevin Kilbane (Coventry), Dele Adebola (Rochdale), Richard Garcia (Released)
PREDICTION: 8th
Ipswich Town
Paul Jewell's side has been quiet this summer. The signing of Scott
Loach from Watford was a welcome on for the Tractor Boys who'd tried and failed
to sign every second string goalkeeper in the land. If Loach had turned them
down, Jewell had the Mounties on standby to search for Craig Forrest.
Nottingham Forest's Luke Chambers will also help turnaround an often leaky
defence while the loss of Grant Leadbitter and Jimmy "the parasite"
Bullard may leave them short of midfield talent but will significantly improve
their team spirit. In truth, Jewell needs 4 or 5 signings to make Ipswich
competitive and they require fresh young blood, especially as their once
prolific academy is no longer churning out stars.
IN: Elliott Hewitt (Macclesfield), Luke Chambers (Forest), Scott Loach
(Watford), Massimo Luongo (Spurs loan)
KEY OUTS: Grant Leadbitter (Boro), Jimmy Bullard (Released)
PREDICTION: 20th
Leeds United
Leeds dispensed with manager Simon Grayson last season and brought in
Championship promotion specialist Neil Warnock. This one may well be one
challenge too far for Warnock who is working on a tight budget. Leeds proposed
takeover appears to be on hold at the moment and fans, already unimpressed with
Ken Bates, will not have enjoyed seeing Adam Clayton and Robert Snodgrass join
the talent exodus from Elland Road in recent seasons. Warnock has signed some
good players, raiding hard-up Portsmouth for Jason Pearce and David Norris,
signing experienced Norwich left-back Adam Drury and Derby's tidy Ireland
international midfielder Paul Green. He's also taken his old mate Paddy
"it was on prescription, honest, guv" Kenny who he's signed on 87
previous occasions.
Warnock's latest signing is El Hadji Diouf. Warnock famously labeled
Diouf a "sewer rat" after he broke Jamie Mackie's leg during a
Blackburn/QPR FA Cup tie. Warnock then suggested that he might have offended
sewer rats. Of course, being that morality in top-level football is spelt
********, this hasn't stopped Warnock signing the player. If he thought Fred
West could get 20 goals a season, Warnock would sign him too. Diouf had an
excellent game for Doncaster at the KC Stadium last season. He'll probably do
very well at Elland Road. It's a match made in heaven. Or hell.
IN: Jason Pearce (Portsmouth), Adam Drury (Norwich), Paul Green
(Derby), Paddy Kenny (QPR), Andy Gray (Barnsley), Jamie Ashdown (Portsmouth),
Luke Varney (Portsmouth), David Norris (Portsmouth), Lee Peltier (Leicester),
El Hadji Diouf (Doncaster)
KEY OUTS: Adam Clayton (Huddersfield), Andy Lonergan (Bolton), Robert Snodgrass (Norwich), Andy O'Brien (Vancouver Whitecaps [CAN])
PREDICTION: 10th
Leicester City
Leicester spent last summer shopping like Posh Spice on coke. Sven Goran
Eriksson brought big expectations and a massive false dawn. The clubs owners
look to have learnt from those mistakes and have since appointed (stolen) Nigel
Pearson as manager and he's brought a calmer approach to player recruitment and
altered unrealistic expectations. Pearson has rid the club of some of the
bigger names and biggest earners, presumably to comply with financial fair play
rules, and has made several solid if unspectacular signings. Full-back Richie
De Laet and midfielder Matty James have joined Danny Drinkwater in signing from
Pearson's favourite department store: Old Trafford. Zak Whitbread is a proven
Championship centre half and Pompey's Marko Futacs has been brought in to
replace the "Steve Howard option". Fleetwood's Jamie Vardy is
Pearson's only expensive gamble so far but knowing how meticulous his scouting team
is, he could be a rough diamond. I don't think Leicester have finished shaping
their side yet. Pearson has been patient all summer and will pull one or two
out of the bag before August 31st I'm sure.
IN: Ritchie De Laet (Man Utd), Matty James (Man Utd), Jamie Vardy
(Fleetwood), Marko Futacs (Portsmouth), Zak Whitbread (Norwich)
KEY OUTS: Sol Bamba (Trabzonspor), Matt Mills (Bolton), Lee Peltier (Leeds), John Pantsil (Released), Darius Vassell (Released), Steve Howard (Hartlepool)
PREDICTION: 6th
Middlesbrough
Boro had a good season under Tony Mowbray last time out but fell away
after Easter. They have been keen to address the lack of depth in the squad
this summer but have had to shop in a different market than the one they've
been used too. Mowbray brought midfielder Grant Leadbitter back to the
north-east from Ipswich and also rescued Jon Woodgate from the glue factory.
His other signings have come from further down the leagues but appear to be
well calculated gambles. Emanuel Ledesma is a creative midfield player who
didn't have the best of spells at QPR but has recovered his form at Walsall.
Mustapha Carayol is an exciting winger who's already trawled the lower
divisions despite being only 23. They do know how to develop a winger at
Middlesbrough though. In all Boro have a squad that is talented but has few
experienced players. They'll hope to have less reliance on Marvin Emnes to
score goals because when he went off the boil last season, so did they.
IN: Grant Leadbitter (Ipswich), Stuart Parnaby, Christian Burgess, Jon
Woodgate (Stoke), Emanuel Ledesma (Walsall), George Friend (Doncaster),
Mustapha Carayol (Bristol R), Jayson Leutwiler (Basle [SWI])
KEY OUTS: Barry Robson (Vancouver Whitecaps [CAN])
PREDICTION: 9th
Millwall
Kenny Jackett has done an excellent job at Millwall in the last 3 years
and has kept them up quite comfortably in the last 2 seasons. His ability will
be severely tested by a division that looks stronger than ever this time. There
are few stars at Millwall as they rely on being a better unit than the sum of its
parts. Liam Trotter and James Henry are excellent in their midfield and Darius
Henderson enjoyed a career renaissance last season. It's difficult to see them
competing above the bottom six though and it will be a tough ask for players to
keep playing above themselves.
IN: Maik Taylor (Leeds), Scott Malone (Bournemouth), Karleigh Osborne
(Brentford), Danny Shittu (QPR)
KEY OUTS: Scott Barron (Brentford)
PREDICTION: 22nd
Nottingham Forest
It took quite a while for Forest’s summer to kick into gear with the
takeover by the Al-Hasawi family finally being completed in mid-July. By that
time Forest had already lost McCleary, Chambers and Lynch on free transfers.
The new owners wasted no time in sacking Steve Cotterill and appointing Sean O’Driscoll
as manager. O’Driscoll is a good coach who was stupidly let go by Doncaster
Rovers and helped revitalize Forest last season while assisting Steve Cotterill.
With the owners backing, he’s dipped into the transfer market and made some
decent additions. Daniel Ayala and Simon Gillet will help Forest play the brand
of football O’Driscoll promotes while Simon Cox is a classy goalscorer who
would have fit into any team in the division. Given the disruption and the
changes in personnel, I think it’s unlikely that Forest will challenge for the
play-offs but they should have a much better season than they did last time.
IN: Adlene Guedioura (Wolves), Danny Collins (Stoke), Greg Halford
(Portsmouth), Dan Harding (Southampton), Simon Gillett (Doncaster), Daniel
Ayala (Norwich loan), Simon Cox (WBA)
KEY OUTS: Garath McCleary (Reading), Luke Chambers (Ipswich), Joel Lynch (Huddersfield), George Boateng (Released), Paul Anderson (Bristol C)
PREDICTION: 12th
Peterborough United
The Posh are a club who seem to be permanently in transition. Darren
Ferguson has spent the past 6 months scouring the lower leagues again to find
the players who’ll replace Joe Lewis and Ryan Bennett and preparing to replace George
Boyd and Paul Taylor when they eventually move on. They’ll always take a chance
on a player who is lower down the ladder; thy trust their judgement and they
are generally rewarded for doing so. Their attacking philosophy stood them in
good stead last season and it should do again. It’s more worthwhile to win some
and lose some in the Championship than it is to collect a lot of draws. I
admire Peterborough’s bravery and I think they’ll stay up again.
IN: Tyrone Barnett (Crawley), Shaun Brisley (Macclesfield), Nat
Knight-Percival (Wrexham), Danny Swanson (Dundee United), Bobby Olejnik
(Torquay), Nathaniel Mendez-Laing (Wolves), Michael Bostwick (Stevenage),
Jonson Clarke-Harris (Coventry)
KEY OUTS: Joe Lewis (Cardiff), Paul Jones (Crawley)
PREDICTION: 18th
Sheffield Wednesday
Wednesday are back at the level they feel they belong to at the very
least. Dispensing with Gary Megson whilst sitting third in League One at the
end of February seemed harsh but appointing Dave Jones was a masterstroke and
he guided them to automatic promotion without losing a game. They’ve recruited
two or three proven Championship players this summer as well as one or two
wildcards. Neither Chris Maguire nor Michail Antonio pulled up any trees at
Derby or Reading but Antonio did have a successful spell on loan at
Hillsborough last season. Gary Madine had an excellent season in League One
last season and with better players around him, he should adapt to the next
level without any problems.
IN: Chris Kirkland (Wigan), Kieran Lee (Oldham), Joe Mattock (WBA),
Anthony Gardner (Palace), Chris Maguire (Derby), Diogo Amado (Uniao Leiria
[POR]), Nejc Pecnik (CD Nacional [POR]), Rhys McCabe (Rangers), Michail Antonio
(Reading)
KEY OUTS: Clinton Morrison (Colchester)
PREDICTION: 15th
Watford
It’s been a strange summer at Vicarage Road. The club was (eventually)
purchased by the Pozzo family who already own Udinese and the Spanish club
Granada. Granada was promoted to La Liga in 2010/11 with the help of players
loaned from Udinese and the Pozzo family is trying the same trick at Watford.
Sean Dyche was harshly dismissed as manager to make way for Gianfranco Zola and
he’s overseen the sale of two of the clubs top players. They’ve been replaced
by two experienced and, most importantly, free players in Fitz Hall and Manuel
Almunia. A squad lacking in depth has been replenished by SIX players signed on
loan from, shockingly, Udinese and Granada. And I thought the loan rules in
this country were ridiculous before. Watford won’t be helped by the fact that
last season’s top goalscorer Troy Deeney will spend the first few months of the
season doing porridge. It’s difficult to predict what this Watford squad will
achieve but knowing the history in this country of miserly foreign owners
trying to do things on the cheap, I’m going for “not very well”.
IN: Fitz Hall (QPR), Manuel Almunia (Arsenal), Almen Abdi (Udinese
loan), Matej Vydra (Udinese loan), Steve Leo Beleck (Udinese loan), Daniel
Pudil (Granada loan), Ikechi Anya (Granada loan), Alex Geijo (Udinese loan)
KEY OUTS: Adrian Marriapa (Reading), Scott Loach (Ipswich)
PREDICTION: 19th
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolves made a complete hash of the Premier League last season and
suffered relegation after sacking Mick McCarthy, who’d kept them up twice
before, and replacing him with a guy who had les experience of top flight
management than your average Football Manager 2012 addict. They’ve corrected
that this summer with the appointment of the experienced and well-travelled Stale
Solbakken. Wolves have quietly gone about their business this summer and weren’t
getting a lot of media attention until recently when they turned down massive
bids for Steven Fletcher and Matt Jarvis. Even without those two players,
Wolves have a squad of players who’ve excelled at this level before. Their
additions are mainly unknown but striker Sigurdarson and midfielder Doumbia
both come with good reputations from Norway and France respectively.
IN: Bjorn Sigurdarson (Lillestrom [NOR]), Frank Nouble (West Ham),
Jamie Tank (Walsall), Tongo Doumbia (Rennes [FRA] loan), Slawomir Peszko
(Cologne [GER] loan)
KEY OUTS: Nathaniel Mendez-Laing (Peterbro), Adlene Guedioura (Forest), Sam Vokes (Burnley), Michael Kightly (Stoke), Jody Craddock (Released)
PREDICTION: 3rd
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