It seems like an act of pointless vanity to try and predict the league table before a ball has been kicked but it’s also a bit of fun and passes the time while we wait for the big kickoff on Friday. So here are my thoughts on what I think will happen in the Championship this season.
Feel free to bookmark this post and come back to it in May next year when none of my predictions have come true so you can laugh at me. Then again, by May 2023 the robot uprising may well have taken place and we’ll no doubt look back with teary-eyed nostalgia at the times when we had the opportunity to think about football rather than spend every waking moment working for our robot masters. Anyway, on with the predictions!
The top two – Norwich and Middlesbrough
Norwich are pretty boring at this level, it’s like they’ve got the cheat codes and know exactly what moves all the other teams are going to try against them and can anticipate them in advance. So I suspect they’ll get automatic promotion at a canter again even though they will still probably just get relegated again and continue in their yoyo bubble, eternally swapping places with Fulham every season.
Middlesbrough might be a less expected pick for automatic promotion but I’m selecting them mostly on the basis of their manager. I think Wilder knows this level well and now he’s had time to settle in he’ll have his team ready to hit the ground running. They’re not a team of star players but they’ll work hard and be tough to beat and that can get you a very long way at this level.
The playoff spots – Swansea, Watford, Sheffield United, Luton
I thought Swansea were one of the best footballing teams I saw play against Town last season but then I saw some of them fail to pick up results elsewhere which seemed really strange to me. I think they’re playing a brand of football that doesn’t always translate to this level, particularly if you don’t have Liverpool or Man City’s players to execute your game play. But I think what they’re doing is admirable and adding Joe Allen into the mix means they’ve got a real technician to pull the strings now too. They could be a very interesting side to watch.
Watford will have that usual challenge of trying to keep it together while sacking their manager every other week. Which they actually seem to manage to do reasonably OK at so it’s strange to think what they might achieve if they kept a manager in their post long enough to unpack their suitcase.
Sheffield United were a hot mess when they arrived in the Championship last season but were one of the form teams by the end of the season and will most likely keep that form going this season. In fact, it’s possible they could be up there competing for an automatic place, we’ll have to see.
I’m giving the final playoff spot to Luton, not because I like their manager Nathan Jones, but it’s hard not to admire what he has achieved there with very little. Don’t get me wrong, he’s someone that would most likely get sectioned for his antics in any other line of work but in football his extreme personality has managed to push Luton on every season and I think he’ll get them in the playoffs again and maybe even to the final this time around.
Relegation – Birmingham, Reading, Wigan
I don’t like tipping teams to go down, particularly when I’ve not got very good insight into the goings on at other Championship clubs but I’ve picked my three to go down off incredibly flimsy information, so any fans of the above three teams can at least feel reassured about how uninformed I am!
Firstly, Birmingham knew that the Commonwealth Games were taking place in their city from 2017 yet their suits didn’t make a decision about the home game taking place on the same Saturday as the games until around ten days before the game. This terrible bit of management from Birmingham’s leadership tells me that they’re not a well-run club and I believe I’ve heard similar rumblings from their fans in the past about incompetent ownership. Add to that something I saw online about how they were pinning their hopes on Juninho Bacuna to be their savior and, well, I don’t fancy their chances of being saved!
Reading I’m tipping to go down on the basis of the games I saw them play against Town last season. They looked very disorganised and didn’t really have any identity. I think they may have had to get rid of some players over the summer to ease financial pressures too, which may make things even trickier for them. They do have Naby Sarr signing for them apparently though, so that’s something at least!
Finally, I’ve picked Wigan as my last team to go down because I read something recently about them being late paying their players wages late because of a mixup over the bank holidays for the Queen’s jubilee. While this might have been a genuine error, it feels like an excuse of the same magnitude as “the dog ate me homework” and I wonder if it hints towards potential issues. Maybe not. But even without off-the-field issues it is tough to re-establish yourself after promotion from League One so I’m thinking Wigan may struggle anyway. Still, at least they’ve always got those deliciou pies.
Where will Huddersfield Town finish
I’ll do a more in depth prediction article for Huddersfield Town later but I think this season will be one of consolidation. We’re not good enough to compete at the top end but we’re (hopefully) too good to be caught up in the scrap at the bottom, so we should be floating somewhere in the middle.
All it takes is for two or three of our new signings to really kick on and I could really see us making another promotion push this season. On the other hand, a couple of injuries and a loss of confidence and we could easily find ourselves at the wrong end of the table too. Either way, I think it’ll be an interesting season.
The rest
I’ve not put West Brom anywhere near the top six because I think Steve Bruce is an awful manager and even with the great squad he has at his disposal, he’ll still find a way to mess it up. For them, I think that will mean somewhere in midtable.
Similarly, I think Burnley will be the relegated team that struggles to adapt to the demands of the Championship. Which is funny because under Sean Dyche they played like a Championship team in the Premier League for years but now they’ve got rid of him and brought in Vincent Kompany they’re a bit of an unknown quantity.
Coventry are a bit like Swansea in that they like to get the ball down and play football and could be decent playoff contenders but I think they lack the one or two star players they need to get them up to that level so will most likely be midtable.
Milwall always seem to do OK, so I’ve put them top half even though I think they may have a tough time adapting to the loss of Jed Wallace. Stoke spend crazy amounts but never seem to be able to get into the top six, so I can’t see that changing this year. Bristol City keep circling the drain but narrowly avoiding relegation, so I think they’ll do it again. Sunderland may think the Championship is their natural level but I think this first year back will be tough and they’ll have to settle for survival this time around and building over the next few seasons.
Here’s my guess at how I think the table will look at the end of the season:
- Norwich
- Middlesbrough
- Swansea
- Watford
- Sheffield United
- Luton
- Coventry
- Blackburn
- Burnley
- Millwall
- Stoke
- Huddersfield Town
- West Brom
- QPR
- Hull
- Cardiff
- Sunderland
- Rotherham
- Blackpool
- Preston North End
- Bristol City
- Wigan
- Birmingham
- Reading
It’s very difficult to argue with your rationale but there are always surprises. What I would say is that I think the league will be more competitive this season with no runaway top 2 or bottom 3 badly adrift. Only Norwich have a stand out striker like Mitrovitch and Solanke last season and will therefore be favourites for automatic promotion. I think that many of the top half teams will be those who are hard to beat and well organised. I hope we are one of those and I agree with you about Luton who I think will be this seasons surprise package.
I would put the top 6 as Sheffield, Watford, Blackburn, Norwich, Middlesbrough and Huddersfield. To be relegated Luton, Preston and Hull. Place your bets!
Always admire anyont prepared to put in the time to predict a table.
I honestly don’t know where Town will finish, but I’d like to think we’re top ten if Ward can find his form early.
Agree that Luton will have another good season and that Swansea will kick on. PNE to be the surprise package.
I may be wrong, but I think the new signings may take a season to bed in. So mid table for me. They also need to blood some of the promising youngsters or else next season may be a worry, we may lose the odd player to transfers and some will no longer be at their prime. I used to watch Town in the old div 2, and the games were always entertaining, perhaps that’s all we need ?
Reading are putting a good squad together I believe they will be mid table .
At least. We have kept hold of Jao and the likes of Hutchinson and nabby sar
We will suprise a few people.
Bring on the championship. Urzzz