English Championship Preview Part II C-M
English Championship Preview Part II C-M
Charlton : Last season finish 12th with 60 points. 2014 income £12m – Payout - Wages £12m Debt £31m. Major deals in: Ba, Bauer, Bergdich, Ceballos, Diarra, Dmitrovic, Eagles and Johnson – Major deals out: Church, Gomez, Ben Haim, Munns, Oweyu and Wilson. Charlton had a solid season and would have taken 12th for sure at start of season. They have took a revolving door approach to the season with 10 players in and 11 out. They made a decent profit on youngster Joe Gomez and have used the cash to finance a few foreign players with good experience. Isreali coach Guy Luzon has coached at this level since January, he may have some troubles integrating so many new players in to what essentially will be a brand new team.
Prediction: 18th in Championship.
Derby: Last season finish 8th with 77 points. 2014 income £15m – Payout – Wages £12m Debt £33m. Major deals in: Baird, Bent, Carson, Ince, Pearson and Wiemann– Major deals out: Barker, O’Brian, Ward and Whitbread. Derby lost a key figure in coach Steve McClaren at the end of last season. Newcastle came calling and he couldn’t resist the move. He had the Derby side playing some of the best football in the league last season but couldn’t keep the momentum up and they tailed off badly in the last few months. They have brought in some quality though with Ince, Baird and Carson all Premiership level. A few squads have gone but they have improved for sure. Paul Clement comes in and he does have English experience as 1st team coach of Chelsea and taking the reins at Blackburn too. I think they can make the playoffs this term and show improvement.
Prediction: 6th in Championship.
Fulham: Last season finish 17th with 52 points. 2014 Income £35m – Payout – Wages £37m Debt £24M. Major deals in: Cairney, Garbutt and O’Hara – Major outs: Hoogland, Kiraly, Rodallega, Roberts and Stekelenburg Fulham are struggling to balance the books so have shipped out half a dozen high earners. They have only moved Tom Cairney as he is a decent player at this level. They brought in O’Hara on a free who has experience but has struggled of late with motivation. Luke Garbutt comes from Everton on a yearlong loan and he has huge potential. Coach Kit Symons is backed by the fans and with an injury free run for skipper Scott Parker they should improve on 17th.
Prediction: 14th in Championship.
Huddersfield: Last season finish 16th with 55 points. 2014 income £11.2m – Payout – Wages £13.4m Debt, £30m. Major ins: N’Doye, Clucas and Taylor Major outs: Ince, Quinn and Rosenior. Not a great season at all and I don’t think they can improve this year either. They have released a few of the team members of last season and none of the incoming players excites. Coach Chris Powell worked wonders over the years on tight budgets. I think they could be lingering around the drop zone for much of the year. Huddersfield have a very small squad at present and certainly one not big enough to maintain a year long campaign.
Prediction: 21st in Championship.
Hull: Last season finish 18th in Premiership. 2014 income £84.4m – Payout – Wages £43m Debt £71m. Major deals in: N’Doye, Clucas and Taylor Major outs: Ince, Quinn and Rosenior. Hull battled hard in the top flight but in the end were undone by a few others making miraculous escapes. Hull have though to be fair kept the nucleus of players and they should be well prepared for the Championship. D’Doye is top class too and has extensive Champions League experience being and International striker. I expect Hull to be fighting for the title. The only worry I have is that Steve Bruce may come under pressure if he any sort of form wobble during the season. Hull’s debt is so great they cannot afford to be out of the top flight. Steve Bruce is well liked by his players, he is a traditional hands on managers and his sides don’t tend to surprise you. N’Doye, Clucas and Taylor Major outs: Ince, Quinn and Rosenior. Hull battled hard in the top flight but in the end were undone by a few others making miraculous escapes. Hull have though to be fair kept the nucleus of players and they should be well prepared for the Championship. D’Doye is top class too and has extensive Champions League experience being and International striker. I expect Hull to be fighting for the title. The only worry I have is that Steve Bruce may come under pressure if he any sort of form wobble during the season. Hull’s debt is so great they cannot afford to be out of the top flight. Steve Bruce is well liked by his players, he is a traditional hands on managers and his sides don’t tend to surprise you.
Prediction: 1st in Championship.
Ipswich: Last season finish 6st with 78 points. 2014 income £13m – Payout – Wages £15m Debt £82m. Major deals in: Pitman, Varney,Connelly, Fraser and Maitland-Niles – Major deals out: Mings Ipswich had a great summer bringing in £8m for fullback Mings and key for me was the re-signing of Forward Daryl Murphy. They have made some solid signings too and with no one else leaving should be capable of maintaining a promotion push. Coach Mick McCarthy is a no nonsense old school manager and he seems an ideal fit for Ipswich. They have a decent squad and I expect them to be in the top 6 at least.
Prediction: 4th in Championship.
Leeds: Last season 15th with 56 points. 2014 Income £28m – Payout – Wages £20m Debt £15m. Major deals in: Adeyemi, Bamba, Erwin, Turnbull and Wood. – Major deals out: Adryan, Tonge, Austin, Taylor and White. Leeds seem to be going through a comedy of errors off pitch with the owners messing about with the once great club. Massimo Cellini has brought some Italian craziness with him as he has gone through 7 managers already in his short tenure. They have moved some good players in though to supplement an already decent squad. With a good manager in Uwe Rosler they have a good alround set up. I just fear it will all go to the wall with the trigger happy owner.
Prediction: 20th in Championship.
Middlesbrough: Last season finish 4th with 85 points. 2014 income £14m – Payout – Wages £20m Debt £75.9m. Major ins: Baptiste, Stuani and Fabbrini, Downing and Kalas. Major outs: Ledesma, Whitehead and Williams. As I type this Middlesbrough have tabled a £12m big for Blackburn striker Jordan Rhodes. The Scottish striker is a goal machine and with 146 goals in 258 games has a tremendous record. His arrival at Boro could propel them back to the Premier League. They have already moved to add real quality (for this level anyway) in Downing and Fabbrini. They had an excellent season last year and should improve for sure. With Rhodes they will be automatic promotion challengers for sure. They have an excellent coach in Aitor Karanka, the ex- Madrid man is a very organised and defensive coach but his Boro team were a very solid unit last term.
Prediction: 2nd in Championship.
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