The appointment of manager and dance innovator Michael Duff (D/DM R) from Barnsley is very Championship and should go down a treat on Wind Street.ġ4) Stoke City Cold, wet, windy nights. Photograph: Kurt Desplenter/Belga/AFP/Getty Imagesġ3) Swansea City Too good for League One, not good enough for the Premier League. No team with a managerial back catalogue of Warnock, Dave Jones, Neil Harris, Mick McCarthy can be relegated from this list, so a comfortable mid-table berth it is. Instantly forgettable these days, that doesn’t mean they won’t hold you to a goalless draw, which is a very Championship trait.ġ2) Cardiff City Apart from two single seasons in the Premier League, Cardiff have been Championship perennials since the name change from Division One. The Championship is all about being aspirational.ġ1) Preston North End Mid-table specialists, Preston have not finished higher than seventh and lower than 14th since promotion to the Championship in 2015. Hull creep into the top 10 on account of the city recently being named as the UK City of Culture. And that’s not even mentioning the departed Ben Brereton Díaz.ĩ) Bristol City If someone can get Nigel Pearson talking about ostriches again, the Robins should make a late run for the top six.ġ0) Hull City Congratulations if you can name a single Hull player. Rovers’ excellent use of the loan system (a key part of second-tier transfer dealings) – Harvey Elliott, Adam Armstrong, Harrison Reed and Tosin Adarabioyo have all arrived from Premier League clubs in recent years – sees them comfortably in the top half here. If they can bring just half of the League One playoff vibes into this campaign, they will challenge for the top six.Ĩ) Blackburn Rovers Failing to build on last season’s promising campaign and falling back into competitive mediocrity would be textbook Championship. An injection of pure EFL energy in the form of Gareth Ainsworth saw QPR safe last season, and sees them consolidate their Championship-ness here.ħ) Sheffield Wednesday The Owls haven’t been in the Championship for a couple of seasons, but the departure of manager Darren Moore sees them crash back in the second tier with a bang. The presence of condiments, Delia and the East Anglian derby’s welcome return – aka El Tráctico, aka the Old Farm – means a strong showing for the Canaries here.Ħ) Queens Park Rangers Tucked in the White City estate, Loftus Road is a Proper Football Stadium, complete with pillars restricting your view, a postage stamp for a technical area and Kevin Gallen in the hospitality suites. Any club that can count Elton John and Harry the Hornet as club legends deserves a playoff berth.ĥ) Norwich They may have flickered between the Premier League and the Championship, but Norwich certainly feel more at home in the latter. Valérien Ismaël is the club’s 18th manager in 13 years. Possibly the most chaotic club in English football, so always going to challenge, but Watford’s recent success in the Premier League sees them finish just outside the automatic places here. And that is what the Championship is all about.Ĥ) Watford The first of the hallowed ‘yo-yo’ trio – also made up of Norwich and West Brom. The Den is pure Championship, absolute chaos from the moment you get off the train at South Bermondsey. 3) Millwall The Lions have just about everything it takes to be Championship legends.
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