With the Scottish football season already in full swing and the European Cup competitions underway, it is time for the lower football leagues in England to commence this coming weekend.
In what is likely to be one of the tightest championships in recent memory there are a number of teams that will fancy their chances of gaining promotion to the richest league in world football.
The three teams coming down from the Premier League, with their substantial spending power due to the ‘parachute’ payments following relegation, are often cast as pre-season favourites, although teams rarely meet these high expectations.
This year all three have successful and charismatic managers. Birmingham’s manager, Chris Hughton, is no stranger to controversy and success, having won promotion with Newcastle when many were predicting the club’s demise. One wonders, however, whether even he can overcome the constraints placed on him by the Hong Kong courts that have frozen the assets of Birmingham’s current owner, Carson Yeung, forcing the sale of most of the previous squad.
The more favoured teams will be West Ham under newly-appointed Big Sam Allardyce and Blackpool under Ian Holloway.
West Ham are spending their parachute payments on player’s wages having retained the majority of a squad that many believe would not have been relegated with Allardyce at the helm. If they retain last season’s Premiership Player of the Year, Scott Parker, who will combine with former Newcastle captain, Kevin Nolan, they will have the strongest midfield and one that would be the envy of many in the higher division.
While Blackpool have lost their creative maestros, Charlie Adam and David Vaughan, along with star forward DJ Campbell, they have replaced them with some more aggressive players, with Barry Ferguson the most notable. Holloway has also carved a reputation for creating teams that work hard for each other while creating numerous opportunities.
The same can also be said of a couple of the newly promoted teams. I’m personally looking forward to watching how Brighton succeed. They carved open the First Division defences seemingly at will last season and they will be hoping that their Uruguayan coach, Gus Poyet, can find some of the sparkle displayed by his national team, having just won the Copa America.
Poyet’s team will be playing for the first time in their long-awaited new Amex Stadium. Having also recruited one of the hottest strikers in the summer, Craig Mackail-Smith, who spurned several offers from Premiership clubs, expectations are high, resulting in season ticket sales almost tripling.
The other promoted South-coast club, Southampton, share attacking intent. In Alex Chamberlain (frequently linked with a move to Arsenal), Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert they will create plenty of chances. However, it remains to be seen whether or not they can solidify a defence that can be prone to expensive lapses in concentration.
Of the teams that are experiencing the Championship for another season one should look no further than Leicester City. The high-profile appointment of former England manager, Sven GoranErikkson, was merely a precursor to the summer transfer window where spending has surpassed that of many Premier league clubs.
Owner of the duty free stores in Thailand, Vichai Raksriaksorn has invested heavily in a whole new defence including goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel and experienced central defenders Matt Mills and Sean St. Ledger for a combined £7m. While Erikkson succeeded in rescuing Leicester from the relegation zone to flirt with the play-offs, this dramatic attempt to buy promotion may depend on his ability to mould a squad of new players into a team.
Another East Midland team having added quality are neighbours, Derby County, who succeeded in luring Nathan Tyson from arch-rivals Nottingham Forest, while also recruiting Frankie Fielding and Jason Shackell.
While Forest finished last season as the highest placed of the three, they have lost nine players over the summer and there is already discontent among their faithful followers, despite the appointment of another former England manager and Erikkson side-kick, Steve Maclaren. While he has succeeded in attracting former players from his Middlesborough tenure in Jonathan Greening and George Boateng, their squad looks shorter on quality than it did last year.
Cardiff, with a new-look strikeforce of Rob Earnshaw and Kenny Miller, and Ipswich, who have added Lee Bowyer, David Stockdale and Michael Chopra, also look like strong challengers. Both will also be well motivated with their respective noisy neighbours, namely Norwich and Swansea, having secured promotion to the top flight last season.
My personal favourites for promotion are West Ham and Leicester City who combine quality squads with strength in-depth with tactically astute and successful managers. Peterborough and Doncaster look like teams that will have to work hard to avoid relegation.
For excitement in the lower divisions, look out for Swindon Town who have appointed flamboyant Italian, Paulo Di Canio, as manager. Appointed two months ago he has recruited 12 new multi-cultural players including four from Italy and three from Africa. He is planning to produce a team in his own image, playing ‘attractive football with passion and desire’.
