The Really really really late season preview
(not so) Mystic Matt Shaw, Founder.
Twitter: @TTCMatt
THE REALLY REALLY LATE PREVIEW SHOW
In 1993 a young lady called Michaela Strachan with her 80’s styled crimped bangs burst onto our TV scenes with a show called The Really Wild Show. Now, 29 years later a bloke with the exact same hair cut brings you The Really Really REALLY Late Preview Show! Tenuous I know.
Hello!! And welcome to the And He Takes That Chance season preview! It’s be…. Sorry, what? … Yeah, I know the season has started. Ok, it’s be… Yes, I know we’ve played 5 games!(it’s actually 8 now Matt cos you’ve pissed about with this for another 2 weeks since the start) It’s late? You’re disappointed? Well, yes, it is, but you know how slack I am with writing, so if you expected a full, glossy Sporting Life type preview in time for the Burnley game then that’s on you not me 😉.
Ok, without further ado let’s go!
It’s been a tumultuous summer but as you’ve already pointed out, this article is later than a Jonathan Hogg tackle on Harry Arter and Town have already played 8 games so there’s no need to go over all of that.
What we’ve seen in the opening rounds of The Championship is that predictability is clean out of the window and this promises to be one of the most open Championship seasons for many a year! I say this because I look at all 3 relegated sides and can pick more holes in them than I could with their compatriots of years gone by. Burnley and Watford have gone for an inexperienced head coach, key players leave (and come in) in droves and things just felt a little stale at Norwich with a small percentage of fans clambering for Dean Smith’s removal after just 2 games. A few wins later and that has dissipated, the fickleness of us football fans, eh? Speaking of which, 6 defeats in his opening 8 games have seen the heat turned up on our own Danny Schofield. Doing a podcast when we’re losing games isn’t always the most fun but the fun sponge that is podcasting absorbs everything joyful when a cult hero isn’t getting results. I’ve found it particularly tough to have to be critical of a head coach who gave us so much over a 10 year period as a player. Danny Schofield is a decent, hardworking and honest man, I hope that brighter things lay ahead and we can get back to being more jovial as Town climb the league!
So, as your attention wanders already let it go back to this article. We launched our prediction game and we’ve had 40 entries which has taken a little while to collate, hence this article is tardy. So now I’ve got the excuses out of the way roll on the sorry excuses of our predictions!
1st: Norwich City
FFS Matt, you give it all that spiel above, had ALL summer to think about it and you’ve gone for the lazy option of Norwich!
Yeah, I know… I’m not overly convinced myself but I called it before the season started and it’d be cheating to change that now. In truth I couldn’t split Norwich or Watford but having spent a good few months in a Championship WhatsApp group with Mike who runs the Watford podcast From The Rookery End I’m less inclined to go with them now due to his negativity.
So why Norwich?
Well, it’s an easy pick because they always seem to get promoted from The Championship.
Oh, you want more? Ok, they tick a lot of boxes as well as wearing the been there, done that, bought the t-shirt…. T-shirt.
Experienced but modern Championship manager in Dean Smith who has previously won promotion from this level? ✅
Solid centre backs for this level who can keep clean sheets in Grant Hanley and Ben Gibson? ✅
Experienced keeper in Tim Krul and a good backup in Angus Gunn? ✅
Fairly decent depth to call upon if injuries bite? ✅
Decent creativity with Cantwell, Aarons, Rashica, Sinani and Hernandez? ✅
Goal scorers in Teemu Pukki and Josh Sargent who could both score 20+ with a good run in the side? ✅
Young players like Liam Gibbs pushing the first team players? ✅
Whilst perhaps it’s felt some complacency has crept into the squad at Norwich over the past 12 months, they still have room to manoeuvre in the transfer market come the winter window as they have only brought in two permanent signings so far. That lack of rotation in the squad could help or hinder the Canaries but ex Town Head of Football Operations Stuart Webber is a ruthless operator and any players not up for a return to the top level will find themselves replaced quicker than being pushed out of the backdoor when you interview for another club behind your owners back…
Podcaster Picks, Norwich City:
Tom Bradshaw - 13th
Steven Chicken - 5th
Oli Fisher - 2nd
Brady Frost - 2nd
Jonny Gillespie - 3rd
Matt Glennon - 3rd
David Hartrick - 3rd
Danny Kirrane - 7th
Richard Kosmala - 5th
Dan ‘Pozza’ Porritt - 1st
Phil Senior - 3rd (playoff winner)
2nd: Sheffield Utd
Strikers will dictate where Sheffield Utd finish this season. If we look at last season’s xG v League Position model The Blades should have finished 2nd. The reason they didn’t is because Bournemouth scored 11 more goals than them and Fulham 43. If we look at the table based on xG alone then Sheffield Utd should have come third but slightly under achieved. On that basis my argument centres around The Blades forward line. Within the squad there are previously proven marksmen in Oli McBurnie and Rhian Brewster (albeit a smaller sample) but for some reason it hasn’t clicked for them at Bramall Lane. At polar opposite ends of their careers, I’m not sure if Sheffield Utd can pin all of their goalscoring hopes on the 36-year-old veteran Billy Sharp or the England u19 international Daniel Jebbison but if Sheffield Utd can find a consistent goalscoring forward out of that quartet then the top two awaits. In their favour The Blades are very robust at the back, are entrenched in a longstanding functional system and have an outstanding engine room full of hard work and guile topped with some x factor in Norwegian international Sander Berge. Paul Heckingbottom has continued the good work of Chris Wilder and the once maligned former chest pleasurer has improved as a manager and tactician. Heckingbottom now has the ability to navigate Sheffield Utd on a long unbeaten run and when they hit their stride, they’ll be hard to knock out of it. One thing though Paul, get a striker firing over the season, and The Blades will be cutting their teeth in the top flight next season.
Podcaster Picks, Sheffield United:
Tom Bradshaw - 5th
Steven Chicken - 3rd
Oli Fisher - 3rd (playoff winner)
Brady Frost - 3rd
Jonny Gillespie - 2nd
Matt Glennon - 7th
David Hartrick - 7th
Danny Kirrane - 3rd (playoff winner)
Richard Kosmala - 7th
Dan ‘Pozza’ Porritt - 4th (playoff winner)
Phil Senior - 2nd
3rd: West Bromwich Albion (pO winner)
Ooft it’s gambling time! Do you know what, I’m not convinced about this pick either but there’s something about West Brom’s starting XI that I REALLY liked on paper during pre-season. The team has a lovely balance and shape to it, they have good defenders, attacking fullbacks, energetic midfielders, goal scorers in Grant and Dike and ingenuity in Swift, Wallace and Diangana. The main negative I found with WBA was Steve Bruce. You can’t fault Bruce’s record; the man has got 4 Championship promotions on his CV and ordinarily he’d be looked upon as a Warnock style cheat code of a manager who virtually guarantees you a top 6 finish. But what toll did the Newcastle and Villa jobs take on Bruce? Football can be a horrible workplace. You’re insulted, bullied, questioned and ridiculed daily and all in the public eye. Steve Bruce has had it as bad as anyone over the last few years. The way Bruce was treated by some sections of the Newcastle and Aston Villa support was absolutely shameful and it seemed to suck the life out of a once quiet yet smiling and engaging manager. Bruce to me appears to almost be a shell of his former self and it’s that (and the injury to Dike) which leaves me questioning my prediction. If the WBA job breathes new life and vigour into Bruce then I think it’ll be a great season for The Baggies but if we see a continuation of the decline Bruce initially brought when he took the job in February, then he will end up being replaced by someone with a bit more ‘boing’. Either way WBA’s squad is surely too good to not finish in the top 6.
Podcaster Picks, West Bromwich Albion:
Tom Bradshaw - 14th
Steven Chicken - 7th
Oli Fisher - 7th
Brady Frost - 7th
Jonny Gillespie - 7th
Matt Glennon - 4th
David Hartrick - 4th (playoff winner)
Danny Kirrane - 9th
Richard Kosmala - 3rd (playoff winner)
Dan ‘Pozza’ Porritt - 3rd
Phil Senior - 6th
4th: Middlesbrough
There’s a lot of reasons to fancy Middlesbrough to get promoted this season. Firstly, this isn’t a club lacking ambition – they may have sold two players for decent money in Spence and Tavernier but Steve Gibson will always see money reinvested to improve the squad and with possibly the finest manager in the division you have to fancy Boro’s chances. The missing pieces last season were strikers who could find the back of the net with any sort of regularity. Andrez Sporar was top of the strikers with 8 goals and that paucity from the front men saw Boro fall away from the promotion race in the death throes of the season. In Rodrigo Muniz they could possibly have solved that striking puzzle and with decent supply coming from Giles and Jones at wing back the Brazilian should have little to no excuse. If Muniz fails then Boro have also signed Marcus Forss and the 23 year old Fin also brings a goalscoring possibility to Teeside.
I’d also add in that if Boro haven’t quite clicked come January then Gibson won’t be shy in strengthening the squad should Boro be in the mix.
Podcaster Picks, Middlesbrough:
Tom Bradshaw - 3rd (playoff winner)
Steven Chicken - 1st
Oli Fisher - 5th
Brady Frost - 5th
Jonny Gillespie - 4th (playoff winner)
Matt Glennon - 12th
David Hartrick - 8th
Danny Kirrane - 1st
Richard Kosmala - 4th
Dan ‘Pozza’ Porritt - 5th
Phil Senior - 5th
5th: Watford
Sorry Mike from The Rookery End but I don’t buy the entire doom and gloom picture you’re painting!
Putting some financial shithousery aside with Udinese, Watford have focused more on sales than purchases and granted, they have sold a couple of key players. But in their favour, they have a pretty solid backline and should have enough depth to get themselves into the top 6, particularly if stars like Ismaila Sarr and Joao Pedro stay the course of the season. I suspect there will be a couple of wobbles over the course of the campaign with a relatively inexperienced manager in Rob Edwards but eventually I think that they’ll find consistency (if not several new managers) and give themselves a real chance of achieving a top 6 finish.
Podcaster Picks, Watford:
Tom Bradshaw - 4th
Steven Chicken - 2nd
Brady Frost - 4th
Oli Fisher - 1st
Jonny Gillespie - 1st
Matt Glennon - 2nd
David Hartrick - 1st
Danny Kirrane - 2nd
Richard Kosmala - 2nd
Dan ‘Pozza’ Porritt - 8th
Phil Senior - 4th
6th: Burnley
Look at those Burnley fans, loving life again upon relegation! Fears over debts and repayment loans seem to have gone away as they’ve managed to recoup a lot of money and then splurge back a reasonable chunk themselves. As exciting as over a dozen new players, a new promising head coach and a new brand of attacking, open and expansive football is, it is often a recipe for inconsistency and I just have this nagging feeling that at some stage they’ll go on a bad run and fall away from the pack before coming back strong towards the end.
Now I’ve said that, I fully expect them to romp to the title having won their last 20 on the bounce.
Podcaster Picks, Burnley:
Tom Bradshaw - 1st
Steven Chicken - 11th
Oli Fisher - 4th
Brady Frost - 1st
Jonny Gillespie - 6th
Matt Glennon - 1st
David Hartrick - 2nd
Danny Kirrane - 6th
Richard Kosmala - 1st
Dan ‘Pozza’ Porritt - 2nd
Phil Senior - 1st
7th: Hull City
I’m in a WhatsApp group with other Championship content creators and Ant the host of the Hull and Back podcast is as excited as my cat at lunch time (he f****** loves lunch). Ant is bouncing all over the shop about Hull City and the players that they’re bringing in. Admittedly, half of them sound like Football Manager regens but in and amongst them the likes of Oscar Estupinan, Jean Michel Seri and Ozan Tufan all look like excellent signings. It’ll more than likely take a while for it to all come together on a consistent basis and I’m still not sure whether the new owner at Hull has a clear plan or whether he’s on a vainglorious quest to impress his pals back in Turkey but either way there’ll be a lot of fun to be had at Hull this season and the ensuing ones. Will it end in glory or acrimonious failure? Time will tell over the coming seasons, but a strong first season should see Hull knocking on the door of the top 6 providing they sort their current injury woes.
Podcaster Picks, Hull City:
Tom Bradshaw - 19th
Steven Chicken - 19th
Oli Fisher - 11th
Brady Frost - 9th
Jonny Gillespie - 12th
Matt Glennon - 13th
David Hartrick - 19th
Danny Kirrane - 20th
Richard Kosmala - 11th
Dan ‘Pozza’ Porritt - 7th
Phil Senior - 13th
8th: Millwall
YOUUUU SLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAGSSSS. The last three seasons have seen Millwall finish in 8th, 11th and 9th as The Lions couldn’t quite convert upper mid table into top 6. I think that Millwall have got the right manager in Gary Rowett to progress and build upwards. There’s no thrills with the style of play but Millwall will always be in games due to their superb organisation and rigidity. On the downside they’ve lost star man Jed Wallace but Millwall have made some rather astute looking signings in Zian Flemming, Benik Afobe and George Honeyman which should see them lurking in the play off shadows ready to leapfrog any side that has a late season wobble. As it is, there might just be a lack of game changing quality to break into the top 6 unless Zian Flemming hits the ground running at a rapid rate but Millwall could be a decent outside shout for winning the playoffs. If they manage to get into the top 6, then the safe, secure and rigid style is well suited to an end of season knock out when tensions and pressure is high. Beware The Wall!
Podcaster Picks, Millwall:
Tom Bradshaw - 6th
Steven Chicken - 8th
Oli Fisher - 8th
Brady Frost - 6th
Jonny Gillespie - 15th
Matt Glennon - 21st
David Hartrick - 12th
Danny Kirrane - 5th
Richard Kosmala - 6th
Dan ‘Pozza’ Porritt - 9th
Phil Senior - 12th
9th: Luton Town
I tipped Luton as my dark horse last season which obviously makes me an expert on The Hatters! Nathan Jones of course is ‘Top of The Whops’ but in terms of squad personnel they’ve improved upon last season and look in good shape. But with increased expenditure comes increased expectation and whilst Jones and co were quite happy to slip under the radar last season it’s a different kettle of fish when all eyes are on you and I think the added pressure of expectation and Luton’s seemingly never-ending bad luck with injury will just see them fall just short.
Interestingly on our prediction game, Luton have the widest spread in terms of prediction. Tom Bradshaw has them in 2nd place whilst Andy Kaye has them rooted in 24th.
Podcaster Picks, Luton Town:
Tom Bradshaw - 2nd
Steven Chicken - 9th
Oli Fisher - 9th
Brady Frost - 8th
Jonny Gillespie - 8th
Matt Glennon - 10th
David Hartrick - 6th
Danny Kirrane - 4th
Richard Kosmala - 10th
Dan ‘Pozza’ Porritt - 11th
Phil Senior - 18th
10th: Blackburn ROvers
It’s easy to forget that from December to March last season that Blackburn Rovers were in the top 3 and pushing for automatic promotion. Injuries and a big one at that to Ben Brereton-Diaz derailed Rovers from a sustained push. There’s a new manager in Jon Dahl Tomasson and with a decent enough record behind him promises to be an upgrade on Tony Mowbray but Rovers have lost some key men. Rothwell, Nyambe and Lenihan are big misses but Blackburn have moved to plug the gaps and with a top-class academy producing players like Buckley, Dolan and Wharton then this could be a good transitional season as Blackburn push to the future.
Podcaster Picks, Blackburn Rovers:
Tom Bradshaw - 12th
Steven Chicken - 13th
Oli Fisher - 16th
Brady Frost - 17th
Jonny Gillespie - 11th
Matt Glennon - 6th
David Hartrick - 13th
Danny Kirrane - 12th
Richard Kosmala - 8th
Dan ‘Pozza’ Porritt - 13th
Phil Senior - 7th
11th: Bristol city
The Ostrich whisperer Nigel Pearson has got his feet under the table, trimmed the squad and it now looks quite nicely balanced. Bristol City have some really interesting young players who could really push through over the next few years; Rob Atkinson, Alex Scott and Antoine Semenyo should form the basis of a very impressive spine for years to come if The Robins can hold on to them. If Pearson and co build well from this position then I wouldn’t rule Bristol City out of a first top flight appearance since 1980 in the coming years because some good building blocks are in place at Ashton Gate.
Podcaster Picks, Bristol City:
Tom Bradshaw - 15th
Steven Chicken - 12th
Oli Fisher - 18th
Brady Frost - 19th
Jonny Gillespie - 18th
Matt Glennon - 18th
David Hartrick - 9th
Danny Kirrane - 18th
Richard Kosmala - 14th
Dan ‘Pozza’ Porritt - 20th
Phil Senior - 17th
12th: Swansea city
With Russell Martin finally getting Swansea going at the end of last season I was all set to go big on The Swans this season but two things put me off. Firstly, the two strikers in Martins and Piroe were wonderfully served by on loan Austrian attacking midfielder Hannes Wolf. Failing to bring Wolf back was a blow to the Swans fluidity and then losing instrumental lynchpin Flynn Downes sealed the deal for me. Downes whether playing at the back or deep in midfield set everything in motion for Swansea. He was the metronomic passer and the fulcrum of that Swans team – a huge loss. The signing of Harry Darling is a very good one but the loss of Downes in particular has left me feeling that Swansea have a little left to do to convert mid table to top 6.
Podcaster Picks, Swansea City:
Tom Bradshaw - 10th
Steven Chicken - 4th
Oli Fisher - 6th
Brady Frost - 11th
Jonny Gillespie - 5th
Matt Glennon - 15th
David Hartrick - 5th
Danny Kirrane - 10th
Richard Kosmala - 12th
Dan ‘Pozza’ Porritt - 10th
Phil Senior - 16th
13th: Stoke city
“The Catfish” as Brady Frost referred to them on our season preview. Every year people like me are seduced by sexy Stoke and their sexy new signings, their sexy new manager or the sexy size of the Bet365 bank account. Yet, Stoke never seriously threaten the top 6. As FFP bites it could have differing effects. Either Stoke stop trying to buy their way out of The Championship and now start to focus on good coaching and organisation whilst players are bedded in properly or years of hasty recruitment comes back to bite them. I think they’ll eventually sort themselves out but it could be another season of transition but surely, SURELY one year the catfish turns out to be the girl or boy in the pictures as promised… Let’s see who has and hasn’t done a reverse lookup on the Bet365 cashapp as we go to our predictions…
Podcaster Picks, Stoke City:
Tom Bradshaw - 9th
Steven Chicken - 15th
Oli Fisher - 13th
Brady Frost - 13th
Jonny Gillespie - 14th
Matt Glennon - 5th (Playoff winners)
David Hartrick - 16th
Danny Kirrane - 14th
Richard Kosmala - 9th
Dan ‘Pozza’ Porritt - 6th
Phil Senior - 11th
14th: Huddersfield town
I immediately regret this. All of my positional picks were done on or prior to the 20th of July and even though it’s taken so long to put this article together, I can’t cheat by changing it. If I could go again now then I’d have us no higher than 20th as things stand.
Since the final whistle went at Wembley it feels very much like when we were going through our post Premier League relegation hangover where the club felt like it was desperate to regress to their place of comfort in and around 18th place in The Championship. Recruitment doesn’t seem bad individually but when you put it altogether I struggle to see the joined-up thinking when you look at the cohesion of the starting 11 and then you still have to ask whether we have addressed what was needed. There are glaring holes in areas of the side such as central midfield which leaves me questioning whether we are trying to build a team to progress up the league or are we just buying conveniently available players of promise to fatten up and sell on for profit? I don’t know what we’re really trying to achieve at the moment and this whole muddle of nothingness doesn’t leave me feeling too enthused or optimistic for the season ahead. 50% of the managerial team departed on July 7th and along with-it Town have suffered from ‘brain drain’. A tactically astute head coach in Corberan and a very knowledgeable sports science specialist in Alarcon have gone but been replaced with a coach who specialises in the promoting of youth players into the first team – which was what Danny Schofield’s previous role was.
Tactically Town have been found more than wanting so far this season, so will that area be addressed? Anyway enough from me else I’ll be writing 10,000 words on it, Huddersfield Town are a touchy subject at the moment! :-)
Podcaster Picks, Huddersfield Town:
Tom Bradshaw - 11th
Steven Chicken - 6th
Oli Fisher - 15th
Brady Frost - 12th
Jonny Gillespie - 17th
Matt Glennon - 11th
David Hartrick - 10th
Danny Kirrane - 8th
Richard Kosmala - 13th
Dan ‘Pozza’ Porritt - 15th
Phil Senior - 14th
15th: QPR
Break a mirror, roll the dice. Run with scissors through a chip-pan firefight. Go into business with a grizzly bear. But just don't sit down 'cause of Ilias Chair. Arctic Monkeys lyrics aside, QPR have a couple of players capable of tearing any side apart when on song in Chair and Chris Willock. Both though have suffered varying injuries over the last year or so and QPR look a much poorer team when they’re not in it. If they manage to get 40 games each out of those two players then QPR could go close, but realistically I suspect they’ll fall away when the games start to pile up. Throw into the mix an unknown quantity of a head coach and I think inconsistency will be the only constant throughout the campaign.
Podcaster Picks, QPR:
Tom Bradshaw - 17th
Steven Chicken - 14th
Oli Fisher - 10th
Brady Frost - 14th
Jonny Gillespie - 10th
Matt Glennon - 16th
David Hartrick - 11th
Danny Kirrane - 15th
Richard Kosmala - 16th
Dan ‘Pozza’ Porritt - 12th
Phil Senior - 8th
16th: Sunderland
Haway! Sunderland is many people’s tip for a surprise play-off run but I’m not so sure. They’ve signed better than the other promoted sides granted, but after four seasons in League 1 there’s still work to do. They do though have the best player nickname in football for Ross “The Loch Ness Drogba” Stewart (even though he’s from nowhere near Loch Ness) and the signings of Dan Ballard and Ellis Simms are impressive (I’m particularly salty about Simms as I wanted him to be the long-term successor to Rhodes and Ward at Huddersfield). A good start for The Mackems before tapering away as the lack of quality throughout the squad becomes apparent is my prediction, and the dip in form is always amplified when you play in front of 40,000 fans who live every minute of their lives as a Sunderland fan. But 16th would genuinely represent a decent and acceptable start for a newly promoted side and Sunderland can plan an upward trajectory from there and I’m pretty sure they’ll start the long crawl back to the top flight starting now.
Podcaster Picks, Sunderland:
Tom Bradshaw - 21st
Steven Chicken - 10th
Oli Fisher - 21st
Brady Frost - 16th
Jonny Gillespie - 9th
Matt Glennon - 9th
David Hartrick - 18th
Danny Kirrane - 11th
Richard Kosmala - 17th
Dan ‘Pozza’ Porritt - 18th
Phil Senior - 19th
17th: Preston North End
I had absolutely no idea where to place Preston so I guess they ended up in 17th on account of my dithering. At the time of writing Preston are struggling to score goals (unless they’re slapping us silly that is) but keeping Emil Riis Jakobsen has been a huge bonus. I like Ryan Lowe; I think he’s a good up and coming manager and a bit of a coup for Preston who are solid at the back so far. If Preston can add a few goals to their very solid backline then a 17th place prediction could look really silly come May. It probably looks really silly now in fairness….
Podcaster Picks, Preston:
Tom Bradshaw - 8th
Steven Chicken - 17th
Oli Fisher - 17th
Brady Frost - 18th
Jonny Gillespie - 16th
Matt Glennon - 14th
David Hartrick - 17th
Danny Kirrane - 17th
Richard Kosmala - 18th
Dan ‘Pozza’ Porritt - 17th
Phil Senior - 9th
18th: Coventry cITY
This is one of those where you hope the opposition fans don’t read it… But here goes.
I felt that Coventry overachieved a little bit at times last season (I realise we did too for any Cov fans that ARE reading) and Mark Robins may need to evolve as people get used to the system that he deployed. The main reason I have them as low as 18th though is that by this point, I thought Coventry would have had to say a sad farewell to Gyokeres, O’Hare and Hamer but keeping them could show this prediction up to be as bad as last season when I tipped them to hover around the final relegation spot – nothing personal Coventry fans, honest!!
Essentially, I think The Sky Blues will be fine this season and once they get O’Hare and co back and on form then they should make me look a pillock… Again.
Podcaster Picks, Coventry City:
Tom Bradshaw - 7th
Steven Chicken - 16th
Oli Fisher - 14th
Brady Frost - 10th
Jonny Gillespie - 13th
Matt Glennon - 8th
David Hartrick - 14th
Danny Kirrane - 13th
Richard Kosmala - 19th
Dan ‘Pozza’ Porritt - 14th
Phil Senior - 20th
19th: Cardiff cITY
Here’s another one of those where you hope the opposition fans don’t read it…
I’ll probably take some heat for this but Cardiff weren’t particularly impressive last season and despite a mini renaissance under Steve Morison they fell away a little bit at the end with 1 win in 6. I’ve struggled to take to Morison, he’s at times prickly and doesn’t seem to handle the media with much control on the odd occasion I’ve caught his press conferences, one only hopes that he has better control of the squad. Which leads me to their signings of which there were a lot! But in truth, not many made me sit up and take notice and think that Cardiff will be a reinvigorated force this coming season. Same again, chaps?
Podcaster Picks, Cardiff City:
Tom Bradshaw - 16th
Steven Chicken - 18th
Oli Fisher - 12th
Brady Frost - 15th
Jonny Gillespie - 20th
Matt Glennon - 20th
David Hartrick - 15th
Danny Kirrane - 16th
Richard Kosmala - 15th
Dan ‘Pozza’ Porritt - 16th
Phil Senior - 15th
20th: Wigan AThletic
I’ll be honest and say that this is the team that I know the least about in the league. I don’t really know the players, manager or owners particularly well and our pre-season predictions incurred the wroth of an angry pie man in the comments. Wigan won League 1 last season so do need to be respected but haven’t particularly pushed on much in terms of recruiting so I’ll play safe and say 20th.
The pies are good though.
Podcaster Picks, Wigan Athletic:
Tom Bradshaw - 24th
Steven Chicken - 20th
Oli Fisher - 19th
Brady Frost - 22nd
Jonny Gillespie - 19th
Matt Glennon - 19th
David Hartrick - 24th
Danny Kirrane - 21st
Richard Kosmala - 21st
Dan ‘Pozza’ Porritt - 21st
Phil Senior - 23rd
21st: Rotherham Utd
As you may have heard me gush on many occasions on the podcast, I absolutely love the Rotherham midfield, I genuinely think the Millers engine room is top half worthy. The issue they’ll have is getting enough goals out of the attackers but with a midfield like that and a pretty solid looking backline I think they should just about stay up.
With three promotions from League 1, a Football League Trophy win under his belt and a penchant in developing young footballers; Paul Warne must finally be getting some admiring glances. Rotherham’s lack of goals MAY cost them a place in The Championship, losing their head coach and talisman in Warne would surely be the biggest threat to their Championship lives and surely some may start to look.
Podcaster Picks, Rotherham Utd:
Tom Bradshaw - 22nd
Steven Chicken - 23rd
Oli Fisher - 22nd
Brady Frost - 21st
Jonny Gillespie - 24th
Matt Glennon - 23rd
David Hartrick - 21st
Danny Kirrane - 23rd
Richard Kosmala - 23rd
Dan ‘Pozza’ Porritt - 24th
Phil Senior - 24th
22nd: Birmingham City
The Leaky Blinders! Shame that that tweet got deleted.
From the outside looking in things just seem to be rotting from the inside out at Birmingham City. There does seem to be good news with a white knight on the horizon with the new owners, but the takeover is dragging its heels. If they can’t get the takeover done before the end of the January window then I think Birmingham may visit the 3rd tier for the first time since 1995. Even if they do, there’s still a lot to do between now and the end of the season but I think Maxi Lopez and Paul Richardson will definitely give The Blues a boost should they be able to take over the club. Richardson has spoken with great sense about what needs to be done at St Andrews but the bulk of the cash may have to go on making sure people can see the team with 2.5m needed for stadium repairs.
Podcaster Picks, Birmingham City:
Tom Bradshaw - 20th
Steven Chicken - 24th
Oli Fisher - 23rd
Brady Frost - 23rd
Jonny Gillespie - 22nd
Matt Glennon - 17th
David Hartrick - 22nd
Danny Kirrane - 22nd
Richard Kosmala - 20th
Dan ‘Pozza’ Porritt - 23rd
Phil Senior - 10th
23rd: Blackpool
Sorry to any Blackpool fans that read this but from looking at your side on paper and factoring the managerial switch from Critchley to Appleton in, I just don’t really fancy Blackpool. Since the predictions they’ve brought in a couple of good young loans but I feel that they might need a bit more than that when the season gets into the relentless stages.
Blackpool have proved me wrong before, I predicted doom last season as well so I’m sure no one there will care what I think :-D
Podcaster Picks, Blackpool:
Tom Bradshaw - 18th
Steven Chicken - 21st
Oli Fisher - 20th
Brady Frost - 20th
Jonny Gillespie - 23rd
Matt Glennon - 22nd
David Hartrick - 20th
Danny Kirrane - 19th
Richard Kosmala - 22nd
Dan ‘Pozza’ Porritt - 19th
Phil Senior - 21st
24th: Reading
I immediately regret this.
I said 24th on the 20th of July and I have to stick with it. Reading barely had a side to put out and Paul Ince was in charge of it after a really uninspiring run late on last season. As soon as I flapped my mouth, Reading started to sign pretty well for their circumstances and are playing with freedom and winning games. As it stands, this prediction looks like it’ll come back to bite me and I’ll look like a silly pillock (You already do I can see you mouthing. Thanks). I do still think Reading will drop off from this good start and I do think they’ll get sucked down the table, but into 24th? Well, we’ll see I guess but if I could have my say again, I would probably say not.
Podcaster Picks, Reading:
Tom Bradshaw - 23rd
Steven Chicken - 22nd
Oli Fisher - 24th
Brady Frost - 24th
Jonny Gillespie - 21st
Matt Glennon - 24th
David Hartrick - 23rd
Danny Kirrane - 24th
Richard Kosmala - 24th
Dan ‘Pozza’ Porritt - 22nd
Phil Senior - 22nd
Right! That’s how us lot think it’ll play out but how does everyone else playing the game think it’ll go? Let’s have a goose!
Let’s talk percentages!
Over half of you think Norwich and Watford will get promoted.
Most predicted to win the league:
Norwich 36.6%
Watford 22%
Burnley 19.5%
Middlesbrough 7.3%
Huddersfield 4.9%
Sheffield Utd 4.9%
Most predicted to be promoted:
Norwich City 58.5%
Watford 56%
Sheffield Utd 46.3%
Burnley 39%
Middlesbrough 31.7%
West Bromwich Albion 31.7%
Huddersfield Town 7.3%
Swansea City 7.3%
Blackburn Rovers 4.9%
Coventry City 2.4%
Hull City 2.4%
Luton Town 2.4%
Stoke City 2.4%
Most predicted to be relegated:
Reading 73.1%
Birmingham City 63.4%
Rotherham Utd 63.4%
Wigan Athletic 46.3%
Blackpool 29.2%
Bristol City 9.8%
Burnley 2.4%
Luton Town 2.4%
Middlesbrough 2.4%
The end! Thanks to everyone who has thrown their hat in the ring, prizes will be announced in due course.
