3/1 To Win
With the 2017/18 Sky Bet Championship fixtures revealed this morning, we’ve taken a look at the newcomers to English football’s second tier ahead of the new campaign.
Heading down from the Premier League are Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Hull City, whilst stepping up from League 1 are Sheffield United, Bolton Wanderers and Millwall.
Sunderland
Sunderland are back in the Championship for the first time in ten years after finishing bottom of the Premier League last term, tasting defeat on 26 occasions from their 38 matches played. After pulling off a ‘great escape’ act in 2015/16, Sam Allardyce left the Stadium of Light to begin his short-lived reign as England boss last summer and David Moyes was swiftly named as his replacement. However, the former Everton and Manchester United boss was unable to help them retain their top flight status once again in what was a disappointing campaign. Moyes resigned shortly after the season ended and a successor is still to be appointed. Last week, the club issued a statement to say that they are in talks about a potential takeover and ‘we have been unable to give the assurances any potential candidate would need regarding the plans a new owner could have for the manager’s position. The recruitment process, whilst still very much active, cannot therefore be concluded imminently.’ Whoever does take over in the North East will have to move quickly to get the Black Cats set for the season as they look to mount a promotion challenge. Despite a season to forget, Sunderland’s squad still contains the likes of Lee Cattermole, Jack Rodwell, Seb Larsson, Paddy McNair and Fabio Borini and - despite leading marksman Jermain Defoe being tipped to depart - they’ll hope to firmly be in the mix.
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough secured promotion to the Premier League via the automatic route at the end of the 2015/16 season, but were unable to retain their place at the top table last term with an immediate return to the Championship. Head Coach Aitor Karanka departed in mid-March and was replaced by Assistant Head Coach Steve Agnew for the rest of the season, with the team three points away from safety at the time, but he was unable to lift them away from danger. Chairman Steve Gibson, having had time to digest the season as a whole, appointed former Leeds United boss Garry Monk as their new manager earlier this month and Boro’s target is clear, to be in the hunt for promotion. With the likes of the in-demand Ben Gibson, former Derby loanee Patrick Bamford, midfielder Adam Clayton and powerful frontman Rudy Gestede to call upon, Monk has inherited a squad with plenty of talent and one which many feel will stand a good chance of making a quickfire return to the top flight. One area Monk will be looking to see an improvement in is attack, after Boro finished the lowest goalscorers in the Premier League last season with 27 goals from 38 matches played.
Hull City
The Tigers, like Middlesbrough, were promoted to the Premier League at the end of the 2015/16 season – although they had to go through the play-off route to achieve a quickfire return to the top flight. Despite a strong start to last season under Mike Phelan, stepping in after Steve Bruce resigned during pre-season, Hull drifted towards relegation danger and in January 2017 former Sporting Lisbon and Olympiacos boss Marco Silva took charge. Despite reviving their fortunes and taking them out of the bottom three for a brief period, they couldn’t keep momentum on their side and were ultimately relegated. Silva has since departed and taken over at Watford to remain in the Premier League, with Hull appointing former Russia boss Leonid Slutsky as their new manager. After losing Curtis Davies to Derby and Harry Maguire to Leicester City, Slutsky will no doubt be looking to bolster his backline but, with the likes of Andrew Robertson, Tom Huddlestone, Ahmed Elmohamady, David Meyler and Sam Clucas to call upon – on top of Moses Odebajo and Ryan Mason after long lay-offs – the Tigers have the foundations of a side who will have strong ambitions to be in the promotion shake-up.
Sheffield United
Chris Wilder’s Sheffield United romped to the League 1 title last term and racked up an impressive 100 points after winning 30 of their 46 league fixtures. Wilder, appointed last summer after guiding Northampton Town to promotion from League 2, quickly sought about turning the Blades’ fortunes around after a handful of near misses in their quest to return to the Championship. He quickly found a formula and a way of playing and, despite a slow start, once United were in their stride there was no stopping them – especially with the passionate Bramall Lane crowd right behind them. Captain and Blades fan Billy Sharp bagged 30 goals up front but, on top of being a side with goals to their game from right across the pitch, they proved to be more than capable when it came to shutting teams out and were, easily, the stand-out side in League 1 last term. Wilder has wasted little time in adding to his squad with Nathan Thomas, Ched Evans, Enda Stevens and George Baldock all joining, with the focus set on building on last season’s good work this time around.
Bolton Wanderers
Twelve months ago, Bolton had been relegated to League 1 off the back of a disappointing 2015/16 season. A year on, the outlook is far brighter after the Trotters returned to the Championship at the first attempt last term. Phil Parkinson took over the reins at the Macron Stadium after leaving Bradford City and, despite a few off-field issues to contend with, he steadied the ship and guided them to second place in the table in what was their first season in the third tier since 1993. A couple of smart signings and a tight-knit squad with a real team spirit proved to be key, with the Trotters proving to be a consistent promotion challenger throughout the campaign. Their strong mentality came to the fore when they were under pressure from Fleetwood Town in the battle for second spot as the games ticked away, keeping their nerve to secure two wins from their final two games to see them over the line. Thenext step, clearly, will be to stay in the Championship and the permanent signings of Adam Le Fondre and Andrew Taylor after successful loan spells, as well as Bristol City’s right-back Mark Little, are promising steps in the right direction.
Millwall
Millwall made up for their play-off heartbreak at the end of the 2015/16 season with promotion, again via the play-off route, at the end of last season. A late 1-0 victory over Bradford City, secured by cult-hero Steve Morison, saw them over the line in the play-off final at Wembley Stadium. Neil Harris, who took over as manager in 2015, is highly regarded by the Millwall faithful and, as well as two top six finishes in League 1 during his two full seasons as a manager to date, he took them to the Emirates FA Cup Quarter Finals last season and defeated three Premier League teams along the way. Two years on from their relegation from the Championship, there’s an air of optimum around The Den about the future and how they can tackle the season ahead. Harris has also been busy adding to his squad with the signings of James Meredith from Bradford City and Tom Elliott from AFC Wimbledon and more are set to follow as they prepare for their Championship return.
