nPower Championship Preview

As a celebration for my half century of blog posts on the site, I'm going to go through my predictions for the upcoming season... Who will be celebrating promotion come May and what club's players will be sitting on the field in tears come the end of the season? Of course, the play offs will also have to come into consideration so here goes!...

As the Premier League is a little predictable and you've probably seen plenty of the predictions for that league, I'll begin with a division that I believe is the best in England... The Championship!

The Contenders?

The Championship is a wide open division where you always get the odd surprise or two as both Southampton and Reading showed last season... In no particular order...

Birmingham City

The Blues were expected to be in the automatic promotion spots last season under the guidance of Chris Hughton but it didn't really happen for them.  During the Summer, Hughton has departed St Andrews and been replaced by former Huddersfield Town manager Lee Clark. Clark set to work at adding to an already very good squad and has added the experienced trio of Hayden Mullins, Peter Lovenkrands and Darren Ambrose to his ranks - The latter an absolute bargain in my eyes at a reported fee of £250,000. The emergence of Team GB goalkeeper Jack Butland has also been a plus for the Midlands' club and automatic promotion will be the aim. Up front, the firepower options of Marlon King, Nikola Zigic and Adam Rooney should give them a chance especially with the service that Ambrose, Nathan Redmond, Chris Burke and Wade Elliot will provide.

Ambrose (Blue) is proven in the Championship

Blackpool

It was surprising to see Ian Holloway's men in the play-offs last year. Many thought they punched above their weight when they made it into the Premier League two seasons back and believed it would be a period to rebuild for a season before going again. The club have a decent starting XI but do seem to be a little light in quality on the bench. Thomas Ince and Matt Phillips were two bright sparks for the Seasiders last campaign and they will have to be at their best if the Tangerines are to be successful. One poor move in my opinion was selling midfielder Keith Southern to Huddersfield - A great player who seems to go about his job without being noticed. Holloway picked up both Isaiah Osbourne and Scott Robertson from the SPL and time will tell if they can cement their places in the team. Up top, there isn't a lot of pace with Kevin Phillips still playing at the grand old age of  48  39 - Admittedly, he can score a goal but you do wonder whether he can fire them to where they want to be.

Ince had a great debut season at Blackpool

Huddersfield Town

I said at the start of this blog post that you always get the odd dark horse and for me, Huddersfield are this team!  I've been very impressed with their business so far and Simon Grayson is putting together a very accomplished team at the Galpharm Stadium. The highly rated Paul Dixon was signed on a free after his Dundee United contract expired with the former Scotland under 21 international joining the Terriers despite Premier League interest. Other signings include winger, Sean Scannell from Crystal Palace, Anthony Gerrard (Steven's cousin) joining from Cardiff City, midfielder Oliver Norwood arrived from Manchester United along with former Nottingham Forest defender Joel Lynch. Another player who joined was Adam Clayton, a regular in the Leeds United side and someone who has a bright future in the game. Up top of course, they could still have the goalscoring prowess of Jordan Rhodes. The Scotland international is hot property at the moment and should score his fair share. Norwich did it and so did Southampton, could Huddersfield be the third side in three seasons to go from League 1 to the Premier League in just two years?!

THE RHODE TO THE TOP: Jordan's goals could be key

Blackburn Rovers

Now we are onto Steve Kean's men and it's been quite a Summer up there! After suffering relegation to the Championship, a couple of the club's "star players" left for pastures new. Yakubu up sticks and went to China and Junior Hoilett went south to join QPR. Kean then decided to sign a couple of "ageing" players such as the evergreen Danny Murphy from Fulham and Nuno Gomes (I was surprised he was still playing to be honest!) from Braga. Also arriving for a stint at the Rovers Revolution were Leon Best and Dickson Etuhu - Both good signings although Best is out injured for  six months after damaging his anterior cruciate ligaments. Another new boy is Colin Kazim-Richards who signed after departing Galatasaray. I'm expecting to see Blackburn up there with Keano leading them to glory however, his case wasn't helped after the club's global advisor said he would be sacked if they lose three games on the trot - No pressure Steve!

NUNO GOMES: Was decent about 10 years back

Nottingham Forest

To be honest, a few months back, I would have been putting Forest down for relegation rather than mounting a challenge at the top of the league! However, after the takeover from the Al Hasawi family along with the dismissal of Steve Cotterill, the new board haven't been shy to splash the cash after appointing Sean O'Driscoll as the new boss last month. O'Driscoll quickly made his moves, capturing Danny Collins from Stoke City and instantly making him captain. Following in Collins' footsteps came Dan Harding, a left back from Southampton and Greg Halford from crisis club Portsmouth. The signings make up for the departures of high profile due Garath McCleary and Chris Gunter who both joined Reading. Also arriving at the City Ground were Simon Gillett from O'Driscoll's old side Doncaster Rovers and a familiar face as Adlene Guedioura signed a permanent deal; the former Wolves player had a spell on loan at the club last season. The new signings bring some hope to being back fighting at the top for Reds fans after a disappointing campaign under Cotterill's guidance.

GILLETT: The best Forest can get?

Leicester City
In truth, it was a disappointing season for Leicester last season. Despite many tipping them for promotion after Sven-Goran Eriksson snapped up a number of high profile players in his bid for success. After just 13 games though, Sven was replaced by former Foxes boss Nigel Pearson who managed to guide the club to a 9th place finish. This coming campaign will be one where Leicester will be aiming for promotion once again with Pearson splashing the cash to bring in the highly rated Jamie Vardy for a reported fee of £1m and ex- Norwich defender Zak Whitbread on a free transfer. Pearson brought in former Manchester United duo Matty James and Ritchie De Laet as well, with the latter replacing Lee Peltier who moved to Leeds. Also departing was Matt Mills who headed north to join Bolton Wanderers. It'll be a big season for Leicester and unlike the last campaign, they'll have to start well.

The fee paid for Vardy was a non-league record

The dark horse...

Leeds United

It's been a Summer of transition for Leeds United for the beginning of Neil Warnock's first full season as manager. Despite the departure of star Robert Snodgrass to Norwich City, Leeds haven't been afraid to spend money too with Warnock raiding crisis club Portsmouth for a quartet of their better players in Jason Pearce, Luke Varney, Jamie Ashdown and David Norris. Strengthening a shaky backline from last season was key and Warnock  brought in goalkeeper Paddy Kenny (Seems to follow Warnock wherever he goes!) from QPR, right back Lee Peltier from Leicester and legendary Norwich left back Adam Drury. In midfield, Paul Green arrived from Derby on a free and the Whites paid a fee to land Rudolph Austin from SK Brann. One move that urked the fans was seeing El-Hadji Diouf sign; Warnock labelled Diouf  "lower than a sewer rat" after the Senegalese hurled abuse at QPR forward Jamie Mackie whilst he was on the floor after suffering a broken leg. Warnock was QPR manager at the time. I wouldn't write Leeds off; Warnock knows what it takes to get out of the division and United look solid at the back and have firepower in the likes of Luciano Becchio and Ross McCormack up front.

Norris (L) and Varney (R) joined from Pompey

 And at the bottom...

Barnsley
Barnsley are one of those clubs that seem to struggle every year but end up surviving - A Wigan-type if you like. This season, however, I can see them finally being wrestled from a league they have been clinging onto for years now! They never had any real top class players in the first place but Jacob Butterfield's move to Norwich puts their survival hopes in doubt for sure and you never know what Mido will turn up - The one that has the ability to score a few or the one that is lazy and doesn't bother to try.  The signing of Martin Cranie is a good move by Keith Hill but for me, it will be another relegation for Cranie who was a Coventry City player last season. Barnsley fans, you're in for a tough season, sorry!

MIDO: A bit on the crazy side

Millwall
I saw first hand on Tuesday night that Millwall will be in for a struggle. Admittedly the Lions were without first choice goalkeeper David Forde and striker Andy Keogh who were both away on international duty with the Republic of Ireland but they were dominated by League 1 newboys Crawley Town for the majority of the game. Captain, Paul Robinson has been out injured for quite a while and defensively, the team were all over the place. Up front, they lack a clinical striker too; they were fortunate for a while last season to have Harry Kane on loan from Tottenham to score a few goals however, Kane's gone back to White Hart Lane and they seem to lack that killer instinct up front despite the best efforts of Darius Henderson. Boss, Kenny Jackett has brought in Danny Shittu to shore up the defence but it may not be enough.

GET YOUR JACKETT: Kenny could be in trouble

Watford
New owners, new manager and a number of new players at Watford but it's a bad move from them in my opinion. Sean Dyche worked wonders last season and led the Hornets to a creditable11th place. However, Dyche was sacked as the takeover of the club was completed and Gianfranco Zola was appointed. Zola soon made a host of new signings from a number of Italian clubs on loan and you do wonder how these young Italians will get on at places like Middlesbrough or Blackpool on a cold, Tuesday night in February and I fear the worst. Zola didn't have the best of times at West Ham and when you're relying on Chris Iwelumo to get you goals you know you're in trouble!

GOALMACHINE: Chris Iwelumo

My League 1 preview is also coming soon.

One photo courtesy of www.leedsunited.co.uk

The Possible XI On The Move

In this blog piece I will be picking the XI that I believe will be on the move this Summer.  All of the players picked aren't out of contract so fees will need to be agreed if any managers are reading this!

Goalkeeper - Paul Robinson (32) - Blackburn Rovers

Despite being unable to stop Blackburn slip through the trap door, Robinson was one of the bright sparks in an otherwise drab season for the Lancashire side.  A number of impressive performances saw the former England international tipped for a recall to the side despite him announcing his international retirement in 2007.  The Rovers captain will have no shortage of offers after his impressive two seasons at Ewood Park and, even at the ripe old age of 32, being a goalkeeper, he will have a number of years left in him yet. QPR, West Brom, West Ham are believed to be interested in the former Leeds and Tottenham stopper.   My money is on West Ham though, especially after confirming that Robert Green will leave the club and with Robinson having worked with Sam Allardyce at Blackburn before Steve Kean's appointment. 

Right back - Chris Gunter (22) - Nottingham Forest

The Welshman hasn't quite lived up to the billing since bursting onto the scene as a 16 year old with Cardiff City.  His potential led to a number of clubs bidding for the youngster with Tottenham winning the race for his signature.  Soon later however, he joined Nottingham Forest on loan before signing a permanent deal with the Reds for a fee of around £1.75m.  Having been at the City Ground for three season's now, the 22 year old full back has impressed greatly and was part of the Forest side, under Billy Davies that reached two successive play offs.  However, this season has seen Forest struggle and, amidst a couple of financial issues, the club may be forced to cash in on their prized asset.  A number of clubs including Swansea City and Norwich City are sniffing around Gunter who may even opt to join Reading to team up once again with former team-mate Garath McCleary who joined the Royals from Forest last month.  Surely he won't do the cardinal sin and be an ex-Bluebird that joins Swansea?!

Centre back - Richard Keogh (25) - Coventry City

In Richard Keogh's ast two years at Coventry City, he has won the Player of the Year award both times.  Relegated in a disappointing season for Coventry which saw them fall into League 1, the defender looks to be on the move.  A large number of clubs such as Cardiff City, Burnley, Ipswich Town, Leeds United and a former club Bristol City are interested meaning that Keogh will probably see a move back to the Championship sooner rather than later.  Figures between £750,000 - £1m have been banded about for the ex-Carlisle defender which shows he has the quality for the higher league.  At 25, he's a good age to get better as well as having plenty of experience.  Will be a good capture for whatever Championship club he does indeed join.

Centre back - Kyle McFadzean (25) - Crawley Town

Being a Crawley fan, of course I'm going to be ever so slightly bias but, I truly believe that "Fadz" will be playing Championship football soon (hopefully with the mighty Reds!).  Since joining from then Blue Square North side Alfreton Town in 2010, he has been an absolute colossus at the back and I have no doubt he can play at a higher level.  Plenty of clubs have been looking at the former Sheffield United trainee with Peterborough making a £1.9m bid for Kyle and Tyrone Barnett (Who eventually joined the Posh) in January.  Previously the likes of Millwall, Hull City and Sheffield Wednesday have sent scouts down to the Broadfield Stadium however, with promotion success in the two seasons he has spent in West Sussex, hopefully McFadzean will see his future at Crawley.  Expect plenty of offers to be laid on the table but hopefully he will stay (please)!

Left back - Leighton Baines (27) - Everton

The long term Ashley Cole backup has been a consistent performer for Everton since joining from Wigan Athletic five years ago. The 27 year old actually began his career in the Everton youth ranks (As did Phil Jagielka) before joining for a fee of £6m.  With Everton being renowned for not having a lot of money to spend on players, clubs are circling to bring the Scouser away from Goodison Park.  Recently, Manchester United (looking for a long term successor for the 32 year old Patrice Evra) and German giants Bayern Munich are looking to add Baines to their ranks.  Baines has now started to add a few more goals to his game now and is a free kick specialist which may add to a nice figure that the Toffees could command.  Expect a fee of £10m upwards to be enough to sway a move for the attacking left back.

Right midfield - Robert Snodgrass (24) - Leeds United

Robert Snodgrass has been a top class performer for Leeds for the last four seasons now since joining from Livingston in 2008.  The left footed attacker has tormented numerous Championship sides since his arrival being a key figure in goals scored by the Yorkshire club.  Proven at a higher level after performing against the likes of Tottenham, Manchester United and Arsenal in FA Cup ties, Snodgrass will be looking to test himself in the Premier League after playing over 150 times for the club.  Expect Norwich City to make a bid to bring Snodgrass to Carrow Road to join former team mates Bradley Johnson and Johnny Howson in the City midfield but West Ham and West Brom are also looking at signing the Scotland International star.  Personally, I think he will go to Norwich.

Centre midfield - Peter Whittingham (27) - Cardiff City

Similarly to Snodgrass, Peter Whittingham has been tearing up the Championship for a number of years after joining Cardiff from Aston Villa five years ago. After a large number of play-off defeats when the going gets tough for Cardiff, Whittingham maybe tempted away from the Welsh.  Every Summer sees the 27 year old linked with a move away from Wales and this Summer, at his age he may have to move to better his career. West Ham had a bid turned down for the midlander in January, they are rumoured to be interested again as are Reading, West Brom and Fulham.  A move back to the Premier League looks to finally be on the cards for Whittingham.

Centre midfield - Gylfi Sigurdsson (22) - Hoffenheim

The former Reading star has had a terrific last six months.  Joining Swansea on loan in January he impressed greatly during his time in south Wales with the Swans being keen to make his stay a permanent one.  With the deal looking close, manager Brendan Rodgers joined Liverpool and the speculated £6.8m deal seemed to be put on hold.  With Rodgers' new team ready to pounce and Reading's new owners ready to splash the cash to bring the Icelandic back to the Madejski Stadium.  The three way tussle is likely to hot up for the signature of the talented goalscoring midfielder.  Where will he go? I reckon he will join Liverpool.... Now I have said this, he will probably just stay in Germany with Hoffenheim!

Left midfield - Nick Powell (18) - Crewe Alexandra

Nick Powell is another prospect to have come from the Crewe Alexandra Academy.  The Crewe-born teenager came off the same conveyor belt as Danny Murphy, Dean Ashton, Rob Hulse and Luke Varney and Powell is one that Crewe believe will be their best ever Academy player.  Having seen him first hand twice last season you could see the quality that he has even at his young age.  Manchester United and Chelsea are just two of the clubs bidding to pull him away from Gresty Road with United rumoured to have offered Crewe a whopping £4m for the player.  Scouts flocked to Wembley to watch the youngster in the play-off Final between Crewe and Cheltenham and saw Powell score a wonder goal in a 2-0 win for The Alex that sealed promotion to League 1.  If he does join one of the big boys, expect to see him back in the Football League on loan at around Championship or League 1 level.

Striker - Edin Dzeko (26) - Manchester City

Unbelievably, it seems that Manchester City are willing to let the big man leave the club.  In a season where City gained Premier League success, Dzeko chipped in with 21 goals; including the important second goal on the final game of the season against QPR.  Bought for a whopping £27m from Wolfsburg in January 2011, it now looks as if the striker may be heading back to Germany with Bayern Munich interested.  Other clubs looking into signing the forward include Juventus and big spending PSG with Carlo Ancelotti keen on him.  It took him a while to get going but he eventually found his feet in the Premier League and adds another dimension to City's play and a valuable option from the bench if or when needed.  In fact, an interesting statistic from the season just gone, of all the Premier League players who made 20+ appearances, only Wayne Rooney and Mario Balotelli had a better minutes per goal rate than Dzeko (106.9).

Striker - Grant Holt (31) - Norwich City

Finally we come to the final member of the starting XI.  If anything, Grant Holt seems the most likely of the lot to leave his club.  A contractual disagreement between him, his agent and the Norwich City people that sort out the contracts meant that Holt submitted an unsuccessful transfer request.  With two years left to run on his contract and Holt seemingly signalling his intentions to leave Carrow Road it looks as if he will go.  With a superb first Premier League season under his belt which saw the former Nottingham Forest forward hit 17 goals in all competitions he has attracted a number of admirers.  Rumour has it that the likes of West Ham have lodged bids for him although, it is looking increasingly likely that Holt will join his former Canaries manager Paul Lambert at Aston Villa.  Expect a fee of around £6m - £7.5m to be agreed some time soon with Holt's Norwich career in disarray.

The Subs bench:

Matt Phillips (21) - Blackpool (Winger/Striker)

Clint Dempsey (29) - Fulham (Attacking Midfielder)

Eunan O'Kane (21) - Torquay United (Midfielder)

Sam Baldock (23) - West Ham (Striker)

Fraser Forster (24) - Newcastle United (Goalkeeper)

How long has Steve Kean got at Blackburn?

The Blackburn Rovers' fans were never pleased when Steve Kean took over the reigns at Ewood Park from well respected manager "Big" Sam Allardyce,  and it has really never took off for the Scot.

Born in Glasgow, Kean's playing career never really got started where, according to Wikipedia, Kean played for  6 clubs; Celtic, Swansea City, Alloa Athletic, Academica Coimbra, Bath City and Newbury Town culminating in a grand total of 5 appearances.

It was more of the same when he turned his hand to management, where, apart from a brief spell as Assistant Manager at Fulham, Spanish side Real Sociedad and Championship strugglers Coventry City, all with Chris Coleman as the main man at the helm.

Allardyce, on the other hand is renowned for making sure that every club he manages at the very least stays in the same league before looking at the next aim - Famously keeping Bolton Wanderers in the Premier League before delivering UEFA Cup (Now Europa League) football at The Reebok Stadium.

Allardyce is now at West Ham United

Venky's, a meat processing and pharmaceutics company took over the club in November 2010 and straight away announced big things for the club, including mentioning Ronaldinho and former England captain David Beckham when referring to the January transfer window. Rovers fans were drooling at the mouth - New owners, lots of money, big signings etc.....

Barcelona....Milan.....Blackburn?!

However, a month later, Allardyce was sacked and Venkys installed 44-year old Kean to First Team Manager when, after 2 years as a coach, where Allardyce brought him in, he replaced Big Sam, sacked on 13th December 2010, as Rovers gaffer.

Kean's first game began with a 1-1 home draw with relegation-threatened West Ham and, after scraping points throughout the second half of the season and after I'm sure narrowly failing with bids for Beckham and Ronaldinho in January, Rovers eventually stayed in the league on the final day of the season with a 3-2 win away at Wolves to finish 15th - Their fourth league win that season since Kean became boss.

Is the clock ticking for Steve Kean at Ewood?

Venky's gave Kean a contract until 2013 and the manager pursuaded big names Scott Dann, Yakubu, Ruben Rochina and David Goodwillie as well as other stars to sign for the club. Ronaldinho now at Flamengo and Beckham still in Los Angeles with LA Galaxy - LA or Blackburn... tough choice!

The 2011-2012 season didn't begin well for Blackburn; losing the first three games; two at home, to Wolves and Everton sandwiching an away defeat at Aston Villa.

Since then, chants and banners of "Kean Out!" have been heard and seen around Ewood Park but, after 11 league games, consisting of 1 win, 6 points, fans wanting the manager to resign and sitting at the bottom of the table, the club's owners are still sticking by their man.  Surely Steve Kean's time is up?

Rovers fans make their feelings known

Despite fans wanting the Scot out, Kean still tells the media that it is only "A small pocket of supporters" or "Most of the fans are sticking with us"... you get the jist of his interviews that are practically the same every single week.

Oh, and before I forget, Kean's managerial record for Blackburn Rovers since he took over in December last year:

G      W      D      L      Win %
32      6       10    16     18.75

My message to Rovers' fans... Erm... the only way is up!