With just over a third of the season behind us, 6 managerial changes and the Championship table starting to take shape, it is time to review the nPower 2011/12 Championship season so far.
In accordance with my predicted Championship table that I published prior to the season commencing, and the general consensus of many Championship supporters, I think it is now you can the teams in the division that are either surpassing expectations or those that seem to be underachieving.
After the start to the season that Southampton have had I think it would be disrespectful not to start my review talking about them! Nigel Adkins’ Saints have taken the step up well and truly in their stride. They have opened up a 5-point gap over West Ham in second place and astonishingly they are already 13 points clear of the final play-off position. Their impeccable home record, which includes 9 wins from 9, coupled with the once-again prolific Rickie Lambert and help from influential midfielders Guly Do Prado & Adam Lallana (who have also chipped in with 13 goals between them already this season) has helped propel The Saints to the top of the pile and seemingly on target for a second consecutive promotion back to the Premier League.
Making my way down the league, West Ham were always expected to challenge for the title and an immediate return to the top flight and with them currently sat nicely in second place, they seem to be living up to those expectations but it hasn’t been without a few hiccups so far this season, especially at Upton Park where they’ve been defeated by both Cardiff and Ipswich and held to draws by Bristol City and Leeds. Fortunately for Hammers fans their away record has been the best in the league so far which has helped account for the slight hiccups at home and I am sure once the season progresses they’ll become more accustom to the league and their home record will improve, leaving them in great stead for a return to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
Middlesbrough, Cardiff City, Leeds United and Hull City currently occupy the four playoff places and have all performed consistently well this season. Middlesbrough’s success so far this season seems to be based upon the goals of Marvin Emnes and their defensive record, which is the joint-best in the league. Malky Mackay has had a good start to his managerial career at Cardiff City after moving their this summer from Watford, with a good record at the Cardiff City Stadium as well as the impact made once again by Peter Whittingham, they look set to be in the playoffs for the third consecutive season. The other two spots are held by the Yorkshire duo of Leeds United and Hull City despite the latter only managing to score 16 times this season! Both clubs will look to continue their promising start and cement themselves as promotion contenders over the rest of the season but for Hull City that may be a quite an ask due to the loss of manager, Nigel Pearson, to Leicester City in the past week.
Delve into the middle region of the Championship table and you will find quite a number of teams in positions that have surprised a number of fans and pundits alike. One of these has to be Leicester City, who after spending massive amounts of money over the summer, are currently sitting in 8th place and 14 points off the top of the pace. This slow start has already led to the departure of Sven-Göran Eriksson, with Nigel Pearson returning to the King Power Stadium. I expect Leicester to spend big once again in January as Pearson tries to improve early season form and make them promotion contenders. Another team currently struggling are Nottingham Forest, who after losing in the playoffs last summer, replaced Billy Davies with Steve McLaren who has consequentially now been replaced by ex-Portsmouth manager Steve Cotterill after a poor start. On the other hand, two clubs that had been tipped for relegation this season have started brightly, these being Crystal Palace and Peterborough United. With myself being a Posh fan, I can’t deny that I am very surprised, yet pleased that we currently sit in the top half of the table. The squad morale that we seem to have is fantastic, and this seems to be pushing us to succeed in games that we would never seem like winning at this level 2 years ago. Grant McCann and Paul Taylor (Remember the name!) have both been fantastic, and the squad has coped very well with the loss of last season’s top-scorer Craig Mackail-Smith.
At the wrong end of the table there seems to be no real surprises with Doncaster Rovers, A.K.A The Willie McKay experiment, propping up the table. This comes despite the influx of experienced players such as Herita Ilunga, Pascal Chimbonda and El-Hadji Diouf who were also joined today by Aston Villa defender Habib Beye. With these new signings alongside established Championship players such as Billy Sharp and James Coppinger, it should only be a matter of time until Dean Saunders’ men get themselves out of trouble. Coventry City are another team that are once again struggling in the division. A lack of funds and ever-falling attendances makes the future look very bleak for even the most optimistic Coventry fan and if performances don’t improve soon, League One looms for the Sky Blues. One shock in the lower echelons of the league for me is the position of Eddie Howe’s Burnley side. A number of seemingly astute signings over the summer haven’t paid off for the youngest manager in the league and only time will tell how long Barry Kilby will give Howe to hopefully change their fortunes around.
I hope you have enjoyed my review of the season so far!
Follow me on Twitter; @Jake__Baxter
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