Tales from not-the Top Flight

In case you missed it I reviewed the seasons of the bottom half of the Championship but now we move on to the big hitters of Brentford and Preston as our review of the Championship concludes.

12th Cardiff – Its been a funny old season for Cardiff. They started the season with Paul Trollope (me neither) as manager, a virtual unknown. Unsurprisingly he was rubbish and got sacked in a few months and got replaced by the always reliable Neil Warnock. Expect Neil and the lads to be pushing for the play offs next season.

11th Preston – North End have basically had an identical season to last term, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Preston’s ceiling probably is 11th at the moment and its never a bad thing to hit the ceiling. Well, metaphorically speaking that is.

10th Brentford – In a similar vein to Preston this is probably as high as Brentford realistically expected to finish this season. Solid but not spectacular.

9th Derby County – Another absolute madhouse season at Derby. From the insane Nigel Pearson, to the incompetent Steve McClaren to the promising Gary Rowett its been another chaotic mess at Pride Park. They’ve got to go up at some point but who knows when that’ll be.

8th Norwich City – This season is definitely a massive opportunity missed for Norwich. They have a great Championship squad yet kept David Moyes’ bald cousin Alex Neil as manager for far too long. Should be up there next season though.

7th Leeds United – Its hard to assess Leeds’ season. They did better than expected but still missed out on the play offs. They got rid of crazy owner Cellino, but have also seen manager Garry Monk resign. Its been up and down for Leeds but they did take 12,000 to Barnsley away so swings and roundabouts.

6th Fulham – Many, including myself, tipped the Cottagers to win the play offs due to their fantastic form at the end of the season. It wasn’t to be but its still an impressive season for the most middle class club in England. Holding onto key players and their manager will be key if Fulham have Premier League ambitions.

5th Huddersfield Town – What a season. Tipped for relegation by some lesser pundits The Terriers pulled off the unthinkable and won the play offs. No further jokes to be made really a simply phenomenal achievement.

4th Sheffield Wednesday – Good season for Wednesday as they improved upon last season but they still couldn’t get it done. In danger of becoming the Arsenal of the Championship if they keep missing out but I reckon next year could be ‘their year.’

3rd Reading – I’d like to say I felt bad when they lost the play off final but Reading are just a bit ‘meh’ aren’t they? Japp’s chaps will be strong contenders next season though.

2nd Brighton – After seemingly years of being so near but yet so far from promotion the seagulls are finally in the Premier League. I look forward to their ‘why is that a derby match again’ showdown with Crystal Palace next season.

1st Newcastle United – Anything less than promotion as champions would’ve been a failure for Newcastle this season. Luckily for them Brighton didn’t fancy a winners medal as they more or less handed Newcastle the title.

It was another scintillating season in the Championship and it will only get even more unpredictable next year so stay tuned for that.