Sky Bet Championship 2016/17 Preview Part 3
Here’s the third part of our annual preview, which includes two of the favourites for promotion.
All prices were taken from the Oddschecker website on 1st July 2016 and will inevitably fluctuate throughout the season.
Ipswich Town
Last ten: 3-5-2
Manager: Mick McCarthy
Promotion: 9/1
Relegation: 10/1
The Tractor Boys were always catching up after an autumnal slump that saw them go without a win in seven games and although they achieved their third consecutive top ten finish, last season was an anti-climax. On their day they’re still capable of the playoffs or better, but they need to beat more teams at Portman Road if that’s going to be a realistic target.
Leeds United
Last 10: 3-3-4
Manager: Gary Monk (June 2016)
Promotion: 14/1
Relegation: 9/2
Every season I write that Leeds could be drawn into a relegation battle but they never are. They have been a bog standard mid table Championship team for several seasons now and I’m not expecting anything other than that this season: this time round they’ll be a bog standard mid table Championship team with a manager with experience in the Premier League.
Newcastle United
Last 10: 3-4-3 (Premier League)
Manager: Rafa Benitez (March 2016)
Promotion: 4/5 (favourites)
Relegation: 200/1
Went straight back up in 2010 after being relegated from the promised land with a worse record than last season’s side, so the expectation must be that they’ll do the same again. However, they’ll be everyone’s ‘big game’ and a swift glance at their away form in 2015/16 indicates a potential weakness that could stop the Toon from going up automatically. Having written that they haven’t played at this level for more than one season since the early 1990s and it would be a major surprise if they didn’t go up: it’s possible that Benitez may be initially caught out by the insanity of the Championship though.
Norwich City
Last 10: 3-1-6 (Premier League)
Manager: Alex Neil (January 2015)
Relegated from the Premier League
Promotion: 11/4 (second favourites)
Relegation: 66/1
The very definition of a yo-yo club. Over the last decade they’ve been promoted and relegated three times and although I’ve got them ranked as a play off team this season, that doesn’t mean automatic promotion is out of the question. Similar to Newcastle in so far as their away form stank in last season’s Premier League but they’ve not spent longer than one season at this level since the end of the noughties and were only a couple of wins from saving themselves last season.
Nottingham Forest
Manager: Philippe Montanier (June 2016)
Last 10: 2-4-4
Ninth season in the Championship
Promotion: 16/1
Relegation: 10/1
Forest could be in real trouble this season. Since finishing eighth three seasons ago, they’ve gone into a gentle but noticeable decline that has them on target to finish just above the relegation spots in 2016/17. It’s worth remembering that with five games to go they were in the bottom four and that the three teams that were eventually relegated were the only sides to score fewer goals: in which case it’s the ideal time to appoint a French goalkeeper no-one’s ever heard of as manager.
Preston North End
Manager: Simon Grayson (February 2013)
Last 10: 3-4-3
Second Season in the Championship:
Promotion: 14/1
Relegation: 5/1
First thing to note is that those odds are exactly the same as they were before the start of last season, which saw the Lillywhites finish in their highest league position since 2009. Much of that was down to a ‘defence first’ style of play that was far better suited to the Championship than I’d expected: only the top six conceded fewer, but on the other hand only four teams scored fewer and three of them were relegated. If they manage to find a goalscorer that can score ten or more they could make a run at the playoffs, but another mid-table finish is on the cards.
Source: http://www.buzzinchampionshipfootball.co.uk/sky-bet-championship-201617-preview-part-3/3622
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