Woo, the Championship is back! But it’ll be gone again in three weeks due to another international break, argh…
Football fans across the land are rejoicing at the return of proper football following the latest dour international period, and we will all be glad when the final break of 2025 (i.e. November’s manager sacking season) is out of the way too.
Before then, there are six Championship gameweeks crammed into a tight three-week period, with each more climactic than the last and every kick of it massively mattering to someone.
So we thought it best to make some predictions on six things that will most definitely happen (or not) in the Championship before the next international break starts from November 10…
Sheffield United to climb out of the bottom three…
The Blades being this season’s biggest early underperformers in the Championship is largely their own doing following the needless upheaval in the summer.
Club chiefs rightly scrapped the failed Ruben Selles experiment early and sanctioned Chris Wilder’s return for a third spell as manager, which did raise alarm bells, as I fear that his latest comeback is doomed to fail.
Wilder is yet to inspire a significant upturn in results and performances at Sheff Utd, who have one win and three losses from his four games in charge.
However, Sheff Utd’s losses against Charlton, Southampton and Hull City were narrow, and they were arguably the better side in at least two of these matches, so there is certainly a reason to be hopeful if you are a Blades supporter.
Sheff Utd are massively underperforming on their xG this season and this will eventually even out to some degree, with their squad far beyond the level of a relegation candidate.
With home games against Watford and Derby County, plus an away trip to Blackburn Rovers coming up, the Blades have a decent run of games to get off the ground and start looking upwards, so they should be out of the bottom three within the next three weeks.
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Wrexham to fall into the relegation zone
And Wrexham could easily replace Sheffield United in the bottom three in the coming weeks…
The serial drawers have only been beaten once since August, but three straight stalemates have seen them slip into the relegation picture, though they are only five points adrift of the play-off positions.
Phil Parkinson’s side does have a reason to be wary as they have a testing run of games against Stoke City, Middlesbrough and Coventry City, with home games against Oxford United and Charlton potentially vital early-season clashes to decide their standing in the Championship.
It is too soon to have Parkinson and sack in the same sentence because he has a lot of credit in the bank. However, there has always been the fear that he would get caught out during Wrexham’s ascent, as his best work has come in the lower divisions due to his direct and ugly approach.
A prolonged spell of suffering is required to seal his exit, but this could be in the post as he is failing to get the best out of his squad following a huge £33m outlay in the summer.
Norwich City to sack Liam Manning
There was plenty of optimism surrounding Norwich City in the summer as their £25m spend on signings raised hopes of a promotion push, but these aspirations have been swiftly dashed.
Now, it seems that the Canaries overspent on their marquee additions, as they have tumbled down the table. Their damaging 3-1 loss to arch-rivals Ipswich Town before the international break extended their winless run to five matches.
Liam Manning is a well-respected coach and has previously done great work in spells at Bristol City, Oxford United and MK Dons, but he will have to find answers quickly if he’s to save himself, as he’s currently the clear favourite to be the next Championship manager sacked.
Manning is not alone in facing scrutiny, as director of football Ben Knapper is also receiving criticism over Norwich’s transfer business. However, it will be the manager who is punished first if there’s no unforeseen sudden improvement.
Leicester City to begin their exit from the promotion race…
Heading into this season, Leicester were expected to be the weakest of the three relegated sides due to their off-field issues and the lingering threat of a points deduction.
Despite this, Marti Cifuentes’ side are the only relegated team currently in the top six as Ipswich Town (9th) and Southampton (17th) languish below them, but this does not tell the whole story.
The Foxes are one of the biggest overperformers on xG in the Championship this season as they have been massively overly reliant on game-changing moments from individuals to get results, and this can only take them so far.
There is a lot of talent in Leicester’s squad, but Ipswich and Southampton have stronger groups of players and they should eventually overtake the Foxes. They are likely to begin their decline in the coming weeks and would completely exit the promotion picture if they are handed a points deduction.
Ipswich Town to hit form and enter the top six…
The Tractor Boys were many people’s favourites to win the Championship during pre-season as they have built an all-star squad of second-tier talents in recent windows and arguably have the best manager at this level, while Liam Delap and Omari Hutchinson were their only notable exits in the summer.
Still, Ipswich stumbled at the start of this season as they failed to win in five games before coming to life in a 5-0 win over Sheffield United.
Kieran McKenna’s side have followed that up with two more victories and a draw, so it would not be surprising, even after Friday’s 2-1 loss to promotion rivals Middlesbrough, if they hit their stride during this upcoming run of fixtures.
There is a feeling of inevitability to Ipswich at least finishing in the play-off positions this season as they have all the ingredients to make that happen, with McKenna’s team perhaps best-equipped to test the current leaders…
Frank Lampard’s Coventry City to break a record…
Fair f***s to Lampard. Many of his critics completely wrote off his managerial credentials after his embarrassing second stint in the Chelsea dugout, while Coventry were mocked for appointing him to replace Mark Robins.
But he has proven himself to be an inspired appointment at Coventry City, having taken the club from a relegation contender to the leaders of the Championship during the most recent international break.
At the very least, there is no doubt that he is a very good manager in the second-tier, and this is more than can be said for fellow retired greats Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard.
So far this season, Coventry have comfortably been the best team in the Championship and have won their last three league games with an aggregate score of 12-0.
Coventry have clicked in all departments and look an incredibly force under Lampard, so I am backing them to break their record winning streak of six games by beating Blackburn Rovers, Portsmouth, Watford and Wrexham in their next four matches.
This is certainly achievable given the mood they were in before the international break and the winnable games coming up. Though, given that I’ve said this, roll on Coventry falling at the first hurdle and losing 1-0 to Blackburn on Saturday…
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