The Championship is becoming the most unpredictable league
with quite literally anyone beating anybody. September offered yet again why we
love the Championship. West Brom have taken top spot from Bielsa’s Leeds United
with the Yorkshire club dropping to 2nd place. Middlesbrough are 3rd
with Sheff Utd, Norwich and Brentford making up the top 6. While at the wrong
end of the table, the bottom 3 is made up of Preston, Millwall and Ipswich with
the latter still yet to register a league win.
West Brom have stormed
up the table after an excellent September notching 3 straight league wins and a
draw with neighbours Birmingham. The Baggies are firmly in the form team with
goals spread across the whole side. However, clean sheets are proving allusive
to Darren Moore’s side and this could come back to haunt them once a bad patch
of form comes because that is part and parcel of the Championship. Not quite a
perfect September for Leeds with their
first defeat coming against Birmingham and they are on a run of 2 games without
a win but Bielsa will be satisfied with their opening to the season. Middlesbrough are also going well
with the Teesiders sitting in 3rd place and proving a tough nut to
crack for teams this season. Pulis has built a solid defence and goals are
flowing from the attacking areas. Boro are playing with a confidence and Pulis
will want that to continue going into October’s round of matches.
It is a very good time to support a club in Sheffield with both United and Wednesday
in very good form. United are flying sitting 4th in the table just 1
point off the top. David McGoldrick and Billy Sharp are forming a lethal
partnership as emphasised in their excellent win at Millwall. United are storming
and momentum is very much with them. Wednesday are also pulling up trees after
an excellent couple of results against Aston Villa and Leeds. Wednesday comfortably
saw off a tepid Villa side while they battled hard to draw with Yorkshire
rivals Leeds. Wednesday are in a very good place as are Norwich. The Canaries
are flying high and are on a 4-match winning streak and are oozing plenty of
confidence. The form of Finnish striker Teemu Pukki has caught the eye with him
notching 5 goals so far. Norwich are showing signs of mounting a sustained promotion
charge this season, but they now need to beat their rivals starting with Derby.
In contrast, it has been a miserable start to the season for
Preston, Stoke and Millwall. Preston
are rooted to the bottom of the table having not won since the opening day of
the season. A 9-match winless run has Preston concede a lorry load of goals and
Alex Neil feeling the heat. Last season’s narrow miss on the play-offs has seen
expectations increase at Deepdale but so far, the players are failing to bring last
season’s form into this. Preston are short on confidence and desperately need
something to kick start their season. Like Preston, Millwall are also short on
confidence and struggling to recapture last seasons form. Neil Harris’ side are
finding results hard to come by and their latest defeat against Sheffield
United would off further increased their worries. They came back to lead only
to surrender their advantage and no doubt moral is severely low at the club.
Harris will hope October could their month to ignite their season and climb out
of the bottom 3. Stoke are also struggling in the opening months of the season.
Gary Rowett is yet to really get Stoke going. Yes, they have showed some signs
of improvement in September, but results are not coming and with every game
without a win, the pressure only intensifies on Rowett and his very expensive squad.
Stoke need to click and fast otherwise they can kiss an instant return to the
Premier League goodbye.
It has also been a very disappointing start to the season
for Aston Villa and Steve Bruce. The
Villains find themselves 15th after the opening 2 months of the season.
They have registered just 3 wins in their opening 10 league games and the fans
are far from happy. Key players such as Jonathan Kodjia, Jack Grealish and James
Chester are struggling to recapture last seasons form while new signings such
as Orjan Nyland, Anwar El Ghazi, Yannick Bolasie and Tammy Abraham are yet to really
showcase their talents. Aston Villa also look extremely weak at the back with
only James Chester being the recognised centre back at the whole club. Mile
Jedinak has been drafted into centre half but the fans are not happy with their
performances at the heart of the defence. Aston Villa look dysfunctional and do
not play like a team and a good team is built on the defence however, 3 of the
back 4 are playing out of position and this is a major concern for fans with
sloppy goals and individual errors costing them as each game comes. Steve Bruce’s
reluctance to change and realise the problems is further increasing the anger
with the fans. Bruce’s tactics have criticised throughout the season with the
manager very reluctant to change a formula which has brought him regular promotions.
However, football has moved on and we see different styles win promotion as
Wolves dominated last season with a slick style while a robust, tough to beat
Cardiff took 2nd place. The fans want entertainment and while Bruce may
have the best win ratio of any Aston Villa manager, but the fans are far from
pleased with the style of play and Bruce’s reluctance to change his style of
play. Steve Bruce’s days at Villa Park look severely numbered with fans unhappy
and big concerns from Villa’s new hierarchy. Bruce seems to have ready made excuses
every week as to why Aston Villa are not picking up results and excuses can only
carry so far. 35,000 fans watched Villa play so abjectly and passionless
against Sheffield Wednesday at Villa Park and they will not stand for any poorer
displays and readymade excuses. With reports Steve Bruce has two games to save
his job, Villa need to pull out performances and results fast with games against
Preston and Millwall to come before the international break. New chief
executive Christian Purslow is the man making the decisions and no doubt he
will be watching their next two games to see if Bruce is the man to lead Villa’s
promotion charge this season. The first axe to fall could come in West Midlands
with players and fans looking unhappy at Villa Park and something needs to give and fast.
Another side struggling is Ipswich with the tractor boys being the only club in the Championship
without a win. 6 draws and 4 defeats so far this season has left Ipswich
languishing in the bottom 3. Ipswich’ season so far was summed up in their
recent draw against Birmingham with Paul Hurst’s side leading 2-0 at half time
only to throw it away in the second half leaving still searching for a win. Paul
Hurst needs a win sooner rather than later with the patience of the fans
starting to wear thin. Ipswich’s new team is struggling to gel, and a win is
proving very allusive and the pressure will only increase with each winless
game that goes by. Could the axe fall on Paul Hurst in October? Only results
and time will tell.
September brought us entertainment and unpredictability and
no doubt October will be the same with plenty of tasty games to come affecting
both ends of the table. Mouth watering games include Hull vs Leeds, Derby vs Norwich, Bolton vs Blackburn, Leeds vs
Brentford, Sheffield Wed vs Middlesbrough, Aston Villa vs Swansea, Stoke vs Birmingham,
Derby vs Sheffield Utd, West Brom vs Derby, Middlesbrough vs Derby and Leeds vs
Nottingham Forest. There are plenty more of intriguing games in October as
the world’s most unpredictable league brings to try and take shape.
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