schmuck

Coventry still have Kieren Westwood one of the best goalkeepers in the league, Elliot Ward and Aron Gunnarsson. The only good player they've sold this summer is Scott Dann, not to mention they have a very good manager. Plymouth have never been relegated from The Championship even when Ian Holloway left and their whole team was gutted of quality, now managed by Paul Sturrock whose teams are always tough to beat. Peterborough have won 2 promotions on the spin in Darren Ferguson's first 2 full seasons of management, with that kind of upward trajectory I don't see how you can call them no hopers. Doncaster play great football and once they'd adapted to the division last year went from rock bottom whipping boys to a very respectable 14th, maintain that form from the start and they'll be top half. Palace is a truly bizarre shout, Freddie Sears and Darren Ambrose in alongside the likes of Clint Hill, Jose Fonte and Victor Moses and now that Warnock has had the time to drill his style into the team they could be playoff contenders. Watford have an unknown quantity as manager and some very good players like John Joe O'Toole, Jobi McAnuff and Jay DeMerit, it's not as if there's no hope for them either. Point is The Championship is unpredictable, there are any number of reasons why any team in the division could do well or poorly over a season. Who'd have said that Charlton, a stable Premiership club for the best part of a decade, managed by the man who took West Ham up, then to Premiership mid table and seconds away from the FA Cup would be so abysmal last year. The season Watford went up under Boothroyd they were nailed on favourites for relegation, there's dozens of examples. It's not a poor poor league like somebody said, but it shouldn't be too daunting either, after all it's a league where Michael Chopra will get you 20 goals a season. My main worry is that Nicky Butt develops further delusions of footballing ability and tries to stroke and pirouette his way around the division.

Maxim Shatskikh?