Who’s In With A Chance?

Who will finish where?

Barnsley: After a good start to last season they fell away badly and looked in serious danger of the drop. They don’t seem to have strengthened much but also haven’t lost many players. So, same players, same manager, same tactics (probably) = same result. Expect to see them struggle again but probably survive. 20th.

Blackpool: Have lost their captain Shaun Barker to Derby but have brought in the experienced Jason Euell. They’ve employed Ian Holloway so it should be an entertaining season on the west coast if nothing else. I’ve predicted them to go down each season since they arrived in the Championship & every season they’ve proved me wrong. I’m not one to give in though. 22nd


Bristol City: You’re never quite sure what to expect from City, they clearly have one of the better managers in the league in Gary Johnson but after the departure of Adebola & possibly McIndoe their attack will be weaker this term, Nyatanger & Hartley will add to the defence & midfield though. They still play football the right way though & will score goals but a play off spot may be just too much for them. 8th


Cardiff: They have a shiny new stadium in Cardiff this season & have spent £4,000,000 on Michael Chopra all courtesy of Peter Ridsdales magical financial powers. I’m expecting them to get a points deduction sooner or later, can’t quite put my finger on why though. Have cancelled off some of their expenditure with the sale of Roger johnson to Birmingham. I get the feeling the Ridsdale gamble will have to pay off this season, but it won’t. 10th


Coventry: Rumour has it that the kitchen sink is available from Coventry for the right offer, of course if you make an offer Chris Coleman will complain it’s far to good a sink to let it go for that price & then accept an offer for half that amount within a few days. They’ve basically sold their defence & replaced them with Sammy Clingan. God help them. 23rd.



Crystal Palace: I’ve spent most of my Forest supporting life disliking Neil Warnock, then he left the Blades & my hatred for him subsided quite a bit. Still don’t like him though. Problem with Warnock is, like him or loath him, he gets results. Palace have added to their ranks with the signings of Stern John & Darren Ambrose along with the loan signing of Freddie Sears. I expect Warnock to grab his usual play off spot after last seasons blip. 4th

Derby: It’s difficult to be objective where Derby are concerned. Their final league position last season was certainly well below what their squad are capable of but their transfer dealing this summer seem a little odd to say the least. None League and lower league players brought for their ‘development team’ gives us as Forest fans plenty of ammunition, but you can’t help but wish Nigel some luck. Lee Croft and Shaun Barker seem decent signings though. They shouldn’t struggle as badly as they did last season but won’t be much of a threat to the top 6 either. 11th


Doncaster: The self styled Arsenal of the Championship certainly do play good football to watch. They had serious problems scoring goals last season though and ended as the lowest scorers in the Championship, relying on their defence to keep them up worked last season but the sale of Richard Wellens to Leicester will be a massive loss for them. If they are to lose Mills too I’d expect relegation. For the moment though, 19th.


Ipswich: A big name signing of Lee Martin & a big name manager have thrust Ipswich into the limelight this summer. Much is expected of the Tractor boys with them being one of the few clubs to seemingly have cash. I just can’t take them seriously though. They’re a very well run club but i think the arrival of Roy Keane will turn out to be a massive mistake & we’ll be seeing Roy Keane walking his dogs on Sky Sports News before Christmas. 14th


Leicester: City bounced back to the Championship at the first time of asking as winners of League One & seem to have a good manager in Nigel Pearson. The signing of Richard Wellens from Doncaster is probably the best piece of business they’ve done (along with N’Guessan from Linclon) this summer but still seem to be lacking any real fire power up front. They were relegated from the Championship with one of the best defences in the league last time & don’t seem to have learnt their lesson. Won’t be relegated, but won’t give too much bother the the guy paid by teletext to update the scores. 16th


Middlesbrough: I think Boro will win the league & sadly i think they’ll win it comfortably. Leroy Lita may be a dark horse for the Championships top goal scorer. 1st


Newcastle: God only knows what will happen at Newcastle but i can only see a season of further turmoil for them. The latest rumours seem to be that they could even go into administration before anyone takes over them meaning they’d lose 25 points. Seems outrageous that they would but they’re apparently losing about 5 million a MONTH and nobody is willing to pay the 100 million Ashley wants for the privilege of taking on those kinds of losses. Add to that they can’t bring players in until they get some out, nobody wants their players because they earn too much, the players won’t leave because they wont get anything like the same money if they do but none of them really want to be there either. Oh & they still have no manager. That club is one hell of a mess. Mid table at best i’d have thought. 15th


Nottm Forest: As the biggest spenders in the league it’s fair to expect a massive improvement on last season relegation fight but the defence is still the weak point. Goals shouldn’t be a problem though having added Adebola, McGoldrick & Blackstock to their fire power who along side Rob Earnshaw should score enough goals to see them well clear at the bottom & give them a good chance of crashing the play off places. If they are to make any real assault on the automatic places though that defence needs strengthening, 5th


Peterborough: Newly promoted Peterborough could well be the surprise package this season. Quite often in recent times one of the promoted teams goes on to challenge for a play off place & this season it could be the Posh. With a few very good if underrated players they’ll certainly be a handful & they can always call for managerial advice from Daddy. Don’t be surprised to see them do well. 6th


Plymouth: Argyle struggled for goals last season and cut it pretty fine in staying up. With the arrival of Bradley Wright-Philips it probably won’t be the same fight for survival this season though & Carl Fletcher will add fight to their midfield. A comfortable mid-table finish for Plymouth. 12th


Preston: Will be starting their season for the first time in a decade without their talismanic Captain Paul McKenna who has joined Forest. Paul Perry has joined from Cardiff & will help them score goals this season. They are seasoned pro’s at reaching the play offs and i see little reason why they shouldn’t continue in the same way this time. 3rd


QPR: For the last couple of seasons they have been amongst the favourites for promotion because they are owned by the richest men on the planet. They are though clearly awarded the ‘favirites’ tag by people who completely fail to realise their players are very average. Their only signing so far has been Alessandro Pellicori who sounds like an Italian international, but isn’t. 17th


Reading: They certainly have a good squad of players at Reading & new manager Brendon Rogers seems to play a good passing style of football that will suit those players. A lot will depend on how quickly Rodgers settles in to his new roll & how the players respond to him. Haven’t officially made a signing yet but look set to steal Matt Mills from under the noses of our good selves, swine’s. I expect them to start badly & come on strong at the end of the season but maybe a little to late. 7th


Scunthorpe: They have been yo-yoing between league one & the Championship for a few seasons now & were relegated from this league last time due to not scoring enough goals, having lost Martin Patterson from that squad at the end of the Championship season i really can’t see that changing. They have strengthened their defence with the acquisition of former Forest target Rob Jones but will need to ‘do a Doncaster’ to stay up. 24th


Sheff Utd: Much will be expected by the blades fans this term after their play off defeat last season & they will be one of the favourites for the automatic places. The loss of James Beattie to Stoke in January will still be a big loss though, their next top scorer in the league after Beattie (who scored 22 goals last season) was Billy Sharpe with 4. There has been a massive turnover of players there with 9 leaving (including the two Kyle’s to Tottenham) and another 9 have come in, including Ched Evans, Lee Williamson, Mark Bunn & Glen Little). Think they’ll do it this time. 2nd

Sheff Wed: Everything about Wednesday screams mid-table. Big ground, decent history, penniless board & Brian Laws. The edition of Tommy Miller & Daren Purse is just screaming it even louder. 13th.

Swansea: The loss of Roberto Martinez makes me worry for Swansea, I’ve taken a liking to them over the last couple of seasons & their football has been great. Paulo Sousa just doesn’t inspire me but the transfer s of Jordi Gomez, Steven Dobbie & Nathan Dyre do. They won’t match last seasons final position but should be safe enough. 18th

Watford: Nothing will happen in Watford, nothing at all. The season will pass & they’ll end somewhere near the bottom without anyone ever noticing they were there. 21st

West Brom: West Brom have a good squad of players & the experience of getting promoted but i think Roberto Di Matteo may struggle to get to grips with Championship football for them to be a real threat at the top of the league. Top half for them but I’m sure they’ll score goals and entertain us all. 9th.