Simon Moyse: Championship Southern review

In Part 2 of his review so far of the Championship, Simon Moyse looks at the Southern sides.

Is the Champo better to watch than the EPL?

Northern sides leading charge towards the promised land

EFL Part II: The Southern challenge

Norwich City – after underachieving for a while following their last relegation from the EPL, the Canaries are playing some cracking football at the moment, and look good for at least a playoff spot. Norwich, somehow, look like a better team without the mercurial skills of James Maddison. There are no clear stars, but they are all comfy on the ball, and Jordan Rhodes is a guy who can stick them away.

West Bromwich Albion – you would expect a team managed by a former hard-nosed central defender to be strong at the back, but maybe not so strong going forward.

Darren Moore’s Albion side seem determined to buck that statement on both sides. In Jay Rodriguez and Dwight Gayle, they have arguably the division’s best forward pairing, but defensively they have been very leaky. This team should have enough for the playoffs, but they are so erratic that it’s hard to predict anything for them with too much confidence.

Aston Villa – my preseason pick for the title, their season has not gone to plan at all, with Steve Bruce’s vegetable-fuelled departure being the rubber stamp of that. On paper, getting Dean Smith to replace him was a significant upgrade, but based on performances under him so far, it has become apparent that Bruce wasn’t the only problem here. Going forward they have plenty of talent, with Tammy Abraham and John McGinn adding to an already potent attacking unit, but seem lacking in confidence, and excessively reliant on star man Jack Grealish to open up defences. Defensively, they look a mess, perhaps caused partly by the retirement of John Terry, and the team generally looks old and a bit slow. How they will cope with Smith’s high-tempo, high-energy approach remains to be seen. If Smith gets them going, they could be a juggernaut, but doubts remain.

Birmingham City – Garry The Monk is one of the best managers in the division, and I wasn’t at all surprised to see them recover from a slow start (caused mainly by an inability to turn draws into wins) to get up into the top-half of the division. Striker Lukas Jutkiewicz is the focal point for an improving attacking unit to go alongside one of the better defences in the division. They will be tough to beat at St Andrews especially. Solid outside bet for the playoffs.

Ipswich Town – Paul Lambert is inheriting a team that was basically built from scratch by Paul Hurst at the start of the season, and which has almost no Championship experience, having been cobbled together mostly from the lower divisions. There are some promising players among them, but Lambert is going to need to bolster the squad with some veteran signings in January for the club to have any hope of survival. The centre forward position is particularly in need of attention. Any points they can get between now and the January transfer window will be a bonus – if survival is going to happen, it will be a run of form with a stronger side after the window that will do it.

Swansea City – despite losing a plethora of key players in the summer, the Swans have made a solid start to life in the Championship with one of the youngest sides in the division. Getting former Ipswich loanee Bersant Celina to pull the strings in their midfield was a shrewd move, and as he settles in more, he could easily become one of the division’s biggest stars in a team that has been built around him. Daniel James is an exciting young winger, and scruffy Scotsman Oli McBurnie a top target man in an exciting attacking lineup that hasn’t fired consistently as yet. Youthful inconsistency may prevent the Swans from reaching the playoffs this time, but this is definitely an upwardly-mobile side.

Bristol City – kinda wondered if this lot might struggle this year having lost three key players in Joe Bryan, Bobby Reid and Aden Flint from the side that fell away badly in the second half of last season. They’ve done alright so far, though. Andreas Weimann already looks like a good acquisition, much more successful in a central role than he was shoved out wide at Derby, and there is still plenty of talent there in guys like Josh Brownhill, Marlon Pack and Famara Diedhiou. Need a few more pieces to seriously challenge, but a solid midtable finish wouldn’t be a bad season for the Robins.

Queens Park Rangers – had you forgotten that Steve McLaren was actually once a decent manager? I know I had. He’s certainly proving his worth at QPR. With a weak-looking squad and financial issues, the club looked in a right old mess after losing their first four games, including a 7-1 humiliation at West Brom. But McLaren has really got the club going, behind a big strong defense and some flair going forward with Luke Freeman and Eze E. If they keep playing with a chip on their shoulder, mid table should be assured, which would be a hell of a result for them in the circumstances.

Brentford – the youngest team in the division, the Bees made a cracking start to the season under Dean Smith, but now Smith has gone to Villa, I worry for them a little. There are definitely some quality players there, but the key was how well he had them organized and motivated. That seems to have gone since he left, and there may be some difficult times ahead.

Millwall – although the Lions probably over-achieved in only narrowly missing out on a playoff spot last season, their early season struggles this time around came as a bit of a surprise. Recently, though, they have started to find their feet and put some results together, doing the things that Neil Harris’ Millwall teams do well – working hard, dominating physically, and picking up scraps off set-pieces. Lee Gregory remains a key player for them up top, a genuine goal poacher. No playoff run this year, but they’ll be alright.

Reading – this lot are strange. At times, they look very strong defensively, and at other times, they look pretty good going forward, and yet here they are in the bottom three. There are some quality players there, and Paul Clement has proven himself over the years to be a good coach, and yet, they are in the bottom three. The team looks much better balanced that in did in the painful Jaap Stam era, and yet…… well, you get the picture. The Royals shouldn’t get relegated, but clearly need to find some consistency from somewhere.

Predictions:
Automatic promotion: Sheffield United, Leeds United
Playoffs: West Bromwich Albion, Norwich City, Derby County, Birmingham City
Relegation: Rotherham United, Bolton Wanderers, Hull City

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