Why do people say the Championship will be stronger next season?

[Notters]

My favourite post in that thread is the guy who recommends a weekend in Hastings. Made me laugh anyway.

Ah yes, I forgot that one! Great for real ale (does he mean urine?) apologies to anyone from Hastings!

 

[Weststander]

There are going to be a hell of a lot of big guns with history there, but they will also be under a lot of pressure if results go badly.

Depends if Gus & TB buy quality, pace, power; and a proven finisher this summer, if they really want 2013 to give the promotion.

 

[New Carpet?]

Going against the grain here, but I think next season will be far more competitive than this one.

The teams coming down will still probably all have fairly competent squads (albeit minus a couple of star players) and the teams coming up look pretty solid too.

As for those sides that are already in the Championship, many of them have underachieved in the past year or two but are starting to head in the right direction now - I can't see Leeds, Leicester, Forest and Ipswich all being as bad next year. Cardiff and the two other losing play-off sides will all be formidable again, along with a progressive Middlesbrough side.

Watford and Millwall have both made excellent use of the loan market in recent seasons and might just spring a surprise as well.

 

[The Large One]

There are going to be a hell of a lot of big guns with history there, but they will also be under a lot of pressure if results go badly.

Depends if Gus & TB buy quality, pace, power; and a proven finisher this summer, if they really want 2013 to give the promotion.

Thankfully, history - for the most part - counts for f*** all.

 

[mikeyjh]

I can see it being a tough season, teams to look out for:-

Leeds - Pains me to say it, but Warnock rarely fails to improve teams
M'boro - Will come back strong, too good a squad and manager
Wolves - Well run financially, club on the up (apart from the obv blip) they'll appoint a decent manager and can see them being the favourites
Leicester - They've got the backing and the makings of a very good squad.

Forest are, to nick the expression from Tucker and the present government, an omnishambles, loads of players out of contract and a complicated ownership position, don't expect much from them... Oh, and if you want a laugh - Own Nottingham Forest FC | My desire, is always to be here, oh City Ground

 

[perseus]

So, all in all, there should be anywhere between 10-14 teams who will go into the season thinking the have a decent chance of the top six. Much like last season and pretty much every season.

I thought it was particularly strong last season, but it turned out much the same as normal, i.e. very strong and hard to beat teams with all the flair players going to the Premier.

The Premier should be interesting next season as I think the three teams going up will do well (West Ham are expected to go up). It might be the second season syndrome for Norwich, QPR (if they stay up) and Swansea. Second season is consolidation or a big flop.

For my mind West Ham look every bit as good (=effective) as Liverpool. Both teams have a tendency to draw at home. On paper Liverpool look good, but their results tell a different story. West Ham have a percentage play style, but with a couple of new players with a bit of guile and skill, they could cause trouble for any team