HERE. WE. GO
With six new teams, 11 new managers and one storied old club reduced to such levels of penury by a pernicious owner that one of its unpaid suppliers have reportedly refused to provide sock-tape for its belatedly-paid players, the new Championship campaign kicks off on Friday night, with fancied sides Birmingham and Ipswich ready to get the first of the regular season’s 552 games started. Of course there could end up being considerably fewer if Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri doesn’t do the decent thing and sell up for a price that isn’t totally outlandish, but for now the Owls remain hopeful of fielding a team for their season-opener at relegated returnees Leicester on Sunday, even if whatever side they can cobble together is forced to show more leg than is considered appropriate or decent on a football pitch. As things stand, Wednesday fans would almost certainly be delighted if their club lives up to its status as hotter-than-the-sun favourites to finish bottom of the league come season’s end, because it would at least mean they still have one to support.
A white-knuckle ride so unpredictable that … erm, five of the past six pre-season favourites have gone on to win it, the Championship still remains one of football’s more exciting leagues in so far as anyone in it can beat anyone else without it registering particularly high on the Richter scale. An ongoing soap opera with no ends of overlapping and intertwined narrative arcs and characters, this season will boast no end of intriguing interlopers in the form of Wrexham custodians/opportunists Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, Snoop Dogg sidling into the Swansea City hood and the Birmingham minority owner, documentary star and charisma vacuum that is Tom Brady.
To act as a counterbalance to these intriguing sprinklings of stardust, of course there are more meat-and-potatoes sides of the kind personified by Preston. A team who took so much umbrage at a recent Big Website suggestion that their unremarkable, ongoing and reassuring presence in the second tier is to be highly commended, they failed to win any of their final eight games and only stayed up on the final day by the skin of their teeth. One imagines a mid-table finish will do just fine this time around, although they may struggle again.
While the likes of Hull, Oxford, Charlton and Portsmouth are also likely to be in the scramble to avoid having to mix it down among the dead men, Luton’s surprise second consecutive relegation last season proved nobody can rest on their laurels. Having had a full pre-season to get his ducks in a row ahead of his first full campaign as Coventry manager, Frank Lampard’s fortunes seem like the kind that could veer either way and his many cheerleaders and detractors will inevitably be keeping a close eye on the table to see which half his side occupy. Following last season’s playoff failure he’ll be…
Disclaimer
We strive to uphold the highest ethical standards in all of our reporting and coverage. We 5guruayurveda.com want to be transparent with our readers about any potential conflicts of interest that may arise in our work. It’s possible that some of the investors we feature may have connections to other businesses, including competitors or companies we write about. However, we want to assure our readers that this will not have any impact on the integrity or impartiality of our reporting. We are committed to delivering accurate, unbiased news and information to our audience, and we will continue to uphold our ethics and principles in all of our work. Thank you for your trust and support.
Website Upgradation is going on. For any glitch kindly connect at 5guruayurveda.com
