Millwall are up, but how will they cope?

It certainly doesn’t feel like every season we see six different teams in the Championship, and depending what way you enter the league can often dictate expectations for a club. After the weekend’s League One Playoff final, we now know the three teams that will be playing the Championship via relegation from the Premiership and the three that will be entering the fray from League One promotion. It’s farewell to Newcastle, West Brom, Blackpool, Sheffield Wednesday, Plymouth and Peterborough and a fond welcome to Hull, Burnley, Portsmouth, Norwich, Leeds and Millwall. Something quite odd about this round of promotions and relegations is how next season might play out for each of these teams, as many have other things on their mind apart from the usual chance to show bouncebackabillity or fight for their life. Instead, these six new contenders offer something quite different to next season and will be fighting much different battles to what would usually be expected:

Hull City:

Hull’s demise really started half way through their second season in the Premiership. They took the league by storm but then suddenly faltered and spent big in order to try and maintain their top flight status. The club is in heavy debt after a number of flops at the club, and failure to offload a number of players could see the club be threatened with relegation. It’s almost certain now that Phil Brown will not be returning from gardening leave, yet the settlement of his contract only chalks up another financial loss for the club. Despite his brilliance, Jimmy Bullard needs to leave the club, as his high wages and lack of playing time have really hindered the Tigers, and despite his commitment to the Yorkshire outfit, Hull will be desperate to let the player move on this summer. Whether anyone will meet his high wage demands is another problem however, as I can’t see many sides wanting to pay that much for a player who has consistently struggled with injuries for the past several seasons. A lot of free transfers can be expected from the club, and there should be a number of youngsters getting a chance to perform. The most important thing for the Tigers is to appoint the correct manager at this point, as I can’t really see them gaining promotion next season.

Burnley:

Many criticised manager Brian Laws last season, and his performance in the first ten or so games at the start of the 2010/11 season will decide his future. Surprising news comes in the form of a massive sale for Steven Fletcher, who impressed quite a few last season (although £7.5m may still need to be justified). Burnley may also gain goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey and striker Chris Iwelumo from the deal, both of which would be welcome signings, particularly Hennessey as (I’m sorry Burnley fans!) Brian Jensen certainly has a few ‘rush of blood to the head’ moments. The Clarets have also capitalised on Hull’s financial position, by nabbing Dean Marney for half a million, and relegation to the Championship appears to have just made them more determined to return at the first time of asking. I’d like to see more on Burnley over this summer, but their season appears to be shaping up well, whether the unfavoured Brian Laws will hinder this remains to be seen.

Portsmouth:

When will it end? They’ve been the love of Sky Sports this season, and provided them with plenty viewing figures and stories; the problems of Portsmouth football club have not been kept quiet. Avram Grant has left the club to no one’s surprise, and now there a number of potential managers who have the opportunity to take on what will no doubt be a massive task. You may have heard the goalkeeper David James wants the job, which has come as a shock to many, yet Steve Cotterill would no doubt be a great acquisition for the club, although he probably has a good chance at getting a number of vacant jobs after his spell with Notts County. No matter who the manager is, Portsmouth are in real trouble of getting relegated to League One next season and that is the truth. The whole team is up for sale and there are still quite a few top earners at the club, as the club goes into even more debt. Fair play if they can manage to have a good season, but it could really be back-to-back relegations for Pompey.

Norwich City:

The Canaries came straight back from the drop, and did it in some style as despite an early thumping from Colchester that signalled doom for the side, they hired Lambert from Colchester and have never looked back, Players like Wes Hoolahan, Gary Holt and Chris Martin will most likely again lead the line for City, although Paul Lambert’s recent revelation regarding less loan signings could signal the side’s determination to make clever permanent signings, which would suggest more depth in the squad. The managers and fans are hopeful that they can agree another season long loan of Newcastle youngster Fraser Forster after the ‘keeper made a number of impressive displays between the sticks in League One and the club will probably look to get some experienced heads in to accompany some of the younger players. I think Norwich can beat the drop, they won’t be world beaters but I’m sure they can give it a go, and a good following could help them make their home stadium, Carrow Road, a fortress.

Leeds United:

It was a long time coming, but one of England’s most famous clubs has finally found something to cheer about after well detailed troubles. They were beaten in the playoffs last season, and luck just didn’t seem to be on their side. Even this season just gone, they were made to sweat on their promotion hopes after a dismal run which saw them just clinch automatic promotion to the Championship. Kasper Schmeichel, who bossed League 2, has become the clubs first signing, and many will be expecting more recruits over the coming weeks. Star striker Jermaine Beckford has finally departed however, signing for Everton on a free transfer, a deal which was rumoured as agreed in January after the players heroics against rivals Manchester United; this leaves Leeds looking for a player to fill the void. I know due to the clubs stature many will be expecting the club to challenge for promotion once again, but despite what you may hear I know many of the Leeds fans are realistic about their chances, and they would happily take a chance to just re-establish themselves in the Championship so they can progress to the next level.

Millwall:

“No one likes us, no one likes us, no one likes us – we don’t care!”. The cry of the self proclaimed most hated team in English football. Millwall clinched promotion to the Championship after last seasons heartache via the League One Playoff, and many clubs will be dreading the extra cost of security next season. A few problems arise with Millwall’s promotion, most notably their recent problems with Hull City who they will once again be squaring off with and of course we can continue with the hostile Leeds Millwall rivalry which has seen a number of problems when the sides met in League One. They’ve just gained promotion, but the club will probably be set for a relegation battle next season, although a number of good and experienced signings could see a change to that. They’ve got a great manager in Kenny Jackett, and The Den is not the nicest place for an away team to visit.

So what we have here are different situations, I actually believe that there is a strong chance that the promoted teams could do better than the relegated ones, most notably Hull and Portsmouth who may face a massive struggle this season as their debts could prevent them from really challenging. Overall, these teams provide an open season and it’s hard to say who will get promotion and who will get relegated considering the positions of a number of other teams in the league.

Can Fergie Complete The Challenge?

If you don’t know already, Darren Ferguson has took the vacant managerial position at Preston North End after Alan Irvine was sacked after a poor run of results. Ferguson will take over a Preston team who currently sit 16th in the Championship and eight points of a play-off position. The former Peterborough manager signed a three and a half years deal and faces the challenge of taking Preston to the next level after many of his predocesors failed at getting Preston Promoted. Fergusons challenge is far from easy and he will need to do the following if he wants to face his father in the league next year.

Gain Confidence

In Preston’s last eight games, they have only won one, as well as drawing two and lost five. This is no where near good enough for a team with Preston’s potential. If they keep this run of form going, it will only make Ferguson’s task harder. The players should be a little bit up beat after the 7-0 thrashing of Colchester on Saturday and Saturday’s fixture at home to Doncaster is winnable and I’m sure Ferguson would like nothing more than to get off to a winning start. If Preston are capable of beating Doncaster on Saturday it will see them rise to the same points tally as Doncaster and move them to just five points off the play-off’s.

Make Deepdale a fortress again

Last season Deepdale was a fortress and one of the main reasons why Preston made the play-off’s, If Preston are going to repeat that feat then they need to regain their great home form. This season Preston have only won four home games out of a possible eleven. If Ferguson can get the team playing and winning games at home again then the play off’s are a possibility.

Transfer Policy

Ideally, Preston would love to spend money on a few new players this transfer window, however that is unlikely to happen. Ferguson will be looking to sell some dead wood which is not good enough for a team aiming for the big time and replacing them with young enthusiastic players. I think its quite likely he’ll be giving his Dad a ring and will want to take a few of Manchester United’s youngster out on loan for the rest of the season to bolster his squad.

So after back to back promotions with Peterborough, Ferguson is about to take on a challenge that could make him a household name in the world of football management due to the failed attempts by many before him. If Ferguson can get Preston playing again and stop the amount of goals being coincided the play-off’s are a huge possibility for Ferguson and Preston who both have great potential.

The playoffs are almost done and only two more teams will be vying for promotion to League One, Rochdale and Stockport. What is known after today are what teams will be leaving and coming into the Championship for next season. Gaining promotion to the EPL along with the riches and glory are West Bromwich Albion as Champions, Stoke City in second place and Hull City winners of the CCC Playoff Final yesterday against Bristol City. Hull have now gotten rid of the “biggest city to never have a top flight team” tag. Coming up from League One are Swansea City as League One Champs, Nottingham Forest( or as I affectionately call them Notts Florist) in second and today Doncaster Rovers secured thier place in the Championship by beating Leeds United 1-0 in the League One Playoff Final. For Doncaster they were playing in the Blue Square Premier only 5 years ago so this is quite a rise for them.

Coming down from the EPL are my beloved Derby County, Birmingham City, and Reading. All three teams now have two years of 11 million dollars worth of parachute payments to help regroup and get promoted once more.In there last year of parachute payments  after relegation from the EPL last season are Charlton and Sheffield United and Watford. Going down into League One are Colchester, Scunthorpe, and Leicester City.

With the Championship being wide open and the transfer window not open yet its almost impossible to predict who will go up and will go down but as the summer evolves I will try to do just that and I am sure be proved spectacularly wrong.