Championship so open this season

The English Championship is again throwing up lots of thrills and spills for the fans this season.

Every season the standard of play and excitement seems to go up and maybe that’s why teams promoted to the Premier League do so well.

Open

The Championship is so open this season and literally anybody could get promoted. Southampton currently look in  pole position but they haven’t endured a bad patch this season and can still be caught at the top.

Saints

The Saints have done really well in the last couple of seasons and are aiming for back-to-back promotions. They were promoted from League One under Nigel Adkins with a lot of the players that were signed by Alan Pardew.

And that progress has continued with the club sitting five points clear at the top of the Championship table. Their ultimate aim has to be to return to the Premier League and its good to see the likes of Southampton rising again.

Nigel Adkins is a good manager and if they don’t go up this season then I’m sure a return to the Premier League isn’t far off for the Saints.

Surprises

Crystal Palace are fourth in the Championship under managerial rookie Dougie Freedman. By all accounts the club are now in a much healthier financial state than in previous years and can afford to keep hold of talented young players like Wilfried Zaha and Nathaniel Clyne.

Freedman was a surprise appointment at Selhurst Park but he is doing a sterling job with the Eagles. The Scot is starting to prove to his doubters that he has what it takes to make it in management. The club survived relegation from the second tier on the last day of last season but this season looks set to be a far brighter one for long suffering Palace fans.

I have to admit I’m surprised to see Derby in and around the play-off positions. The Rams boss Nigel Clough has taken along time to turn things around at the club but it looks like he is slowly but surely improving his team.

Unfortunately for him he will always be judged on his dads achievements wherever he goes. Clough junior has shown himself to be a decent boss so far. He just needs to kick on a level and actually achieve something with County.

Underachievers

Its strange to see Nottingham Forest near the bottom of the Championship table. The appointment of Steve McClaren was obviously a disastrous one. The former-England boss has recently been replaced by Steve Cotterill.

I have always thought Cotterill was a good lower league boss. His latest managerial spell was as at Championship strugglers Portsmouth, his reign with Pompey didn’t last long though as he decided to join Forest after just a few months on the South Coast.

Cotterill has made a decent start at Forest but the club are still 19th in the league table, a place higher than their new bosses old side Pompey. The two clubs meet this weekend at Fratton Park it will interesting to see the sort of reception that Cotterill gets from the home fans. I’m sure it will be a loud one.

Newcomers

All three teams who came up from League One are holding their own in the Championship his season. As I mentioned before Southampton are top, Brighton after a storming start are 10th just four points off the play-off places and Peterborough are just a point behind Brighton.

Peterborough will certainly be pleased with their start to the season. The last time they were promoted to the Championship they ended up finishing bottom of the league and boss Darren Ferguson was  sacked during the season.

It seems that times are now much happier at London Road. And Ferguson is enjoying management again after a short ill-fated spell at Preston.

Brighton boss Guy Poyet has done a fantastic job at Brighton. The Uruguayan has brought much needed stability to the Seagulls and hopefully they can recover from their recent blip and challenge for a play-off positions this season.

Standard

I believe the gap between the leagues is definitely getting smaller. This is illustrated by the way that teams can achieve consecutive promotions. Norwich achieved it and Southampton could achieve it this season.

The teams that came up into the Premier League from the Championship haven’t looked out of place either. I think that says a lot about the quality and the standard of football in the English second tier. The standard is improving and long may it continue.

Who will win promotion from the Championship this season?