Post by QPR Report on Aug 1, 2009 21:26:49 GMT
The Times/John Aizelwood - The Championship Countdown
Big spenders
Cardiff City Never knowingly under-bought, chairman Peter Ridsdale has acquired David Marshall from Norwich to solve a long-standing goalkeeping problem, while Paul Quinn’s progress on and off the pitch will enthral. The former Motherwell captain was spared jail last year after being convicted of assault for attacking a man at a teammate’s birthday party. Mark Hudson and Anthony Gerrard had fine seasons at Charlton and Walsall respectively and if Michael Chopra has exorcised his demons, his return might make all the difference. Oh, and don’t forget their shiny new stadium.
Ipswich Town Roy Keane’s new-face count stands at five. Surely by coincidence, three — Damien Delaney, Shane O’Connor and Colin Healy — hail from Keane’s Cork heartland. Former reserve Fulham defender Troy Brown is for the future, but Manchester United’s perpetually loaned Lee Martin could prove one of the summer’s better buys.
Nottingham Forest An outlay of £4m has brought eight permanent new faces and Polish loanee Radoslaw Majewski. Dexter Blackstock should score goals, Paul McKenna should make them and Lee Camp should stop them. Even Forest were surprised Spurs allowed Chris Gunter to leave.
Queens Park Rangers The Loftus Road money men are yet to flash the silly cash but the temperamental Adel Taarabt has arrived from Tottenham for another loan spell. The £3.5m spent on the Argentine midfielder Alejandro Faurlin and the arrival of Italian striker Alessandro Pellicori have excited and baffled in equal measure.
Sheffield United So close to promotion last season, they have bought boldly: West Ham’s Kyel Reid, Manchester City’s Ched Evans, Watford’s nippy Lee Williamson and Keith Treacy, on loan from Blackburn. Hull’s Ryan France is injury-prone but Tranmere’s Andy Taylor looks a genuine coup.
Teams to watch
West Brom Roberto di Matteo might not have been Albion’s first choice for head coach but his love of silk and steel should make him the right one. If he can merge the two, Albion will bounce back whence they came.
Crystal Palace Neil Warnock seems to have lost his managerial vim, while owner Simon Jordan has certainly mislaid his wallet. May be trouble ahead.
Leicester City They ended last season as Division One champions, seven points clear. They scored the most goals in the division and conceded the fewest, losing just four times. They’ve bought cannily, so the only way is up, possibly to the playoffs.
Newcastle United Last season they were sunk under the weight of off-the-field chaos, shockingly bad buys and the sense that however bad things got, they were about to get worse. Now they have no manager, an owner keen to sell and no summer signings. Still, a closely fought 6-1 pre-season defeat at mighty Leyton Orient suggests there is no cause for any concern. At all.
Preston North End They overachieved last season and although manager Alan Irvine spurned West Bromwich Albion’s come hither beckonings, Deepdale has enjoyed an ominously quiet summer.
Players to treasure
Afonso Alves (Middlesbrough) Gareth Southgate spent £12m of Steve Gibson’s money on the lumbering Brazilian, who last season scored his fourth and last league goal in January. Last month, he neglected to return on time for pre-season training. Boro fans, not entirely unreasonably perceiving a lack of commitment, tend to wish he’d neglected to return at all.
Freddy Eastwood (Coventry City) Spent the summer being fined £1,599 for fly-tipping offences. Spent last season scoring four goals and struggling for form, pace and confidence, leaving City fans to reflect through the Ricoh gloom that they might just as well have fly-tipped Eastwood’s £1.2m fee.
Ben Burgess (Blackpool) At a cake-friendly 14st 4lb, Burgess ought to cause fireworks in rival penalty areas, but Blackpool’s No 9 hasn’t scored since just before Bonfire Night.
Simon Walton (Plymouth) Being omitted from Argyle’s pre-season tour hardly augurs well for last summer’s record signing. Neither does a dispute over his best position with manager Paul Sturrock, who described him as ‘stupid . . . petulant . . . a big disappointment’ after a red card at Barnsley.
Gorka Pintado (Swansea) This time last year, Swansea’s then manager Roberto Martinez said Pintado was worth £7m. The Spanish striker turned out to be an injury-prone 30-something journeyman. This summer somebody — one Senor Pintado, to be precise — has suggested he is the man to assume the departed Jason Scotland’s mantle. He could be wrong.
Borja Valero (West Brom) Albion paid a whopping £4.7m for the not-so-great Valero. Albion fans could forgive Leon Barnett’s howlers and Pele for not playing like Pele, but they struggled with someone whose lackadaisical performances displayed all the urgency of an especially slothful deck chair attendant.
To go up
West Bromwich Albion, Sheffield United
Playoffs
Ipswich Town, Nottingham Forest, Leicester City, Cardiff City
To go down
Sc***horpe, Plymouth, Barnsley
Big spenders
Cardiff City Never knowingly under-bought, chairman Peter Ridsdale has acquired David Marshall from Norwich to solve a long-standing goalkeeping problem, while Paul Quinn’s progress on and off the pitch will enthral. The former Motherwell captain was spared jail last year after being convicted of assault for attacking a man at a teammate’s birthday party. Mark Hudson and Anthony Gerrard had fine seasons at Charlton and Walsall respectively and if Michael Chopra has exorcised his demons, his return might make all the difference. Oh, and don’t forget their shiny new stadium.
Ipswich Town Roy Keane’s new-face count stands at five. Surely by coincidence, three — Damien Delaney, Shane O’Connor and Colin Healy — hail from Keane’s Cork heartland. Former reserve Fulham defender Troy Brown is for the future, but Manchester United’s perpetually loaned Lee Martin could prove one of the summer’s better buys.
Nottingham Forest An outlay of £4m has brought eight permanent new faces and Polish loanee Radoslaw Majewski. Dexter Blackstock should score goals, Paul McKenna should make them and Lee Camp should stop them. Even Forest were surprised Spurs allowed Chris Gunter to leave.
Queens Park Rangers The Loftus Road money men are yet to flash the silly cash but the temperamental Adel Taarabt has arrived from Tottenham for another loan spell. The £3.5m spent on the Argentine midfielder Alejandro Faurlin and the arrival of Italian striker Alessandro Pellicori have excited and baffled in equal measure.
Sheffield United So close to promotion last season, they have bought boldly: West Ham’s Kyel Reid, Manchester City’s Ched Evans, Watford’s nippy Lee Williamson and Keith Treacy, on loan from Blackburn. Hull’s Ryan France is injury-prone but Tranmere’s Andy Taylor looks a genuine coup.
Teams to watch
West Brom Roberto di Matteo might not have been Albion’s first choice for head coach but his love of silk and steel should make him the right one. If he can merge the two, Albion will bounce back whence they came.
Crystal Palace Neil Warnock seems to have lost his managerial vim, while owner Simon Jordan has certainly mislaid his wallet. May be trouble ahead.
Leicester City They ended last season as Division One champions, seven points clear. They scored the most goals in the division and conceded the fewest, losing just four times. They’ve bought cannily, so the only way is up, possibly to the playoffs.
Newcastle United Last season they were sunk under the weight of off-the-field chaos, shockingly bad buys and the sense that however bad things got, they were about to get worse. Now they have no manager, an owner keen to sell and no summer signings. Still, a closely fought 6-1 pre-season defeat at mighty Leyton Orient suggests there is no cause for any concern. At all.
Preston North End They overachieved last season and although manager Alan Irvine spurned West Bromwich Albion’s come hither beckonings, Deepdale has enjoyed an ominously quiet summer.
Players to treasure
Afonso Alves (Middlesbrough) Gareth Southgate spent £12m of Steve Gibson’s money on the lumbering Brazilian, who last season scored his fourth and last league goal in January. Last month, he neglected to return on time for pre-season training. Boro fans, not entirely unreasonably perceiving a lack of commitment, tend to wish he’d neglected to return at all.
Freddy Eastwood (Coventry City) Spent the summer being fined £1,599 for fly-tipping offences. Spent last season scoring four goals and struggling for form, pace and confidence, leaving City fans to reflect through the Ricoh gloom that they might just as well have fly-tipped Eastwood’s £1.2m fee.
Ben Burgess (Blackpool) At a cake-friendly 14st 4lb, Burgess ought to cause fireworks in rival penalty areas, but Blackpool’s No 9 hasn’t scored since just before Bonfire Night.
Simon Walton (Plymouth) Being omitted from Argyle’s pre-season tour hardly augurs well for last summer’s record signing. Neither does a dispute over his best position with manager Paul Sturrock, who described him as ‘stupid . . . petulant . . . a big disappointment’ after a red card at Barnsley.
Gorka Pintado (Swansea) This time last year, Swansea’s then manager Roberto Martinez said Pintado was worth £7m. The Spanish striker turned out to be an injury-prone 30-something journeyman. This summer somebody — one Senor Pintado, to be precise — has suggested he is the man to assume the departed Jason Scotland’s mantle. He could be wrong.
Borja Valero (West Brom) Albion paid a whopping £4.7m for the not-so-great Valero. Albion fans could forgive Leon Barnett’s howlers and Pele for not playing like Pele, but they struggled with someone whose lackadaisical performances displayed all the urgency of an especially slothful deck chair attendant.
To go up
West Bromwich Albion, Sheffield United
Playoffs
Ipswich Town, Nottingham Forest, Leicester City, Cardiff City
To go down
Sc***horpe, Plymouth, Barnsley