The Championship prides itself on the fact that, unlike its bloated, greedy big brother the Premier League, a level of relative parity exists throughout the table. Virtually any club can begin the season with some optimism that, like Hull and Stoke before them, come the following May they will be in amongst the frenzied tussle for play-off places.
Of course, the reverse is equally true at the bottom end of the table, where the relegation scrap is no less fierce, nor is it any less realistic a fate for many teams. As the likes of Leeds and Leicester can attest, an illustrious name is no guarantee of Championship safety.
Newly promoted sides
As the league table begins to take shape, a number of candidates are already displaying the kind of lousy form (both on and off the pitch) that suggests they will be flirting with relegation. Of those teams that were promoted from League One last season, only the winners Swansea, currently sitting in 15th, have shown any indication that they have the tools to adapt to their elevated surroundings.
Nottingham Forest, dead last and pointless away from home, will need to call on all of the experience of their proud (if distant) heritage in order to haul themselves off the bottom. Fans will hope boyhood fan and summer free transfer, Andrew Cole, is able to roll back the years.
It seems somewhat early to be branding a match as ‘a relegation 6 pointer’ at this stage, but Saturday’s tie between Barnsley and Doncaster Rovers at Barnsley’s Oakwood stadium looks to be exactly that. Neither club’s form will be cause for optimism, but both teams will see the fixture as a potential springboard from which to build a decent run. Barnsley in particular, with all but one of their 5 points having come at home, will be acutely aware of the importance of getting a result from the tie. The outlook for third from bottom Doncaster looks equally bleak, and after a steady if unspectacular start to the season they are without a point from their last 5 games, and have mustered only 4 goals so far.
Big names in trouble
Perhaps the most surprising names to be found at the lower reaches of the division are those of Watford and Crystal Palace; last season’s losing play-off semi-finalists. Amid off-field cries of instability and financial mismanagement, Watford are displaying the kind of form more befitting of relegation fodder than promotion hopefuls. Strikers John-Joe O’Toole and Tommy Smith have had no trouble finding the net, but unfortunately neither have opposition teams (with or without the linesman’s assistance). Crystal Palace, meanwhile, look to be recovering from a patchy start; aided notably by the loan signing of Craig Beattie from West Brom. A derby win against Charlton, who are in something of a slump themselves, will have assuaged some fears.
Also on the up are Southampton and Derby, who have started to put some clear air between themselves and fellow early season strugglers; new Saints manager Jan Poortvliet’s young side finally finding the results to match their pretty but fragile passing game. Having experienced relegation last season, Derby will be desperate to avoid the same fate again, and their recently inflated bank balance and dedicated fans will demand this.
Southampton, embroiled in a relegation battle that stretched across almost the whole lower half of the table last season, know only too well the ease with which a club can be sucked into the relegation places. For as many clubs as crave promotion to the Premier League, just as many can expect to be scrapping at the wrong end of the table as the season reaches its climax.