How the Championship table will look in May is anyone's guess - with giants dropping down from the Premier League and big clubs coming up from League One.
A closed shop in some ways, wide open in others: the Championship is a befuddlingly fascinating league, specialising in one thing above all: chaos.
Automatic promotion races of the last two seasons have both featured a swashbuckling, runaway champion followed by a runner-up cruising to second, challenged only by a resurgent slow starter.
It’s also true that there’s been no final-day drama in the relegation dogfight since 2020/21. But the play-off scrambles have been absolute box-office.
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With just two games left in 2022/23, even a team in the bottom half had a chance of qualifying for the post-season. On the final day, five teams fought for two places. Luton ultimately won the play-offs – a massive achievement for a club that had been in non-league as recently as 2014, and a message to all that success against the odds is possible with smart ownership, recruitment and coaching.
There’s no denying, though, that the clubs with parachute payments have a sizeable advantage. It’s one that Leeds, Leicester and Southampton must seize. The Yorkshire club will have a lively, energetic squad if they can avoid too many important departures, while Leicester hope that Enzo Maresca has learned plenty as Pep Guardiola’s assistant, and new Saints boss Russell Martin must ensure there’s an efficiency behind his side’s possession principles.
The biggest threat to the tumbled trio may come from Middlesbrough, given their form after Michael Carrick took charge last October: 58 points from his 30 games, scoring 65 goals and conceding 35. After such end-to-end entertainment, losing their play-off semi-final 1-0 over two legs could be incentivising.
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Their conquerors, Coventry, have new ownership and a manager who can do no wrong, having taken the club from League Two to within one game of the Premier League. Mark Robins may struggle to replace key players, however, and the same could be true at fellow play-off losers Sunderland, although they have bagged a potential Australia captain of the future in their gloriously-named defender, Nectarios Triantis.
Sunderland narrowly fell to Luton in the play-offs last season (Image credit: Getty Images)
Millwall must recover from the uncharacteristic mental collapse that kicked them out of the play-off places on final day, but finishes of 8th, 11th, 9th and 8th under Gary Rowett suggest they’ll be involved. Blackburn, whose three second-half goals stunned the Lions that day, went close themselves, and have a clear pressing identity under Jon Dahl Tomasson.
Things look a little less positive at West Bromwich Albion, though they have an outstanding coach in Carlos Corberan, while Watford and Norwich, so dominant in previous seasons, need serious rebuilds – as do Gareth Ainsworth’s QPR, due to a total stylistic change and a worrying slump that nearly relegated them. And Stoke began pre-season training without a full XI under contract. Anyone for five-a-side?
Bristol City and Preston, perennial mid-tablers, will hope they can push on. So, too, Liam Rosenior and John Eustace, talented coaches intending to build on progressive first seasons at Hull and Birmingham respectively.
Steven Schumacher led Plymouth Argyle to the League One title last season - can they consolidate in the Championship? (Image credit: Getty Images)
Faced with vacancies in their dugouts, Welsh rivals Cardiff and Swansea took two very different approaches: Erol Bulut arrives in the capital from Turkey, and Michael Duff in Swansea having worked wonders at Cheltenham and Barnsley. The Swans are in a double-figured list of clubs who feel they can aim for the play-offs, behind the small cluster expecting an automatic promotion challenge – but who knows what surprises are in store?
Ipswich could join the top six mix straight away. Consolidation would be no mere consolation, though, for the also-promoted pair of Plymouth Argyle and, still reeling from Darren Moore’s shock exit, Sheffield Wednesday.
Elsewhere in Yorkshire, 50 points is the objective for Rotherham and Huddersfield. Neil Warnock, 74, is staying with the Terriers for one last, last, last dance. Well, there has to be some continuity in the chaos...
Birmingham finished 17th in the Championship last season, but new owners at the club means Blues have some positivity to cling to. Expect more of the same on the pitch, however.
Blackburn just missed out on the play-offs last season, despite beating rivals Millwall 4-3 on the final day to end their hopes, too. Rovers could sneak into them this term, though.
A 14th-place finish in the Championship for Bristol City is encouraging, and things are looking up as younger players start to make their name at the club.
Cardiff finished 21st last season, one place above the relegation zone, and could have an even bigger fight on their hands to stay in the division come May 2024.
Play-off final defeat to Luton Town, after defeating Middlesbrough in the semis and finished fifth in the regular season, was heart-breaking for Cov, though arguably way beyond anyone's expectations for the team.
Warnock returned mid-season to guide Huddersfield to safety last season, and he's stuck around for the start of this campaign to ensure they don't end up in the same situation.
While Ipswich finished as runners-up in League One, the Tractor Boys are already being tipped as promotion-candidates in the new Championship campaign. Can they live up to the expectation?
It's all change at Elland Road, with a new manager and plenty of new players set to bed in. While fans want to return to the top tier immediately, following their 19th-place finish, they might not get what they desire.
Leicester are favourites to win the league this season, and it's understandable considering they won the FA Cup just two years ago and have made some shrewd signings.
Michael Carrick has impressed since taking over at the Riverside, and while they lost to Coventry in the play-off semi-finals, Boro are tipped for another strong campaign.
Narrowly missing out on the play-offs on the final game of last term, after leading Blackburn 3-1 at one point before losing 4-3, will mean Millwall will come back with a vengeance.
Everything was just a bit, well, flat at Preston last time out, as they finished 12th. They were never in danger of being relegated, but never troubled the top six either.
QPR were in free-fall last season despite such a promising start, they ended up 20th in the Championship. Manager Ainsworth will have to address that slide, though things are looking precarious.
Rotherham finally stayed in the Championship last season, after four consecutive campaigns of yo-yoing between the second and third tier. They came 19th, and will hope for another season of safety.
Beating Peterborough in the play-off semi-finals, after losing the first leg 4-0, will live long in the memory of Wednesday fans, before Josh Windass scored in the final against Barnsley in the 123rd minute. Many suggested they should've been automatically promoted regardless.
Southampton were the first Premier League side to drop into the Championship last term, finishing plum last. It's not all bleak now though - they could use 2023/24 as a chance to rebuild.
Many didn't expect Sunderland to reach the play-offs in their first season back in the Championship last time out, so losing to Luton Town is no shame. Their young side is constantly progressing as well.
Sacking Rob Edwards, who later led Luton to the Premier League, turned out an awful decision by the Watford hierarchy, a they ended up 11th. With Joao Pedro and Ismaila Sarr both gone, it's unlikely they'll be in the top spots again this campaign.
Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.
