LANCASHIRE delight in the Championship

BET365 make Cardiff the 7/1 favourites for the Championship season which gets underway Friday 8th August. The Bluebirds won the title two seasons ago which is the only reason I can think for this decision as it seems a puzzling choice of market leaders. Ole Gunnar Solksjaer is an unproven manager with no experience of this division, Vincent Tan is an owner prone to a meltdown and the Bluebirds have lost two of their best players from last season in Frazier Campbell and Steven Caulker. The Welsh side came bottom of the Premier League and should be in no way shorter than the two teams they came down with.

Derby are 15/2 second favourites and if there was any justice the Rams would be playing Premier League football next season after comfortably coming third. The play-offs are never fair though unless you are the side promoted from them. I like the work done by the East Midlands side in the transfer window and I would be shocked if they are not in the top six again this season. I would though suggest waiting a few weeks before getting involved as they might be suffering from some form of post play-off hangover and that price could go out.

Fulham are 9/1 and I am not sure what to make of the London side right now. On the positive side Ross McCormack is an excellent championship striker and Scott Parker is an excellent leader, on the negative side the signings are a mixed bag and the owner might hit the panic button as soon as things get slightly tough. Norwich are 10/1 and of the three relegated sides I would say the Canaries are the best value of the trio. They finished higher than the other two last season and have signed Lewis Grabban a proven scorer at this level. Neil Adams is a risk as manager which means I might just hold my money but I could not put anyone off backing the East Anglian side.

The team I really like though are Wigan at 9/1 who had an excellent second half of the season before coming unstuck in the play-offs. The Latics tick all the boxes, hugely talented squad, talented manager in Uwe Rosler and an owner in Dave Whelan prepared to back him. Middlesbrough are 12/1 shots and in Aitor Karanka they have a manager I rate highly. I think the North-East side could be on for big things but bet365 seem to agree and at these prices I am happy to give them a miss. The same could be said about Watford at 14/1 who have the 2012/13 Championship Player of the Season back in Matej Vydra. Forest at 16/1 are possible if Stuart Pearce can get back the confidence that so badly disappeared midway through the season. Brighton and Reading at 20/1 are two sides I can see going backwards this season, the former as new manager Sami Hyppia is taking a sensible long-term approach to squad building and the latter as ownership issues are a mess. Wolves at 20/1 should be respected but this might be a season too early for the young side under the guidance of smart manager Kenny Jackett. Bournemouth, Ipswich and Bolton all command respect and have the potential to finish amongst the play-off places if they make smart moves in the transfer market.

The final selection is Blackburn who went 12 games unbeaten to end the season and have done the best business of all the sides this summer by signing Jordan Rhodes to a long-term deal. Gary Bowyer does not the credit he deserves and some tweaks at the back and 11/4 a top six finish, 6/1 promotion and 20/1 each-way the title will look excellent value.

RECOMMENDATION: Wigan each-way to win the Championship, 9/1, bet365
Wigan to be promoted to the Premier League, 3/1, bet365
Wigan to finish in the top six, 11/10, bet365
Blackburn each-way to win the Championship, 20/1, BET365
Blackburn to be promoted to the Premier League, 6/1, BET365
Blackburn to finish in the top six, 11/4, BET365

Go To bet365

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08/08/2014     © Frixo 2024