With giants coming down from the Premier League and big clubs coming up from League One, England’s second tier promises to be a bunfight. As Luton proved, even the less fancied sides can thrive 2023-24
A closed shop in some ways, wide open in others: the Championship is a befuddlingly fascinating league, specialising in one thing above all: chaos.
It’s true that 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.
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.
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.
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
