By Paula Marcus
With just two games to go it’s hard to know what 2015/16 will be known for in years to come. Will it be the multi-way battle for top spot, the surprise survival push or the outside contenders staying the distance? As we look back, it’s a good time to see what lessons we have learnt over the season.
Change isn’t always for the best: OK, this is probably a bit of a follow on from last season, but it is still surprising just how many clubs have changed their managers in the last 12 months. Last season really seemed out of the ordinary for manager sackings, but it now looks like a worrying trend that doesn’t seem to be really achieving what it’s supposed to.
A new manager hasn’t changed Derby’s quality of football, Reading and Huddersfield Town are still mid-table and Charlton are still in the bottom three (although it’s a little hard to blame the manager for that one). Nottingham Forest may also be regretting their decision to sack Dougie Freedman, as his replacement has won just one game out of eight. The only club that can probably see their manager change as a success is Rotherham United who defied logic to stay up, and even then it took two sackings to get it right.
It’s tough at the top: if there is one thing to take away from this season it’s that no one really seemed to want to win the division. In the past few seasons there have been teams leading from the front, managing to cling to that top spot for large chunks of the year. This season we have had four different leaders and, with the exception of Brighton and Hove Albion (sorry Seagulls, but more on that later), all have quickly been installed as the team to beat, only to struggle a few weeks later.
After Hull City dropped off the race completely last week, we are left with what is one of the closest Championship battles in recent memory, with two goals separating the top three. Even with just two games left it seems the only way to work out who to put your money on is to throw a dart at the table and go with the team it hits.
Unpredictability is the only predictable thing: Every year before even the first manager is sacked, pundits everywhere set out their predictions for the Championship, and every year around this time we see just how wrong they were. Whilst Leicester City have probably taken the ‘who would have thought’ title for this season, there have still been plenty of strange occurrences.
No one would have predicted that Brighton, the team that spent much of last season trying to stay out of the bottom three, would this year spend the first half of the season undefeated and top of the table. Most pundits had Wolves finishing well inside the playoffs and almost everyone had Rotherham ending at the foot of the table.
Attack isn’t always the best form of defence: Pundits say it, managers say it, players say it, even fans say it. But this year Fulham have tried as hard as they can to prove it just isn’t true, managing to come in with one of the best attacks and worst defences in the division. In fact, star striker Ross McCormack is up for Championship player of the season after contributing 21 of their 65 goals so far. Yet they have only three clean sheets to go with those goals.
If you are looking for slight positives in a sea of conceded goals, unless something goes drastically wrong in the next two games they will end the season with less goals conceded than the 83 they let in last season. If Fulham really want to prevent another season of relegation battles they need to completely refit their defence and fast.
Relegation isn’t always the end: Ignoring Fulham’s impressive attempts to not get promoted back to the Premier League, this season we have really seen that leaving the top flight doesn’t doom you to years of lower league obscurity. After shaky starts, Burnley and Hull city have been pushing for promotion this season. Both teams restructured well, making changes that were needed, and both teams will now finish the season in the top six. That’s a lesson Aston Villa may want to start learning if they want to avoid being the next Fulham.
Be careful what you wish for: Ever since Abramovich started throwing money at Chelsea, every club from the Premier League to League Two has been searching for a sugar daddy of their own. But as we are now learning, there is always a catch. Just a few years ago, most clubs were run by millionaire Chairman or consortiums comprising of local businesses. Now they are the rarity as money men from all over the globe have invested in Championship clubs hoping for a chance at the top division.
Generally, it isn’t working. This season has seen far more disgruntled fans than ever before, with protests at clubs including Hull City, Leeds United, and Charlton Athletic. Despite some of the most organised fans protests ever seen, particularly at Charlton, clueless people are still running Championship clubs.
Finally, you don’t have to be good to have a job: it is still bewildering that Steve Evans is managing a Championship club, and for once it has nothing to do with the fact his boss is Massimo Cellino. Whilst his win percentage is actually far better than it seems at around 40%, performances haven’t been good enough with some embarrassing heavy defeats and strange press interviews.
But even more baffling than the fact he is still employed by Cellino is the fact that he has been linked with the soon to be vacant Celtic job. Having previously managed the mighty Boston United and Crawely Town, it seems mystifying that he would even be linked with the Scottish Champions, but then this is football.
Listen to Paula’s latest Championship podcast at Premier Punditry.