Alex Reid looks at whether the once ever-present appearance of English clubs in the later stages of the Champions League is set to become a thing of the past
Craig Dobson looks at QPR's decision to sack Neil Warnock and replace him with Mark Hughes
Andy Pakes previews this Sunday afternoon clash in the first edition of Game of the Week for 2012
Dave Hughes tells us about his sporting hero, Wes Morgan
The Championship – Brighton and Hove Albion. Do I think that Brighton will be mounting a serious charge for promotion when it gets to the end of the season? Probably not. However, I do think that the south coast club will find relative success in their first season in the Championship and will push for a high mid table position with the play offs a possibility.
They were streets ahead of their League One counterparts last year and have a very capable young manager in Gus Poyet. I was particularly impressed with the way that Brighton played their football last season. They are an excellent passing team and were always prepared to get the ball down on the deck at every possible opportunity last year, despite the fact that League One can be a very physical division to play in.
Another huge advantage for The Seagulls this year is their brand new stadium, which judging by the footage that I have seen so far will be a fantastic place to both play and watch football. Brighton will definitely look to make the Amex Stadium a real fortress to play in this season. As for summer signings, well Poyet has been very astute with his purchases despite the fact that there is a lot of money behind him. Craig Makail-Smith is an excellent purchase and is someone who I believe will score plenty of goals this year.
League One – Preston North End. Despite the fact that I’m a huge Sheffield Wednesday fan and would dearly love to be writing the name of my club here, I think that Preston will be a strong force in League One this year. They have had an indifferent start to their season, picking up four points from their first three games, but I think that they will be in or around the top six come the end of the season.
Phil Brown has assembled a strong looking squad, and two players I think will flourish at Deepdale this year are players I spent time watching at Hillsborough, Iain Turner and Neil Mellor. Turner is a very capable goalkeeper and in particular an excellent shot stopper, while Mellor bagged 20 goals last season on loan at Wednesday. Keeping Paul Coutts in the centre of midfield is also a massive bonus, and I think that with Turner, Coutts and Mellor as the spine of the team, Preston will flourish. Phil Brown is also a manager who I rate very highly and I think that he will be able to get the best out of his players and install grit and determination throughout the side.
League Two – Rotherham United. The Millers have very much been the ‘nearly men’ of League Two in the last couple of years, and just missed out on a play-off place last season. That cost Ronnie Moore his job, but under new boss Andy Scott Rotherham have made a lightening start to the 2011/12 campaign, winning their opening three games. Much of Rotherham’s hope this season will rest on the shoulders of top goal scorer Adam Le Fondre, and if The Millers can keep hold of Le Fondre for the entirety of the season, it will be very hard to predict that they won’t be pushing for the top positions in League Two at the end of the season.
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