Championship Corner

As the Premiership looks set to enter into two race race its time to look at the Championship, where things are a looking a lot more interesting at the turn of the year as the season enters its halfway point. Lets start by looking at the top....


I often joke with my friends that WBA are the "Arsenal of the Championship" but this is often met by howls of derision. Whilst my claim may be slightly exaggerated it can't be denied that the Baggies are one of the most entertaining teams in the country right now. The sale of Kamara, Koumas and Davies (have any of them really bettered themselves...?) ripped the spine out of Tony Mowbray's team but he has done an excellent rebuilding job to send the Baggies top at Xmas. Liverpool fans may think they have the "best midfield in the world" but I think that West Brom may have the best midfield in the Championship. Gera, Greening, Brunt, Koren, Texeira and Morrison are formidable and ally that to the evergreen Phillips upfront with a helping hand from Ishmael "roasting" Miller then the future is looking bright for the Baggies. They are the top scorers in the country at the moment and their whopping goal difference is testimony to the football they play.

Joint top with the Baggies are the the Glory Hornet Boys. If WBA are the Rolls Royce of the division then Watford are the Morris Minor, but at the end of the day, they still get you from A to B like the Rolls Royce does, though perhaps in less style. Watford are horrible to watch, make no bones about it but they grind out results and in King, Ellington and McAnuff they do possess a very real goal threat. It remains to be seen if they have the squad depth to maintain a title challenge but it is likely they will be up there come the end of the season, providing they sort out their home form.

Contiuning the car analogy, and third place Stoke City are like a Monster truck, they will just stomp all over you. A friend who went to the Stoke City Vs West Brom games said that it was more like a WWE wrestling match with Stoke City turning each game into a playground fight. However, the table doesn't lie and it cannot be denied that that their style of football is effective. In Ricardo Fuller they have one of the Leagues most fearsome strikers as recently shown in his single handed demolition of the Baggies. If Pulis can strengthen his squad in the transfer window then you can sure they will be around those top two promotion spots come May.

Bristol City and Charlton have stuttered in recent weeks but they remain just a few points adrift. Gary Johnson has done an exceptional job at Bristol City having seen his team promoted from League One only last season. Alan Pardew is one of the most experienced managers around at getting teams out of this division and his nouse could prove crucial at the end of the season for Charlton

A word also for pre-season favourites Sheffield United. Bryan Robson looks set to prove once again that he is a shite manager as he takes a team which nearly survived from the Premiership, added to the squad and yet somehow managed to turn them into an average mediocre side. The former Man Utd legend is a bit like a lame horse when it comes to management, he just needs to be put out of his misery.

Turning to the other end of the table and Colchester United look doomed. They had to sell Iwelumo, Cureton and Varney in the summer, their whole strikeforce basically. That's a bit like having your legs removed and still hoping that you can drive a car(although I believe that actually IS possible these days). Either way, you get the point I am trying to make. Colchester are up shit creek without a paddle, but so was that Darwin bloke who came back from the dead so perhaps they can still survive. BOOM BOOM.

QPR have hired an Italian manager who cannot speak English to try and help them stave of relegation after the previous Englishman had a nightmare (sound familiar England fans...?). I think that they could put the Super Mario Brothers in charge and they would still have more chance of surviving to be honest.

Preston sacked Paul Simpson in an attempt to revive their fortunes. However, they will soon realise that changing manager when you have a shit team will make no difference whatsoever. It's a bit like Lewis Hamilton starting to drive for Toyota and expecting him win the title. I don't think so.

Sunil