Predictions: Who will be 2010/11’s main winners and losers?

If everything I predicted 12 months ago came true I would be a very rich and happy man right now. Unfortunately Arsenal let me down in the league, West Ham failed me in the FA Cup and letting my heart rule my head in the SPL by putting £10 on my beloved Aberdeen to win the SPL really was a waste of ...

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Predictions: Who will be 2010/11’s main winners and losers Part 2

Well you’ve heard what our Panel members have had to say for themselves, now it’s time for the “experts” to have their say. We’ll start off with writer Hugh Larkin. He loves the underdog but he thinks Chelsea are just far too strong for anyone to cope with and thinks Arsenal and Spurs are going to...

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Derby County The Latest To Benefit From The Crewe Alexandra Production Line

The new season kicked off on Saturday and one of the most eye-catching results was Derby Countys 2-1 victory at Leeds United. The Rams victory owed a huge debt to the talent nurtured under the incomparable Dario Gradi at Crewe. The Alex have returned to League Two after a long period punching way a...

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Middlesbrough Installed As Championship Favourites

The betting for this seasons npower Championship is wide open because at least two of the teams relegated from the Premiership arent expected to dominate the division. Neither Portsmouth or Hull City are in position to do what Newcastle United managed last term, even with the parachute largesse. Bu...

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Leicester City: Sousa given a so-so welcome by Foxes

I thought Usain Bolt was the fastest man in the world but I think Leicester chairman Milan Mandaric could give him a run for his money. The former Portsmouth chief wasted no time in finding Nigel Pearson’s successor but the way Pearson left the club has left a shadow hanging over the club. Normally...

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Middlesbrough: Boyd backed to bang ‘em in at the Riverside

You don’t win games unless you score goals. Middlesbrough boss Gordon Strachan is only too aware of that fact, hence the reason why he has done everything possible to bring the SPL’s all-time record goalscorer Kris Boyd to the Riverside. The former Rangers striker broke all kinds of records in Scot...

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Swansea City: Who will replace Sousa at the Liberty Stadium?

The bookies hardly ever get it wrong so the writing was on the wall last week when they closed the book on Paulo Sousa becoming the new Leicester boss. Despite both parties denying any initial contact, the bookmakers weren’t fooled and now Swansea are in the hunt for their second manager inside 12 m...

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Hull City: Pearson’s arrival gets the seal of approval

After two years dining at the top table the Tigers are back in the Championship, but Adam Pearson doesn’t intend to hang around here for long. The Hull City chairman is hungry for more big games against the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal and has made a bold statement of intent by hi...

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Leicester City: Why was Pearson allowed to leave the Foxes?

When I heard Nigel Pearson had left Leicester City to join Hull City I was stunned. After all, this was the man who had not only galvanised a club but an entire city. When he took over at the Walkers Stadium, Leicester City had just dropped into the third tier of English football for the first tim...

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Leicester City: Who will replace Pearson at the Walkers Stadium?

I thought Brazil would win the World Cup this year. I also thought Andy Murray may have won Wimbledon. But I never for one second thought that Nigel Pearson would leave Leicester City. The former Middlesbrough captain revived the Foxes following Ian Holloway’s awful spell at the club and almost le...

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Hull City: Where will Jimmy Bullard start next season – Celtic, Newcastle United or West Ham United? You decide!

It looks as though Hull City playmaker Jimmy Bullard will be moving to pastures new this summer as the Tigers aim to cut costs for their return to the Championship and there is no shortage of takers for the former Fulham man’s services. SPL giants Glasgow Celtic have expressed an interest in takin...

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Hull City: Who will fill Brown’s boots at the KC Stadium?

Phil Brown took Hull City from the depths of the Championship to the dizzy heights of third in the Premier League. Unfortunately his adventure on Humberside came to an end last week when chairman Adam Pearson confirmed that Brown’s gardening leave had become permanent. Pearson’s bold decision to re...

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Portsmouth: Who will be Pompey’s new manager?

England may be just days away from beginning their World Cup campaign, but all Portsmouth fans want to know isjust who will be their new manager? Avram Grant left Fratton Park last month following their FA Cup final appearance and has since taken up residence at Upton Park, but who will be man enou...

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Get on side and sport your colours for Shelter this World Cup

In celebration of this years FIFA World Cup, housing and homelessness charity Shelter are teaming up with Nationwide Building Society, Official England Team sponsor, to launch their fantastic footy fundraiser, Strip4Shelter. Shelter is asking people across the country to replace their regular work ...

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Newcastle United: Rousing the Giant

Take a seat, close your eyes and relax. It’s the 17th of September 1997, and you are a Newcastle fan. You have just witnessed a game of football that will be eternally etched into St. James’ folklore, and probably result in a generation of Geordie children named Faustino. FC Barcelona have just be...

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Sheffield Wednesday: Who will replace Laws at Hillsborough?

Sheffield Wednesday’s 3-0 defeat at the hands of Leicester City at the weekend sent Wednesday crashing into the bottom three and cost manager Brian Laws his job. It was the club’s fourth defeat in a row and the fifth game where they had failed to score in an awful run that had seen the Owls pick up ...

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A Team In The QPR Tradition

Watching Queens Park Rangers dismantle Derby County with style on national television brought back the best of memories for supporters of a certain age. Inevitably it brought to mind QPR sides of the past. To anyone under 30 it might come as a shock to find that Rangers finished second in the top f...

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Middlesbrough: Who will replace Southgate at the Riverside?

Not too many managers get sacked after winning a game and guiding their team to within a point of the top but everyone knew Gareth Southgate was walking on thin ice at the Riverside. Tuesday night’s win over Derby County was their first win on Teesside after three demoralising defeats on the bounce....

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The Old Firm: Premier League? You’re having a laugh!

Martin Luther King famously had a dream of racial equality and an end to discrimination. I too have a dream but sadly it isn’t as prophetic as that. I just want to live to see Aberdeen crowned as SPL champions. Now that may sound ridiculous to many of you given the Dons’ recent lack of silverware bu...

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Barnsley: Who will replace Davey at Oakwell?

Simon Davey became the Championship’s first managerial casualty of the new season at the weekend following a dreadful start to the campaign for the Tykes. The former Swansea City, Carlisle United and Preston North End midfielder replaced Andy Ritchie in the hot seat at Oakwell in 2006 but, despite a...

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Championship 2009-10 Previews - Barnsley

Barnsley did just enough to avoid dropping into League One, although it was no great surprise that Simon Davey’s eclectic squad were always in and around the drop-zone. The summer comings and goings to date have done little to suggest that the coming campaign will prove any more fruitful. Averaging...

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Championship 2009-10 Previews - Blackpool

Working with one of the smallest budgets in the Championship, it’s always going to be something of a struggle for Blackpool to compete at this level as things stand. The loss of the highly-rated Simon Grayson mid-season could have been a devastating blow, but the caretaker duo of Tony Parkes and Ste...

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Championship 2009-10 Previews - Bristol City

Although failing to replicate their excellent play-off finish of the previous season, Bristol City still managed to secure a solid mid-table position last term. The squad has a younger look this season and much could depend on how a youthful looking strikeforce featuring the likes of Nicky Maynard ...

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Championship 2009-10 Previews - Cardiff City

With four games of their season remaining, Cardiff City looked to have put themselves in with a decent shot at automatic promotion. For them then to pick up just a single point over those final four matches and eventually miss out on the play-offs to Preston North End on the basis of having scored o...

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Championship 2009-10 Previews - Coventry City

Last season may have seen only a relatively minor improvement on 2007-08 in terms of points and final position, but there was enough to suggest that Coventry City were moving in the right direction. More worrying was that they managed just a solitary win in their final dozen league games, although t...

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Championship 2009-10 Previews - Crystal Palace

A decent run of form in late 2008 looked as if it might carry Crystal Palace towards challenging for a top six finish. They fell away badly over the second half of the season though, during which time they frequently struggled for goals. The loan signing of Freddie Sears and the experience of Stern...

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Championship 2009-10 Previews - Derby County

The Rams never came close to securing an immediate return to the top-flight last term, with a further relegation looking a distinct possibility at one stage. Now that Nigel Clough has had a settling-in period, progress will be expected. However, there has been little in the way of new recruits to ...

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Championship 2009-10 Previews - Doncaster Rovers

It took a while for Doncaster Rovers to adapt to Championship football, but there was a dramatic upturn in form immediately after Christmas that saw Sean O’Driscoll’s charges transformed from a team that seemed destined for an immediate return to League One to one that eventually secured a solid mid...

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Championship 2009-10 Previews - Ipswich Town

Poor away form was costly for Ipswich Town in 2007-08, but last season it was Portman Road where the Tractor Boys regularly failed to deliver. The departure of Jim Magilton once the play-offs were out of sight came as no great surprise, with the subsequent appointment of Roy Keane being a sign of th...

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Championship 2009-10 Previews - Leicester City

Leicester City returned to the Championship at the first time of asking and, looking at the squad now at their disposal, there should be few problems in holding their own following promotion. Nigel Pearson wasted little time in securing permanent deals for on-loan defenders Wayne Brown and Jack Ho...

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Championship 2009-10 - Middlesbrough

Although a heavy reliance on home-grown talent has to be applauded, the lack of quality recruits ultimately proved Middlesbrough’s undoing. A tally of 28 goals from 38 Premier League matches also goes quite a long way to explaining why Middlesbrough find themselves playing Championship football thi...

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Championship 2009-10 Previews - Newcastle United

With Mike Ashley yet to sell the club, Newcastle United go into the Championship still looking pretty rudderless. There has been no permanent managerial appointment and no incoming transfer activity. The last week or so has finally seen some movement out of the club and the recent sales of Obafemi ...

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Championship 2009-10 Previews - Nottingham Forest

An unbeaten six-game run at the end of the season came at just the right time to save Nottingham Forest from an immediate return to League One and, given both the existing squad and the vast sums spent on adding to it over the summer, expectations will be set somewhat higher for the season ahead. ...

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Championship 2009-10 Previews - Peterborough United

Following back-to-back promotions, a season of stability is likely to be the goal for Peterborough United this term. That should be within their capabilities, with Darren Ferguson’s squad certainly looking to possess enough of an attacking threat to hold their own in the Championship. The strike tr...

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Championship 2009-10 Previews - Plymouth Argyle

The Pilgrims finished just one place above the drop-zone last season, but more will be expected this term following their summer takeover. Only four wins were registered after the turn of the year, so manager Paul Sturrock is unlikely to be given a great deal of time to oversee an upturn in form t...

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Championship 2009-10 Previews - Preston North End

Preston received a major boost when manager Alan Irvine rejected the chance to take the vacant job at West Bromwich Albion earlier in the summer. However, they also lost an absolutely key player in Paul McKenna, with the pursuit of Nottingham Forest for the one-club man eventually bearing fruit for...

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Championship 2009-10 Previews - Queens Park Rangers

Expectations always looked somewhat unrealistic at Loftus Road ahead of last season, with the wealth of the club’s backers never being transferred into signings of the requisite quality to enable the club to make a sustained promotion bid. Of course, their habit of dispensing with (albeit underperfo...

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Championship 2009-10 Previews - Reading

Looked good for a top two finish for much of last season, but were eventually relieved just to secure a play-off place. Defeat to Burnley was hardly unexpected given their poor form over the latter half of the campaign and the subsequent departure of Steve Coppell came as no great surprise. After t...

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Championship 2009-10 Previews - Scunthorpe United

As with League One champions Leicester City, Scunthorpe United bounced back to the Championship at the first time of asking. They only just scraped into the play-offs, but then saw off the more fancied Milton Keynes dons and Millwall to secure Championship football. A healthy knack of finding quali...

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Championship 2009-10 Previews - Sheffield United

Sheffield United missed out on a return to the top-flight after going down to Burnley in the play-off final, after which manager Kevin Blackwell briefly considered stepping aside. The Blades should again be up among the front-runners, with Blackwell having been given excellent financial backing to ...

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Championship 2009-10 Previews - Sheffield Wednesday

A solid mid-table finish for the Owls last season and, with the club now looking more stable, they should be looking to build on that. Brian Laws has a useful looking squad containing some highly-valued youngsters which has been augmented with experience in the form of Darren Purse and Tommy Miller...

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Championship 2009-10 Previews - Swansea City

It was a perfectly decent season for Swansea City following promotion, which might even have ended with a place in the play-offs had they managed to turn a few of their 20 drawn matches into victories. The coming campaign could prove more difficult though, with Roberto Martinez having been lured aw...

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Championship 2009-10 Previews - Watford

It was all starting to look quite positive for Watford under Brendan Rodgers, but his decision to make the short move to Reading after barely six months at Vicarage Road could spell further trouble for the Hornets.Former player and coach Malky Mackay has been named as Rodgers’ successor and could be...

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Championship 2009-10 Previews - West Bromwich Albion

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West Brom: Will Di Matteo take the Baggies back up?

Boing boing. Boing boing. After one season in the Premier League under Tony Mowbray West Bromwich Albion are back in the Championship and despite a change of manager and personnel the Baggies are the bookies’ second favourites to win the division. For the past decade West Brom have been too good f...

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Leicester City: Can Pearson lead the Foxes back to the top flight?

While former Premier League giants like Leeds United struggle to get out of League One Nigel Pearson guided Leicester City back into the Championship at the first time of asking with relative ease. The Foxes took the third tier of English football by storm last season recording a club record 23 ga...

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Bristol City: Will 2009/10 be a Premier season for the Robins?

Hull City’s Dean Windass ended Bristol City’s Premier League hopes with a stunning volley in the 2008 play-off final. Last season Gary Johnson’s Robins struggled to reproduce the form of the previous season and finished 10th, but could this be the year that Bristol City realise their Premier League ...

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Middlesbrough: Can Southgate guide the Boro back up at the first attempt?

Gareth Southgate has faced numerous challenges throughout his time in football but this season will ultimately make or break his managerial career at the Riverside. The former Aston Villa and England defender won a number of plaudits for giving many of his talented youngsters a chance in the first t...

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Barnsley: Tykes confident of moving on up

The new Championship season gets under way this weekend and fans up and down the country are confidently expecting great things from their team. Even Barnsley fans, who have watched Simon Davey’s men battle for their Championship safety for the past three years, are optimistic ahead of the big kick-...

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West Bromwich Albion: Who will fill Mowbray’s boots at the Hawthorns?

Tony Mowbray has decided to swap Championship football with West Bromwich Albion for Champions League football with Scottish giants Glasgow Celtic so now the search for a new manager at the Hawthorns begins. Despite falling through the Premier League trap door last season the Baggies are one of the ...

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