GUEST POST: I believe I needed to do a post on which player will impress coming from the Championship this year and which players are crucial to the promoted teams' survival. I feel like I'm not an expert on The Championship, so I invited my friend Dan, who's an avid Blackburn fan and regular Championship follower to write this article.
The wait is almost over. The Premier League is just days away, it comes as a welcome relief to the football fans all over the world that have been longing to watch the most competitive league in Europe exhibit it's footballing drama all over again. It's gained the tag as being one of the most competitive in the world for several reasons. One because the title race is never clear cut or a clear two horse race like other top European leagues, the race for the Premier League and top 4 is one of the most enthralling things annually for football fans all over the world because of it's sheer unpredictability. The second reason is because in this league, the quality is so high throughout that no team is unbeatable (or very rarely like Arsenal's invincibles), on any given day a team challenging for the title can be beaten by a team tipped to get relegated. It is this volatility that gives promoted teams the hope that they could steer themselves to Premier League safety in their first season and avoid the drop. This challenge is one that the promoted clubs and their fans relish as being back in the top flight after years in the Championship will feel incredibly special. This year all 3 of these teams will face a massive task to beat the drop first season back because of the ever-improving teams they'll be in the dog fight with. I feel
the players mentioned in this post will be the crucial difference between the elation of staying in the Premier League for a second season or facing the heartbreak of instant relegation.
Leicester
Last year’s SkyBet Championship winners have had plenty to
celebrate recently after leading and dominating the league for what seemed like the whole
season wrapped up the title in impressive style amazingly with 6 games spare. This promotion, like many
promoted sides, was a project in the making with several years of planning. After the
heartbreak of the dramatic play-off semi-final defeat against Watford last May,
Leicester rejuvenated their team, not letting the heartbreak get the better of them and consequently found themselves in 1st
place after 28 of the 46 games and never looked back.
David Nugent: The former Portsmouth frontman struck up a formidable partnership with fellow striker Jamie Vardy. He netted 20 out of the pairs' 36
goals they scored and as a partnership they notched up 28 last season (in which Nugent got 12 assists), meaning that Nugent was directly
involved in almost half of Leicester’s goals scored in the league. This shows
that Nugent played an absolutely vital role in the title winning season and is pivotal to the team's success, although only
having a years’ worth of premiership experience under his belt to date, he can
have a big say on the Foxes’ final league position come May. If he can continue his Championship form it is no wonder that the bookies have Leicester as the favourites out of the promoted teams to avoid the drop.
Danny Drinkwater: Statistically, last season was
Drinkwater’s best season, notching 8 goals and 4 assists which is an impressive return from central midfield, he found himself a
Personally I fear Leicester may struggle in the Premier league, as there is a lack of quality and experience throughout their squad and as a result with inevitable injuries and absences they may find it hard to keep
up with some of the more experienced sides in the division. In saying that however, you definitely cannot
automatically rule out a side that completely dominated the second tier of
English football for a year.
Burnley
Without a doubt, the surprise package of the 2013/2014
Championship season was Burnley. The 4th favourites
from the bookies for relegation last August, they stunned many by having a
fantastic run of form early on, which was sustained through the season and ensured that the Clarets only
faced defeat five times over the whole season. The disciplined defence and
hardworking midfield was only outshone by the dynamic strike force of Danny
Ings and Sam Vokes. With 41 goals between them, they were statistically the 2nd
best duo in England, behind Suarez and Sturridge - a very impressive feat.
Danny Ings: Despite only being his first season playing
regularly in the striker role, Ings proved he was more than capable of playing
centrally by netting 26 times in all competitions. His blistering pace proved
hard for championship defences to keep up with, and with more supply next
season he could be the man to keep Burnley up. He has the potential to emulate the likes of Rickie Lambert, a prolific striker in the football league who steps up his game to perform consistently in the Top Flight.
Kieron Trippier: With 14 assists (the joint top assists) in the league as a right back, Trippier
showed his tremendous ability last season. Although played at right back he gets forward, marauding up and down the right wing whenever he can. Despite his outstanding attacking exploits, he is defensively astute as well as he averaged 7 defensive actions per game with a 53% pass completion rate. Could be a potential England right-back if he impresses in the Premier League, definitely would be a good coup for fantasy football managers too.
If Dyche can get his team as well organised and effective as
last season along with the steady supply of assists by Trippier along with the
frequent goals of the potent 'Vings' partnership, there’s every chance that the Lancashire minnows can
beat the drop, however, a few injuries to players could be detrimental to their
aspirations and would in all probability mean a repeat of the 2009/2010 season
and swift return to the Championship. No matter how they fare, I believe like Blackpool were in the Premier League, they will be an entertaining team to watch, playing a fearless brand of football.
QPR
A team with premier league talent on paper, QPR always
seemed likely to have a short stay in the Championship. Unbeaten in the first
11 games, it looked as if they would walk the league at finish at top spot, but
more and more losses appeared throughout the season and QPR became
unpredictable, looking premier league standard one week and struggling against
some of the weaker teams in the league. There’s no doubt that the Hoops have quality throughout
their ranks, however their aging squad is now another year older and questions
have to be asked whether players such as Richard Dunne, Robert Green and Bobby Zamora can still perform at the same level they used to.
David Hoilett: Although not a player that finds himself in
the starting line-up consistently, “Junior” is a player that can turn a game
around. After moving through the youth system at Blackburn Rovers, Hoilett
enjoyed regular first team action for the Lancashire giants over two seasons in
the premier league. However, since joining QPR in the summer of 2012, things
haven’t worked out quite as well as the Canadian might have planned with the
majority of his appearances coming from the subs bench. With 10 direct goal
contributions last season (4 goals and 6 assists), I feel that Hoilett still
has more to offer to the premier league, as his quick feet and darting runs
would cause even the best full backs some problems, as shown during his spell
at Blackburn.
QPR must learn from their mistakes of two seasons ago, and
if they do, relegation should not be a worry as Redknapp’s team has
unquestionable talent, and a lower mid-table finish should be within the reach
of the Hoops.
These players have shown that they are more than capable in
the second division, but I believe this is the right time in these players’
respective careers to step up and try and prove themselves at the top level.
Written by Dan Mayer (@danmayer_) and edited by Hesham Bilal-Hafiz (@hesham786)
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