What is the Championship story of the season?

By Laurie Fitzgerald

Today sees the conclusion of the 2011/12 Npower Championship season, and once again it has been a campaign full of drama and excitement.

There are still one or two permutations to be decided, with Southampton and West Ham fighting for the final automatic promotion spot.

Cardiff City and Middlesborough are also vying for the final play-off place and complete the line-up of those semi-finals, with both having steadily built up a promotion push with new and inexperienced sides respectively.

While these are outcomes yet to be revealed, this Championship season has thrown up plenty of talking points for the 24 clubs involved.    

Will the Saints clinch automatic promotion?

By Laurie Fitzgerald

The race for automatic promotion to the Premier League took another unexpected twist at the weekend as the race for the top two places in the Championship continues to hot up.

Reading’s win over fellow promotion candidates Southampton means they currently have one foot in the top-flight after a stunning run of 14 wins and a draw in their last 16 league games.

But while the Saints still held a six-point gap and a healthy advantage in goal difference over third-placed West Ham, the Hammers’ 6-0 thumping of Brighton at the weekend means the gap is now three points and the goal difference is now also +3 in favour of Southampton.

Having spent the whole season in the automatic places, Saints boss Nigel Adkins will be reminding his players over the coming days that this is the part of the campaign that really matters.    

Carling Cup Preview: Crystal Palace v Southampton

By Laurie Fitzgerald

Tonight sees a Carling Cup clash at Selhurst Park against two of the teams of the Championship season so far.

Fourth-placed Crystal Palace take on top-of-the-table Southampton as both teams look for a place in the quarter-finals of the League Cup to carry on their great starts to the campaign.

Newly-promoted Southampton have re-adjusted to life in the second tier of English football with consumate ease under the guidance of a manager whose reputation grows by the week.

Nigel Adkins did a brilliant job with Scunthorpe before dropping down to League One and awakening a sleeping giant that had suffered from years of mismanagement off the pitch and results on it.

After guiding the Saints to promotion in May, they have raced to the summit of the Championship after demonstrating a wonderful attacking style with a prominent cutting edge.

The likes of Adam Lallana and Jack Cork are really starting to make names for themselves, while Rickie Lambert is doing what Norwich striker Grant Holt did before him – score goals consistently while going up through the leagues.

They are averaging over two goals a game, and their combination of a prominent aerial threat in Lambert with their ability to play it along the floor with devastating effect underlines why the Saints have been marching on.

So they will pose a big challenge to Palace – but the Eagles have been soaring themselves under the guidance of rookie manager Dougie Freedman.

The former Palace striker has settled into football management with little publicity but undoubted success so far, having led a young but immensely-talented side to the upper echelons in the table.

Palace have always had a prosperous academy with the likes of Victor Moses and Wayne Routledge coming through the system in recent years.

However, this season they have started to assemble a team of talented youngsters mixed in with exeperience in the likes of captain Paddy McCarthy and star midfielder Darren Ambrose.

Jonathan Parr, Wilfried Zaha, Jonathan Williams and Sean Scannell have all risen to prominence in a side that has become a well-organised outfit with plenty of pace and attacking purpose.

Freedman and his squad have been one of the success stories of 2011, going from relegation certainties under George Burley to an ambitious outfit that do not fear anyone.

Neither side should feel that defeat this evening will damage their season too much, with eyes firmly fixed on maintaining their league form.

But a chance of a quarter-final spot - and the likelihood of a Premier League draw to come with it - means that there is plenty of motivation to continue their cup run.

If they both carry on what they’ve started over the past few months, then those that make it to South London later on should be in store for a cracker.

Prediction: This is a tight game to call and one that might go past the scheduled 90 minutes. Home advantage might make all the difference, and I’m going for Palace to edge it 2-1 after extra-time.

So what do you think? Will it be the Saints or the Eagles that make it through to the last eight of the Carling Cup tonight? Leave a comment and let us know your views.

Can Southampton acheive back to back promotions?

By Tony Alvarez

Following Paul Lamberts Norwich side completing the impressive feat of going from League One to the Premier League in just two seasons other sides will believe the feat is achievable in modern day Football and that the gap in standard between the Football Leagues is closing.

Southampton lead by Nigel Atkins are looking to follow in the footsteps of Norwich having gained promotion from League One last term by finished runner up to Gus Poyet’s Brighton side.

Followers of the championship will realise that there are currently three teams with 100% records in the Championship after three games, the promoted Brighton, Southampton and Nigel Clough’sDerbyCounty

Whilst both the sides that were promoted automatically had impressive starts I will focus more of Southampton as in my opinion they have been the more impressive of the two sides and have a bigger chance of back to back promotion than their south coast neighbours.

Southampton’s start has been particularly impressive due to the sides they have beat so far, when the fixture list was released many experts would of predicted a draw at best at home to Leeds, whilst a win away at Barnsley was some what expected no one would of predicted a win away at Ipswich especially not as emphatically as they did.

On the opening day, the Saints dismantled aLeedsside expected to challenge for the play offs 3-1 with a last minute Max Gradel penalty the only dark mark over a brilliant start.

Ironically the toughest game the Saints have faced so far was away at Barnsley who many tip for relegation;Southamptonstruggled to a 1-0 win thanks to a David Connolly goal.

But without a doubt Southampton’s best performance was away at many peoples outside tip for promotionIpswichTown, a away win 5-2 in the Championship is never easy against a promotion rival its almost unheard of, the saints romped to a 3-0 lead thanks to goals from the prolific Ricky Lambert and David Connolly. Ipswich set the cat amongst the pigeons by scoring twice in the first 15 minutes of the second half however theSouthamptonraped things up with two goals from huge talent Adam Lallana.

As impressive as the clubs three victories so far have been the club will have no time to pat themselves on the back as they have some tricky fixtures coming in the next free weeks.

Tomorrow the club host a tricky Millwall side who have a caused both Reading and Nottingham Forest trouble this term, following that Southampton travel to Sven Goran Eriksson’s big spending Leicester side who were the early favourites for the title but have not met the expectations so far.

After these two difficult fixturesSouthamptonhave a nightmare September which will really show how equipped they are for a title race. They travel to Nottingham Forest and Birmingham both of whom have promotion ambitions of their own, things don’t get any easier, next up is a trip to Burnley’s Turf Moor another side who will be aiming for the play offs and then to end the month Southampton visit Cardiff who will be hoping for automatic promotion themselves.

If these fixtures cropped up in March then it would be labelled as a make or break month as its September it may not do too much damage to the clubs ambitions.

Of course it is too early to tell if the Saints are up to the challenge of gaining back to back promotions and even if they lose the tough looking next few fixtures it will prove nothing, the race for promotion is a marathon not a sprint and judging from the early evidence the Southampton squad have the ability and the team bond to last the course.

What are your thoughts? Are Atkins men good enough to gain promotion? How impressed have you been with the sides start to the season? How do you think they will fare against big spending Leicester and a tough Millwall side? Will September make or break Southampton’s season? Leave a comment and let us know your thoughts

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Who will beat the drop in League One?

Dean Smith has helped give Walsall a chance of survival today

By Laurie Fitzgerald

As we go into the final weekend of the Football League, there is one main issue that needs to be resolved in League One.

Southampton are all but assured of joining Brighton in automatic promotion, while the four play-off sides have been decided.

Therefore, the big question that still needs answering is who will join Swindon Town and Plymouth Argyle in relegation to League Two?

Bristol Rovers are all but guaranteed to join them as they would need a 16-goal swing to go in their favour.

So it seems that that it is the final relegation spot that three teams will be trying to avoid: Dagenham & Redbridge, Walsall and Notts County.

It’s the Daggers that currently occupy that dreaded 21st place, a point adrift of Walsall and two behind County, but with a better goal difference than both rivals.

Dag & Red face a difficult trip to London Road to take on the entertainers of the division in Peterborough.

However, Walsall face an even tougher trip to St.Mary’s as Nigel Adkins‘ Saints side still need a point to make mathematically sure of Championship football being secured next season.

Meanwhile, the Magpies are the only ones of the threatened trio to have a home match, although that doesn’t make the task easier as they face champions Brighton at Meadow Lane.

For all three, having the chance to stay in the division seemed almost impossible at the turn of the year.

The Saddlers sacked manager Chris Hutchings a few days into 2011 with the club bottom of the league, with Head of Youth Dean Smith taking the reins.

County had already sacked their manager Craig Short, with Paul Ince brought in to try and guide the side up the table.

While at Victoria Road, having performed miracles in guiding the Daggers to the third tier of English football, boss John Still had to produce another one in keeping them there as they found themselves rooted in the bottom four.

All three managers had differing fortunes; despite a seven-match unbeaten run in the league, County slipped back into relegation danger, and Ince was given his marching orders.

The Daggers went on a six-match spell without defeat themselves in March, with crucial wins over Bristol Rovers, Colchester and Charlton.

The Saddlers seemed doomed until Smith picked up an emphatic first win in charge, beating Rovers 6-1 at the end of January.

Since then, they have suffered just five defeats from their last 19 matches, turning them from relegation fodder to being in control of their own fate on the final day.

It seems almost too tight to predict, and as these three sides have experienced roller-coaster campaigns already, having more twists and turns in their final 90 minutes is almost inevitable.

So what do you think? Who will survive on the final day? Will Walsall pull off a great escape? Will the Daggers stay up in their first season at this level? Can County do enough to secure safety? Let us know your thoughts.

Number of setbacks hamper Scunthorpe’s season

Baraclough was unable to turn around Scunthorpe's troubled season

By Laurie Fitzgerald

With just eight or nine games remaining for Championship sides this season, the battles for the prospective promotion spots and against the relegation places get tenser than ever.

While the battle for automatic promotion and the play-offs remain tight, there is a gap that has opened up at the bottom of the table.

Sheffield United, Scunthorpe and Preston find themselves at least five points adrift of fourth from bottom Crystal Palace and in danger of being cut adrift.

For Scunthorpe, it has been a campaign where numerous setbacks have taken their toll, having done so well to establish themselves in the second tier of English football.

Recent weeks have seen six league defeats in seven games, and manager Ian Baraclough wasn’t able to arrest the slide, resulting in him losing his job.

The supporters know that when it comes to resources available to their club, they are more limited than any other side in the division.

So when they secured their second successive season at this level for the first time in almost 50 years, there must have been huge pride around Glanford Park.

But the summer saw Scunthorpe suffer the disappointing exits of Paul Hayes and Gary Hooper, a strikeforce that had proved pivotal in their survival the season before.

Nigel Adkins had proven throughout his time as manager that he is not a stranger to overcoming adversity, and the former physio, and after six games the Iron’s found themselves in the play-off positions.

But his terrific work wasn’t going unnoticed; League One side Southampton had just controversially sacked Alan Pardew and wanted Adkins as their replacement. The 46 year-old was unable to turn down such an opportunity.

The departure of Adkins was a massive blow to Scunthorpe. They now had to find someone capable of performing the same sort of results despite the limitations within the squad and finances.

Former defender and first-team coach Baraclough was handed the reins on a temporary basis, and things started brilliantly with a 4-0 win away at Sheffield United.

This was enough for Chairman J. Stephen Warton to give the 40 year-old his first full job in management. However, he would soon discover just what Adkins had to overcome.

With Hooper and Hayes gone, Martyn Woolford had taken up the baulk of the goalscoring responsibilities, but the midfielder was sold to Bristol City in January.

Their striking options were limited further when Jonathan Forte joined Adkins at St. Mary’s, and what was a thin squad already now looked short of attacking options.

Lee Miller and Joe Garner were loaned in to fill the void, but this hasn’t prevented performances from gradually getting worse as the campaign developed.

Heavy defeats at home to Hull, Leicester and relegation rivals Preston took their toll, and Walton decided that another managerial change was necessary, but this time it was his.

With Baraclough gone, the new manager will have to find a way to find confidence in a squad that’s conceded more goals and scored fewer than any other side in the Championship.

While it currently looks unlikely, if there is one club that is able to defy the odds and overcoming numerous setbacks then it’s Scunthorpe. This season has been a prime example of that.

What do you think? What is the main reason as to Scunthorpe’s struggles this season? Was it the loss of Adkins, or would anyone have struggled with the resources available to them and numerous sales of key players? Let us know your views in the comments section below

Do Saints’ promotion rivals have a prayer?

By Laurie Fitzgerald

As the summer of the inevitable national disappointment drew to a close and people looked towards the start of the new domestic season, there seemed to be only one certainty within English football; that Southampton would gain promotion from League One.

Almost every pundit felt that the most difficult thing to decide was who was going to get promoted with Alan Pardew’s side. But if there’s one thing that you can guarantee in football, it’s that there are no guarantees in football.

Pardew lost his job after just three games having won one, drawn one and lost one. Hardly the results of a manager that needed to go, but nevertheless Chairman Nicola Cortese was searching for someone to fill in the St.Mary’s hotseat.

Whilst this search went on, results went from mixed to hugely disappointing. Defeat at home to newly-promoted Rochdale and away losses at Swindon and MK Dons left the promotion favourites in the relegation zone, albeit very early days.

Southampton were struggling to find any form, and key players that had been so influential the season before in their improbable promotion push (they started the season on -10 points) had gone missing.

The likes of Ricky Lambert and Adam Lallana were struggling to get the season going, and the new manager would need to pick the team up and build the momentum that they were capable of.

Up step Nigel Adkins. The Scunthorpe manager was persuaded to drop down a division to take on the challenge, and has made a huge impact on the fans. In his 22 games in charge, he has won 14 and lost just four in all competitions.

A recent run of four straight wins in the league came to an end with a draw at home to Notts County on Saturday, but they have gone from the relegation zone to third in the table, a point behind second-placed Huddersfield Town with a game in hand. It’s been a hugely impressive turnaround.

The nature of the performances have shown that Adkins has rediscovered the confidence in the talented squad. Big wins against Dagenham & Redbridge, Peterborough, Huddersfield, Exeter and Oldham have shown that when this side gets going, they are almost impossible to stop.

Lallana has been pulling the creative strings again for the Saints, and in Lambert and Lee Barnard they have plenty of goals at their disposal, as well as the best strike pairing in the division. Guly (or Guilherme do Prado to be exact) has been a brilliant find, with the Brazilian having an impressive debut season in English football and controlling the midfield alongside Dean Hammond, while Jason Puncheon has returned following a brilliant spell on loan at Millwall.

Scoring certainly isn’t a problem, and they seem to have shored things up in defence since the beginning of the season. Kelvin Davis has led by example in goal, having kept ten clean sheets in the league already, while the likes of Danny Butterfield, former Bolton centre-half Radhi Jaidi and Dan Harding have provided valuable protection to the experienced Davis.

So much credit deserves to go to Adkins for turning the season around, and it shouldn’t be forgotten that the 45 year-old has plenty of fond memories at this level, having led Scunthorpe to promotion on two different occasions from League One.

This experience up against the likes of Gus Poyet and Lee Clark could prove decisive, and if things continue in the same pattern of recent months, then Southampton will find their way into the Championship.

Even if it wasn’t as certain as it seemed.

So what do you think? Saints fans, just how good a job has Adkins done since taking over? How confident are you of securing promotion? Are there any improvements needed to the squad to ensure success in May? Could the potential loss of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain be a blow to your promotion push? Let us know

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