Leeds United 2 Hull City 3

I thought the “25 years of hurt” stuff was a bit over-played locally today. It may well be 25 years since we’ve won at Elland Road but we’ve only actually been 5 or 6 times. Still, Hull City victories at Elland Road are as rare as rocking horse droppings. We’ve only won there twice in our history and one of those was in 1921 (against Leeds United anyway, we’ve won twice in FA Cup replays played at Elland road as a neutral venue and games against Leeds City). You can make that three times now. The modern-day tigers strolled into Elland Road tonight, bared our teeth and took Leeds apart. And they did it with the odds stacked in favour of our hosts, the uncrowned Champions of Europe. It’s just a pity there were less than 20,000 fans there to see it.

The Tigers were forced into one change from the victories over Bolton and Millwall as Seyi Olofinjana picked up the millionth injury of his Hull City career. It’s to his credit that most fans felt we’d miss him. Corry Evans stepped up in his place and Jamie Devitt filled the bench.

Tigers: Amos; Chester, Faye, Bruuuuuuuce; Elmohamady, Dudgeon, Evans, Quinn, Koren; Aluko, Simpson.

I paid an eye-watering 34 quid to get in the ground, “enjoyed” a grey-brown “cheese” pie and downed a beer with less alcohol content than Mother Teresa’s breathalyser reading before taking my seat approximately 4,000 yards from the pitch. Only in football, eh? Fortunately the couple of thousand Hull City fans were in fantastic voice and the away end was jumping. The home areas, consisting mainly of seats, were not so. Within 8 minutes, the Tigers fans were temporarily muted by a mind-numbingly poor refereeing decision. El Hadji-Diouf beat Joe Dudgeon on the bye-line and Dudge clipped his heels outside the box. Diouf chucked himself into the box and the linesman flagged for a foul. The referee, Roger East, pointed to the spot. The City players and fans were aghast and the players badgered the referee into consulting the linesman. I presume the conversation went something like:

“Was it in the box, lino?”

“No Ref, it was a couple of yards outside”

“Well I’m going to look like a tit if I change my mind and Warnock will never let me hear the end of it so I’m going to give it anyway”

Luchiano Becchio stuck the penalty in the bottom corner [1-0], as if there was ever any doubt, despite Ben Amos going the right way and the home fans made a bit of noise for the only time of the evening. City were shaken by the start and had to hang on for 5 minutes. Corry Evans gifted them the ball in midfield for the second time and Becchio headed Diouf’s deep cross into the back of James Chester before a fabulous block from Faye denied Rudolph Austin. The ball was quickly returned down the right wing and Austin cut inside and hit a low shot that Amos saved well. Stephen Quinn and Sone Aluko started to see a little bit of the ball and it helped City settle. The tide turned as Leeds and the awful referee fired the Tigers up big time. Sam Byram flew at Abdoulaye Faye with a high reckless challenge that could have caused serious damage. To the fury of the City players, there wasn’t even a free-kick awarded (echoes of Cairney at Donny). There probably wasn’t enough contact to warrant a red card but it was a certain yellow. Instead, Mr. East booked Alex Bruce for his protests.

The Tigers realised that they weren’t going to be handed anything at Elland Road. Despite the empty seats and the whiff of faded glory in the air, it’s apparently still an intimidating place for officials. Having a tracksuited troll screaming from the home dugout doesn’t help them. From a rare free-kick in our favour, City worked the ball right. Elmohamady collected on the edge of the box, steadied himself and lashed a shot into the far corner beyond the despairing dive of Paddy Kenny [1-1]. We went mental. It may just have been an equaliser in a Championship fixture but after 20 mins of injustice, it felt great. And it got better. City were in the ascendancy and forced a corner. Koren’s delivery was cleared at the near post. Jay Simpson retrieved the ball, held it up and then found Quinn who fed Elmo. He crossed early with whip and pace and Abdoulaye Faye nodded beyond Kenny. Dream-land [1-2]. Never mind winning at Elland Road, we’ve got a defender who scores goals! Three in three for the big man. And three consecutive games in which we’ve scored a header. I love headers. Headers are great. Someone set off a red flare in the City end. Goals from Egyptians and Senegalese, flares, singing, scoring goals. It’s a bit continental but I like it!

The Tigers were well in control now. Leeds were rocking. They defended like park players, booting the ball up in the air, looking to their coach for a bit advice, hoping their Mam might haul them off home to save them having to chase Sone Aluko again. The ref is still rubbish; he’s giving us nothing but he doesn’t have too, we’re taking it. The Tigers break brilliantly from our area. Dudgeon finds Quinn who plays a lovely ball into Aluko. He sets off like a rocket and races past two defenders. He’s heading into the penalty area when Jason Pearce chops him down in the “D”. It’s a clear denial of a goal scoring opportunity. It’s a red card. Yeah right, dream on. It’s yellow of course. Koren curls the free kick low towards the bottom left corner but Kenny saves well. Aluko picks up the ball again, 40 yards out, goes past Austin as if he isn’t there but drags his shot wide. Michael Tonge, a typical Warnock soldier, is booked for a cynical foul and City lead at half-time. The City fans booed off the ref. Remarkable given that we were winning.

It was an excellent half from the Tigers. I thought it was better than Millwall. It wasn’t as free-flowing or as dominant but we showed such character to haul back a game that was being taken from us and to dominate it. The back three, as usual, stood up to everything that was thrown at them and Leeds front line dropped deeper and deeper to try and affect the game. Only Corry Evans disappointed. He had his poorest half for a long while, possibly a result of him being determined to do well coming into a winning team.

The first fifteen resembled a home game for The Tigers as they dictated the game, had most of the ball and Leeds sat back and looked to counter. Their only scraps came from careless City passes. Stepehen Quinn gifted the ball to Diouf who slid a great ball in behind for Becchio. At least it would have been a great ball if Joe Dudgeon hadn’t read it, raced across and cut it out. That came in between two chances for the Tigers to kill the game. A move up and across the pitch saw Aluko feed the over-lapping Elmohamady, Elmo dummied as if to cross, pushed the ball past White to the bye-line and dinked a cross to the far post that Simpson headed just wide. Then Robert Koren won a challenge in midfield and the ball flew over the top of the defenders into the path of Aluko. He ran in on goal on the right but Aidy White did well to get himself between Aluko and the goal and our man shot wide. Aluko was having one of those games and almost forced a repeat of the Dudgeon/Diouf penalty incident when he beat two defenders with a sublime piece of skill but Austin put the ball out for a corner.

The game started to turn Leeds’ way with the introduction of substitute Dominic Poleon. He was a stout little player with electric pace. He gave them something they didn’t have and lifted everyone in the ground. His excellent run and cross on the right was halted by an equally excellent block by Dudge. Then he raced from half way on the left wing, left Chester (no slouch) for dead and fired a shot that Amos held well. From a short corner, Rudolph Austin found a little bit of space and hit a ridiculously powerful shot that flew just over. You had that feeling that an equaliser was coming. Elmohamady controlled the ball with his nose and fell to the floor. Leeds ignored him and continued to attack. The referee blew up with Leeds on the right wing so that Elmo could receive attention. Warnock was absolutely livid. It was brilliant. To be fair to Mr. East, he was only being consistent. He’d blown up earlier in the half with City on a break when one of theirs was hit in the knackers with the ball. Not that Warnock will remember that one. With Leeds in the ascendancy for the first time since the 15 minute mark and City fans getting a twitchy, a third City goal would have been most welcome. The Tigers broke out of defence. Simpson plays a great ball across field to Evans who carries it quickly down the right, lets Elmo overlap and then slides him in. Elmo’s cross takes a slight deflection and falls perfectly for Koren, arriving at the back post, who controls and knocks it nonchalantly beyond Kenny [1-3]. Pande-bloody-monium.

The chant went out “Warnock, what’s the score? Warnock, Warnock, what’s the score?”. He didn’t seem to know. The Tigers should have strolled home after that and Steve Bruce sent on Rosenior (for Koren) and McLean (for Simpson) to shore things up. This being Hull City though, things are never that simple. The referee indicated a minimum of five minutes stoppage time. Then played about fifty. Leeds sent on Andy Gray. I laughed at them signing a player who Barnsley let go. He scored. Typical. A left wing free kick was conceded by Faye and when they swung it in, Gray was left free at the near post and finished with a simple header [2-3]. City regained their composure quickly and saw out the remaining forty-eight minutes of stoppage time. Ben Amos was booked for time wasting. Of course he was time wasting, stoppage time is infinite at Elland Road!

So there it was. Our first victory at Leeds for donkey’s years. And a thoroughly deserved one it was too. Selecting a man of the match is near impossible again. The back three were magnificent, including Alex Bruce who I had pegged down for the usual nightmare City players experience against their former clubs. The two wing-backs were unerring again. Dudgeon with superb contributions at the back, Elmo the difference maker at the front. Aluko was unplayable. Koren strolled around like he owned the joint. Evans recovered from a shoddy first half to provide a steely resilience after the break. Quinn is irrepressible. He’s everywhere. My MOTM is Jay Simpson though. He didn’t let up for a second in the game. He chased everything, he battled for every ball in the air, he put pressure on them time and time again. And when he had the ball at hi feet, he was excellent. We’ve seen before that he has good vision but his speed of though and speed of feet are new to us. If Sone Aluko wasn’t in the team, we’d be drooling over Jay’s dribbling ability tonight. He’s in excellent shape, he’s fit and sharp and yet he retains a really strong frame. I continue to be seriously impressed with him.

I said after the Millwall game that we look in good shape as a squad and going and winning at a hardened Championship rival only reinforces that. I’ve seen a few quotes in the press from other managers about us having spent a few quid. Warnock mentioned is in his presser and Malky MacKay said it on the radio on Monday morning. However 90% of our summer spending went on a guy who hasn’t played a minute in the last three games. That’s not to write off Nick Proschwitz, he could still be a key player once he’s settled in. What it means is that Steve Bruce has thus far transformed us from a lovely non-threatening football team into a lovely dangerous football team and has done so with players who only cost £400,000 between them. There’s a long way to go yet but it’s suffice to say that Bruce has made an excellent start.

Fortunately for them, Leeds don’t care about little old Hull City. Which should help them this morning as they face up to a humiliating home defeat to those poor relations down the road. And this bunch of clowns still think they are rivals of Chelsea and Manchester United? Ho Ho Ho.

The Starting Stats!

13 points from 6 games is The Tigers best start to a season since 1993/94 (5 wins, 1 draw).

13 points from 6 games only bettered 8 times in our history (points adjusted) and only 3 times post-war. 

Best ever start was 1948/49 in Div 3 North. 6 games, 6 wins. (Tranmere 2-1, Oldham 6-0, Mansfield 4-0, Barrow 2-1, Accrington 3-1, Wrexham 3-0)

Worst ever start was 2006/07 in Championship. 6 games, 1 point. (WBA 0-2, Barnsley 2-3, Derby 1-2, Ipswich 0-0, Coventry 0-1, Birmingham 1-2) 

2012/13 is The Tigers best ever start in the second tier post-war.

The Tigers have hit 11 goals in 6 games. It took 12 games in 2011/12, 16 games in 2010/11 and 13 games in 2009/10 to hit our 11th goal.

Championship Preview

Barnsley

Keith Hill did a tremendous job in 2011/12 to keep Barnsley in the division despite working with one of the smallest budgets. Barnsley's recruitment for the coming season is a little bit more ambitious with Hill picking up players released by Premier league clubs and the signing of ex-Middlesbrough and West Ham lardarse Mido. It's hard to see anything other than another season of struggle for the Tykes especially given the loss of Jacob Butterfield to Norwich City at the end of his contract. Butterfield was the most talented kid to come through Barnsley's academy in years. Keith Hill is a really likeable guy who's worked his way up into the Championship and I'd love to see him succeed again but it's doubtful.

IN: Lee Collins (Port Vale), Kelvin Etuhu (Portsmouth), Jacob Mellis, Mido (Zamalek [EGY]), Ben Alnwick (Spurs), Toni Silva (Liverpool), Tomasz Cywka (Reading)

KEY OUTS: Jacob Butterfield (Norwich)

PREDICTION: 24^th

Birmingham City

It hasn't been the summer of turmoil some feared at St. Andrews with the financial implosion either an overblown rumour or an accident still waiting to happen. Birmingham lost their talented manager Chris Hughton to Norwich which was a major blow after he worked miracles last season leading the Blues to the Championship play-off semi-finals. The appointment of Lee Clark looks a very shrewd move though. Clark was one of the free agents on the market after being fired by Huddersfield last season despite the club sitting in the top 6 in League One and having lost only a handful of games in the prior 18 months.

Goalkeeper Ben Foster, who made his loan move to West Brom permanent, and Jordan Mutch have been the only departures from Birmingham this summer so far and Clark has made several excellent signings, making good use of the loan and free market. He also picked up Darren Ambrose for a song as the goalscoring midfielder had only a year left on his contract at Crystal Palace. Birmingham are working with a relatively small squad and still have one or two players such as Curtis Davies, Jack Butland and Nathan Redmond who may attract interest from the Premier League before the end of the summer transfer window which would make repeating last season heroics unlikely.

IN: Peter Lovenkrands (Newcastle), David Lucas (Rochdale), Hayden Mullins (Portsmouth), Darren Ambrose (Palace), Ravel Morrison (West Ham loan), Ben Gordon (Chelsea loan), Alan Maybury (St. Johnstone)

KEY OUTS: Jordon Mutch (Cardiff), Ben Foster (WBA)

PREDICTION: 13^th

Blackburn Rovers

Who could possibly predict Blackburn Rovers season? They were relegated from the Premier league last season after 18 months of turmoil with supporter unrest towards the clubs Indian owners and manager Steve Kean at the heart of the problem. Kean inherited a good squad from Sam Allardyce and spent a fair amount of money but barring one or two impressive results, failed to get anything out of the talented players at his disposal. In his defence, while he spent good money on first team players, the squad eroded in terms of depth of quality and so Kean was forced to blood a number of young players last season, particularly in defence.

Kean's recruitment this summer looks terrific on paper. Midfield schemer Danny Murphy is a terrific signing as is his ex-Fulham team mate Dickson Etuhu who'll bring real strength to their midfield. Signings like these and powerful striker Leon Best (who will unfortunately miss 6 months of the season) suggest that Kean knows what it will take to get out of the Championship. His other signings are a mixed bag but former Portugal international Nuno Gomes could set the division alight. He and the lesser known Portuguese signings join an eclectic squad and while the likes of Vukcevic, Formica and Rochina have talent, they struggled to cope with the physical element of the premier league so may find it impossible to impose themselves on the Championship.

IN: Danny Murphy (Fulham), Leon Best (Newcastle), Nuno Gomes (Braga [POR]), Fabio Nunes (Portimonese [POR]), Paulo Jorge (Porto [POR]), Edon "Edinho" Junior (Olhanense [POR]), Dickson Etuhu (Fulham), Colin Kazim-Richards (Galatasaray [TUR] loan)

KEY OUTS: Yakubu (Guangzhou Fuli [CHI]), Junior Hoilett (QPR), Vincenzo Grella (Released), Miguel Salgado (Released)

PREDICTION: 2^nd

Blackpool

Blackpool is another side whose season is tough to predict. Ian Holloway is their wildcard. He got a very ordinary looking squad of journeymen players promoted to the Premier league, almost kept them up and then, following the departure of Charlie Adam last summer, led them to the play-off final. Their recruitment also looks ordinary and they haven't really lost anyone of real importance given that Lua Lua was used mainly as a substitute last season and Keith Southern spent most of the season fighting cancer. They have a couple of real talents in wingers Matt Phillips and Tom Ince plus the evergreen Kevin Phillips up front and a bunch of players who know how to win games at this level. When you add in Holloway's ability to get an extra 25% out of anything in an orange shirt, hence the number of tango-men going on stag do's in Blackpool at the moment, it'd take a fool to write them off.

IN: Jake Caprice (Palace), Isaiah Osbourne (Hibs), Tiago Gomes (Hercules [SPA]), Scott Robertson (Dundee U)

KEY OUTS: Lomana LuaLua (Karabukspor [TUR]), Keith Southern (Huddersfield)

PREDICTION: 7^th

Bolton Wanderers

Owen Coyle's Bolton probably weren't fancied by too many people to slip out of the Premier League but they never really got going and despite the talent in the squad they never really picked up the form you thought they might be capable of. It was felt that the trauma of Fabrice Muamba's collapse at White Hart Lane might have fired up the united Bolton squad but instead they were drained of energy and emotion and after 11 years, they slid out of the "Barclays Premier League". Despite the loss of a number of big-name players, Bolton have plenty of talented players remaining such as the marvelous Chung-Yong Lee, Stuart Holden and Martin Petrov, players who know how to get out of the Championship like Sam Ricketts, Darren Pratley and Chris Eagles and plenty of physical presence from the likes of Zat Knight, David Wheater and Kevin Davies.

Their recruitment looks pretty impressive too with Matt Mills and Keith Andrews having had impressive spells in the Championship in the past (though Mills disappointed big style at Leicester last season) and promising young forwards Gregg Wylde and Benik Afobe. Bolton's weakest point appears to be in goal with the erratic Adam Bogdan backed up by their butter-fingered signing from Leeds United, Andy Lonergan.

IN: Gregg Wylde (Rangers), Keith Andrews (WBA), Matt Mills (Leicester), Joe McKee (Burnley), Andy Lonergan (Leeds), Benik Afobe (Arsenal loan)

KEY OUTS: Nigel Reo-Coker (Released), Ivan Klasnic (Released), Jussi Jaaskelainen (West Ham), Ricardo Gardner (Released), Gretar Steinsson (Released), Paul Robinson (Released), Sean Davis (Released)

PREDICTION: 1^st

Brighton & Hove Albion

Brighton enjoyed a good season back in the Championship last season under the management of Gus Poyet. They play a good brand of football and press from the front when they don't have the ball. Last summer’s surprise signing Vicente has committed himself to the club for another season and has been joined by an ex-Valencia team mate in full-back Bruno (Saltor). Bruno played for Valencia in the Champions League last season and brings extensive experience with him from Spain. The signing of goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak from Manchester United and ex-England left-back Wayne Bridge on a season long loan from Manchester City are impressive pieces of business. Andrew Crofts has returned to the club from Norwich and he'll bring composure to the midfield.

Brighton have shown they are ambitious in the transfer market and have not courted interest in the likes of Craig Mackail-Smith and Lewis Dunk. They now have a squad that is balanced in terms of experience which may have let them down at times last season.

IN: Tomasz Kuszczak (Man Utd), Bruno Saltor (Valencia [SPA]), Wayne Bridge (Man City loan), Charlie Oatway Jr., Andrew Crofts (Norwich)

KEY OUTS: None

PREDICTION: 4^th

Bristol City

Derek McInnes took over last season but failed to turnaround their poor form. They've let a lot go of a lot of fringe players in the summer but haven't excited the fans with their signings so far. They found Jody Morris working the morning shift at a little chef just outside of Perth in Scotland, rescued Greg Cunningham from his career as a full-time loanee and signed Paul Anderson whose career has gone off the boil of late. Anderson will be a fine signing if he can recapture the form he previously showed in loan spells at Swansea and Forest while Tom Heaton should be an upgrade on a well past his calamitous best David James. City struggled to score goals even before they lost Nicky Maynard to West Ham last season so unless they fill that void, they'll be in big trouble.

IN: Jody Morris (St. Johnstone), Greg Cunningham (Man City), Paul Anderson (Forest), Tom Heaton (Cardiff)

KEY OUTS: David James (Released)

PREDICTION: 23^rd

Burnley

The Clarets were on of the most inconsistent teams in the division last season following clumps of good results with larger clumps of poor ones. They've trimmed a squad that wasn't particularly big to start with and have sold their prized asset, striker Jay Rodriquez, to Southampton. Eddie Howe doesn't appear to have been given a great deal of the Rodriquez money to re-invest but has made several decent signings in defender Jason Shackell, tidy midfield player Brian Stock and Wales striker Sam Vokes. Vokes is a promising young forward but may feel the pressure of having large boots to fill. Burnley will need Vokes and Charlie Austin to have exceptional seasons to make any impression on the Championship and will have to rely on good fortune unless they significantly bolster a thin squad.

IN: Luke O'Neill (Mansfield), George Porter (Orient Compensation), Jason Shackell (Derby), Joseph Mills (Reading loan), Sam Vokes (Wolves), Brian Stock (Doncaster)

KEY OUTS: Jay Rodriguez (Southampton), Andre Amougou (Released)

PREDICTION: 17^th

Cardiff City

The Redbirds made one of the most controversial moves of the summer when they sold their history down the river and signed a deal with the Malaysian devil. It's a shame that the rebranding issue has over-shadowed the job that Malky Mackay did at Cardiff last season as he took over a squad shorn of talent who'd either returned to their parent clubs following loan spells or left through freedom of contract. Mackay re-built the squad without spending a lot of money and brought through several promising players from the club's youth academy. A pretty quiet summer transfer-wise exploded in the past couple of weeks with Mackay making two excellent additions in Icelandic striker Heidar Helguson, a proven Championship goalscorer, and football's angriest dwarf, Craig Bellamy. Mackay may still face his biggest challenge this summer by holding on to Peter Whittingham but if he can, they look sure to be involved in the promotion race again and should benefit from the playing staff being familiar for the first time in a while.

IN: Joe Lewis (Peterbro), Jordon Mutch (Birmingham), Etien Velikonja (Maribor [SVK]), Heidar Helguson (QPR), Craig Bellamy (Liverpool)

KEY OUTS: Kenny Miller (Vancouver Whitecaps [CAN]), Anthony Gerrard (Huddersfield), Tom Heaton (Bristol C), Lee Naylor (Released)

PREDICTION: 5^th

Charlton Athletic

It's been a quiet summer for Addicks boss Chris Powell who signed nearly 20 players at the same time last year. The League One champions have a squad of talented players but don't have too many who've exceled in the Championship and will face a tough battle to stay in the division. They should have momentum early on and have a few seasoned pros like Leon Cort and Johnnie Jackson to lean on when times get tough. I think they'll survive but only just.

IN: Jordan Cook (Sunderland), Lawrie Wilson (Stevenage), Salim Kerkar (Rangers)

KEY OUTS: Gary Doherty (Wycombe)

PREDICTION: 21^st

Crystal Palace

It could be a difficult season for Palace who enjoyed a stress-free ending to the 2011/12 season under Dougie Freedman. It was their first for a while. Freedman has expertly guided a young squad showing maturity far beyond his years as he did as a player. He'll have to perform above himself again this season as Palace have lost four good players in hot young right-back Nathaniel Clyne, Darren Ambrose, lanky one cap wonder Anthony Gardner and winger Sean Scannell. Scannell hasn't lived up to his promise in the game but still has all the physical attributes to make it big. Peter Ramage is a gnarly old centre half who'll do well and Joel Ward showed promise at times in a sinking Pompey outfit. It seems unlikely that Aaron Wilbraham will improve their attack though. He's a hard working guy but he's not a difference maker. Palace is another side whose squad looks small this season and may rely on "emergency" loans for depth.

IN: Joel Ward (Portsmouth), Aaron Martin (Southampton Loan), Aaron Wilbraham (Norwich), Peter Ramage (QPR)

KEY OUTS: Anthony Gardner (Sheff Weds), Sean Scannell (Huddersfield), Darren Ambrose (Birmingham), Nathaniel Clyne (Southampton)

PREDICTION: 16^th

Derby County

I admire the way Derby County is run under Nigel Clough. They spend wisely, invest in young players and don’t allow older players to block the development of their own products. They’ve improved year on year and have a nice blend of youth products and shrewd acquisitions. That will be tested this season. Chris Maguire is no-loss, he failed to deliver after his signing from Aberdeen, but Jason Shackell and Paul Green could really be missed. Also worrying for the Derby fans is the seemingly imminent departure of Steven Davies. On the plus side, Clough has signed Northampton's classy young midfielder Michael Jacobs, tough tackling Preston midfielder Paul Coutts, centre-half Richard Keogh and Doncaster's attacking right-back James O'Connor. Their squad was looking a little thin but Clough has done a decent rebuilding job while staying true to his philosophy. The Rams are unlikely to mount a promotion bid but should be too good to fall into a relegation battle too.

IN: Michael Jacobs (Northampton), Paul Coutts (Preston), Richard Keogh (Coventry), James O'Connor (Doncaster), Michael Hoganson (Newcastle)

KEY OUTS: Paul Green (Leeds), Chris Maguire (Sheff Weds), Jason Shackell (Burnley), Callum Ball (Coventry loan)

PREDICTION: 14^th

Huddersfield Town

Manager Simon Grayson has made a statement of intent following Huddersfield’s return to the second tier after an 11 year absence. Grayson cleared the decks following their League One play-off final win and allowed some older players such as Tommy Miller, Danny Cadamarteri and Gary Naysmith to move on. He took Crystal Palace striker Sean Scannell, once linked with multi-million pound moves to Spurs and West Ham, for just £400,000. Scannell has lost his way a little in the past couple of seasons but is still a young, dynamic player who has excellent dribbling ability and an eye for goal. He could be the steal of the summer window. They've strengthened the midfield significantly the signings of Manchester United midfielder Oliver Norwood, who impressed on loan at Coventry last season, Keith Southern and Adam Clayton from Leeds United. Grayson's defensive signings are equally impressive. Anthony Gerrard could form a formidable partnership with skipper Peter Clarke while Joel Lynch had an excellent season in a struggling Forest side last year. The difference between Huddersfield merely staying up comfortably and muscling in on the fight for a play-off place will depend on whether they hold on to Jordan Rhodes. Blackburn and Fulham are amongst his admirers.

IN: Sean Scannell (Palace), Paul Dixon (Dundee U), Oliver Norwood (Man Utd), Adam Clayton (Leeds), Joel Lynch (Forest), Keith Southern (Blackpool), Anthony Gerrard (Cardiff)

KEY OUTS: Gary Roberts (Swindon), Antony Kay (MK Dons)

PREDICTION: 11^th

Hull City

The Tigers have spent July recovering from 6 weeks of self-inflicted woe. Nick Barmby’s plan to transform City into the Barcelona of Yorkshire was ripped up and replaced with the Steve Bruce plan. That seems to be a return to playing with two up front, one of whom is a big lad, and having proper wingers who supply the ammunition. This plan will appeal to the supporters who didn’t enjoy the dominant but low-scoring performances under Barmby (and originally Pearson). Bruce has recruited well and quickly identified the gaps in the Tigers squad. Perhaps most importantly though the club has held on to some of the coveted young players like Cameron Stewart and James Chester while Robert Koren rejected the overtures of his former manager to sign a two year contract.

It’s easy to forget given the upheaval that Hull City finished 8^th in the Championship last season. Under Barmby, progress seemed inevitable. Under Bruce, it’s a tad more questionable. The squad is better but so are plenty of others. In a Championship that looks more competitive than ever, you have to move forward just to stand still.

IN: Ben Amos (Man Utd loan), Eldin Jakupovic (Aris [GRE]), Nick Proschwitz (Paderborn [GER]), Abdoulaye Faye (West Ham), Sone Aluko (Rangers), Alex Bruce (Leeds)

KEY OUTS: Kamel Ghilas (Reims [FRA]), Kevin Kilbane (Coventry), Dele Adebola (Rochdale), Richard Garcia (Released)

PREDICTION: 8^th

Ipswich Town

Paul Jewell's side has been quiet this summer. The signing of Scott Loach from Watford was a welcome on for the Tractor Boys who'd tried and failed to sign every second string goalkeeper in the land. If Loach had turned them down, Jewell had the Mounties on standby to search for Craig Forrest. Nottingham Forest's Luke Chambers will also help turnaround an often leaky defence while the loss of Grant Leadbitter and Jimmy "the parasite" Bullard may leave them short of midfield talent but will significantly improve their team spirit. In truth, Jewell needs 4 or 5 signings to make Ipswich competitive and they require fresh young blood, especially as their once prolific academy is no longer churning out stars.

IN: Elliott Hewitt (Macclesfield), Luke Chambers (Forest), Scott Loach (Watford), Massimo Luongo (Spurs loan)

KEY OUTS: Grant Leadbitter (Boro), Jimmy Bullard (Released)

PREDICTION: 20^th

Leeds United

Leeds dispensed with manager Simon Grayson last season and brought in Championship promotion specialist Neil Warnock. This one may well be one challenge too far for Warnock who is working on a tight budget. Leeds proposed takeover appears to be on hold at the moment and fans, already unimpressed with Ken Bates, will not have enjoyed seeing Adam Clayton and Robert Snodgrass join the talent exodus from Elland Road in recent seasons. Warnock has signed some good players, raiding hard-up Portsmouth for Jason Pearce and David Norris, signing experienced Norwich left-back Adam Drury and Derby's tidy Ireland international midfielder Paul Green. He's also taken his old mate Paddy "it was on prescription, honest, guv" Kenny who he's signed on 87 previous occasions.

Warnock's latest signing is El Hadji Diouf. Warnock famously labeled Diouf a "sewer rat" after he broke Jamie Mackie's leg during a Blackburn/QPR FA Cup tie. Warnock then suggested that he might have offended sewer rats. Of course, being that morality in top-level football is spelt ********, this hasn't stopped Warnock signing the player. If he thought Fred West could get 20 goals a season, Warnock would sign him too. Diouf had an excellent game for Doncaster at the KC Stadium last season. He'll probably do very well at Elland Road. It's a match made in heaven. Or hell.

IN: Jason Pearce (Portsmouth), Adam Drury (Norwich), Paul Green (Derby), Paddy Kenny (QPR), Andy Gray (Barnsley), Jamie Ashdown (Portsmouth), Luke Varney (Portsmouth), David Norris (Portsmouth), Lee Peltier (Leicester), El Hadji Diouf (Doncaster)

KEY OUTS: Adam Clayton (Huddersfield), Andy Lonergan (Bolton), Robert Snodgrass (Norwich), Andy O'Brien (Vancouver Whitecaps [CAN])

PREDICTION: 10^th

Leicester City

Leicester spent last summer shopping like Posh Spice on coke. Sven Goran Eriksson brought big expectations and a massive false dawn. The clubs owners look to have learnt from those mistakes and have since appointed (stolen) Nigel Pearson as manager and he's brought a calmer approach to player recruitment and altered unrealistic expectations. Pearson has rid the club of some of the bigger names and biggest earners, presumably to comply with financial fair play rules, and has made several solid if unspectacular signings. Full-back Richie De Laet and midfielder Matty James have joined Danny Drinkwater in signing from Pearson's favourite department store: Old Trafford. Zak Whitbread is a proven Championship centre half and Pompey's Marko Futacs has been brought in to replace the "Steve Howard option". Fleetwood's Jamie Vardy is Pearson's only expensive gamble so far but knowing how meticulous his scouting team is, he could be a rough diamond. I don't think Leicester have finished shaping their side yet. Pearson has been patient all summer and will pull one or two out of the bag before August 31st I'm sure.

IN: Ritchie De Laet (Man Utd), Matty James (Man Utd), Jamie Vardy (Fleetwood), Marko Futacs (Portsmouth), Zak Whitbread (Norwich)

KEY OUTS: Sol Bamba (Trabzonspor), Matt Mills (Bolton), Lee Peltier (Leeds), John Pantsil (Released), Darius Vassell (Released), Steve Howard (Hartlepool)

PREDICTION: 6^th

Middlesbrough

Boro had a good season under Tony Mowbray last time out but fell away after Easter. They have been keen to address the lack of depth in the squad this summer but have had to shop in a different market than the one they've been used too. Mowbray brought midfielder Grant Leadbitter back to the north-east from Ipswich and also rescued Jon Woodgate from the glue factory. His other signings have come from further down the leagues but appear to be well calculated gambles. Emanuel Ledesma is a creative midfield player who didn't have the best of spells at QPR but has recovered his form at Walsall. Mustapha Carayol is an exciting winger who's already trawled the lower divisions despite being only 23. They do know how to develop a winger at Middlesbrough though. In all Boro have a squad that is talented but has few experienced players. They'll hope to have less reliance on Marvin Emnes to score goals because when he went off the boil last season, so did they.

IN: Grant Leadbitter (Ipswich), Stuart Parnaby, Christian Burgess, Jon Woodgate (Stoke), Emanuel Ledesma (Walsall), George Friend (Doncaster), Mustapha Carayol (Bristol R), Jayson Leutwiler (Basle [SWI])

KEY OUTS: Barry Robson (Vancouver Whitecaps [CAN])

PREDICTION: 9^th

Millwall

Kenny Jackett has done an excellent job at Millwall in the last 3 years and has kept them up quite comfortably in the last 2 seasons. His ability will be severely tested by a division that looks stronger than ever this time. There are few stars at Millwall as they rely on being a better unit than the sum of its parts. Liam Trotter and James Henry are excellent in their midfield and Darius Henderson enjoyed a career renaissance last season. It's difficult to see them competing above the bottom six though and it will be a tough ask for players to keep playing above themselves.

IN: Maik Taylor (Leeds), Scott Malone (Bournemouth), Karleigh Osborne (Brentford), Danny Shittu (QPR)

KEY OUTS: Scott Barron (Brentford)

PREDICTION: 22^nd

Nottingham Forest

It took quite a while for Forest’s summer to kick into gear with the takeover by the Al-Hasawi family finally being completed in mid-July. By that time Forest had already lost McCleary, Chambers and Lynch on free transfers. The new owners wasted no time in sacking Steve Cotterill and appointing Sean O’Driscoll as manager. O’Driscoll is a good coach who was stupidly let go by Doncaster Rovers and helped revitalize Forest last season while assisting Steve Cotterill. With the owners backing, he’s dipped into the transfer market and made some decent additions. Daniel Ayala and Simon Gillet will help Forest play the brand of football O’Driscoll promotes while Simon Cox is a classy goalscorer who would have fit into any team in the division. Given the disruption and the changes in personnel, I think it’s unlikely that Forest will challenge for the play-offs but they should have a much better season than they did last time.

IN: Adlene Guedioura (Wolves), Danny Collins (Stoke), Greg Halford (Portsmouth), Dan Harding (Southampton), Simon Gillett (Doncaster), Daniel Ayala (Norwich loan), Simon Cox (WBA)

KEY OUTS: Garath McCleary (Reading), Luke Chambers (Ipswich), Joel Lynch (Huddersfield), George Boateng (Released), Paul Anderson (Bristol C)

PREDICTION: 12^th

Peterborough United

The Posh are a club who seem to be permanently in transition. Darren Ferguson has spent the past 6 months scouring the lower leagues again to find the players who’ll replace Joe Lewis and Ryan Bennett and preparing to replace George Boyd and Paul Taylor when they eventually move on. They’ll always take a chance on a player who is lower down the ladder; thy trust their judgement and they are generally rewarded for doing so. Their attacking philosophy stood them in good stead last season and it should do again. It’s more worthwhile to win some and lose some in the Championship than it is to collect a lot of draws. I admire Peterborough’s bravery and I think they’ll stay up again.

IN: Tyrone Barnett (Crawley), Shaun Brisley (Macclesfield), Nat Knight-Percival (Wrexham), Danny Swanson (Dundee United), Bobby Olejnik (Torquay), Nathaniel Mendez-Laing (Wolves), Michael Bostwick (Stevenage), Jonson Clarke-Harris (Coventry)

KEY OUTS: Joe Lewis (Cardiff), Paul Jones (Crawley)

PREDICTION: 18^th

Sheffield Wednesday

Wednesday are back at the level they feel they belong to at the very least. Dispensing with Gary Megson whilst sitting third in League One at the end of February seemed harsh but appointing Dave Jones was a masterstroke and he guided them to automatic promotion without losing a game. They’ve recruited two or three proven Championship players this summer as well as one or two wildcards. Neither Chris Maguire nor Michail Antonio pulled up any trees at Derby or Reading but Antonio did have a successful spell on loan at Hillsborough last season. Gary Madine had an excellent season in League One last season and with better players around him, he should adapt to the next level without any problems.

IN: Chris Kirkland (Wigan), Kieran Lee (Oldham), Joe Mattock (WBA), Anthony Gardner (Palace), Chris Maguire (Derby), Diogo Amado (Uniao Leiria [POR]), Nejc Pecnik (CD Nacional [POR]), Rhys McCabe (Rangers), Michail Antonio (Reading)

KEY OUTS: Clinton Morrison (Colchester)

PREDICTION: 15^th

Watford

It’s been a strange summer at Vicarage Road. The club was (eventually) purchased by the Pozzo family who already own Udinese and the Spanish club Granada. Granada was promoted to La Liga in 2010/11 with the help of players loaned from Udinese and the Pozzo family is trying the same trick at Watford. Sean Dyche was harshly dismissed as manager to make way for Gianfranco Zola and he’s overseen the sale of two of the clubs top players. They’ve been replaced by two experienced and, most importantly, free players in Fitz Hall and Manuel Almunia. A squad lacking in depth has been replenished by SIX players signed on loan from, shockingly, Udinese and Granada. And I thought the loan rules in this country were ridiculous before. Watford won’t be helped by the fact that last season’s top goalscorer Troy Deeney will spend the first few months of the season doing porridge. It’s difficult to predict what this Watford squad will achieve but knowing the history in this country of miserly foreign owners trying to do things on the cheap, I’m going for “not very well”.

IN: Fitz Hall (QPR), Manuel Almunia (Arsenal), Almen Abdi (Udinese loan), Matej Vydra (Udinese loan), Steve Leo Beleck (Udinese loan), Daniel Pudil (Granada loan), Ikechi Anya (Granada loan), Alex Geijo (Udinese loan)

KEY OUTS: Adrian Marriapa (Reading), Scott Loach (Ipswich)

PREDICTION: 19^th

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wolves made a complete hash of the Premier League last season and suffered relegation after sacking Mick McCarthy, who’d kept them up twice before, and replacing him with a guy who had les experience of top flight management than your average Football Manager 2012 addict. They’ve corrected that this summer with the appointment of the experienced and well-travelled Stale Solbakken. Wolves have quietly gone about their business this summer and weren’t getting a lot of media attention until recently when they turned down massive bids for Steven Fletcher and Matt Jarvis. Even without those two players, Wolves have a squad of players who’ve excelled at this level before. Their additions are mainly unknown but striker Sigurdarson and midfielder Doumbia both come with good reputations from Norway and France respectively.

IN: Bjorn Sigurdarson (Lillestrom [NOR]), Frank Nouble (West Ham), Jamie Tank (Walsall), Tongo Doumbia (Rennes [FRA] loan), Slawomir Peszko (Cologne [GER] loan)

KEY OUTS: Nathaniel Mendez-Laing (Peterbro), Adlene Guedioura (Forest), Sam Vokes (Burnley), Michael Kightly (Stoke), Jody Craddock (Released)

PREDICTION: 3^rd

Championship Rivals' Business

The top five winners and losers in the transfer marker so far this summer.

Winners

Huddersfield Town

Manager Simon Grayson has made a statement of intent following Huddersfield’s return to the second tier after an 11 year absence. Grayson cleared the decks following their League One play-off final win and allowed some older players such as Tommy Miller, Danny Cadamarteri and Gary Naysmith to move on. His first signing of the summer was Crystal Palace striker Sean Scannell, once linked with multi-million pound moves to Spurs and West Ham, for just £400,000. Scannell has lost his way a little in the past couple of seasons but is still a young, dynamic player who has excellent dribbling ability and an eye for goal. He could be the steal of the summer window.

Hudds midfield has been significantly strengthened with the free signing of Manchester united midfielder Oliver Norwood, who impressed on loan at Coventry last season, and a half a million pound deal for Leeds’ Adam Clayton. Both are young, tidy footballers and Clayton in particular looked destined for bigger things.

A pair of new full-backs have also arrived at the Galpharm. Paul Dixon has joined from Dundee United but is probably one for the future while Joel Lynch is an established NPC full-back who had a very good season in a struggling Forest team. They are signings made by an ambitious club with an equally ambitious manager. Perhaps their most important bit of business so far is the fact that Jordan Rhodes, scorer of 85 goals in three seasons, is still a Huddersfield player. He’s sought after and would command a massive fee but the club are still holding on to him.

Brighton & Hove Albion

Brighton enjoyed a good season back in the Championship last season under the management of Gus Poyet. Last summer’s surprise signing Vicente has committed himself to the club for another season and has been joined by an ex-Valencia team mate in full-back Bruno (Saltor). Bruno played for Valencia in the Champions League last season and brings extensive experience with him from Spain. The signing of goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak from Manchester United, reportedly clinched ahead of Hull City and Ipswich Town, was another impressive piece of business.

Brighton stated their ambition last summer when they pipped a host of clubs to the signing of Craig Mackail-Smith while lately they’ve been credited with an interest in Jordan Rhodes. Their willingness to spend a few quid was displayed with the recent loan capture of former England left-back Wayne Bridge. Bridge comes on loan from Manchester City where his weekly wage is said to be £90,000. This will be a subsidised loan but will still be relying on Brighton making a significant contribution.

Blackburn Rovers

Another team back in the second tier after over ten years away. Blackburn had a turbulent time last season and came down from the Premier League amid fears of financial doom. So far they’ve managed to keep hold of their high profile players except for top-scorer Yakubu who moved to Chinese side Guangzhou. They’ve also managed to add a few players and have brought in quality and experience.

Danny Murphy’s move from Fulham made everyone in the NPC sit up and take notice. Murphy is an old fashioned schemer who could surely have continued to play in the top flight. Newcastle’s Leon Best also moved to Ewood Park for a fee of around £3,000,000. Best has Championship pedigree with Coventry City and performed far better than anyone predicted for Newcastle in the Premier League in the last two seasons. Blackburn have also added two Portuguese to their squad. Fabio Nunes is a little known young winger. Nuno Gomes is well known. He has 79 caps for Portugal, has scored goals in the World Cup and European Championships and has played nearly 300 times for Benfica. At 36 it’s questionable whether he has the legs for English football but he certainly has the nous.

Leeds United

The biggest surprise at Elland Road this summer is that Neil Warnock hasn’t yet managed to sign Clint Hill and Shaun Derry! He has signed paddy Kenny, a goalkeeper who’s played for him at three previous clubs and brings with him a wealth of experience. Kenny knows what it takes to get out of the Championship and how to cheat, both on and off the pitch. More impressively Leeds have signed Jason Pearce from hard-up Portsmouth. The centre-half was one of the few shining lights at Fratton Park last season. Derby’s Paul Green is an excellent signing in the midfield, though offset by the loss of Adam Clayton to Huddersfield, and Norwich City’s Adam Drury is a very reliable and experienced left back.

Perhaps most importantly of all though, Leeds have thus far managed to keep hold of captain Robert Snodgrass who seemed certain to follow Jermaine Beckford, Max Gradel, Bradley Johnson, Kasper Schmeichel and Jonny Howson out of Elland Road. They’re also holding on to Ross McCormack whose goals proved important last season.

Peterborough United

Posh have once again dipped into the lower leagues and reserve squads to replenish their squad with a batch of up and coming players. Goalkeeper Joe Lewis, who once looked a player of great promise, departed for Cardiff and has been replaced by Torquay’s Bobby Olejnik. The Austrian was brought to England by Aston Villa, served Falkirk will in the SPL and was named the best ‘keeper in League Two last season. Striker Tyrone Barnett, winger Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and defender Shaun Brisley have completed moves after joining on loan last season from Crawley, Wolves and Macclesfield respectively. Barnett is a beast of a striker who cost in the region of £1,200,000. Nathaniel Knight-Percival looks a good free signing after starring for Wrexham in the conference last season, midfielder Michael Bostwick has earned a big move after climbing up the leagues with Stevenage and Dundee United midfielder Danny Swanson was another sought after free agent.

Posh’s summer could head south if they receive offers too good to refuse for winger George Boyd and strikers Lee Tomlin and Paul Taylor. However, as the often do, Peterbro have prepared for the inevitable in advance.

Losers

Nottingham Forest

The uncertainty over the clubs future finally ended this week with the Al-Hasawi family taking over the club from the estate of Nigel Doughty. That uncertainty has cost Forest a number of their better performers in the past couple of seasons. Winger Garath McCleary  joined Premier League new-boys Reading, centre-half Luke Chambers left for Ipswich Town and full-back Joel Lynch has gone to Huddersfield Town. Another winger, Paul Anderson has also left after his contract ended. The sacking of manager Steve Cotterill suggests the new owners are keen to flex their muscle though and Forest could start to move up the rankings soon.

Leicester City

Nigel Pearson released a number of fringe players at the end of last season including high earners Darius Vassell and John Pantsil. His signings to date have been reasonable with young Manchester United duo Ritchie De Laet and Matty James signing for undisclosed fees. The signing of Fleetwood Town striker Jamie Vardy for a fee of around £1,000,000 looks a large risk but Hull City fans know first hand that Pearson’s team do their home work. Leicester’s appearance in the losers section to date is due to their outgoings. Leicester fans couldn’t get enough of telling everyone last summer that the pairing of Sol Bamba and Matt Mills was by far the best defensive unit in the Championship. Bamba has since been sold to Turks Trabzonspor for £750,000 while Mills, who had a dreadful season, was sold to Bolton at a loss of between £2.5-4m depending on who you believe.

It leaves Nigel Pearson with work to do in the market if Leicester are to justify their tag as the bookmakers favourites for promotion. Again.

Bristol City

Endured another poor season last time out resulting in manager Keith Millen being replaced by Derek McInnes. Their two signings so far have been unimpressive. Jody Morris, once a can’t miss prospect at Chelsea, has been hiding out in the wilderness (Scottish football) for the past few seasons. Greg Cunningham is a decent full-back but not a signing that will excite anyone or transform a poor outfit.

Burnley

Jason Shackell is a good signing for the Clarets joining from Derby for the dreaded undisclosed fee which is said to be around a million quid. They’ve taken on a couple of lower league players too, Mansfield’s Luke O’Neill and Orient’s George Porter. None of this will compensate for the loss of Jay Rodriguez to Southampton. Rodriguez was among the top 3-5 strikers in the league last season and won’t be easy to replace. Burnley looked an ordinary side for the most part before that loss and will need to go some to improve now.

Derby County

I admire the way Derby County are run under Nigel Clough. They spend wisely, investing in youth and don’t allow players to block the development of their own young players. They’ve improved year on year and have a nice blend of youth products and shrewd acquisitions. That will be tested this summer. Chris Maguire is no-loss, he failed to deliver after his signing from Aberdeen, but Jason Shackell and Paul Green could really be missed. Most worrying for the Derby fans will be the seemingly imminent departure of Steven Davies. Derby haven’t had a lot of strength in depth and their squad looks small at the moment. Winning the race for Northampton’s promising midfielder Michael Jacobs is the only plus point so far.