Championship Johnager

I said on Sunday that I would do a quick preview of the season, specifically concentrating on the Championship. It was a good start financiallly at least, as QPR, Coventry and Brum all won netting me £72. Here's where local knowledge kicks in: Norwich have won three times in nearly 50 games in Coventry - I've seen better strike rates for canaries in cages.

So what can we glean from the opening weekend: A few opinions:
*Birmingham will be the team to beat - They stank on Saturday worse than the Lincolnshire sprout fields on a hot summer night. But they have goals in their side, proven winners, and don't give up. A good outside bet for top scorer might be Gary McSheffrey, who showed none of the ability of the promotion winning side, often drifting randomly like a penny in a urinal. Now he's in the right division to flourish.

*Blackpool are doomed - it's the classic, tight,tetchy game in a dismal ground where the plucky underdogs pull out all the stops in closing down the cliche-ridden game and suddenly the bigger team not only pulls the rug out from under their feet but then steal their Sky Plus and vomit in an expensive vase. 89th minute goals are the currency of relegation, and I'll bet Blackppol will be making quite a few transactions this season.

*Reading aren't going up - the rats are leaving the sinking ship. There's no Sidwell, the FA Cup specialist Kitson has gone to Stoke (nothing like furthering your career - for a year), Shorey's gone - next thing Coppell will be going. Where I have no idea? Manchester City? Macclesfield? Madagascar? Moulton Chapel? Who knows, but when he goes, the "Royals" will have about as much chance of coming back as Henry VIII.

*Doncaster - Playoffs? - I ask the question because when teams have momentum they can often find themselves in the middle of the playoff brawl without knowing how they got there. Before you scoff I'm sure you will tell me that you predicted Bristol City would finish top 6 last year. If so, you're either a lying tart or a demon of some kind - either way I banish you from the blog. This could be the first of several big scalps this year.

*Rule out Watford at your peril - Watford are the lepers of the division. I've heard more positive broadcasting about Basra than Vicarage Road this summer. And yes, they've lost players. But their manager's too good for the relegation dogfight, unless it's in the division above. They'll finish about 16th.

A few other random footballing things:
*I know Michael Owen's injury prone, but things are getting ridiculous. I hear today that he hasn't played any pre-season friendlies because he had mumps. Mumps?? Who the hell gets mumps at his age. It seems his body has been battered more times than Joey Barton's Playstation Controller so his entire nervous system and alimentary canal are now giving up the ghost. I guarantee by the end of the season he'll have chicken pox, herpes, and barely be able to stop shitting himself on the pitch.
*Lovely to see Frank Lampard staying in Britain. Bottled it completely, like most UK players.
*First impressions of Liverpool (against Liege): disjointed and disappointing. Forget the big teams - West Brom, Bolton, Fulham, West Ham, Blackburn,Hull in November and December is the key. Watch that title challenge disappear faster than Benitez' hairline.