Last season at this time, Swansea City and Norwich both looked destined to be on the outside looking in come promotion time. Fast forward a year and they are competing with the big boys as we saw in todays Swans victory over powerhouse Arsenal.
Such exciting teams come out of an atmosphere of uncertainty and the Championship is the perfect arena for such. My expectations for this season hinted at the unexpected nature of the beast. But I figured a few things would hold true:
1.) Freshly relegated West Ham United would rise back from the ashes and win the division, similar to how Newcastle did 2 years ago.
2.) Nottingham would look to improve upon a finish that saw them eliminated in the Playoff after having spent considerable time in the coveted second place spot for much of the season.
3.) Newly promoted Southampton would impress, hanging around the middle of the table.
As expected, the Hammers have been a step above just about everyone else in the division this season. That is except for one. A team that I predicted would finish around the middle of the pack has amazingly soared to first: Southampton. We first saw a glimmer of what the Saints could do in last year's FA Cup, where they beat premier league Blackpool and only narrowly lost to giants Manchester United at home 2-1. But to have success in a higher league would take patience and resilience. They can thank star forward Rickie Lambert with much of the success. He has 17 goals in all competitions, including 15 in the league. But there is also a brilliant character to them, a persona and confidence similar to this year's Norwich.
On the other end of the spectrum is Nottingham Forest, currently in 22nd and on their way toward relegation if they don't make changes soon. Manager Steve Coterill took over the team in the fall and has only seen a decline since.
Midseason predictions
1. Southampton
great players + great fans + great manager = promotion
2. West Ham United
-team has found new life after looking slow and old the last few years
3. Blackpool
-remember last year? not far-fetched that the magic could come back next season
4. Cardiff
-envy of their welsh rivals Swansea could be big motivation and having a striker like Kenny Miller doesn't hurt either
5. Leeds
-consistently in top 6, just need to make sure they stay there come April
6. Burnley
-before you accuse me of placing the Clarets here because of my emotional connections to the team, take a look at some Jay Rodriguez highlight videos, absolute monster
player of the year: Kevin Phillips (Blackpool)
-had to give it to the man in orange. He's led a freshly relegated and depleted 'Pool team back into contention. If he keeps scoring like he has (15 total) Bloomfield Road could be abuzz once more next season.
manager of the year: Nigel Adkins (Southampton) Perhaps, not a surprise that his great run as a manager has spilled over into the Championship with the Saints. But anytime a newly promoted club can be as successful as Southampton, you've got to give a lot of credit to the man in charge. Once again, just a great energy with this team.
There's still a ton of football left to play but it won't be too long before we find out which teams are on their way up the English football ladder. With some good fortune, maybe they could even match the success of this year's newly promoteds. Until then, however, I think it's highly likely that St. Mary's, home of Southampton will be singing "when the saints go marching in" with all their heart.
-twil
video courtesy: katepudlo (youtube)
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