Automatic promotion contenders
Seven teams will start with a different manager from the one who finished the last campaign and no appointment is more intriguing than the four-times Premier League winner Vincent Kompany pitching up at Burnley. There are concerns about the club’s financial structure after relegation but if Kompany’s defensive expertise rubs off on CJ Egan-Riley, Taylor Harwood-Bellis and the goalkeeper Arijanet Muric, all of whom arrive from Manchester City, and Luke McNally, who has joined from Oxford, this incarnation will surely go close. As at Anderlecht, whom Kompany led to successive third-placed finishes, his sidekick will be Craig Bellamy. Teething problems are inevitable but they have an experienced core, which will be supplemented by the exuberance of Scott Twine, the League One player of the season.
West Bromwich Albion, who may benefit from a slightly softer focus than those relegated from the Premier League, are attempting to strike a more tried and trusted formula after a hugely flat campaign, with Steve Bruce eyeing a fifth promotion from the division. Goals should not be such a problem after the arrival of two of the league’s best attacking performers in Jed Wallace and John Swift, whose creativity should unlock defences and supply Karlan Grant and the fit-again Daryl Dike. Middlesbrough have arguably the best manager in the division in Chris Wilder and the signing of the Wolves loanee Ryan Giles, a consistent performer for four clubs at this level, should complement Isaiah Jones in Boro’s wing-back system, though another striker would probably represent the final piece in the jigsaw. Yo-yoing Norwich City and Watford are back in their befuddling and comforting safe zone, outside the top flight and almost certainly nestled towards the top of second tier. They will surely have a say in things, particularly the latter if head coach, Rob Edwards, who is hunting successive promotions, is able to lean on Emmanuel Dennis and Ismaïla Sarr for any part.
Playoff hopefuls
The last time Luton failed to better their previous position was six years ago, when they were a mid-table League Two club. Topping last season’s journey to the playoff semi-finals is a big ask, though the return of Cauley Woodrow and arrival of Carlton Morris are typically shrewd signings. Huddersfield, who went one step further by reaching Wembley, are well-equipped to absorb headline departures and start at home to Burnley on Friday, the season beginning in July because of the World Cup. Sheffield United are well placed to at least replicate last season’s fifth place and there is no reason they cannot keep looking up under Paul Heckingbottom. Whether this is the year Millwall bridge the gap to the top six will largely rest on the Dutchman Zian Flemming, a £1.7m arrival from Fortuna Sittard, matching Wallace’s output, with the Leeds pair Charlie Cresswell and Jamie Shackleton sound pickups on loan. Stoke have underwhelmed since relegation four years ago but Dwight Gayle should push them up the pecking order and Preston equally hope the Tottenham loanee Troy Parrott can propel them into the pack.
Is something special brewing at Swansea? Russell Martin, who turned to his former club MK Dons for Harry Darling and brought Joe Allen back home, has had a full pre-season to drill his methods. Matt Grimes is one of the division’s best midfielders and in Joel Piroe, a snip at £1m last summer, they have a talisman. Things tailed off badly for QPR last campaign but they have been revitalised by Michael Beale, who has augmented a talented core. Bristol City, the highest scorers outside the top six last season, look a signing or two away but the arrivals of Kane Wilson and Kal Naismith will improve them and the retention of Alex Scott, Antoine Semenyo and Andi Weimann gives them a chance. Mid-table beckons for Blackburn, who have former Denmark striker Jon Dahl Tomasson at the helm, and Coventry.
Relegation candidates
The past few seasons have been akin to a slow puncture for Birmingham, with an apathetic fanbase tired of the malaise that has clouded the club since the appointments of Gianfranco Zola then Harry Redknapp in 2016-17. John Eustace is the latest manager after the sacking of Lee Bowyer, but a destabilising backdrop remains. The former Barcelona striker Maxi López is part of a consortium that claims it is close to buying a 21% stake in the club but off-field uncertainty has hampered any designs on improving a thin squad. Reading also lived dangerously last season – they nervously occupied 21st, one place above the drop zone, from December until May – and given they are under a transfer embargo, have a suspended six-point deduction, a dearth of midfield options and a manager, Paul Ince, who is forewarning of a slog, it is hard to think things will be any different.
There have been big changes at Cardiff and Hull, the former failing in public attempts to lure Gareth Bale and the latter able to attract Jean Michaël Seri, a midfielder who was close tojoining Barcelona in 2017. Hull’s hopes of nothing less than a top-six finish hinge on cosmopolitan arrivals gelling. Alex Neil knows his way around the division and should steer a Sunderland team capable of adapting to the level clear of trouble. Wigan are seemingly banking on their title-winning squad consolidating in the second tier and Paul Warne will be desperate to do something he is yet to manage: prevent Rotherham, who have lost two key players to Sheffield Wednesday, from sliding straight back down. Blackpool won admirers en route to 16th last season but it will be tricky for Neil Critchley’s replacement, Michael Appleton, reappointed after 10 years away, to mirror that finish.
Three youngsters to watch
Ollie Tanner, 20, Cardiff The winger failed to agree terms with Tottenham in January and four months later joined Cardiff for about £50,000 from Lewes of the Isthmian League Premier Division. The former Arsenal youth forward, who also played for Bromley, attracted interest from several clubs, including Brighton, but was swayed by Steve Morison’s openness to giving youth a chance.
Jobe Bellingham, 16, Birmingham It is not all doom and gloom for Birmingham. The midfielder, the younger brother of the Borussia Dortmund and England’s Jude, made the first of three senior appearances in January and chaos may breed further opportunity. Has agreed terms on a professional contract, which he will sign when he turns 17 in September, and was involved with the first-team squad throughout pre-season.
Emre Tezgel, 16, Stoke The England Under-17 striker spearheaded Stoke’s Under-23s last season and while the club are keen not to put any pressure on a player who will probably start as backup they recognise they have an outstanding talent. Became Stoke’s youngest player in January and recently agreed a professional contract, effective from September, despite serious top-flight interest.
