5 Championship Request A Bets to Look Out For

There is a lot of optimism surrounding the Riverside currently and a lot of that can be put down to their manager. Chris Wilder joined Boro last season after the sacking of Neil Warnock and he improved their fortunes by taking them from 15th to narrowly missing out on a play-off spot in seventh place. 

Wilder simply has had success everywhere he’s been, with constant improvement at a budget-stricken Oxford, to a promotion with Northampton and a double promotion with his beloved Sheffield United. 

Meanwhile, Reading fans are at the other end of the spectrum in terms of optimism. Paul Ince won four of his 14 games in charge of the Royals last season but has been given the permanent role despite not managing elsewhere since 2014. 

They’ve lost key players in John Swift, Josh Laurent, Andy Rinomhota and Michael Morrison in the summer transfer window with Lucas Joao also looking unlikely to stay. 

It was a big surprise when the Clarets decided to dispense of Sean Dyche last season but it was perhaps an even bigger surprise when the decision was made to bring in Anderlecht manager Vincent Kompany as his replacement. 

The appointment of Kompany suggests a style shift with the Belgian looking to bring down the average age of the squad. They’ve already brought in three impressive ball-playing centre-backs as Luke McNally joins from Oxford United whilst CJ Egan-Riley and Taylor Harwood-Bellis both join from Manchester City. Last season's best League One player Scott Twine has also joined to improve their attacking ranks.

Meanwhile, the lack of direction was clear to see when Birmingham only sacked their manager Lee Bowyer 28 days before the start of the season. They did act quickly to bring in John Eustace as his replacement who has previously been the assistant manager at both QPR and the Republic of Ireland but his only managerial stint was with National League North side, Kidderminster Harriers. 

The shift from Bowyer's direct style of play to Eustace’s progressive style will take time and the Blues have so far only brought in two reinforcements. Dion Sanderson and Przemyslaw Placheta have both joined on loan from Wolves and Norwich respectively. 

Meanwhile, Reading are having to scramble together to put a squad out for the start of the season. At this present moment, there are only three recognised midfielders in the 19-man squad, whilst their transfer business has consisted of bringing in shaky goalkeepers Joe Lumley and Sutton’s Dean Bouzanis alongside the permanent signing of Ince’s son, Tom Ince. 

Lastly, it has been a difficult window for Paul Warne as he has seen three of his star men leave for bigger wage packets in the division below. Michael Smith and Michael Ihiekwe have both joined Sheffield Wednesday whilst Freddie Ladapo has moved further south to Ipswich Town. 

With the impressive signings of Blackburn captain, Darragh Lenihan and the highly rated wing-back Ryan Giles, alongside the supposed arrival of Rovers’ Ryan Nyambe, it seems a safe bet to have Boro in the top six.

Meanwhile, the Black Cats are the most favoured of the promotion bunch as they’re managed by Alex Neil who has overachieved everywhere he’s been. 

With Hamilton in Scotland, he secured a promotion to the SPL, whilst within half a season he got both Norwich and Sunderland promoted via the play-offs. His work at Preston North End has shown he can constantly overachieve despite being hamstrung by a lowly budget.

Paul Warne has managed three seasons at this level with the Millers and has been relegated in every single season. With the departures of some of his most trusted players, it seems likely for Warne to add a fourth relegation to his CV. 

Paul Heckingbottom’s work with Sheffield United last season was simply ridiculous. Within 27 games, he took the Blades from 17th place to fifth with a points per game total of 1.93. With a full season under his belt, it would’ve very likely have ended with a title at the end of it.

Despite already having a very strong squad, the Yorkshire outfit have set out on improving their unit this summer. Remarkably, they’ve beaten competition from all over Europe to secure the services of Anel Ahmedhodzic from Malmo, whilst also adding Ciaran Clark from Newcastle. They’ve also added highly rated Tommy Doyle on loan from Manchester City. 

There is a sense of ‘old-school’ surrounding Millwall but that may just suit them favourably this campaign as the majority look to spice things up and play a so-called ‘attractive’ style of play. 

Simply put, no one will want to play a Gary Rowett side this season with their no-nonsense approach being so difficult and frustrating to play against. They’ve quickly looked to replace the quality of Jed Wallace by bringing in combative midfielder, George Honeyman, young Leeds defender Charlie Cresswell and Benik Afobe who has worked with Rowett previously.