Brammer’s Blog

Last weekend saw the 2009/10 Championship finally take shape following the end of the Premiership campaign and the Play-offs.

So what impact will the new entrants have on the division, and will it make it even harder for the Reds next term?

Of the sides dropping into the Championship – Newcastle, Middlesbrough and West Brom – I think the latter of the trio are potentially best placed to bounce straight back up. The Baggies are the archetypal ‘yo-yo’ club who have been in this predicament before and will be well prepared for it. In fact, they deliberately avoided spending big bucks so that if/when the inevitable happened they wouldn’t be saddled with huge debts and forced to sell players. Provided they retain the services of the wily Tony Mowbray – rumoured to be a target of Celtic – then I would expect them to be challenging for an automatic return to the Premiership.

I’m not convinced Newcastle will be joining them. The club is clearly in turmoil, and with the untested Alan Shearer in charge it may be that a season of consolidation is required (although I suspect that won’t be tolerated by either his Board or the ‘Toon Army’). They will have to cope with the loss of a number of key players, and no matter how much money Shearer is given it will take time to gel a new squad together. They will also have to cope with the huge expectancy of their fans and the prospect of being a prize scalp for every other team in the division.

As a Reds fan I have to say I’m not too concerned by the prospect of Middlesbrough entering the division. If you take Tuncay and Dowling out of their team (both of whom will surely leave) then you are left with an average Championship squad. Boro have overstretched themselves financially over recent seasons in trying to compete in the Premiership and won’t be flush with cash next season to rebuild their side. The jury is out on Gareth Southgate too, who seems to be as unpopular at the Riverdside as Simon Davey has become at Oakwell!

With regards to the clubs promoted into the Championship – Leicester, Peterborough and Scunthorpe – I think they will have differing fortunes next term.

Nigel Pearson did a remarkable job last season with the Foxes, leading the division from beginning to end, and they should easily adapt to life back in the Championship. Provided that Milan Mandaric doesn’t default to his ‘hire and fire’ tactics then I would expect them to be competing in the top half of the division.

Peterborough have come a long way in a short time under the leadership of Darren Ferguson – two seasons ago they were in the bottom half of League 2 – and it remains to be seen whether they can continue the momentum. I would hazard a guess that it may be a step too far for them, but they may have just enough quality to stay up.

And finally that leaves us with Scunthorpe United (or Barnsley reserves!) who only lasted one season in the Championship last time they were promoted, but Nigel Adkins will have no doubt learnt from that experience. Glanford Park is always a difficult place to go and they will be relying on their home form to get a foothold in the division.

Already it appears the bookies have got us as one of the favourites for relegation – alongside Scunny and Plymouth – but if we manage to make some key signings over the next couple of months then I don’t think we have an awful lot to fear ahead of the 2009/10 Championship campaign.

The departures of Kyle Letheren, Marciano Van Homoet, Diego Leon and Dennis Souza seem to have passed without comment this week.

Normally the ‘retained list’ sparks huge debate amongst supporters, but it has to be said the departure of this quartet has come as little surprise.

Dennis Souza has been a big disappointment this term following the successful impact he had last season. The big defender has become error-prone at the back and seems to have lost a lot of confidence. He certainly didn’t help his cause by refusing to sit on the bench against Palace in March having been dropped from the First XI. I suspect that was the final nail in the coffin as far as Simon Davey was concerned.

Spaniard Diego Leon has never quite looked comfortable in English football. There is no doubt about his technical ability – some of his passing and movement has been sublime at times – but he simply didn’t have the physical strength or pace to compete in the hurly-burly of the Championship. It was no coincidence that probably his best game for the Reds was in the FA Cup tie at West Ham where he was afforded the time and space to do what he did best and embarrassed a good number of so-called ’superstar’ Hammers. Alas Diego’s departure also means we say a fond farewell to Mrs Leon, who arguably put in more eye-catching performances at Oakwell than her husband!!

As for Marciano Van Homoet, well the best you can say for him was that he had pace and was able to get forward down the flank to support attacks. However, his pace couldn’t mask the fact that his tackling and distribution wasn’t good enough for this level of football and he was never able to secure a consistent place in the starting XI.

Finally – and perhaps least surprisingly – the Club have released goalie Kyle Letheren. Unfortunately the abiding memory most Reds fans will have of Kyle is his nightmare performance against Wigan in pre-season where we conceded 6 goals. With Heinz Muller and Luke Steele ahead of him in the pecking order he was never going to make the breakthrough, and his stints at Donny and Grimsby this season indicated his future lay elsewhere.

As always it will be interesting to see where these players end up next season, although I can’t imagine our paths will cross in the future as no doubt most will return to the Continent.