Europe’s best?

Thursday, 12/11/2009

It's becoming increasingly fashionable to herald the Championship as the most exciting league in Europe, and it’s easy to see why.

Just three points currently separate third-placed Cardiff from twelfth-placed Watford, and all four clubs occupying the play-off spots sit on 27 points. The bottom half of the table is equally tight with only one point separating Sheffield United in 14th with newly-promoted Scunthorpe in 19th.

The televised clash between Swansea and Cardiff, won 3-2 by the in-form Swans, is one of countless derby matches in the division. The November 30 clash between Blackpool and Preston is the next hot-blooded derby on Sky.

One team without a derby is Ipswich Town. However, Roy Keane’s men have failed to perform this season. Town currently sit four points from safety.

Suffolk optimists will note that Ipswich are now five unbeaten following a score draw at fellow underachievers Reading. But Ipswich are drawing too many games with nine of their 16 matches ending all square.

Keane can perhaps count himself lucky to still have a job if happenings at London Road are anything to go by. Darren Ferguson spearheaded Peterborough's rapid rise from the bottom-flight to the Championship with back-to-back promotions, but his team’s slack start got him the sack.

Posh's decision to part company with a manager who has won more than half of his games in charge is testimony to the modern game’s cut-throat tendencies.

Middlesbrough, too, have already made changes at the top - though Gareth Southgate's replacement Gordon Strachan has had a torrid start. One point from three sees his slide slip from 4th to 10th.

At the top, it’s two of the pre-season favourites who top the charts. Newcastle fans may be disillusioned with chairman Mike Ashley’s antics but on the pitch the Toon have put a minor blip behind them and, after three successive wins, remain on course for an immediate return to the big time.
 
Just behind them, West Brom are showing the kind of consistency so rarely seen in England’s second tier.

The old sporting cliché of "anyone can beat anyone" sums up the Championship perfectly. And the division’s close-fought and competitive nature makes it so exhilarating.

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