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The Championship: Five talking points ahead of the 2019-20 season

The Championship: Five talking points ahead of the 2019-20 season
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Leeds have been installed as the bookmakers' favourites for promotion.

The 2019-20 Sky Bet Championship season gets under way this weekend, with the division set to be extremely competitive once again.

Here, PA Sport takes a look at some of the talking points surrounding the new campaign.

Can Warnock do it again?

Cardiff boss Neil Warnock has overseen eight promotions during his career (Andrew Matthews/PA).
Cardiff boss Neil Warnock has overseen eight promotions during his career (Andrew Matthews/PA).

After finishing 18th in the Premier League last term, Cardiff are hoping boss Neil Warnock can pull off yet another promotion – the one that took the Bluebirds up in 2017-18 was the eighth he has overseen in his career. It would be a fitting finale for the 70-year-old, who has said he intends to retire after this season.

Cottagers and Terriers look to bounce back

Fulham and Huddersfield are the other two sides aiming to make swift returns to the big time following relegation. Both have managers, in Scott Parker and Jan Siewert, that took charge during the second half of last term. Three successive wins in March looked an encouraging sign for Fulham, who have retained Aleksandar Mitrovic and Ryan Sessegnon – as things stand – and brought in Anthony Knockaert on loan from Brighton. Huddersfield registered their first points under Siewert by beating Wolves in February, only to then conclude 2018-19 with eight losses and two draws.

What next from Leeds and Bielsa?

Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds finished third in the Championship last season (Mike Egerton/PA)..
Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds finished third in the Championship last season (Mike Egerton/PA)..

The club currently favourites with bookmakers to win the league are Leeds, who came third last season and were subsequently defeated in the play-off semi-finals. Boss Marcelo Bielsa is staying on after a memorable first season in the job, which included the Argentinian admitting to sending someone to watch Derby train – the incident dubbed 'spygate' – and ordering his team to let Aston Villa walk in a goal against them.

New appointments

Derby, who beat Leeds in the play-off semis before losing to Villa in the final, have had a change of management this summer following Frank Lampard's departure to Chelsea, with former PSV Eindhoven boss Phillip Cocu coming in as his successor. There are also new men in the dugout at West Brom and Middlesbrough, who were beaten play-off semi-finalists and seventh-placed finishers last season respectively. Slaven Bilic has the job at the Hawthorns, while Jonathan Woodgate is in charge at the Riverside. While their coaching CVs are very different, all three are first-timers in terms of managing in this division.

Luton's return

Newly-promoted Luton have a new boss as well, with Graeme Jones appointed to oversee what is the club's first campaign in the second tier since 2006-07. The Hatters, who have signed the likes of Callum McManaman and Martin Cranie this summer, are looking to continue building after achieving back-to-back promotions in the last two seasons. They were joined in going up by Daniel Stendel's Barnsley and Lee Bowyer's Charlton.

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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Leeds UnitedLeeds17105231121935
2Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd1711422491535
3Burnley179622161533
4Sunderland1796226121433
5Watford179262624229
6Middlesbrough178362920927
7West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom176921811727
8Blackburn RoversBlackburn167452017325
9Millwall166641914524
10Norwich CityNorwich175753125622
11Swansea CitySwansea176471615122
12Bristol City175752021-122
13Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds176472026-622
14Stoke CityStoke175661920-121
15Derby CountyDerby175572122-120
16Luton TownLuton175391829-1118
17Coventry CityCoventry174582225-317
18Oxford UnitedOxford Utd174581927-817
19Preston North EndPreston173861624-817
20Plymouth ArgylePlymouth174581834-1617
21Cardiff CityCardiff174491526-1116
22Hull City173681623-715
23Queens Park RangersQPR172871526-1114
24Portsmouth152671628-1212


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