Well the football season returns, and we can get back down to business. I fancy a lot of the leagues this season are going to be very tight affairs, and I'll be very surprised if any one team runs away with the title in any of the top UK leagues. The Championship intrigues me this year, with many decent teams, many whose chairmen believe they should be playing in the premiership. Thankfully their fans (well most) live in the real world, and would enjoy a good game, with goals, players that play for the shirt, and then they will take the spoils of the result.
There has been plenty of player movement during this transfer window, and that leads to a lot of unknowns. Below is the latest list, lifted straight from the daily telegraph, and this gives you an idea of the scale of movements. How will affect the end of season finishing position is unknown. But what we do know is what the bookies think, and what history tells us. One of the most interesting facts is that less than 24% of those teams relegated come straight back up.
So out of Cardiff, Fulham, Norwich which one will go back up, if any? and of those that came up who will go straight back down? Choose from Wolves, Rotherham or Brentford?
In my view Fulham have taken the long awaited scythe to their premiership squad, and Norwich have had their shot at the big time. Cardiff have invested well, and have a keen & hungry manager. Coupled with Derby & Middlesbrough, these three teams will be carrying my couple of quid for promotion up to the Premiership. At the other end of the table I think Wolves have enough to survive and Brentford have spent ok-ish. So I'm backing Rotherham, Huddersfield and Bolton for the drop. 2 dark horses are Leeds and Blackpool - what the hell is going on with these clubs is the great unknown, if I were a fan of these clubs I would buckle up for a testing season.
Bets:
Champions: Cardiff
Promotion: Cardiff, Derby, Middlesbrough
Relegation: Rotherham, Huddersfield, Bolton
Birmingham City
In: Denny Johnstone (Celtic, Compensation), David Edgar (Burnley), Stephen Gleeson (MK Dons), Jonathan Grounds (Oldham Athletic), Gavin Gunning (Dundee United), Wes Thomas (Rotherham United), David Cotterill (Doncaster Rovers), Clayton Donaldson (Brentford), Mark Duffy (Rotherham United), Navid Nasseri (Bury), Grant Hall (Tottenham Hotspur, Loan).
Out: Tom Adeyemi (Cardiff City, £1m), Aaron Martin (Yeovil Town), Hayden Mullins (Notts County), Wade Elliott (Bristol City), Liam Maher (Leamington), Chris Burke (Nottingham Forest), Amari'i Bell (Mansfield Town, Loan), Koby Arthur (Cheltenham Town, Loan).
Released: Peter Lovenkrands, Darren Ambrose, Brian Howard, Akwasi Asante, Reece Hales, Ryan Higgins.
Blackburn Rovers
In: Chris Brown (Doncaster Rovers), Luke Varney (Leeds United), Alex Baptiste (Bolton Wanderers, Loan).
Out: Alan Judge (Brentford, Undisclosed), Ruben Rochina (Granada, Undisclosed), Ryan Edwards (Morecambe), David Goodwillie (Aberdeen), David Carson (Ashington), Josh Morris (Fleetwood Town, Loan), Anthony O'Connor (Plymouth Argyle, Loan), Leon Best (Derby County, Loan).
Released: William Beesley, Robbie Cotton, Ryan Edwards, Huge Fernandez Molina, Deniz Pero, Aaron Tumwa, Matthew Unwin, Timothy Payne, Dickson Etuhu, DJ Campbell.
Blackpool
In: Jose Miguel Cubero (Herediano, Undisclosed), Sergei Zenjov (FC Karpaty Lviv), Tony McMahon (Sheffield United), Peter Clarke (Huddersfield Town), Tomasz Cywka, Jacob Mellis (Both Barnsley), Joan Oriol (Osasuna), Nathan Delfouneso (Aston Villa), Ishmael Miller (Nottingham Forest), Donervon Daniels (West Bromwich Albion, Loan), Joe Lewis (Cardiff City, Loan), John Lundstram (Everton, Loan).
Out: Tom Ince (Hull City, Compensation), Harrison McGahey (Sheffield United, Compensation), Chris Basham (Sheffield United), Neal Bishop (Scunthorpe United), Kirk Broadfoot (Rotherham United), Mark Halstead (Shrewsbury Town), Chris Kettings (Crystal Palace), Craig Cathcart (Watford), Matt Gilks (Burnley), James Caton (Shrewsbury Town), Ricardo Fuller (Millwall), Alex Marrow (Carlisle United), Stan Staunton-Turner (Stalybridge Celtic), Liam Tomsett (AFC Fylde), Nathan Tyson (Doncaster Rovers).
Released: Louis Almond, Anderson Banvo, Jake Caprice, Michael Chopra, Adam Dodd, Robert Earnshaw, Nathan Eccleston, Elliot Grandin, Barry Ferguson, Faris Haroun, Isaiah Osbourne, Tony Warner.
Bolton Wanderers
In: Dorian Dervite (Charlton Athletic), Liam Feeney, Liam Trotter (Both Millwall), Andy Robinson (Southampton), Dean Moxey (Crystal Palace), Neil Danns (Leicester City), Ross Fitzsimons (Crystal Palace), Andy Hughes (Charlton Athletic), Alex Baptiste (Blackburn Rovers, Loan).
Out: Cian Bolger (Southend United, Undisclosed), Marvin Sordell (Burnley, Undisclosed), Joe Riley (Oxford United, Loan).
Released: Zat Knight, Chris Eagles, Tyrone Mears, Jay Lynch, Arran Lee-Barrett, Andre Moritz, Sam Bailey, Saul Hamer, Jordan Hendrie, James Kelly, Elliot Newby, Guillermo Torres.
AFC Bournemouth
In: Callum Wilson (Coventry City, Undisclosed), Dan Gosling (Newcastle United), Junior Stanislas (Burnley).
Out: Lewis Grabban (Norwich City, Undisclosed), Shwan Jalal (Bury), Matt Tubbs (AFC Wimbledon, Loan), Charlie Losasso (Eastbourne Borough), Ryan Allsop, Mohamed Coulibaly (Both Coventry City, Loan), Miles Addison (Scunthorpe, Loan), Josh McQuoid (Coventry, Loan).
Retired: Richard Hughes, Stephen Purches.
Brentford
In: Moses Odubajo (Leyton Orient, £1m), Scott Hogan (Rochdale, £750,000), Andre Gray (Luton Town, £500,000), Alan Judge (Blackburn Rovers, Undisclosed), Marcos Tébar Ramiro (UD Almeria), Daniel O'Shaughnessy (FC Metz), Tommy Smith (Cardiff City), Alex Pritchard (Tottenham Hotspur, Loan).
Out: Luke Norris (Gillingham, Unidsclosed), Aaron Pierre (Wycombe Wanderers, Undisclosed), Liam O'Brien (Dagenham & Redbridge), Shaleum Logan (Aberdeen), Clayton Donaldson (Birmingham City), Sam Beale (Eastbourne Borough), Farid El Alagui (Hibernian), Michael Onovwigun (Chesterfield), Will Grigg (MK Dons, Loan).
Released: Scott Barron.
Brighton & Hove Albion
In: Chris O'Grady (Barnsley, £2m), David Stockdale (Fulham, Undisclosed), Nzuzi Toko (Grasshopper), Aaron Hughes (Queens Park Rangers), George Cole, Daniel Pappoe (Both Chelsea).
Out: Leonardo Ulloa (Leicester City, £8m rising to £10m), Matthew Upson (Leicester City), Brennan Dickenson (Gillingham), Jeffrey Monakana (Aberdeen, Loan), Keith Andrews (Watford, Loan).
Released: Peter Brezovan, Will Hoskins, Tomasz Kuszczak, Andrea Orlandi, David López, David Rodríguez.
Cardiff City
In: Tom Adeyemi (Birmingham City, £1m), Adam Le Fondre (Reading, £1m), Guido Burgstaller (Rapid Vienna, Undisclosed), Kagisho Dikgacoi (Crystal Palace), Javi Guerra (Real Valladolid), Federico Macheda (Manchester United).
Out: Steven Caulker (Queens Park Rangers, £8.5m), Jordan Mutch (Queens Park Rangers, £6m), Fraizer Campbell (Crystal Palace, £900,000), Andrew Taylor (Wigan Athletic). Don Cowie (Wigan Athletic), Tommy Smith (Brentford), Ben Nugent (Yeovil Town, Loan), Jo Inge Berget (Celtic, Loan), Joe Lewis (Blackpool, Loan), Filip Kiss (Ross County, Loan).
Released: Luke Coulson, Ronnie Hawkins, Simon Lappin, Tommy Smith.
Retired: Craig Bellamy.
Charlton Athletic
In: Igor Vetokele (Copenhagen, Undisclosed), Andre Bikey (Panetolikos), Zak Ansah (Arsenal), Franck Moussa (Coventry City), Kurtis Cumberbatch (Watford), George Tucudean (Standard Liege), Tal Ben Haim (Standard Liege), Johann Berg Gudmundsson (AZ Alkmaar), Stephen Henderson (West Ham United), Yoni Buyens (Standard Liege, Loan).
Out: Diego Poyet (West Ham United, Compensation), Dorian Dervite (Bolton Wanderers), Danny Green (MK Dons), Ben Hamer (Leicester City), Adebayo Azeez (AFC Wimbledon), Richard Wood (Rotherham United), Kevin Feely (Newport County), Jordan Cook (Walsall), Danny Hollands (Portsmouth), Bradley Pritchard (Leyton Orient), Andy Hughes (Bolton Wanderers), Cedric Evina, (Doncaster Rovers), Harry Lennon (Cambridge United, Loan).
Released: Ade Azeez, Leon Cort, Mark Gower, Bradley Jordan.
Derby County
In: George Thorne (West Bromwich Albion, £2m), Cyrus Christie (Coventry City, Undisclosed), Alefe Santos (Bristol Rovers, Compensation), Alban Bunjaku (Sevilla), Jonathan Mitchell (Newcastle United), Zak Whitbread (Leicester City), Ivan Calero (Atlético Madrid), Alefe Santos (Bristol Rovers), Leon Best (Blackburn Rovers, Loan), Omar Mascarell (Real Madrid, Loan).
Out: Ben Davies (Sheffield United), Adam Legzdins (Leyton Orient), James O'Connor (Walsall), James Bailey (Barnsley), Callum Ball (St Mirren), Josh Lelan (Swindon Town, Loan).
Released: Valentin Gjokaj, Michael Hoganson, Callum Ball, Ross Atkin.
Fulham
In: Ross McCormack (Leeds United, £7m rising to £11m), Thomas Eisfeld (Arsenal, Undisclosed), Kay Voser (FC Basle, Undisclosed), Adam Taggart (Newcastle Jets, Undisclosed), Nikolay Bodurov (Litex Lovech, Undisclosed), Shaun Hutchinson (Motherwell), Tim Hoogland (Schalke), Adil Chihi (Cologne), Konstantinos Stafylidis (Bayer Leverkusen, Loan).
Out: Sascha Riether (SC Freiburg, Undisclosed), Pajtim Kasami (Olympiacos, Undisclosed), David Stockdale (Brighton & Hove Albion, Undisclosed), Ashkan Dejagah (Al-Arabi, Undisclosed), Damien Duff (Melbourne City), Steve Sidwell (Stoke City), Josh Pritchard (Gillingham), John Heitinga (Hertha BSC), Derek Boateng (Rayo Vallecano), Muamar Tankovic (AZ Alkmaar), Kieran Richardson (Aston Villa), Brede Hangeland (Crystal Palace), Matthew Briggs (Millwall), Charles Banya (Crawley Town).
Released: Alexander Brister, Mahamadou Diarra, Neil Etheridge, Dino Islamovic, Georgios Karagkounis, Ronny Minkwitz, Max Oberschmidt, John Arne Riise.
Huddersfield Town
In: Conor Coady (Liverpool, £375,000), Joe Murphy (Coventry City), Lee Peltier (Leeds United), Radoslaw Majewski (Nottingham Forest, Loan).
Out: Keith Southern (Fleetwood Town), Calum Woods (Preston North End), Chris Atkinson (Crewe Alexandra), Peter Clarke (Blackpool), Paul Mullin (Morecambe).
Released: Ian Bennett, Chris Atkinson, Anton Robinson, Cristian López.
Ipswich Town
In: Bartosz Bialkowski (Notts County, Undisclosed), Alex Henshall (Manchester City), Cameron Stewart (Hull City), Jonathan Parr (Crystal Palace), Darren McQueen (Tottenham Hotspur), Kévin Bru (Levski Sofia), Balint Bajner (Borussia Dortmund).
Out: Aaron Cresswell (West Ham United, £3.75m), Carlos Edwards (Millwall), Scott Loach (Rotherham United), Frederic Veseli (Port Vale, Loan).
Released: David October, Mark Timlin, Jonathan Leddy, Tom Winter, Jordan Adekunle.
Leeds United
In: Marco Silvestri (Chievo, Unidsclosed), Tommaso Bianchi (Sassuolo, Undisclosed), Gaetano Berardi (Sampdoria, Undisclosed), Nicky Ajose (Peterborough, Undisclosed), Stuart Taylor (Reading), Souleymane Doukara (Catania, Loan).
Out: Ross McCormack (Fulham, £7m rising to £11m), Tom Lees (Sheffield Wednesday, Undisclosed), Lee Peltier (Huddersfield Town), Lewis Turner, Simon Lenighan (Both Harrogate Town), Paul Green (Rotherham United), Luke Varney (Blackburn Rovers), Nathan Turner (Bradford Park Avenue), Danny Pugh (Coventry City), Marius Zaliukos (Rangers).
Released: Jamie Ashdown, Michael Brown, El-Hadji Diouf, Adam Drury, Gboly Ariyibi.
Middlesbrough
In: Enrique Garcia (Real Murcia, £3.5m), James Husband (Doncaster Rovers, Undisclosed + swap), Tomás Mejías (Real Madrid, Undisclosed), Emilio Nsue (Real Mallorca, Undisclosed), Kenneth Omeruo (Chelsea, Loan).
Out: Lukas Jutkiewicz (Burnley, £1.5m), Marvin Emnes (Swansea City, £1.5m), Matthew Bates (Hartlepool United), Matthew Dolan (Bradford City), Jayson Leutwiler (Shrewsbury Town), Stuart Parnaby (Hartlepool United), Frazer Richardson (Rotherham United), Curtis Main (Doncaster Rovers, Swap).
Released: Birger Meling, Jake Fowler, Cameron Park, Lewis Sirrell, Matthew Waters.
Millwall
In: Lee Gregory (FC Halfiax, Undisclosed), Carlos Edwards (Ipswich Town), Byron Webster (Yeovil Town), Ricardo Fuller (Blackpool), Magaye Gueye (Everton), Matthew Briggs (Fulham).
Out: Liam Feeney, Liam Trotter (Both Bolton Wanderers), Charlie Penny (Welling United), Tom Beadle (Margate), Jack Smith (AFC Wimbledon), Andy Keogh (Perth Glory), Shane Lowry (Leyton Orient), Paul Robinson (Portsmouth, Loan).
Norwich City
In: Lewis Grabban (AFC Bournemouth, Undisclosed), Kyle Lafferty (Palermo, Undisclosed), Gary O'Neil (Queens Park Rangers).
Out: Robert Snodgrass (Hull City, £7m), Rod Young (Welling United), Carlton Morris (Oxford United, Loan), Ricky van Wolfswinkel (St-Étienne, Loan).
Released: Harry Barker, David Fox, Ewan McNeil, Carlo Nash.
Nottingham Forest
In: Michail Antonio (Sheffield Wednesday, £1.5m), Britt Assombalonga (Peterborough United, Undisclosed), Michael Mancienne (Hamburg, £1m), Lars Veldwijk (Excelsior, Undisclosed), Danny Fox (Southampton), Matty Fryatt (Hull City), Louis Laing (Sunderland), Roger Riera (Barcelona), Chris Burke (Birmingham City), Jack Hunt (Crystal Palace, Loan).
Out: Simon Cox (Reading, £600,000), Matt Derbyshire (Rotherham United), Marcus Tudgay (Coventry City), Darius Henderson (Leyton Orient), Ishmael Miller (Blackpool), Simon Gillett (Yeovil Town), Radoslaw Majewski (Huddersfield Town, Loan).
Released: Simon Gillett, Gonzalo Jara, Guy Moussi, Jonathan Greening.
Reading
In: Simon Cox (Nottingham Forest, £600,000).
Out: Daniel Carrico (Sevilla, £1.5m), Adam Le Fondre (Cardiff City, £1m), Stuart Taylor (Leeds United), Matt Partridge (Dagenham & Redbridge), Jobi McAnuff (Leyton Orient), Lawson D'Ath (Northampton Town).
Released: Mikele Leigertwood, Wayne Bridge, Kaspars Gorkss, Nick Arnold, Gozie Ugwu.
Rotherham United
In: Jordan Bowery (Aston Villa, £250,000), Kirk Broadfoot (Blackpool), Matt Derbyshire (Nottingham Forest), Scott Loach (Ipswich Town), Conor Newton (Newcastle United), Mat Sadler (Crawley Town), Ryan Hall (MK Dons), Richard Wood (Charlton Athletic), Febian Brandy (Sheffield United), Frazer Richardson (Middlesbrough), Paul Green (Leeds United), John Swift (Chelsea, Loan).
Out: Nicky Adams (Bury, Undisclosed), James Cadman (Stalybridge Celtic), Danny Hylton (Oxford United), Kayode Odejayi (Tranmere Rovers), Harley Wigley (Stalybridge Celtic), Scott Shearer (Crewe), Wes Thomas (Birmingham City), David Worrall (Southend United), Mitch Rose (Crawley Town, Loan), Danny Rowe, Nicky Walker (both Wycombe Wanderers, Loans).
Released: Michael O'Connor, Claude Davis, David Noble, Lionel Ainsworth, Danny Schofield.
Sheffield Wednesday
In: Tom Lees (Leeds United, Undisclosed), Ryan Croasdale (Preston North End), Paul McElroy (Hull City), Kieren Westwood (Sunderland), Sam Hutchinson (Chelsea), Matt Young (Southampton), Ed Sanders (Stoke City), Dejan Kelhar (Red Star Belgrade).
Out: Michail Antonio (Nottingham Forest, £1.5m), Danny Mayor (Bury, Undisclosed), Adam Davies (Barnsley), Taylor McKenzie (Notts County), Reda Johnson (Coventry City), Adam Harvey (Bedlington Terriers), Miguel Llera (Scunthorpe United).
Released: Jermaine Johnson, David Prutton, Anthony Gardner, Martin Taylor, Arron Jameson.
Watford
In: Juan Carlos Paredes (Granada, Undisclosed), Heurelho Gomes (Tottenham Hotspur), Gabriel Tamas (Doncaster Rovers), Craig Cathcart (Blackpool), Lloyd Dyer (Leicester City), Matej Vydra (Udinese, Loan), Daniel Tozser (Parma, Loan), Keith Andrews (Brighton & Hove Albion, Loan), Odion Ighalo (Udinese, Loan).
Out: Reece Brown (Barnsley, Undisclosed), Javier Acuna (Olimpia Asuncion, Undisclosed), Gary Woods (Leyton Orient), Ollie Cox (Hemel Hempstead), Bobson Bawling (Crawley Town).
Released: Manuel Almunia, Marco Cassetti, Ross Jenkins, Nyron Nosworthy, Fitz Hall, Lucas Neill, Albert Riera.
Wigan Athletic
In: James Tavernier (Newcastle United, Undisclosed), Oriol Riera (Osasuna, Undisclosed), Andrew Taylor (Cardiff City), Aaron Taylor-Sinclair (Partick Thistle), Don Cowie (Cardiff City), Emyr Huws (Manchester City, Loan).
Out: Jordi Gomez (Sunderland), Danny Redmond (Hamilton Academical), Adam Buxton (Accrington Stanley), Stephen Crainey (Fleetwood Town)
Released: Jean Beusejoir, Markus Holgersson, Jordan Mustoe.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
In: Tommy Rowe (Peterborough United), Rajiv Van La Parra (Heerenveen).
Out: Michael Ihiekwe (Tranmere Rovers), Danny Murray (Stockport County), Zeli Ismail (Notts County, Loan), Jake Cassidy (Notts County, Loan), Kortney Hause (Gillingham, Loan).
Released: Jordan Cranston, George Elokobi, Tim Jakobsson, Kristian Kostrna, David Moli, Robbie Parry, Jamie Reckord, Jamie Tank, Sam Whittall.
