LEAGUE
ONE MIGHT BE NICE FOR A HOLIDAY...
BUT YOU
WOULDN’T WANT TO LIVE THERE
I predict the next lot of former Premier League clubs plummeting towards the third tier, and six other relegation candidates.
“We’re all going on a League One tour,” I once heard a bunch
of Sheffield United supporters sing on a train back over the Pennines from
Manchester.
En route from Old Trafford - where I’d watched the FA Youth
Cup Final between themselves and Manchester United - I was amused at both their
arrogance and ignorance as to the perils which lay ahead of them following their
relegation from The Championship in 2010/11, just four years after dropping out
of the top-flight.
I knew how hard it was for a so-called ‘big club’ to get out
of League One. I’d watched my beloved Wednesday struggle on separate occasions
after going down, only to recover the season after - twice promoted at the
second time of asking.
But United coped well initially, and were it not for a set
of outstanding circumstances – top-scorer Ched Evans jailed for rape with three
games to go being one – those Stone
Island scallies from the train would have had the last laugh.
Instead, it was Owls fans sharing the sniggers, as Wednesday clawed their way back from eight points behind – having played two games more –
to gain promotion, while their Steel City rivals lost to Huddersfield on
penalties in the play-off final.
Further play-off despair (it’s becoming a recurring theme at
the Lane) in 2012/13, kept the Blades in the third tier for at least another season.
Tour of League One? You could manage at least four tours of Afghanistan in that
time.
Fortunately (for us Sheffielders), you don’t have to be from
South Yorkshire to qualify for the League One club. The likes of Wolves, Leeds
United and Manchester City have all slipped in to the third tier within years
of falling out of the Premier League.
And with more money than ever being spent on top flight transfer fees and player wage bills, if you can’t bounce back within a few
seasons of going down, the chances of you dropping even further down the ladder
grow ever more likely.
Others, notably; Nottingham Forest, Leicester, Norwich and Southampton have suffered the same fate. Not to mention Portsmouth - currently rebuilding from the bottom in League Two, five years since they lifted the F.A. Cup.
Others, notably; Nottingham Forest, Leicester, Norwich and Southampton have suffered the same fate. Not to mention Portsmouth - currently rebuilding from the bottom in League Two, five years since they lifted the F.A. Cup.
With a quarter of the season already underway and league
tables starting to indicate who may end up where come the end of the campaign,
I've done a bit of internet research (not the sort I’m usually prone to, that
causes viruses) to see which clubs could be next to walk the plank to League One.
The Big Boys
Birmingham City
The Blues are in to their third straight season outside the top flight and that tally will only increase the way they’ve been going of late.
The thumping of fellow strugglers Sheffield Wednesday and Millwall appeared to have eased the pressure on manager Lee Clark, but the Blues have blown mostly cold for the majority of the campaign so far, sitting just two points above the drop zone in 20th place.
Only three first-team players remain from their time in the top flight; Colin Doyle and David Murphy are two, while the other, Serbian international Nikola Zigic, is reportedly still earning around £60,000-a-week having penned a four-year-deal at the club prior to their relegation.
As a result, the club had no choice but to sell star players Jack Butland and Curtis Davies in the summer and terminate the contract of last season’s top scorer, Marlon King – probably the first time he’s been sacked for something that hasn’t resulted in prison.
There are currently five loan players on the Blues’ books, a market in which their manager will be forced to utilise given the lack of funds at his disposal.
Bolton Wanderers
It took Bolton until the New Year to properly get going following their
relegation in 2011/12, yet only a last minute winner from Leicester City
against Nottingham Forest kept the Trotters out of the Championship play-offs come May.
But Dougie Freedman’s side are early strugglers again this
year, despite keeping the core of their squad together – Marc Tierney and
Jermaine Beckford replacing high-earners Marcos Alonso and Kevin Davies, who departed
on free transfers – winning just once so far.
Their biggest loss perhaps, is powerful centre-half Craig
Dawson who was instrumental at both ends (this is not a joke about flatulence),
netting four goals in 16 appearances on loan from West Bromwich Albion.
As they themselves proved last season, a good run of form
can soon catapult you towards the upper echelons of the division, but Bolton
relied on January reinforcements last time around and with purse strings
tightening at the Reebok Stadium – the club announced debts of £136Million this time last year – this
coming transfer window is unlikely to prove quite as fruitful.
Middlesbrough
A 4-0 win over Doncaster on Friday was just what the doctor
ordered following the sacking of Tony Mowbary during the week. Summer signing
Albert Adomah kept up his scoring streak with a brace to lift them to 15th
in the table.
Among the favourites for the Boro hot-seat are Mike Phelan,
Tony Pulis and Ian Holloway, but neither should expect huge funds now the club’s
parachute payments have ended.
A new boss can often galvanise an underperforming team such
as Middlesbrough, though it did little to halt the slide of Bristol City and
Wolves last season, both were relegated despite midway changes.
Boro are notorious for their New Year loss of form as it is –
they won just three league matches between January and May 2013 – and their
fans will be hoping for a reversal of fortunes this time around.
The likes of Adomah, Jonathan Woodgate and Grant Leadbitter
are top players at this level, though plenty of a similar ability have gone
down in recent years; Former top flight figures such as Kevin Doyle, Jamie O’Hara
and Bakary Sako (top flight in France at least!) remain on the books of Wolves
in League One, for example.
The Usual Suspects
Barnsley
Getting the best out of the ‘Derry Pele’ - also known as former Celtic winger, Paddy McCourt - holds the key to the South Yorkshire side's survival hopes. His stunning individual effort helped the Tykes to all three points against Middlesbrough ten days ago before causing all sorts of problems for the Wednesday defence in Saturday’s derby draw at Oakwell.
Sheffield Wednesday
The 2013/14 season has yielded yet another new low for the Owls (how many more can there be?), still without a win after twelve games. Only the top seven have lost fewer matches than Dave
Jones’ side (four), but their failure to turn draws in to wins, especially
against the teams around them, has left them rooted to the foot
of the table.
With no takeover imminent and chairman Milan Mandaric
unwilling to part with more cash (he’s spent upwards of £25Million pounds
rescuing the club from the brink), many of the club’s loyal fanbase have began calling
for the manager’s head. They need wins, and fast.
Yeovil Town
Gary Johnson told his side during pre-season they’d be
underdogs in each of their 46 games this season. The Somerset strugglers used
that as motivation for surprise wins against Millwall and Nottingham Forest,
they even fought back to draw at Hillsborough despite going down to ten men shortly
before half-time.
Five-goal midfielder Ed Upson (that’s not a touchline instruction, by the way - it's his name) has shone so far for the Glovers, but their lack of
quality in other areas will eventually tell.
The Prematurely
Overestimated
Charlton Athletic
Doncaster Rovers
The new boys have carried on their momentum from last season
but it rarely lasts – see Huddersfield Town last season. Have struggled since
Federico Macheda returned to Manchester United.
Millwall
The tram-trashers from Bermondsey are currently floating
four points above the drop zone, but haven’t improved much since last season
where the goals of Chris Wood during his three-month loan, coincided with
the Lions’ best spell.
Do you agree with my selections? Leave your comments below or get in touch on Twitter via @My_Big_Tackle.
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