Thanks Andy

Season predictions:

Boro: Top 4

Automatic promotion: Burnley  Watford

Play-offs: Sheffield Utd, West Brom, Coventry, Boro : Boro to win the playoffs 

Relegated: Huddersfield  Reading Norwich 

OFB

Norwich relegated - now there’s a bold prediction!

With the present crop of players, no chance of top 6 - nearer mid table.

With a couple of loanees of the quality of last season then top 6 at best.

With a couple of loanees Boro are reputedly keen to recruit ( Armstrong and a.n.o.) then top 6.

The relegated teams will be the clear favourites to take 2 of the promoted places. After that,  there’s many teams to achieve the third promotion place, I fancy Sheffield Utd, Stoke and Swansea.

The locals here in Huddersfield definitely over achieved last season but in the last week or so have sold 2 of their  best 3 players( O’Brien and Toffolo) and their outstanding coach and his assistant have resigned. So mid table will be an achievement.

Philip of Huddersfield 

hmm

Boro 4th-6th. (Lot does depend on our remaining recruitment though)

Auto: Norwich, WBA (Though this could be the year that Norwich get broken by their constant yo-yoing)

Play-offs: Watford, Sheff Utd, Boro, Sunderland. 

Overachievers: Sunderland, Luton

Flops: Burnley, Birmingham, Huddersfield

Feels like a hard season to call. Either Norwich or Watford could implode this year. I suspect that Burnley will find the change to Kompany too extreme (like WBA and Sheff Utd last year) and ditch him pretty quickly. If Sunderland sign another striker and get some early wins, they could go on quite a run. I feel like WBA and Sheff Utd could both do what Bournemouth did last season, splash the last of their parachute money and sneak over the line.

I can't really get a grasp on how we'll do. It feels like we ought to be challenging for promotion but we're only half way through a massive squad overhaul. There still appears to be confusion at the club about whether we are throwing everything at promotion with Wilder or taking the time to build sustainably with Scott. 

The problem with this Qatar World Cup impacted season is that it's preloaded before the mid-November break with essentially half the season's games being played before it starts.

There are 11 games before the dreaded two-week international break on 17 September before it resumes in October with a further 10 games before the 12 November Sports-washing pause. 

It favours clubs with deeper squads with games more or less every four days. August is particularly busy with 6 league games and 2 EFL fixtures, which means Boro may have played 9 games before the transfer window has closed.

That for me is the problem as to where Boro are at currently and where it may prove costly if those much-needed new signings don't arrive soon and also at least one proven goalscorer - let alone if Tav is sold and not adequately replaced.

Indeed, if Boro get this window wrong, two-thirds of the season will have been played before the January one closes - plus the games needed to get any new players up to speed.

On that basis, my head tells me that Boro will do well to improve on last season's 7th place as they're arguably weaker at the sharp end than last season with still only Muniz the likely arrival in the near future.

Boro may need to splash the spence cash on a striker as the loan market is proving slow since clubs are reluctant to leave themselves short in the hectic pre-Qatar schedule - particularly with strikers.

Post-Qatar is relatively relaxed with just two planned midweek games before the end of March out of just 17 fixtures over nearly four months. So it's really about being ready for the next three months or so that will probably decide the fate of this campaign.

So predictions

Boro: 6th providing they get at least one decent striker and hang on to Tav

Auto: Watford and Norwich

Play-offs: Sheff Utd, WBA, Millwall, Boro

Relegated: Birmingham, Rotherham, Blackpool

Boro playoffs as long as Giles and Jones stay fit. For me they are the key to Wilder’s structure with McGree, Tavernier and Crooks capable of scoring 25 between them off the supply from the wings. Whether we can find another fifteen goal forward will decide if we can make the top two. I also hope that they keep Tavernier because he looks as if he has worked out that hitting the target is the key to scoring goals.

automatic    Three from Burnley, Watford and Boro.

playoff         Sheffield Utd, WBA and Coventry plus one from top ‘two’.

bad seasons   Huddersfield, Blackburn and Rotherham

Utb

I think it is almost impossible to make really accurate predictions for this season's Championship. I have a feeling it will be even tighter than last season, with not a lot to choose between more teams than less.

I am not convinced that Norwich are going to bounce right back. They were so poor in relation to the rest of the Premiership last term that I suspect they will also struggle to end better than mid-table, at best a couple of points off the playoffs. (Also our CEO is a big Canary, so I really do need to win back bragging rights this year !!)

Watford's continuing revolving door policy will surely leave them with a squad/team that is not sure of what it needs to be doing to satisfy whoever is the incumbent manager at any point in the season, so see them also struggling to make any serious impact at all at the sharp end. Burnley too, might just regret parting company with the angry-one.

Who does that leave as promotion contenders for me then?

Well I expect Sunderland to press on on the crest of a Wembley Wave now they have finally made it back out of the third division.

I feel Sheffield United were genuinely unlucky to miss out last year and I think they have to be one of the favourites this year.

Steve Bruce I do think has what it will take to get WBA in the mix as well. QPR I expect to have learned a bit from last season and will not fade away this year as they did last. Reading too, I think suffered badly from their points deduction, but are a better prospect than last season's position suggests.

So that's my top six: Middlesbrough, QPR, Reading, Sheffield Utd, Sunderland and WBA.

For automatic promotion: perm any 2 from Sheffield Utd, QPR and Boro.

Close for the playoffs, but not close enough: Cardiff City, Coventry City, Norwich City and Preston North End

For relegation: Wigan, Hull City and Rotherham - though I think Huddersfield might also struggle this year.

I agree with Powmill. This is a difficult season to predict. I also agree about Norwich - it will surely take them some time to adjust to the rigours of the Champo. 

I don’t agree fully about Watford, though. They seem to have kept most of their squad together, which should give them plenty of attacking strength. Their defence was awful last year, though, so new manager Rob Edwards ( ex Forest Green) will have to sort that out in the 6 weeks before their notoriously fickle owners sack him. Burnley should do ok under serial winner, Vincent Kompany, but the financial strictures imposed by their American owners may well prove a real hindrance. 

My predictions, for what they’re worth:- 

Promotion:- Sheffield United, Swansea ( who surely can’t be as bad again this time round?)

Play-offs:- Boro ( if, and only if, we recruit two decent strikers),Burnley, Watford, Coventry 

Achieving better than expected:- Sunderland, Luton

Underachieving relative to expectations:- Huddersfield, Millwall, WBA, Norwich

Mid table mediocrity: Blackburn, Cardiff, Preston, Hull, QPR, Bristol City, Stoke

Perennial strugglers:- Blackpool, Wigan

Relegation:- Rotherham, Birmingham, Reading 

Thank you to Andy. This is always nice to speculate.

I have been on holiday for the past three weeks and have not been able to write. But like Powmill, I have read all the posts while on holiday. So I didn’t like to annoy my wife so I concentrated in reading during holiday.

I think the "right" clubs were relegated from the EPL. I would not have liked a big team like Everton to be competing with Boro for promotion. 

My season predictions:

Boro: Top 2

Automatic promotion: Sheffield Utd 

Play-offs: West Brom, Preston, Watford & QPR: WBA to win the playoffs 

Relegated: Blackburn, Rotherham, Birmingham 

Sunderland will be around in mid table,  Burnley just to escape relegation (20th). Norwich to finish around 10th. I am afraid that Blackburn have lost most of their main men, also Mogga and are still to lose Brereton Diaz.

Well, we still need a left-footed centre back, cover for both Giles and Crooks. And buying a striker and loaning another attacker if we keep Akpom. 

And don’t even mention the possibility to lose Tavanier! We have a good first eleven but desperately need up to 5 or 6 signings before the window closes. Look at our bench now.

As you know, I prefer to have max 4 new players per a transfer window. I would rather invest in quality than quality. And new players are always a risk to sign and take time to gel into the team. We are starting to see the real McGree only now after six months, for example. 

But I hope we can keep our players fit and can gradually introduce some new players (yet to arrive) during the season. This is a team sport after all.

Up the Boro! The Boro will be going up to the Premier League in May.

Posted by: @powmillnaemore

I think it is almost impossible to make really accurate predictions for this season's Championship. I have a feeling it will be even tighter than last season, with not a lot to choose between more teams than less.

Clive Hurren said: "I agree with Powmill. This is a difficult season to predict. I also agree about Norwich - it will surely take them some time to adjust to the rigours of the Champo. "

I second (or third?) to what was said above. Looks like there is no clear top two favourites this season. Some of us have Norwich as automatic promotion contenders and some say they will be relagated. 

None of the teams have really invested in new players but of course the relagated teams have larger squads than the reast. But I feel Burnley have sold more than bought in.

Up the Boro!

It all depends on the Tav situation, keep him and Boro might just reach the playoffs, lose him and mid-table at best and below Sunderland.  Surprise promotion choices any two from QPR, Reading and Preston but Champions Stoke City.  Teams  to do better Blackpool and Hull City, relegation candidates Rotherham,Birmingham and Wigan. But what do I know, or anyone else for that matter? There’s always one team that can surprise everyone, but in reality any 6 clubs out of 16 could do a Forest.

A journalist has the same two team in the top two that I did.

https://blog.betvictor.com/en-gb/sports/football/championship-season-preview/

I hope we both are right. Up the Boro!

I think there has to be a little concern as to were we are todate ,in our incomings, not to say we'd struggle , but I think this season will be tougher than last,  

The like of W.Brom , are going for it, Hull have spent a fortune, Luton and Preston are improving, you've got Stoke quietly recruiting, Swansea and Coventry good teams , not to mention the three relegated clubs.

We have a decent starting line up, but after that nothing, wlll Howson be the same player, gets overun at times, players that keep getting injured like Fry, 

The non existent strike force, i don't want to sound negative but facts are facts, the last game at Preston said everything, the cup games overshadowed our weeknesses

As of now we are standing still , the three new signings might improve the squad , but we need at least six new players.

There is an unsubstantiated report on Boro Fan TV that Boro have accepted a bid of £12m for Tavernier, who will have a medical tomorrow.

Come on BORO.

Further to the above, it is now on Sky Sports News (yellow tape) fee £10 plus £2.5m add on.

Come on BORO.