Five bold 24/25 Championship predictions include Burnley sacking Parker, Coventry City promotion

The new Championship season has arrived! Here are five bold predictions for the 2024/25 campaign, with Burnley sacking Scott Parker among the *certainties*.

Oxford United to finish higher than Portsmouth and Derby County
Des Buckingham’s Oxford United are understandably firm favourites for relegation after his side shocked the masses last season by sneaking into the play-offs and earning promotion back to the Championship with a well-deserved win at Wembley against third-placed Bolton Wanderers.

Having finished 15 points adrift of the automatic promotion places in League One, Oxford’s step up – in theory – to the Championship is steeper than the one being taken by Derby County and Portsmouth, but the play-off winners have more reason to be optimistic than the two other promoted sides.

Losing last season’s star player Josh Murphy on a free transfer to Portsmouth was an unwelcome blow, but Oxford have still had a very strong window as they have added Championship quality to their squad in various positions.

Peter Kioso, Will Vaulks and loanee Malcolm Ebiowei are among their standout additions, but their best bit of business is arguably keeping hold of highly sought-after midfielder Cameron Brannagan, who has extended his contract.

Do not expect this season’s contest at the bottom to be as exciting as 2023/24 as around ten Championship sides scrapped it out around the relegation zone. Still, Plymouth Argyle (* Wayne Rooney ‘s Plymouth Argyle*), Blackburn Rovers and even Watford are likely to be at risk of joining the three promoted teams in fighting to avoid the drop to League One.

I’m not saying Oxford are certain to stay up as the three coming up could go straight back down, but their impressive recruitment and Buckingham’s coaching credentials *currently* give them more of a fighting chance than their former League One foes.

Derby really need to be very active in the transfer market this month as their squad is one of the worst in the division, while manager Paul Warne has question marks surrounding his credentials at this level after his relegations with Rotherham United.

Oxford’s advantage over Portsmouth isn’t as strong after their recent business, but last season’s League One champions could do with boosting their optimism further by having a busy month.

READ: Eight best Championship summer signings include Sheffield United freebie, surprise Watford returnee

Burnley to sack Scott Parker
The Clarets’ appointment of Parker was underwhelming following links with new Man Utd assistant Ruud van Nistelrooy .

His arrival also seemingly signifies a significant change in approach after predecessor Vincent Kompany ( who needs to hand his agent a huge pay rise for miraculously landing him the Bayern Munich gig ) turned them into a possession-obsessed machine, which became increasingly faulty during their Premier League relegation season as they inevitably paled in comparison to Pep Guardiola’s innovative Manchester City side.

On one hand, Burnley appointing Parker makes sense as he has two Championship promotions on his CV with Fulham and AFC Bournemouth. On the other hand, it will be concerning for Clarets supporters that his two previous teams were underwhelming as they adopted his plodding approach which often lacks urgency.

Yes, Parker has two promotions. But this is largely thanks to the superb quality of his last two squads as they carried him to Championship glory. This was a similar case with Leicester City in 2023/24 as less capable managers than new Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca would have got them over the line.

Hampered by Kompany’s naivety, Burnley infuriated neutrals as their narrow-minded manager refused to tinker with their style to boost their survival chances. But they return to the Championship with an enviable squad and should compete for promotion.

While Burnley are well-equipped for a top-two push, Parker currently has far too many cooks and a lot of work is required to make his squad streamlined enough to ensure they are not impacted by the same overcrowded problem suffered by Chelsea in recent years .

This means Parker may be tested more this season than he has been previously in the Championship and if Burnley swiftly slip out of the promotion picture, club chiefs could cut ties with a manager whose reputation is yet to recover from that 9-0 loss to Liverpool .

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Burnley, Luton Town and Sheffield United ALL miss out on promotion
As mentioned, there is reason to doubt Burnley’s promotion credentials under Parker, despite the Clarets having one of the best squads in the Championship.

Sheffield United may have something to say about that as their recent superb recruitment will have caught the attention of their promotion rivals, but the South Yorkshire side return to the second tier as an unknown quantity after their Premier League relegation season was a disaster from the start to finish .

With a much-needed takeover pending, the Blades bided their time before hauling a promotion-calibre squad together. Yet with a two-point deduction and time likely required for Chris Wilder’s team to gel, they should be considered outsiders in the race for the top two.

There are also justified doubts surrounding Wilder’s abilities after his dire spells at Middlesbrough and Watford before last season’s return to Sheffield United.

Wilder was placed in a difficult position last season and he’s certainly not to blame for their relegation. But he comes into this season with a major point to prove and Sheff Utd’s current status is a far cry from them riding the momentum wave the last time their current manager guided them to Championship promotion.

As for Luton Town, they are far more stable than Sheff Utd and Burnley as everyone’s second team in 23/24 have not been hampered by a mass overhaul in personnel.

Luton refused to be corrupted by the Premier League moneybags as they are using their promotion money and subsequent parachute payments to secure their long-term future. Many felt their signings last season were completed with one eye on a return to the second tier and they will definitely be strong this season.

However, I consider two teams to be higher on the food chain than Luton and the other two relegated teams, whom I boldly suspect – after rubbing my crystal ball – will be made to settle for the play-off lottery at best and miss out on promotion.

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Sheffield Wednesday are the dark horse for promotion
Ipswich Town were widely backed to be last season’s dark horse for promotion to the Championship and this bore fruit after they sensationally upstaged Southampton and Leeds United in the race for the top two .

As for this campaign, Sheff Weds stand out to me as the prime contender to mount a surprise challenge for promotion to the Premier League and this – unsurprisingly – is down to Danny Rohl being their manager.

The novice German manager remarkably rebuilt the relegation-threatened side in his image since being appointed in October 2023, masterminding an eye-catching great escape to save the Owls, who at one stage looked certain to go down .

Rohl has rightly earned plaudits since arriving in England and is set for big things in the coming years, so Sheff Weds’ best summer signing is retaining the 35-year-old, who has penned a long-term contract extension until 2027.

The former Germany assistant manager got the maximum out of a very limited Owls squad last season but heads into this campaign with a much better group of players to work with after a positive summer of recruitment, which has been boosted by the return of Ike Ugbo – who scored seven goals in 18 games last season while on loan – permanently for around £3m.

As last season proved, there is very little between the bottom-half Championship sides and this is expected to be the case again this term. So with Rohl in the dugout, Sheff Weds are well-placed to break into the top half and could even snatch a top-six spot if a Premier League or European side do not pinch their manager mid-campaign .

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Coventry City earn automatic promotion
Fans of the Championship were spoiled by the fight at the bottom last season, but this was also the case at the top as Leicester City, Ipswich, Leeds and Southampton set freakishly high standards as they raced away to form a separate mini-league of automatic promotion contenders.

Ninety-six points were needed last season for second place in the Championship, but a lesser tally should be enough to seal automatic promotion this term, with five or so sides capable of pushing for those places.

This is expected to include the three relegated sides, who – as mentioned – I suspect could fall short for varying reasons, with Leeds United and Coventry City having my backing to earn automatic promotion.

The Leeds United shout is hardly outlandish as they came so close last season and with Championship specialist Daniel Farke still in charge, a repeat of 23/24’s points tally of 90 should be enough to get the job done this time.

Coventry are considered outsiders in the promotion race, but Mark Robins’ side should be optimistic after injuries and their run to the FA Cup semi-final derailed last season’s play-off push .

Losing Callum O’Hare is a blow and they need to ward off interest from Premier League clubs for Ben Sheaf before this window closes. Yet the 24/25 campaign should be significant for forwards Ellis Simms and Haji Wright after they both grew into their debut seasons.

This is while the summer arrivals of Jack Rudoni and Brandon Thomas-Asante (plus Ephron Mason-Clark’s return from his loan at Peterborough) ensures Robins enters this season with his most rounded Coventry squad to date, with them no longer needing to rely on one or two of their main stars.

After suffering heartache at Wembley in successive seasons, Coventry could do an Ipswich by usurping the former Premier League big-hitters to swerve the play-offs and achieve a brilliant feat by securing their long-awaited return to the top flight.