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Tottenham Hotspur Daily Links: The Hoddle Of Coffee
The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur News and Links for Wednesday, June 4
Recapping fitzie’s EFL Championship predictions
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Every year I like to review my EFL Championship predictions. It keeps me humble, because you know the league never shakes out like you’d expect it to.
This season was no exception. While I got a couple things right, I got a lot wrong. You can check out my predictions from August here.
What went right:
Leeds United: Your hoddler-in-chief correctly predicted Leeds United would return to the Premier League as EFL Championship title-holders. They picked up the second-highest points tally in the Championship in at least the past decade.
Burnley: For the second time I underestimated how Burnley would fare with a new manager in a new league, but I did pick them fourth. I take that as a win.
Sheffield Wednesday: I had a feeling this would be a big step up for Wednesday this season, especially with Dani Rohl in charge. I picked them 11th, they finished 12th. They’ll probably fight it out for the relegation spots next season, unfortunately.
What went wrong:
Relegation candidates: The three clubs I tipped for relegation (Blackburn, Derby and Watford) are all staying up. Instead it’s Cardiff, Argyle and Luton Town who will play in League One next season. Speaking of which ...
Luton Town: I picked them to finish second this season. They finished in the bottom three after holding onto Rob Edwards for far too long. A last-gasp attempt to claw themselves out of the bottom three failed.
West Bromwich Albion: I hedged my prediction for WBA to finish top six on keeping Carlos Cobreran. They didn’t. Albion finished ninth. But WBA will be heading into next season under the direction of Tottenham hero Ryan Mason. Surely they’ll got undefeated, right?
Middlesbrough: How often will I keep picking Boro to make the top six? That’s three years running now.
Sunderland: I thought this year would be a step back for Sunderland after coming so close in the 23-24 season. But, hey, they secured promotion even being one of the youngest clubs in the competition.
Fizie’s final thoughts:
As you can see, I got a lot more wrong than I did right this year. All credit goes to the unpredictable nature of the Championship. It is becoming clearer that there is a huge gap between recently promoted clubs and the rest (Luton Town being the exception).
Burnley went straight back up, Leeds United returned after falling short in the playoffs last year, while Sheffield United bottled it this year. I think we’ll see more recent PL dominance this year. And I’m looking forward to seeing how the transfer window and managerial searches conclude.
Fitzie’s track of the day (by request): Satisfaction, by Television
And now for your links:
Alasdair Gold: “Tottenham’s awkward silence threatens to derail crucial summer transfer push”
The Athletic ($$): “Tottenham Hotspur Transfer DealSheet: Summer window latest, key targets and likely exits”
BBC: “Norwich appoint Bristol City’s Manning as head coach”
The Guardian: “Lessons for Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland as they try to stay up”