good morning everyone! Fitzie’s Track of the Day (Revisited) continues at a blistering pace. Today we’re throwing it back to Stromae, a Belgian artist who I heard on the radio one time. I thought this song was really interesting and I wanted to share it with you. And I wanna share it again. Here’s a recap of the TOTDs (Revisited) so far this week.
Monday: Killing Time, by Pokey LaFarge
Tuesday: From the Inside, by Alice Cooper
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Can you believe it? We’re at the end of September, which means it’s time for another edition of Fitzie’s EFL Championship Roundup, where your hoddler-in-chief checks in on all things happening in the second tier of the English football pyramid.
There’s finally been some football in this league, and so we’re beginning to have a clearer idea of where things stand. Here are a couple quick hits:
West Ham will probably sail towards the Premier League. The rest remains an open question
Preston are, predictably, terrible.
Burnley are, unpredictably, also terrible.
Wrexham appear to have taken a step back, and Birmingham still don’t look like a side that’ll challenge for promotion.
I think one of the biggest questions to ask at this stage of the competition is whether or not the team currently in first can maintain its form. This year happens to be Swansea City.
First impressions say this is a playoff contender, not an automatics contender. Their wins have come against Stoke (7th), Derby (22nd), Waford (20th), Burnley (24th) and Lincoln City (12th) - while they lost against Southampton and drew against Sheffield United and Wrexham.
I haven’t had the chance to watch them yet, which is frustrating. Usually when I look for promotion contenders I look at goal differential and goal-scoring distribution. Swansea currently have the third-best goal differential in the league, which is good, with their top scorer finding the back of the net three times (less good). I’m also not entirely convinced of their wins just yet - even the one against Stoke.
This month will be a big test for them with matches against Norwich, Millwall, West Ham and QPR. That should tell us early on if they’re contenders or pretenders. Otherwise, it’s too early to tell for the most part where these currents are flowing.
Top eight:
Swansea (17 Pts, +7 GD)
West Ham (15 Pts, +11 GD)
Middlesbrough (15 Pts, +4 GD)
Wolves (14 Pts, +5 GD)
West Brom (14 Pts, +2 GD)
QPR (13 Pts, +3 GD)
Stoke (13 Pts, +1 GD)
Bristol City (13 Pts, -1 GD)
Bottom three:
Derby County (5 Pts, -7 GD)
Preston NE (4 Pts, -7 GD)
Burnley (4 Pts, -8 GD)
Fitzie’s track of the day (revisited): Sante, by Stromae
And now for your links:
The Athletic ($$): “Why Tottenham are better than their start to the 2026-27 season suggests”
Alasdair Gold: “Tottenham summer signing slams fitness doubts and explains slow start under Roberto De Zerbi”
BBC: “Fifa accuses Uefa of ‘misinformation campaign’”
The Guardian: “‘The emperor is naked’: Uefa president Ceferin takes new swipe at Infantino”