Whether it’s the absurdity of a 97th-minute Teemu Pukki winner, the way Marcelo Bielsa studiously refers to opposition players not by name but number, the six-point blanket that covers the top seven teams, or the pass-the-parcel manner in which six different sides have topped the table since August, the Championship’s eclectic charm has been plain this season. Unpredictable and unforgiving, it is a land of bewitching drama, which prompts the question: is it the best league in the country?
The Championship is not perfect, but at a time when elite football is selling its soul and slowly losing all pride, epitomised by Richard Scudamore’s £5m “golden goodbye” and Manchester United having an official mattress and pillow partner, it is easier than ever to buy into the chillier compound of English football’s second tier. To some, it is inferior, a poor relation to the top flight, but at least it is not too big for its boots. Not yet, anyway, though a select group of clubs are determined to eke out a bigger pay packet after being angered by the latest TV rights deal.
Cash is hardly in short supply – it is a division awash with overseas investment, from Evangelos Marinakis at Nottingham Forest to Nassef Sawiris at Aston Villa – but money does not guarantee promotion, with Cardiff profiting last season and Huddersfield before them. It may not match the Premier League for quality but there is certainly no shortage of entertainment; just ask the 32,000-plus fans at Villa Park who witnessed Forest fight back for a 5-5 draw last month. It is little surprise then that, according to Opta, the second tier has seen a bigger proportion of comeback wins, 12.5% (30 in 240 games), than any other division in the country, though the other three top tiers have seen a higher ratio of stoppage-time goals.
It is not quite as tight as the Romanian third tier in 1983-84, when it ended with 10 points separating 16 teams, or the 1974-75 First Division table (when the champions, Derby, finished eight points ahead of 10th-placed Burnley). But Brentford, West Brom, Leeds, Middlesbrough, Sheffield United and now Norwich have all taken hold of the baton to top the division this season, with the lead exchanging hands eight times since September. When a manager is asked how it feels to top the division, as Daniel Farke and Bielsa have been in recent weeks, you can understand why they have at times appeared a little humdrum.
“If you look at the results after every game it’s very hard to say who’s at the top of the table and who’s at the bottom,” Bielsa said. “You would tell me the best are at the top and the worst are at the bottom but when a team at the top plays a team at the bottom, there’s not much difference. The leading teams are not that superior to the teams at the bottom.”
As well as the 644 goals and counting this season and an abundance of young, exciting players, there is an odd but brilliant pick-and-mix of managers. Perhaps Chris Wilder put it best, when describing going toe to toe with Bielsa, Paul Warne and Frank Lampard. “You go from an Argentine great to a lad who has been a physio at Rotherham, to a lad who has won God knows how many Premier League titles,” said the Sheffield United manager. “But they’re all bringing great things to the table. It’s a fantastic division and we don’t take it for granted.”
There is arguably unrivalled talent too for a second tier. The on-loan Harvey Barnes, Mason Mount, Harry Wilson and Tammy Abraham have particularly excelled. John McGinn has proven himself a class act at Aston Villa, alongside one of the most gifted players in the division, Jack Grealish. Jake Livermore was on World Cup standby for England last summer; in fact, 31 second-tier players represented their country in Russia. Joe Allen is a luxury commodity at this level and it is only a matter of time before Brentford’s Ollie Watkins is playing in the Premier League.
But those names only scratch the surface. Have a quick scan at the Stoke substitutes against Derby last week, for example. Bruno Martins Indi helped the Netherlands to third at the 2014 World Cup and Porto to the Champions League quarter-finals a year on. Darren Fletcher has a trophy cabinet full of major honours. Peter Crouch is still scoring goals at 37. A few days later at Reading, the Stoke bench included the Wales captain Ashley Williams and Saido Berahino, whose 913-day goal drought can be ridiculed but who has shown glimpses of the ability that led Spurs to bid £23m for the striker three years ago. And then there is Bojan Krkic.
Any talk of a title race here is genuine. Who would bet against Dean Smith’s Aston Villa, nine points off the top, forcing themselves into the mix, or a frenzied Brentford making a typically late dash for the play-offs? And then what about Swansea, Birmingham or Blackburn? We may be approaching the halfway mark but, in some ways, the Championship is only just getting started.
The Guardian Sport
