The Championship Review - 10 games to go

So, come on, hands up all those that thought Bristol City would be top of The Championship with 10 games to go, and three points clear? Do I see one hand, two, or maybe none...nope no one would ever have expected the side that came up from League One last season to be in touching distance of reaching the promised land.

The three teams that came down last season, Watford, Sheffield Utd and Charlton, were clear favourites to bounce back, alongside West Bromwich Albion. Charlton had been in the Premier League for several years, whilst the likes of Watford and Sheffield Utd had been for no more than 3 years between them since 1992. This season we have seen teams such as Bristol City and Stoke City make surprise surges for the top two automatic promotion places, with the likes of Charlton, Watford and West Brom all inside the play-off places.

But, can we really see these two clubs in the Premier League surviving? I thought Derby would struggle this season, but Bristol and Stoke giving it a go...I think they would be wasting their time to be honest. No disrespect at all, what they have done this season has made the league more exciting and gives hope to all clubs aiming for the Premier League.

What worries me is that the likes of Charlton and Watford can probably survive another season of paying high wages and keeping hold of their best players, but West Brom failed to gain promotion at the first attempt from their relegation in 2006, so will they be able to hang onto the likes of Kevin Phillips, Jonathan Greening, Zoltan Gera if they dont go up this time around?

We have seen it with Leicester City and Southampton, two clubs that were in the Premier League for many seasons, and now after competing in the Championship for over three years since relegation, they now struggle in mid-table mediocrity, selling off their prized assets to survive. Some say this league is ''real'' football, but in terms of financial support, it is rather dismal.

I for one, honestly hope that the likes of West Brom, Charlton and Watford can bounce back to the Premier League come May 4th. I feel that Stoke and Bristol City have done extremely well this season, surprising just about everyone in the country and even their own supporters, but they would be an ''embarassment'' to the Premier League, another couple of whipping boys for the bigger clubs. When I say ''embarassment'', it's not in a bad way towards the club itself, I mean in terms of being able to compete. They just won't...

So, with less than 10 games remaining, who will be playing Premiership football come August? I can see West Brom taking advantage of their two games in hand over the top two, and cutting the lead at the top to just a point, and eventually going up automatically. As champions, well, possibly, but this league has thrown up so many surprises this season. I would like to see one of either Stoke City or Bristol City go up, not both, and despite an inconsistent run of form, Charlton Athletic, who I think will win the play-offs.

Being a Charlton supporter, I have to be optimistic, and I think we will overturn all the odds stacked against us after our inconsistent form. A possible play-off final date against the Palace of Crystals, well, that would be jolly nice! But in all seriousness, Charlton are a well respected club, and everyone knows what happened after Alan Curbishley left after 15 years as manager. It was a sad day when we were relegated, but I am hopeful we will be back playing the Premier League like we deserve to be.

The league will have more twists and turns, guaranteed, so expect the table not to look like it does now come May 4th. I think we will see a couple of surprises in who reaches the play-offs, but I am hoping the top two places will be different to what it is now.

Oh and of course, all Charlton fans, pencil in May 23rd, because that is probably the Play-Off Final date at Wem-ber-ley!

My end-of-season table prediction:

1. West Brom

2. Bristol City

3. Watford

4. Charlton Athletic

5. Stoke City

6. Plymouth Argyle

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