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The Championship season proper kicks off tomorrow. This season, the league looks like it will be it's most competitive year ever. No less than 12 from the 24 clubs in the league are chasing those elusive three spots of paradise that will lead their fans into the promised land of Premiership football.
One thing that may have escaped some, is that 16 of the 24 managers in the Championship will be under the age of 40 when the action kicks off.
And although you may think you know very little about the Championship, the names of the managers involved are known to all.
Roy Keane (Ipswich), Darren Ferguson (Peterborough), Nigel Clough (Derby Co.), Chris Coleman (Coventry City), Simon Davey (Barnsley), Ian Holloway (Blackpool), Billy Davies (Nottingham Forest), Brendan Rodgers (Reading), Jim Magilton (Q.P.R.), Nigel Adkins (Scunthorpe), Brian Laws (Sheffield Wed), Paulo Sousa (Swansea), Malky Mackay (Watford), and Roberto Di Matteo (West Brom) are amongst the best young managers in the game today, and all can be found just below the Premiership.
Strangely enough, the highest profile team in the league, Newcastle, have no manager at all.
As usual, all eyes will be on the three clubs who came down from the Premiership in May, Newcastle United, West Bromwich Albion, and Middlesbrough.
The three clubs are all huge, and Newcastle easily dwarf any rival in the league. But there are sizeable predators waiting to pounce on any mistakes that these three favorites may make.
As we speak, Newcastle are still in a mess. They still have no manager in place, Mike Ashley has dropped his asking price for the club dramatically, and they just sold their best defender to Spurs. And if that wasn't enough, Leyton Orient hammered them 6-1 last week.
They will start the season as favourites, mainly due to the fact that their dressing room is like a who's who where the Championship is concerned, and they will still have more money to spend than almost anyone.
Saying that, they must get a manager in place as soon as possible, they can be extremely fragile, and need new faces immediately, and there is only three weeks left in the current window.
Middlesbrough may find life in the Championship tougher than expected. Gareth Southgate is living on borrowed time and he needs to hit the ground running to stem the freefall that the club found themselves in last year.
His is the highest profile managerial light to find themselves under pressure right from the start.
Despite this, Newcastle and Middlesbrough will start as favourites for automatic promotion.
In the chase, they should be joined by Reading, Ipswich, West Brom, Sheffield United, and Cardiff.
Brendan Rodgers took over from Steve Coppell at Reading after the ex-United players shock resignation after they failed to reach the playoffs. Rodgers made his name at Chelsea, where he was regarded as one of the best young coaches in the game, and Jose Mourinho
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