We’ve cast our eye over one half of the Championship, so let’s take a look at the other twelve clubs…
Norwich City – Manager: Daniel Farke
Last season: Having brought Stuart Webber to Carrow Road, the former Huddersfield director tried the appoint-a-German tactic. Daniel Farke has been the difficult second album so far, finishing 14th in his first full season. We took four points off them, a 2-1 win in November at the Macron, and a goalless draw away in February.
Their summer: James Maddison and Josh Murphy have been sold to Premier League clubs, but the money has been reinvested with signings from home and abroad. Tim Krul, Jordan Rhodes, Ben Marshall, and the Dortmund youngster Felix Passlack are amongst the new arrivals in Norfolk.
Ex-Wanderers: None.
Prediction: A lot could depend on goals. Jordan Rhodes hasn’t had the best run in recent years, Maddison will take some replacing too. But there are the ingredients there for them to do well. 10th.
Nottingham Forest – Manager: Aitor Karanka
Last season: Never in real trouble of relegation, but they wobbled sufficiently enough in mid-season to replace Mark Warburton with Aitor Karanka, before finishing 17th. Both meetings with them ended 3-2, we all know which way round that happened. Du-du-du-du-duh. Aaron Wilbraham.
Their summer: A lot of signings. Jorge Mendes (who has connections to Karanka) has turned his attention across the Midlands from West to East after helping Wolves go up, with Forest securing a number of Portuguese talents such as Joao Carvalho and Gil Dias. Some Championship experience has been brought in as well, with defender Michael Dawson returning and Lewis Grabban up top.
Ex-Wanderers: Zach Clough has gone back after a brief loan return to us last season. He is unlikely to get many games for the Reds this season, one would expect.
Prediction: There are hallmarks of how Wolves recruited last season and I noticed the Racing Post’s big football pullout is tipping them for big things. I’m not convinced it’s near the level of what business Wolves did last summer though, but Forest should be much improved nonetheless. 12th.
Preston North End – Manager: Alex Neil
Last season: Incredible really. Not much money, no real star names, but PNE nearly made the Championship playoffs for the first time since 2009, finishing 7th. That included a 3-1 beating of us at the Macron, but we got a draw at Deepdale, a goalless Friday night clash in November.
Their summer: They did lose Greg Cunningham to Cardiff City, and have brought in Ryan Ledson, Andrew Hughes and Jordan Storey from the lower leagues, while Graham Burke has become their latest purchase from Ireland’s Airtricity League.
Ex-Wanderers: None
Prediction: Sean Maguire and Billy Bodin have both picked up injuries which could impede their early-season form. It could affect them and they struggle a bit this season, but a few people are fancying them as a dark horse. So I could look stupid, but… 18th.
QPR – Manager: Steve McClaren
Last season: 16th for the Rs, who predictably occupied a lower-mid-table place for the majority of the season. We drew 1-1 in awful October weather at the Macron, before losing 2-0 at Loftus Road in February.
Their summer: Wanting to take the club on to the next level, they appointed…Steve McClaren. Wow. They’ve only made one major signing, but German defender Toni Leistner looks handy on paper. They could do with some more, as in January they will be subject to an embargo relating to FFP misdemeanours.
Ex-Wanderers: Alex Baptiste played 21 games after joining QPR last summer, after leaving Middlesbrough.
Prediction: They have been tipped to go down, but have a couple of decent players, such as Massimo Luongo and Luke Freeman, and should have enough about them to stay up. 19th.
Reading – Manager: Paul Clement
Last season: After being a shoutout away from the Premier League, Reading nearly went the other way last season. Jaap Stam was eventually sacked, with Paul Clement scraping to keep them up, finishing one place above us in 20th. Both our meetings ended in draws.
Their summer: They’ve added a couple of defenders who were relegated last season, Andy Yiadom from Barnsley and John O’Shea from Sunderland. David Meyler is amongst the other summer recruitments.
Ex-Wanderers: Sort of. Both Sam Walker (this summer) and Modou Barrow (2014) have been involved with pre-season preparations for us, but neither was signed in the end.
Prediction: Paul Clement might be a touch more pragmatic than his predecessor, and didn’t too badly at Derby. They should be better than last season, but way off where they were two seasons ago. 13th.
Rotherham – Manager: Paul Warne
Last season: A fourth-placed finish in League One, well back from the top three, but wins over Scunthorpe and Shrewsbury saw them promoted via the playoffs.
Their summer: A club of their size has unsurprisingly been limited to free transfers – Blackpool duo Clark Robertson and Kyle Vassell were signed, as was Sunderland full-back Billy Jones. Goalkeeper Marek Rodak is on another loan spell from Fulham, while Zak Vyner and Sean Raggett have been loaned from Bristol City and Norwich.
Ex-Wanderers: Jamie Proctor, useless for us in the 2016-17 season, joined Rotherham last season, but an ACL injury has severely limited his game time in South Yorkshire.
Prediction: Nowhere near the top two in a significantly poorer division last season, without the financial clout to improve the squad. Rotherham will be better than they were two seasons ago, but whoever finishes below them will probably be in League One next season too. 24th.
Sheffield United – Manager: Chris Wilder
Last season: Easily settled back into the Championship after six seasons in League One. Their form did dip from December onwards, but would still be very satisfied with their eventual 10th in the final table. They did suffer the shame of being the only team to lose at home to us though, but the Blades had won at ours in September.
Their summer: David Brooks left for Premier League football, but they managed to make the loan signings of Man Utd keeper Dean Henderson and Liverpool’s Ben Woodburn, John Egan has been signed for a club record fee, while David McGoldrick provides competition for proven goalscorers Billy Sharp and Leon Clarke (well, he bagged a few last season.)
Ex-Wanderers: Chris Basham has become a stalwart at Bramall Lane, having played over 150 games since joining from Blackpool in 2014.
Prediction: I can’t see them replicating their early-season form from last time out, but should be comfortably mid-table. 16th.
Sheffield Wednesday – Manager: Jos Luhukay
Last season: After two playoff campaigns, last season represented several steps back for the Owls. Suffering from a huge number of injuries, they spent most of their time in the bottom half, finishing 15th, and sacking Carlos Carvalhal in December. We beat them at home in the league and Carabao Cup, while Aaron Wilbraham equalised in injury time at Hillsborough.
Their summer: Difficult, with no arrivals at S6. Jordan Rhodes has been loaned to Norwich, while Jack Hunt has moved to Bristol City.
Ex-Wanderers: Barry Bannan, a loanee in 2015, joined the Owls that summer, and has played almost 100 league games.
Prediction: Wednesday have some good players, and some of them may even be fit this season, which will help them. 11th.
Stoke City – Manager: Gary Rowett
Last season: Stoke’s decade in the Premier League came to an end. Mark Hughes was sacked at the turn of the year, and although they played well at times under Paul Lambert, they just didn’t get the results.
Their summer: Gary Rowett has taken over as boss, they’ve kept hold of Joe Allen, while they have signed players who should do well in this league, such as Tom Ince and James McClean.
Ex-Wanderers: Benik Afobe has also joined this summer. While he never shone with us in the 2012-13 season, he has since scored goals in the Championship for Wolves.
Prediction: A good manager, strong squad, not too many losses and sensible additions. Stoke are understandably the favourites to go straight back up. 1st.
Swansea City – Manager: Graham Potter
Last season: Relegation from the Premier League, finishing 18th.
Their summer: After constant chopping and changing of managers, Graham Potter is the latest to take on the task at the Liberty. Their squad seemed quite thin, with only teenager Joel Asoro signing, but Bersant Celina and Barrie McKay have signed on, Man City youngster Lukas Nmecha could also join, and there are some talented players there to start. Alfie Mawson could still yet depart though.
Ex-Wanderers: None
Prediction: Some with Swansea connections are worried, but there looks enough there for them to be in and around the top six. 4th.
West Brom – Manager: Darren Moore
Last season: Bottom of the Premier League, after Alan Pardew and Tony Pulis were both sacked. Darren Moore took over and they made a good fight of it, but it was too late.
Their summer: A few personnel changes, with Harvey Barnes arriving on loan and Sam Johnstone replacing Ben Foster in goal. Some players still look set to depart though.
Ex-Wanderers: Craig Dawson has matured into an excellent defender but Burnley are interested in luring him away. Kyle Bartley signed this summer, and could ultimately be a replacement.
Prediction: Probably the weakest of the three relegated sides, but still look in a fairly strong position at the moment. 7th.
Wigan Athletic – Manager: Paul Cook
Last season: A return to the Championship as League One winners.
Their summer: A planned takeover hasn’t been sorted as planned, which has restricted their clout in the transfer market. Callum McManaman and Christian Walton have both returned, while one Reece James has departed and they’ve loaned another Reece James who plays left-back. Really.
Ex-Wanderers: None, for once. We did look at Alex Bruce before he joined that lot last season.
Prediction: They need to stop being a yo-yo club, but it probably won’t happen. 22nd.