Posted on Friday, 5th August 2011 by Chris Hunt

In the final part (Find Part one here and Part two here) of thisisfutbol’s club-by-club Championship preview and prediction, we damn two teams to relegation, one into the Play Offs and crown the champions. Here comes our analysis of , , , Portsmouth, , , and West Ham United.

MILLWALL

A roaringly good first season after winning promotion from League One via the Play Offs, with Kenny Jacket’s men flirting with the Championship equivalent before eventually finishing 9th. The negative of such a fine season is the ravaging of their stars, with Steve Morrison poached by Norwich and Theo Robinson making the move to Derby County permanent. It’ll be difficult to replicate the super first season again and will probably settle in mid-table.

Manager; Kenny Jacket

Significant Departures; (Southend – free)
Theo Robinson (Derby – free)
Steve Morrison (Norwich City – undisclosed)

Significant Arrivals; (Skoda Xanthi -free)
Thierry Racon (Charlton – free)
Darius Henderson (Sheffield United – undisclosed)

Last season; 9th with 67 points

Point to Note; All time record goalscorer Neil Harris departs on a free transfer

Prediction; Second season syndrome, but shouldn’t be in serious danger. 16th

NOTTINGHAM FOREST

The big name managerial appointment of has yet to provide the high profile signings one might have expected. What has been important though is the retention of the big name players already at the City Ground. Lewis McGugan, Lee Camp and the core of the squad remain and it’ll be up to McClaren to turn Billy Davies’ nearly men into promotion men. There’ll be huge expectations in Nottingham.

Manager; Steve McClaren replaces Billy Davies

Significant Departures; Robert Earnshaw (Cardiff – free)
Kelvin Wilson (Celtic – free)
Nathan Tyson (Derby – free)

Significant Arrivals; Andy Reid (Blackpool – free)
Jonathan Greening (WBA – undisclosed)

Last season; 6th with 75 points, Play Off semi-finalists

Point to Note; Only midfielder Lewis McGugan got into double figures for goals scored last season

Prediction; Huge pressure to succeed, but the squad has remained and makes them contenders. 3rd

PETERBOROUGH UNITED

The League One Play Off winners were the entertainers last year, but with the departure of superstar striker Craig Mackail-Smith, they’ll certainly be one of the favourites, if not the big favourite, to get relegated. This will be manager Ferguson’s third crack at the Championship and second with Peterborough after a promotion, so he’ll be determined to get Posh to stick. A few helpful loan signings from dad Sir Alex will go a long way.

Manager; Darren Ferguson

Significant Departures; Craig Mackail-Smith (Brighton – £2.5 million)
Chris Whelp dale (Gillingham – undisclosed)
Charlie Lee (Gillingham – undisclosed)

Significant Arrivals; Paul Jones (Exeter City – free)
Nicky Ajose (Manchester United – £300,000)
Craig Adcock (Yeovil Town – £300,000)

Last season; 4th with 79 points in League One, Play Off winners

Point to Note; Posh recorded only 8 wins and34 points the last time they were in the Championship under Darren Ferguson in the 2009-10 season.

Prediction; Unfortunately, it looks like another disappointing season for the Posh. 24th

PORTSMOUTH

It’s quite extraordinary that Pompey not only survived last season, both on and off the pitch, but the fantastic work of managed to propel the crisis club to a hugely respectable 16th place finish. There’s some money floating around Fratton Park now, with money paid to bring and Greg Halford in permanently. Whether the South Coast club can hope of a Play Off push may be thinking a bit too ambitiously.

Manager; Steve Cotterill

Significant Departures; Michael Brown (Leeds – free)
David Nugent (Leicester City – free)
Nadir Ciftci (Kayserispor – £100,000)

Significant Arrivals; Luke Varney (Derby – £750,000)
Greg Halford (Wolves – undisclosed)
David Norris (Ipswich Town – free)

Last season; 16th with 58 points

Point to Note; New signing David Norris was Ipswich’s top scorer last season.

Prediction; Should finish safely mid-table, a top-half finish. 12th

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