It’s been a topsy-turvy season in the third tier of English football this season with unexpected results and pacesetters but, as Gary Andrews notes, the division is starting to see some familiar names at the top of the table.
At the start of the season, League One seemed the easiest of the four professional leagues in England to call. The fallen giants of Southampton, Sheffield Wednesday and Charlton all looked too big for a division where the gap between the biggest clubs and the smallest, such as Dagenham and Redbridge, is more pronounced than anywhere else. Football, though, once again took a look at the pundits and swiftly went about proving conventional wisdom wrong.
The Saints, widely predicted to walk the league, started slowly and dismissed their manager, while newly-promoted Rochdale and Bournemouth immediately set about showing they could do more than just make up the numbers by becoming fixtures in the top six.
Dale may have fallen away since the autumn, but Bournemouth still, remarkably, sit in the play-offs. In a tight, topsy-turvy league, though, they’re currently the only true unexpected team in the promotion and play-off spots. Only six points might separate Sheffield Wednesday in sixth and Leyton Orient in 19th, but now the big clubs have got a foothold at the top of the division it would be a brave man to bet against them staying there.
At the top sit Brighton - possibly the only team to show anything like approaching consistency this season. Gus Poyet’s men have a six point lead in first place and have been the division’s stand-out side, despite a minor wobble in November, playing the sort of fluid, attacking football you’d associate with Poyet the player.
Brighton’s last two games have shown both sides of the best of the Seagulls and suggest why the title may be theirs to lose. First, they destroyed Leyton Orient five-nil at the Withdean, with a delicious and unstoppable display that saw the free-scoring Glenn Murray net a hat-trick.
Two days later, the Seagulls travelled to Exeter and despite the Grecians pushing Brighton for the whole game, Poyet’s men first came from behind and then sneaked a last-minute winner. Such tight results against a tough opposition is the mark of potential champions.
Brighton may not have been favourites for the title at the start of the season, but a look at the squad suggested that Poyet’s team should be considered contenders for the playoffs, at the very least. Murray and Ashley Barnes have formed an impressive partnership up front, while on-loan Kazenga Lua-Lua provided wing-trickery.
The Newcastle man may now be out for the season after a broken leg, but Poyet has replaced him with Plymouth’s outstanding player, Craig Noone. The winger will provide excellent balance to an already formidable side looking to to return to the Championship in their new Falmer Stadium.
Behind Brighton sit pre-season favourites Southampton, who are finally clicking into the side they should have been back in August. Nigel Adkins side have power, pace and skill and look as good as anybody in the division, even Brighton.
After an enforced break due to the weather, the Saints have scored 11 goals in three games. Brazilian loanee Guily do Prado looks a handful at this level and between him and the prolific Ricky Lambert up front defenders will know they’ve been in a battle, before Adkins can turn to Lee Barnard from the bench, and it’s easy to see why Adam Lallana and Alex Chamberlain have attracted admiring glances from Championship clubs.
Indeed, the Saints have a relatively kind run-in, with Walsall at home on the final day and only one trip to the current top six to undertake in 2011. The suspicion remains that Alan Pardew would have got similar results out of this very talented set of players but Nigel Adkins has a side playing attractive football but also not afraid to get involved in the physical side of the game.
Putting Bournemouth, who we’ve already written much about, to one side, the rest of the playoffs have a familiar look. Huddersfield have been inconsistent over the past two months but on their day they also remain one of the best sides in the division, and two deadly strikers in Lee Novak and Jordan Rhodes.
If Lee Clark can get his side clicking into gear on a more consistent basis, the Terriers should be the Saints closest rivals for the second play-off spot. The squad is certainly good enough and, strangely for such a strong squad that challenged last year, Huddersfield seem to have avoided the hype that’s gone alongside some of their promotion rivals. This can only work in their favour.
Below Town sit two of the divisions big names. On reputation alone, it shouldn’t be a surprise to see Sheffield Wednesday and Charlton Athletic at the top - which is the reasoning behind a lot of pundits and bookmakers tips.
But neither side has shown anywhere near the form you’d expect from title contenders. Their budgets and crowds may be bigger than most but this doesn’t translate into points. Wednesday, in particular, have a shocking record on the road, losing six games already this season with the nadir coming in a 5-1 defeat at Exeter.
But then the Owls have had a winding up order and a takeover by Milan Mandaric to handle as well and Alan Irvine has had to rebuild the squad after relegation. On their day, Wednesday are excellent, but when it isn’t, they look nervy and anything but title challengers.
Even younger fans will remember Wednesday’s last visit to the third tier of English football and will know the importance, both financially and mentally, of the club making their current stay a short one. Mandaric has shown he’s not tolerant of failure. This could be both a curse and a blessing for Irvine’s team, although it should mean funds will be available this month.
And then finally we come to the last of the big sides in the league: Charlton Athletic. After last season’s playoff defeat, the assumption would be the Addicks would be Southampton’s nearest challengers.
But a closer look would have revealed that the South Londoners’ finances were very precarious indeed and two of last season’s star players - Nicky Bailey and Jonjo Shelvey - had departed for Middlesbrough and Liverpool respectively, while Phil Parkinson had a big rebuilding job on his hands and the weight of expectation on his shoulders.
And the rest of Parkinson’s body hasn’t looked too comfortable either. The former Hull manager often cut a stressed and isolated figure on the touchline and has, at times, appeared at a loss in press conferences. Even taking into account the enforced December break, Charlton are winless in six in the league, a run that included a defeat to basement boys Walsall.
Parkinson’s sacking this week, then, may have seen harsh but with the crowd turning against him and new owners in the boardroom, it wasn’t a total surprise. But by creating a managerial vacancy, Charlton have gambled with their future.
Of all of League One’s big names, the Addicks always looked the most vulnerable to missing out on the playoffs and, depending on manager, squad, and finances, they could still find themselves staring at another season in the third tier.
Outside of the bigger names, Bournemouth are still performing heroics in third, despite losing both Brett Pitman and Josh McQuoid and even optimistic Cherries fans are wondering how long Eddie Howe can keep their side in contention for.
Behind them, Peterborough, for all their problems, still remain very much in contention as they look for an immediate return to the Championship, while Hartlepool have gone from relegation certainties to playoff hopefuls under the guidance of the experienced caretaker Mick Wadsworth and, on current form, would be best placed to sneak a spot in the top six. MK Dons have also quietly kept in touch with the minimum of fuss.
But in a league where 11th placed Colchester could leap into the playoffs if results went their way, the division’s big guns are by no means guaranteed the finish their fans expect. It might make for a few disgruntled season ticket holders at Hillsborough, The Valley and St Mary’s, but for the rest of us, it makes for one of England’s most exciting divisions.
Tags: Brighton, Brighton and Hove Albion, Charlton Athletic, Huddersfield Town, Lee Clark, Phil Parkinson, Sheffield Wednesday, Southampton