Division One Top-6 Predictions

1. Portsmouth
2. Nottingham Forest
3. Leicester City
4. Norwich City
5. Sheffield United
6. Coventry City

And in the playoffs, I'll go with Norwich over Coventry.

 

I'll have to see how Leicester's financial situation gets resolved--and if Micky Adams jumps ship to Ipswich--before I can be comfortable putting them in the top six. With the squad they have now, they're definitely favorites for an automatic spot.

My prediction as of now:
1. Portsmouth
2. Leicester
3. Forest
4. Norwich
5. Watford
6. Ipswich--I think they've got a good chance to turn things around

Norwich beat Forest in the playoff

 

Hey, I could have picked them first. And they are playing very well at this point. They have games against Norwich and Leicester coming up in the next few weeks. If they do well in those, look out.

 

you wish

 

1. Portsmouth.
2. Leicester.
3. Norwich.
4. Nott'm Forest.
5. Watford.
6. Coventry.

I can't see any other team finishing top at the moment apart from Portsmouth. Their squad is by far the best in Division 1 and they have a great manager in Harry Redknapp. I have another reason for wanting them to go up as well, they are my home team. If they go up United will be coming down here to play them next season. A match I will watch.

I don't see Leicester's current financial problems getting in the way of their promotion bid and they could well finish second with Norwich and Forest giving them a good challenge. I think Watford and Covenrty are good bets for the other two spots.

Ipswich have a good team, but I just don't think they'll make it to the playoffs this season. Next season I can see them doing very well (hopefully). Wolves, Sheffield United, Gillingham, Rotherham and Burnley have a chance of stealing a place from Covenrty or Watford.

Most likely winner in the playoffs - Norwich.

 

For my money:

1. Leicester
2. Norwich
3. Portsmouth
4. Wolves
5. Palace
6. Nottingham Forest

Rationale: Leicester are grinding out results, they don't beat themselves, and not that it's saying much but they just about have the edge on quality (well, experience and know-how, anyway) here. If they do emerge from administration with new ownership, that will give them a boost sometime in the season, too.

Norwich, like last year, are also hard to beat and seem to be as focussed now as they were twelve months ago, but with a little more self-belief too. Note: hard to beat is what gets you somewhere in this division.

Portsmouth will fade, maybe even lower than third. Lots of style so far, but I'll believe they'll go all the way when they've weathered a few injuries to key players and when the pitches get heavy. Harry Redknapp's teams are notoriously lightweight (when the going gets tough...) and I think when Portsmouth play everyone for a second time (which is why the second half of the season is always tougher) they won't catch nearly so many teams by surprise and thus will find points harder to come by. I doubt they can "grind out" the results.

Wolves have put their bad run behind them and, though not a great team, have enough quality here. Better a losing run in September/October than April/May. Also, if they get in a promotion race the experience of their aged squad members (Messrs Ince and Irwin) should be more valuable than it is early in the year. Should get stronger as the results start to mean more.

Palace. See Leicester and Norwich. I may be biased, but Francis has made us hard to beat (albeit too many draws) and when the injured players start to come back (of which there are a few) we will get stronger. Now that we've started putting winning streak together, moving up the table. Should be in fifth or sixth, though largely because the rest of the division is weak.

Nottingham Forest. May be a year away (and a player or two away) from being top two contenders, but the improvement is continuing (they should have beaten us yesterday) and they are evolving into a good side. I think, as noted, next season will be the good one for them but if this is the dress rehearsal, they will continue to progress this year.

Dark Horses: If you want a dark horse to break into the above group, Reading. They are a team heading in the right direction in a lot of ways.

 

Re: Dark Horse

Perhaps it's not incidental that both Rotherham and Reading have stood behind their managers and given them the time to develop both their teams and their clubs (for a longer period in Ronnie Moore's case, but true of Alan Pardew nonetheless). Both sides have bottle, and now that both have the stability on which self-belief is founded, the results are clear. Both are probably over-achieving and in the long run Reading (better stadium, bigger catchment area, richer owner) are probably the better bet but Rotherham and Reading both in their own prove that administration doesn't have to be the only way to go.