Tuesday 24 December 2019 11:57, UK
Sky Sports pick their best Championship Team of the Decade made up of the best players from the last 10 years...
We asked our expert EFL pundits David Prutton and Don Goodman on the Sky Sports EFL Podcast to discuss their shortlist of star performers and pick their final XI in a 4-4-2 formation...
Shortlist: Kasper Schmeichel, David Stockdale, Darren Randolph
Goodman says: We need to reiterate the point that we have picked these 11 players, but we could have picked another 11, or another or another 11! That's how difficult and how impossible it has been.
At different times in both of their careers Stockdale and Randolph have arguably been the best goalkeepers in the league, but it was Schmeichel who stood out and has done it for a number of years.
Prutton says: You look at the lineage he has come from and who his father was, but now he's one of the top goalkeepers in the world. A brilliant one in his own right.
Shortlist: Kieran Trippier, Nathaniel Clyne, Chris Gunter
Prutton says: We both got drawn to players for this team that were promoted as it's one hell of an achievement to move up and keep going, and for that reason Trippier takes it, although you could still make cases for the other two.
Goodman says: Burnley in those two or three seasons they were in the Championship, he would be marauding down the right and the quality of his delivery was incredible. He's what you look for in a modern-day full-back and has gone on to play for England and score in World Cups.
Shortlist: Pontus Jansson, Wes Morgan, Sol Bamba, Lewis Dunk, Richard Keogh, Curtis Davies
Prutton says: The names that jumped out at me initially were Morgan, Bamba and Dunk, unsurprisingly it's two of those who have made this side. Having come across him at Nottingham Forest in League One, if you had said to me Morgan would go on to lift the Premier League, I would have laughed you out of the dressing room! At the time he had a particular physique and skill-set but he worked so hard on it and performed brilliantly in the Championship, then went on to do it in the Premier League.
Goodman says: There have been occasions in my co-commentary career where I've had to be a little bit critical of Dunk for flying into challenges and getting red cards. What I love about him is that he doesn't do it any more, so he has clearly learned from his mistakes, and now he's knocking on the door of the England squad. He's still young for a centre-back and could still have his peak years to come.
Shortlist: Ian Harte, Aaron Cresswell, George Friend
Prutton says: I love the shout of Harte! It was a very retro throwback. He and Cresswell may have had more in certain specific skill-sets than Friend, but he is still a very talented left-back, has a good all-round game, and they love him at Midlesbrough.
Goodman says: He is a little bit of a throwback with the aggression he shows. I like that because it is something that is going out of the game. So he just edges the others.
Shortlist: Peter Whittingham, Ruben Neves, Tom Cairney, Jack Grealish, Oliver Norwood, Romaine Sawyers
Goodman says: He may have only been there for one season, but in Neves you are looking at an international quality player, playing in the Champions League at 17, captaining Porto at 18. He then came to the Championship and takes to it like a duck to water. He was the most influential player in the Championship that season. He scored outrageously brilliant goals and physically stood up to it. To do all of that at his age was unbelievable.
Prutton says: It's very tough indeed. I heard the phrase 'Championship cheat code' bandied around to describe Norwood, because at one point if you got him in your team he got you promoted. But in terms of influence, as we said with Neves, it has to be Grealish as his partner in the middle for what he did for Villa.
Shortlist: Tom Ince, Wilfried Zaha, Anthony Knockaert, Pablo Hernandez, Robert Snodgrass, Matty Phillips
Goodman says: We both agreed on Hernandez. He's the only player in this team who has not been promoted... yet. But every time I commentate on him I simply says he does not belong in the Championship.
Prutton says: Plenty of good options there and I pondered Snodgrass for a bit. But it has to be Zaha on the other side. He was a ball carrier and the type defenders must absolutely hate playing against.
Shortlist: Troy Deeney, Dwight Gayle, Tammy Abraham, Ross McCormack, Lewis Grabban, Glenn Murray, Jordan Rhodes, Charlie Austin
Prutton says: Deeney stood out for me because of what he did in the Championship, but the ones we finally settled on, and it was unbelievably difficult, were Austin and Rhodes.
Goodman says: We could have chosen almost any of those, but the sheer volume of goals scored by those two is what did it.
You've heard from the experts, but now it's time for you to pick your Championship Team of the Decade using the selector below...
