Fulham were the first side to score 100+ goals in a single season in the second tier since 2001/02, as they wrapped up the Sky Bet Championship title in May; Luton and Huddersfield exceeded expectations to finish in the top six; Nottingham Forest sealed Premier League return after 23 years
Thursday 2 June 2022 14:47, UK
Nottingham Forest's play-off win over Huddersfield on Sunday May 29 brought down the curtain on another Championship season. Sky Sports hands out grades to all 24 clubs...
Things can change quickly in football. Just 12 months ago, Barnsley reached the Championship play-offs against all the odds and came within a whisker of reaching the final, too. Fast-forward to May 2022 and the managerless Tykes have just finished bottom of the division, 11 points from safety. It has been quite the turnaround, but for all the wrong reasons.
The man who helped the club to exceed expectations, Valerien Ismael, left the club for West Brom last June and was replaced by Markus Schopp, but the German was sacked on November 1 after seven straight defeats. A fortnight later, Poya Asbaghi arrived after a spell as Sweden U21 manager, but he had to wait 13 games to even pick up a first win. There was a brief upturn throughout February into April, sparking talk of a great escape, but normality resumed soon after and Asbaghi left once the misery of relegation was confirmed.
Lee Bowyer steered the Blues to safety when he replaced Aitor Karanka towards the end of last season and the momentum was carried into the start of this term, too - by mid-September they were as high as fourth, having thumped eventual play-off semi-finalists Luton 5-0 on the way. Manchester United loanee Tahith Chong's performances were eye-catching, but a four-month injury was punishing, with Bowyer's men already on the slide down the table at that point.
"You're not in a relegation fight in the past four years unless you have performances like that," Bowyer said after a 2-0 loss at home to Middlesbrough on March 15. "It shocks me because I don't accept it. But that's the running thing here and that's what we need to change. In the summer, people will have to move on." They eventually finished 20th, 10 points above the bottom three, but with the third-lowest number of wins in the division.
Blackburn built momentum through the first half of the season and were even looking like strong contenders for automatic promotion at the start of 2022. But while they had gone under the radar in years gone by, the form of one player in particular - Ben Brereton Diaz - ensured that was not the case whatsoever on this occasion. He became a media sensation when he made his debut for Chile last summer, carrying the confidence he earned on the international stage into the season itself.
By the turn of the year, he had reached 20 goals - a 1000/1 shot last summer - as Rovers were flying high, but an ankle injury kept him out of action between February 15 and April 2. Unsurprisingly, their form nosedived; from January 2 until the forward's return, Tony Mowbray's side struggled creatively, scoring just six goals in 15 games. That uninspiring return cost them a place in the play-offs, which had looked certain for so long, with Mowbray departing after he was not offered a new contract at Ewood Park.
After six seasons away, Blackpool returned to the Championship last year, only to be greeted by bookmakers pricing them as the favourites to be relegated from the division once again. There was significant player turnover in the summer, with Neil Critchley focusing on younger signings and Richard Keogh the only older head among the additions, which probably went some way to determining why the odds were against them.
It paid off. Josh Bowler starred after joining from Everton, while Northern Ireland international Shayne Lavery signed from Linfield and adapted well. The Seasiders' unbeaten runs never extended past five games and their record of five wins from 23 away games left plenty to be desired. They were only four points off a top half finish, however. The final day 5-0 defeat against already-relegated Peterborough was a low point in an otherwise solid season.
Dumped out of the play-off semi-finals by Brentford a season before, Bournemouth started like a house on fire, with their 15-game unbeaten run one of the last remaining in the EFL at the time. They were the frontrunners until November, but a momentary slip was seized upon by Fulham, who would not drop away for the rest of the campaign. As had been the case in 2020/21, the Cherries stumbled towards the turn of the year, but this time, they learned from experience and regained their footing pretty quickly.
With Nottingham Forest closing the gap behind them at a rapid pace, the pressure to stay in the automatic promotion places increased, particularly when they went three games without scoring at the start of April. Their season hinged on a rearranged game with Steve Cooper's Reds on May 3. A win would ensure a Premier League return, but anything else would plunge their hopes into serious danger. Fortunately for Scott Parker's men, Kieffer Moore's 83rd-minute finish made sure of the former.
Ultimately, Bristol City ended the season around the position you would have expected given the financial issues plaguing the club and a squad increasingly made up of academy graduates, but there's still been disappointment along the way for Nigel Pearson's side. The Robins led more times than promoted Nottingham Forest but couldn't hold onto an advantage and their 77-goal-against tally lays bare exactly why they have struggled this season.
There was a point where it appeared only Reading and Derby's points deductions would save them from the drop, but a strong end to the season earned them a better points tally than in 2020/21. Overall, about par for the course.
Promotion contenders in two of the last three seasons, many would have expected the Bluebirds to be in and amongst it once more, particularly given the way Mick McCarthy turned around their fortunes so stunningly last season. A key feature of his first half-season in charge was a run of six straight wins that earned him the Manager of the Month award last February. But it was a streak of the worst kind that saw him depart in October - a club-record run of eight defeats in succession.
Steve Morison was appointed as his successor, having taken charge on a temporary basis, but it was already clear he had a salvage operation on his hands rather than anything else. There were high points: City beat Luton, Nottingham Forest and Huddersfield, held West Brom and stuck four past Peterborough. However, they could not climb above 17th throughout the campaign and finished 18th, which represented the lowest league finish since 2002/03.
It is no understatement to say that Coventry were the Championship's surprise package for the first half of this season. Marking their first season back at the Coventry Building Society Arena after two seasons groundsharing with Birmingham at St Andrews, Mark Robins' Sky Blues took the division by storm and climbed up to third with a surprise 4-1 thumping of Fulham in early October. Viktor Gyokeres' nine goals in 11 games certainly helped.
As many teams found to be the case, December's postponements upset their rhythm, which they were unable to regain in a topsy-turvy final few months. Yet you would imagine finishing 27 points clear of the relegation zone, nine outside the play-offs and recording the best league position since 2005/06 would constitute success.
Talk about a rollercoaster season; Derby fans have been through it all this term. From points deductions and the difficulty of not climbing up the table despite strong performances, to relegation and the very existence of the club being called into question. Two constants remained, though. The first? Wayne Rooney, the figurehead through it all, who refused to jump ship in the face of extreme hardship. And the second? The sheer team spirit that never faded.
Had it not been for the 12-point deduction for entering administration, which was followed by a nine-point penalty for breaching EFL accounting rules, the Rams would have finished 18th, level with Bristol City on 55 points. Instead, despite the toils of a team filled to the brim with young players, largely with little to no EFL experience, punishments for issues off the pitch proved too much of a stumbling block.
Given that their fate in their last two seasons in the Championship was decided in the play-offs, it was clear that Fulham wanted things to be different this time around. Marco Silva replaced Scott Parker in the summer and took his side to the summit with four wins from his first five games in charge. A brief blip forced them to work for the right to return, but seven straight wins throughout October and November - during which time they scored 25 goals and conceded only two - ensured that wasn't too far away.
Their ruthlessness in matches - they won 7-0 three times and 6-2 and 5-1 on two occasions each - was spearheaded by talismanic striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, who finished with a record 43 league goals. Their total tally of 106 made them the first side to score 100+ goals in a single season in the second tier since Manchester City in 2001/02 (108) and they were also the first side to score 50+ goals home and away in the second tier since Spurs in 1960/61.
Silva's men secured promotion with four games to spare and stuck seven past Luton on May 2 to finally snare the trophy.
It is fair to say that Huddersfield struggled on their return to the Championship after relegation in 2019. After finishing 20th and avoiding relegation by six points last year, few would have predicted Carlos Corberan would be able to take his team to new heights this year, particularly with a squad assembled on a shoestring budget and featuring many players signed on free transfers last summer. But that is exactly what he did.
Their season really got going in December, when a 17-match unbeaten run kicked off with a 1-1 draw against Barnsley. In fact, they lost just two of their last 26 games in the regular season, which contributed to a third-place finish, just six points behind Bournemouth. It all ended at Wembley, where Nottingham Forest got the better of the Terriers in a tightly-contested play-off final, but to even have reached that stage is an admirable feat for Corberan and his players.
For Hull, this season was about consolidating their place back in the Championship. They had finished bottom in 2019/20 and, after winning League One, undoubtedly wanted to do their utmost to ensure they would not undo their work straight away. Grant McCann stayed at the helm initially, but left in January after a very streaky first half. For example, they kicked off with a 4-1 win over Preston, but then lost three on the spin. Then they drew two, lost three, drew one, won one, lost five and won four. It was unsustainable and left the Tigers hovering around the relegation zone.
Ex-Rangers striker Shota Arveladze replaced him at the MKM Stadium, shortly after Acun Ilicali had bought the club from Assem Allam, with five January signings - including the loan of Marcus Forss from Brentford - made in an attempt to extinguish the threat of the drop for good, but though there were signs of promise, they finished 19th. With just 41 goals scored, they were the second-lowest scorers in the division and the lowest of the 21 non-relegated teams.
Teams emerging from the shadows to challenge at the top of the division was a common theme in the Championship this season and Luton's journey was one of the more eye-catching, particularly when taken into account that they were a non-league club as recently as 2014. It was not until around March that Nathan Jones' side established themselves as real top six contenders - and even when they did, they rode their luck with some narrow victories.
They even climbed as high as third after a 3-1 win over Hull on March 19. "We're a good side that works hard. Bournemouth are a wonderful side. Fulham are a wonderful side. If we're anywhere near them two at the end of the season we'll be in a wonderful position. If we end up in the Premier League, that will be brilliant - we've got momentum," said Jones. Amazingly, they finished sixth despite an extensive injury list and might have even pipped Huddersfield in the play-off semi-final had that not been the case.
Middlesbrough started the season in pretty uninspiring form and not long after Neil Warnock set the record for the most games managed in the EFL, he left the Riverside prior to the November international break. With Boro seemingly going nowheere, it looked like the correct decision, particularly as Chris Wilder was able to come in and establish his own presence before domestic football returned. The former Sheffield United boss had a near instant impact, winning six of his first nine games.
The club were in play-off contention as the positivity continued, but they suffered an untimely dip from February to April, with inconsistency leaving them playing catch-up. Their top-six hopes were alive into the final week of the season, but a 4-1 defeat at Preston on the final day, combined with results elsewhere, put paid to those.
Millwall have established themselves as one of the Championship's perennial overachievers over the last five seasons, with this season's ninth-place finish their third top 10 finish in the last five campaigns. In truth, it is probably fair to say this term was not a classic from a Lions perspective - for starters, only one team chalked up more wins than their 15, while a sticky patch saw them slip slightly around the turn of the year.
But to have been in with a chance of making an unprecedented dash for the top six until the closing weeks of the season, with the bulk of last season's squad, supplemented with loan players and free transfers, should be recognised. It was valiant effort from Gary Rowett and Co that did not go unnoticed.
Under Chris Hughton, Nottingham Forest looked to be heading for another season in the wilderness, so much so that, when Steve Cooper took over on September 21, the Reds were rock bottom of the Championship table. What followed was remarkable. No team in the division took more points than Forest did in the 38 games following his appointment. Their tally of 76 (W22 D10 L6) was two better than eventual champions Fulham.
It was that miserable start to the season that clearly hindered their automatic promotion chances, so the play-offs - and a two-legged affair with Sheffield United - beckoned. That ended 3-3 on aggregate, with a Brice Samba masterclass in a penalty shootout at the City Ground sending Forest to Wembley - and their maiden play-off final. Once they were there, all it took was a Levi Colwill own goal to secure a first return to the top flight in 23 years.
In an interview with Sky Sports in late 2019,, Posh boss Darren Ferguson spoke about how he "hadn't managed in the Championship long enough for my own liking". This season he got his wish when he returned to the second tier, but it did not end the way he would have hoped. In fact, he left the Weston Homes Stadium 31 games in, at which point his side were sat third-bottom after suffering from terrible inconsistency during two thirds of the season.
Grant McCann began his second spell four days later and, with fresh ideas, Peterborough began to collect points at a rapid rate in March and April, renewing hope that the season might not be a lost cause after all. But they lost to Nottingham Forest and Millwall on April 23 and 30, meaning the 5-0 win at home to Blackpool on the final day meant nothing other than doing down fighting.
Preston seem to often show plenty of promise, but never have quite enough to break into the Championship top six and end up in the relative comfort of mid-table. Strangely enough, over six of the the last seven seasons, their points return ranges between 61 and 66. But under Frankie McAvoy, North End dropped a large number of points at the start of this season, which left them hovering precariously above the relegation zone.
It was a similar story once Ryan Lowe took over in a December disrupted by Covid-related issues, too. He took charge of the last 25 games of the season, drawing nine and losing six, though that was enough to secure a second straight 13th-place finish, 11 points outside the play-offs.
For the majority of the season, it really looked as though this would be the year QPR would go on to end their Premier League exodus - or at least book their first play-off place since 2014. There was rarely a shortage of action - Rangers played out just one goalless draw all season and failed to score in just nine of their 46 games - and though their defensive record could have been better, a 2-1 win over Blackpool on February 23 lifted them to the heady heights of third.
That is when it all came tumbling down. Thirteen games remained at that point, but Mark Warburton could only steer his side to seven points from the 39. In mid-March they fell to eighth, then down to 12th, before eventually finishing in 11th. That meant Warburton's departure - confirmed on April 28 - happened without much fanfare, in spite of the clear improvements he brought to the club following his arrival in 2019.
It was a pretty miserable season at the Select Car Leasing Stadium. Prized assets Omar Richards and Michael Olise joined Bayern Munich and Crystal Palace respectively before the season, which began with four defeats from five. Star striker Lucas Joao was sidelined for five months from August; in November, the Royals were hit with a six-point deduction for breaching EFL financial rules and on January 11 they suffered their record home defeat, when Fulham left Berkshire with three points after a 7-0 win.
Following a run of seven straight defeats - which came within an 11-match winless run - Veljko Paunovic departed as manager, with Paul Ince brought in to see out the season. It was touch-and-go at times, but the club avoided relegation by four points; what they could not avoid, however, was the fact their 87 goals conceded throughout the season was the most they had conceded in any campaign in the club's history.
Paul Heckingbottom certainly gave Steve Cooper a run for his money with the way he salvaged the Blades' season. There was a good feeling around Bramall Lane when Slavisa Jokanovic took over last summer, with the Serbian having taken Fulham to the top flight a few years earlier, but his tactical and style alterations did not produce the desired results and he left in November after six league wins in 19 games.
Heckingbottom had taken charge of the team at the end of the previous campaign and stepped up on a permanent basis on the same day. His work as the club's U23 boss meant he was aligned with the core values and the deep-rooted approach, which he restored quickly. What followed was as impressive as it comes: 27 games, 15 wins, seven draws and five defeats - enough for a play-off spot. The Blades were outclassed by Forest in the first leg at Bramall Lane, but produced a superb second-leg performance to force extra-time and penalties. "I honestly thought we'd win and go through," said Heckingbottom after the eventual defeat. "But now we have to go again."
Stoke's Premier League parachute payments ran out at the end of 2020/21, making their hopes of returning to the top flight, after three disappointing seasons in the Championship just that little bit harder, yet it all started so promisingly in the Potteries this time around. Four wins from the opening six games gave Michael O'Neill's men their best start in 17 years and they remained firmly in play-off contention until the end of November.
Throughout December and January, they won just twice, however, but still they clung on to faint hope of reaching the top six, amid an increase in fan disharmony. They did finish the season with five wins and a draw from 10 games, but it was not enough to mount a late dash for the play-offs as they fell 13 points short.
Steve Cooper was always going to be a tough act for Russell Martin to follow at the Swansea.com Stadium. The Welshman took Swansea to the play-offs two seasons running and then departed when he realised he could take the team no further, paving the way for former Scotland international Martin - who had made waves as one of the youngest managers in the Sky Bet EFL at MK Dons - to take over.
Barring an eight-game unbeaten streak towards the end of the campaign and the form of Dutch frontman Joel Piroe - who scored 22 league goals - it was reasonably unremarkable and resulted in a 15th-place finish. Nonetheless, the Swans did set a new record for the most passes made in a Championship season since records began in 2013/14, with 27,506.
It is always challenging to bounce back from Premier League relegation, but with a new man at the helm in Valerien Ismael and a new approach, West Brom raced to the top of the Championship in the early weeks of the season. The optimism waned soon, however, and, as the goals dried up, the points did, too: 22 taken from the first 10 games became 27 taken from the next 20, leaving the Baggies in unfamiliar mid-table territory.
The poor run saw Ismael sacked on February 2 - a matter of months into a four-year deal - with Steve Bruce installed the following day. He found himself under almost immediate pressure with just a point from his first five games in charge, but West Brom remained in with a slim chance of reaching the play-offs once things picked up. But those hopes were extinguished by a series of sloppy defeats and dropped points in the closing weeks.
