Don Goodman spoke more in his interview with OLBG about Portsmouth…
On Pompey: “They can’t do an Ipswich (win back-to-back promotions), no. What Ipswich did was a minor miracle and it is not lost on me that Kieran McKenna’s fellow managers voted him as manager of the year, not Pep Guardiola or anybody from the Premier League because it was recognised as such an incredible achievement.
“I see Portsmouth as a decent team but Ipswich came up stronger as one of the best League One teams I’d ever seen. John Mousinho is realistic enough to accept that anything within the middle of the table would represent an excellent season for Portsmouth and they can then build on that.
“They’re a great club with a huge fanbase and historic ground. All of the ingredients are there for them to build, but John Mousinho I’m sure knows *that Pompey need to walk before they can run.”
Asked who do you fancy for promotion and relegation from the Championship, he said: “Last season was one of the easiest Championship seasons to predict in terms of who would be at the top as Leeds, Leicester and Southampton all retained a plethora of Premier League-quality players They were always going to be competing at the top end of the league.
“However this season I’m not so confident in the relegated clubs. For Burnley and Luton, it depends on what their squad looks like when the transfer window shuts. Will Burnley keep the likes of Lyle Foster, Luca Koleosho and Sander Berge? If they do, you fancy them to be a force. Will Luton keep the likes of Alfie Doughty, Elijah Adebayo and Carlton Morris? If they do, you’d also tip them to be competing at the top.
“But Sheffield United look like a club in disarray and are coming down from the Premier in a very weak state. A massive overhaul is required for Chris Wilder and his backroom staff. I’m not saying they can’t do it, but he’s up against it at the moment.
“You’d expect Leeds to be towards the top, with the sale of Archie Gray possibly meaning they’ll be able to keep hold of the attacking force that tore apart Championship defences for 80% of the season before falling at the last hurdle.”
“Then with some teams, you don’t really know what to expect from them. You cannot rule out West Brom with Carlos Corberan in charge still, Coventry’s FA Cup semi-final proved a hindrance to their promotion hopes last season, and Middlesbrough ended the campaign very strongly.
“The upcoming Championship season will not be as strong as last season’s, which had the best top-four that I’ve ever seen. That’s going to give an opportunity for some teams to surprise us.
“At the bottom, Des Buckingham has a huge job on his hands at Oxford as play-off winners are notoriously the teams that struggle the most. It’s just brilliant that they’re in the Championship.
“Derby County remind me of Sheffield Wednesday last season as they have one of the oldest teams in the division. Wednesday struggled with the physical side of things early on last year, so it’s interesting to see Paul Warne move on a number of 30-plus-year-olds and bring pace and energy into the club. That gap still needs to be bridged, though.
“I would expect Portsmouth to be the strongest of the relegated clubs and, therefore, I’m looking at the clubs that just about survived. John Eustace has a big job on his hands at Blackburn after they relied so heavily on Sammie Szmodics, it would be some achievement if he could replicate such performances. I’m not sure about Plymouth, and that’s not because of Wayne Rooney, it’s just the nature of them being in the Championship.
“Even Sunderland finished the season winning just two of their last 15 games. They’ve got a new manager in Regis Les Bris, whose background is in developing young footballers but this is the Championship so it’s very difficult for a whole group of young players to succeed and they didn’t have any strikers capable of performing at that level and struggled for goals. Those would be the clubs I’d be concerned about.”
Portsmouth – Fixtures
Sat 10 Aug A Leeds United Championship 12.30pm
Sat 17 Aug H Luton Town Championship 12.30pm
Sat 24 Aug A Middlesbrough Championship 3pm
Sat 31 Aug H Sunderland Championship 3pm
Sun 15 Sep H West Bromwich Albion Championship 3pm
Sat 21 Sep A Burnley Championship 3pm
Sat 28 Sep H Sheffield United Championship 3pm
Wed 2 Oct A Stoke City Championship 7.45pm
Sat 5 Oct H Oxford United Championship 3pm
Sat 19 Oct A Queens Park Rangers Championship 3pm
Tue 22 Oct A Cardiff City Championship 7.45pm
Sat 26 Oct H Sheffield Wednesday Championship 3pm
Sat 2 Nov A Hull City Championship 3pm
Tue 5 Nov A Plymouth Argyle Championship 7.45pm
Sat 9 Nov H Preston North End Championship 3pm
Sat 23 Nov A Blackburn Rovers Championship 3pm
Wed 27 Nov H Millwall Championship 7.45pm
Sat 30 Nov A Swansea City Championship 3pm
Sat 7 Dec H Bristol City Championship 3pm
Tue 10 Dec H Norwich City Championship 7.45pm
Sat 14 Dec A Derby County Championship 3pm
Sat 21 Dec H Coventry City Championship 3pm
Thu 26 Dec A Watford Championship 3pm
Sun 29 Dec A Bristol City Championship 3pm
Wed 1 Jan H Swansea City Championship 3pm
Sat 4 Jan A Sunderland Championship 3pm
Sat 18 Jan H Middlesbrough Championship 3pm
Wed 22 Jan H Stoke City Championship 7.45pm
Sat 25 Jan A West Bromwich Albion Championship 3pm
Sat 1 Feb H Burnley Championship 3pm
Sat 8 Feb A Sheffield United Championship 3pm
Tue 11 Feb H Cardiff City Championship 7.45pm
Sat 15 Feb A Oxford United Championship 3pm
Sat 22 Feb H Queens Park Rangers Championship 3pm
Sat 1 Mar A Luton Town Championship 3pm
Sat 8 Mar H Leeds United Championship 3pm
Tue 11 Mar H Plymouth Argyle Championship 7.45pm
Sat 15 Mar A Preston North End Championship 3pm
Sat 29 Mar H Blackburn Rovers Championship 3pm
Sat 5 Apr A Millwall Championship 3pm
Wed 9 Apr A Coventry City Championship 7.45pm
Sat 12 Apr H Derby County Championship 3pm
Fri 18 Apr A Norwich City Championship 3pm
Mon 21 Apr H Watford Championship 3pm
Sat 26 Apr A Sheffield Wednesday Championship 3pm
Sat 3 May H Hull City Championship 3pm
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