Don Goodman spoke more in his interview with OLBG about Stoke City…
On Stoke: “The owners at Stoke City are so good and have such good intentions, they just want success at their football club and do everything in their power to achieve it. You can’t say they haven’t funded Stoke all the way through their tenure. Recruitment has just not been good and that’s held Stoke back.
“They’re a team that I don’t know what to expect from next season. I really like Steven Schumacher and admired the minor miracle he worked at Plymouth. He created a really attacking, exciting and entertaining team which would always outscore their opposition on a small budget. It was great to watch.
“He now has a full pre-season which will allow him to plan thoroughly with Jon Walters as his Director of Football, who will also have an understanding of what’s needed as an ex-player. It comes down to recruitment and that’s what they got massively wrong last summer. It may even tie Steven Schumacher’s hands a little bit as shifting those players who came in on big wages is always a problem.
“Looking at Stoke last season, their top scorer had just six goals and they scored 49 goals all season with only five teams scoring less. They need to find a way to become a front-footed and attacking team like the one Steven Schumacher created at Argyle but a lot will depend on who comes in and who leaves.”
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.”
Stoke – Fixtures
Sat 10 Aug H Coventry City Championship 12.30pm
Sat 17 Aug A Watford Championship 3pm
Sat 24 Aug H West Bromwich Albion Championship 3pm
Sat 31 Aug A Plymouth Argyle Championship 3pm
Sat 14 Sep A Oxford United Championship 12.30pm
Fri 20 Sep H Hull City Championship 8pm
Sat 28 Sep A Middlesbrough Championship 3pm
Wed 2 Oct H Portsmouth Championship 7.45pm
Sat 5 Oct A Swansea City Championship 3pm
Sat 19 Oct H Norwich City Championship 3pm
Tue 22 Oct H Bristol City Championship 7.45pm
Sat 26 Oct A Sheffield United Championship 3pm
Sat 2 Nov H Derby County Championship 3pm
Wed 6 Nov A Blackburn Rovers Championship 7.45pm
Sat 9 Nov H Millwall Championship 3pm
Sat 23 Nov A Queens Park Rangers Championship 3pm
Tue 26 Nov H Preston North End Championship 7.45pm
Sat 30 Nov H Burnley Championship 3pm
Sat 7 Dec A Sunderland Championship 3pm
Tue 10 Dec A Luton Town Championship 7.45pm
Sat 14 Dec H Cardiff City Championship 3pm
Sat 21 Dec A Sheffield Wednesday Championship 3pm
Thu 26 Dec H Leeds United Championship 3pm
Sun 29 Dec H Sunderland Championship 3pm
Wed 1 Jan A Burnley Championship 3pm
Sat 4 Jan H Plymouth Argyle Championship 3pm
Sat 18 Jan A West Bromwich Albion Championship 3pm
Wed 22 Jan A Portsmouth Championship 7.45pm
Sat 25 Jan H Oxford United Championship 3pm
Sat 1 Feb A Hull City Championship 3pm
Sat 8 Feb H Middlesbrough Championship 3pm
Tue 11 Feb A Bristol City Championship 7.45pm
Sat 15 Feb H Swansea City Championship 3pm
Sat 22 Feb A Norwich City Championship 3pm
Sat 1 Mar H Watford Championship 3pm
Sat 8 Mar A Coventry City Championship 3pm
Tue 11 Mar H Blackburn Rovers Championship 7.45pm
Sat 15 Mar A Millwall Championship 3pm
Sat 29 Mar H Queens Park Rangers Championship 3pm
Sat 5 Apr A Preston North End Championship 3pm
Tue 8 Apr H Luton Town Championship 7.45pm
Sat 12 Apr A Cardiff City Championship 3pm
Fri 18 Apr H Sheffield Wednesday Championship 3pm
Mon 21 Apr A Leeds United Championship 3pm
Sat 26 Apr H Sheffield United Championship 3pm
Sat 3 May A Derby County Championship 3pm
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