English Championship - 17/18
Who will be in the shake up & who will be the surprise package ?
& who do we most want up this coming season from an Irish viewpoint ?
Villa flying with a Whelan / Hourihane central axis would be lovely, and not impossible, they weren't a million miles away last year.
Big year for Kelly at Reading and Manning at QPR, the breakthrough as hard as it is to achieve, bears no resemblance to the challenge set by making that eleven week in week out for the next decade or more.
Also, Cullen will get to test himself there with Bolton. Last season I watched both Hourihane and Cullen play against Peterborough and Chris Forrester, he looked better than both of them in those games, in that period there was big buzz about him, yet it's the other two who have navigated the next step and good luck to them.
Aiden O'Brien will turn 24 as a Championship level striker, and at a club where he can expect to at least be given a chance to find the level after making 43 apps last season. He hit one in two for our u21s & it'd would be great to see him do well enough to offer a credible squad option.
And as much as we'd love a breakout season in the Prem for an Irish player, it's more likely to come from this division I suppose, (Long & Rice apart) this years Liam Kelly, anyone willing to pick a name ?
Oh, and Preston Shamrocks.