Football / Preview / The Championship Summer Transfers

The Championship Summer Transfers

After the summer off the Football League season kicks off and using Player PRO we highlight each team's transfer dealings.

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Barnsley

Maltese international striker Daniel Bogdanovic has moved for free to Sheffield Utd and during his stay at Oakwell he played 28 of 64 Barnsley games with a PPG of 1.43 – had Barnsley managed this for the whole of last season they would have finished with 70 points, level with promoted Blackpool.

Meanwhile, Jason Shackell has been signed and appointed club captain and he should provide valuable experience in defence having done well for Doncaster last season during a loan spell when they had a 42% higher PPG with him – that increase for Barnsley on last seasons total points would get them to 77 – enough for fourth last season.
 

Bristol City

Bristol have sold right-back Bradley Orr to QPR and in the past two seasons the defender has played 73 of City’s 92 games with their PPG dropping by 34% from 1.45 to 0.95 when he’s been missing and had they replicated the 1.11 PPG they had without him last term for the whole season they’d have managed just 51 points and finished 20th.

However, they’ve made a couple of decent defensive signings in England goalkeeper David James and former Reading holding midfielder Kalifa Cisse, although Cisse was a largely ineffective member of Reading’s squad last term.
 

Burnley

Burnley have lost two key players over the summer with their top-scorer last season Steven Fletcher moving to Wolves and Robbie Blake heading to Rangers having played 45 of the Latics 84 matches in the past two seasons with a PPG of 1.53 compared to 0.95 without him. If they see this 38% drop this season compared to their promotion year they will get just 47 points – the same as relegated Sheffield Wednesday managed last season.

However they’ve made some good signings with goalkeeper Lee Grant coming from Sheff Wednesday having not missed a game in the past two seasons, along with Dean Marney from Hull who played half the Tigers’ Premier League matches in the past two seasons with a PPG 41% higher when he played – an increase that would cancel out the loss of Blake. Also moving to Turf Moor are proven Championship performers Chris Iwelumo and Ross Wallace, who at Preston in the past two seasons has played 71 games with 1.42 goals per game scored compared to just 1.10 in the 21 matches he missed.
 

Cardiff City

The Bluebirds have lost a couple of important midfielders with the departures of Mark Kennedy and Joe Ledley and have been under a transfer embargo preventing them signing any new players. However, their results last season were not affected by either players’ absences and they will hope that is the case again this year.
 

Coventry City

Coventry have not suffered any major departures while their major summer signing has been the acquisition of experienced Lee Carsley who’s been installed as club captain. However, Carsley played only three games for Birmingham last season and his impact is hard to measure.
 

Crystal Palace

Palace have sold their captain Shaun Derry to QPR and while he played 78 of their 92 games in the past two seasons they actually had better results in the 14 matches he missed. They’ve also lost three key defenders with the departures of Clint Hill, Danny Butterfield, and Matt Lawrence. Had they averaged the 1.14 PPG they had without Butterfield last season throughout the year they would have earned just 52 points and been relegated when allowing for their points deduction.

However, they’ve made one good defensive signing in David Wright from Ipswich. Wright has played 57 times for Ipswich in the past two seasons with a 35% increase in PPG from 1.11 to 1.46 as they’ve conceded 57% more goals per game in his absence. This sort of increase would get Palace close to the playoff positions although more realistically cancels out the departures Palace have suffered.
 

Derby County

The Rams have avoided any key departures whilst signing some promising players from the lower leagues with Dave Martin coming from Millwall and James Bailey and John Brayford arriving from Crewe. Brayford was named in the League Two team of the year last season and in the 10 games he’s missed for Crewe in the past two terms they’ve picked up just six points while Martin has played 49 of Millwall’s matches in the past two years with a PPG of 1.94 whilst without him they’ve earned just 1.38 – this represents a 40% increase that would get Derby up to 79 points when applied to their total last season.

Further strengthening the Derby defence will be the return to fitness of Dean Leacock who missed most of last season and in the 20 matches he’s appeared in during the past two years Derby’s PPG has been 0.26 PPG higher which would mean an extra 12 points over the course of the season.
 

Doncaster Rovers

The only transfer news of note has been the permanent signing of Billy Sharp who was instrumental in their top-half finish last season when on loan and had they maintained the 1.44 PPG they had with him throughout the year they’d have finished 8th on 66 points.

However, Welsh international Stock returns after long-term injury meant he missed the majority of last season and he should be worth an extra six points if he remains fit for the whole season.
 

Hull City

The Tigers have lost four key players with Stephen Hunt, Steven Mouyokolo, Boaz Myhill joining Dean Marney in leaving the club. Last season Hunt was Hull’s best player and without him they earned just six points in 11 games. Furthermore, Jimmy Bullard looks unlikely to play even if he remains at the club. When Marney or Hunt were absent last season the Tigers saw their PPG drop by about 35% and when applied to their promotion total in 2007/08 that represents a 26 point fall to just 49 and serious relegation trouble.
 

Ipswich Town

Whilst David Wright has left the club and Mark Kennedy has arrived there has been little else of note for the Tractor Boys in the transfer market. However, Roy Keane will be eager to make sure they don’t replicate their results without Wright last season as they earned just 0.86 PPG in 21 games without him which equates to a total of 40 points for a whole season and a relegation position.
 

Leeds Utd

Leeds lost their top scorer from last season with Jermaine Beckford moving to Everton and in the 25 matches he’s missed in the past two seasons they’ve averaged just 1.32 points per game compared to 2.04 with him, although this drop was just 11% last season which is effectively five points over the course of the season.

However, in Swindon’s Billy Paynter they’ve signed a played who found the net more often than Beckford in League One last season – and Swindon’s results without him last season suggested a drop of four points had he not been present – whilst they’ve made a few other signings to strengthen their squad. Unfortunately, Paynter will be injured for the start of the new campaign.
 

Leicester City

Leicester have avoided any significant departures this summer, however they’ve also failed to make any big signings.
 

Middlesbrough

‘Boro have only lost Emanuel Pogatetz while they’ve boosted their firepower by signing Rangers’ top scorer Kris Boyd and Charlton’s best player Nicky Bailey as well as improving their defence with Celtic’s Stephen McManus and midfield with another Scottish international from Rangers Kevin Thomson.

In the past two seasons Boyd has scored 49 goals in 58 games for Rangers, who’s PPG has fallen from 2.41 with him to just 1.83 in the 18 games he’s missed and should he reproduce these stats at ‘Boro it would represent an extra 20 points on top of their total last season. Similarly Thomson also added an extra 22% PPG to Rangers last season, which would be 14 more points for ‘Boro given last years total.
 

Millwall

Have lost influential defender Dave Martin to Derby but look to have adequately replaced him with Tamika Mkandawire from Leyton Orient. In the past two seasons Mkandawire has played 78 of Orient’s league matches with a PPG of 1.24 compared to 0.71 without him giving him similar figures to Martin’s importance for Millwall in the same league.
 

Norwich City

They’ve improved their squad with some useful signings, including Gillingham’s Simeon Jackson and Brighton’s Andrew Crofts, whilst keeping the players that helped them win League One last season. However, Gillingham have actually produced better results without Jackson while Crofts missed only two games for Brighton last season making his importance hard to gauge other than he was an essential part of their team.
 

Nottingham Forest

Very quiet summer with no notable signings or departures, however they started last season slowly after numerous signings took time to gel and will benefit from a stable team.
 

Portsmouth

Their best players from last season – Dindane, Yebda, James, and Belhadj – have all departed along with several others amid the financial fall out at Fratton Park and whilst they’ve been under a transfer embargo they have been unable to sign any replacements, with more players set to leave before the window shuts.

 

Preston North End

Another club suffering from financial problems Preston have lost first team players across the park in the form of Neil Mellor, Eddie Nolan, Chris Sedgwick and Ross Wallace. In particular their PPG has fallen from 1.70 in Mellor’s 43 games in the past two seasons to just 1.12 in the 49 he’s missed. In fact Preston earned just 17 points in the 20 matches Mellor missed last term at a rate that would have got them a total of just 39 points and a place in League One.

In return they’ve signed Paul Hayes from Scunthorpe who’s missed just 12 games in the past season and his presence has caused a 59% increase in PPG that would give Preston a total of 62 when applied to that 39 point mark.
 

QPR

The Superhoops have not lost any players whilst making several solid signings in the form of Jamie Mackie from Plymouth, Bradley Orr, Shaun Derry and Paddy Kenny from Sheffield Utd, and Adel Taarabt from Spurs. In the past two seasons Plymouth earned just 12 points in 18 games without Mackie compared with 1.08 PPG when he played and should he and Orr give QPR the sort of boost they did their former clubs QPR should get the approximate 25% (14) points boost from last season to make the playoffs.
 

Reading

The Royals finished last season very strongly and have not seen any major exits this summer after last year’s exodus and instead they’ve made some shrewd signings in the acquisition of Scunthorpe’s Marcus Williams and Stoke’s Andy Griffin. Williams has played 60 of Scunthorpe’s 92 games in the past two seasons and with him their PPG has risen by 42% or 19 points per season as their goals conceded have dropped from 1.88 to 1.45 per game. This sort of a points increase at Reading would get them in the frame for automatic promotion.
 

Scunthorpe

Scunthorpe have lost their top scorer from last season Gary Hooper, whom without in the past two seasons they’ve earned just 16 points in 20 games compared to a PPG of 1.56 with him. Along with Hooper, Marcus Williams has gone, as has their second striker Paul Hayes and just one of these players leaving would suggest Scunthorpe will struggle to earn a point per game, with a total of 40 now more likely.

As a result a lot depends on how Chris Dagnall adjusts to the step up from League Two where he was Rochdale’s leading scorer and worth about 12 points to the Dale last season.
 

Sheffield Utd

United have lost two of their most experienced and best players with the departures of Gary Naysmith to Huddersfield and Paddy Kenny to QPR, although neither played much part last season due to injury and a drugs ban respectively. However, this probably showed with their points total falling by 15 from the previous year, although they also suffered a wider injury crisis for two months in the first half of the season.

In return they’ve signed Daniel Bogdanovic from Barnsley who was effective for the Tykes when he played but the Blades will need to get more games out of him to make it really count.
 

Swansea City

There have been no major signings or departures at the Liberty Stadium over the summer and Swansea will rely on the team they had last season.


Watford

Another club in financial difficulty, there has been little action during the summer with a few loan signings all that can be expected before the window closes.
 

 
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