Ilicali and City have the odds stacked against them in ambition
HULL City owner Acun Ilicali said he wants to see his side challenging towards the top end of the Championship table next season.
The Championship boasts some massive clubs with big ambitions, with the likes of Watford, Norwich and Burnley among the front runners to make an immediate return to the top flight, while West Bromwich Albion, Middlesbrough and Sheffield United will be among those with top-two aspirations.
Huddersfield Town still have a sizeable hurdle in Nottingham Forest to overcome at Wembley on Sunday, but they have shown it is possible to go from Championship strugglers to promotion candidates within a year.
According to the bookmakers, City have an outside chance at best, with it being more likely the club get relegated and than go up. While the make-up of next season’s competition is not yet finalised, the odds for who will win promotion in 2023 have been released alongside the favourites for the drop.
Sky Bet ranked the Tigers at 7/1 to win promotion, 10th in the list of the 23 confirmed clubs in the division. Shota Arveladze’s side are 22/1 to win the league, 6/1 to be relegated and 11/4 to get a top six finish.
Perhaps somewhat surprising, they’re ranked just below a Sunderland side who have returned to the Championship after four years of trying. Watford are the 9/4 favourites ahead of Norwich, with Rotherham United at 16/1 the outsiders to go up.
Watford, who will have Rob Edwards in the dugout at the start of next season, are the 7/1 favourites to win the title, ahead of Norwich City (8/1), West Brom (9/1) and Sheffield United (10/1). Burnley are 12/1 alongside Middlesbrough. The Clarets, according to the Times, are in talks with former Manchester City defender Vincent Kompany to be their next manager after their final day relegation from the Premier League. Kompany’s Anderlecht exit was confirmed on Wednesday evening.
Despite finishing in the top six this season, Luton Town aren’t fancied for another promotion tilt. They’re 8/1 to win promotion, the same odds as the likes of Coventry, QPR, Cardiff City and Brighton, and they’re 25/1 to win the title. West Brom are perhaps a surprisingly short price to win promotion after their struggles in the past season.
Despite being in contention for an automatic promotion place in the first half of the campaign, they ended up finishing down in 10th, eight points shy of the top six.
Since the end of the season, the Baggies have released 12 players ahead of what will be a hefty summer rebuild under Steve Bruce.
Bruce says: “You have got to wheel and deal, and I’d like to think I’ve got the experience to get that across. I always have enjoyed it and that is probably why I am here (at Albion). It’s what I’ve done for the past 20 years and I’m quietly confident we can do it. “We have great support, which is something to build on. And I’m determined to give them a team they can associate with and which they come and enjoy watching. I think they have seen the same players too often maybe. It’s not the players fault either. But we need to freshen the whole place up.”
Sky Bet Championship promotion odds for 2022/23 ■■Watford 9/4
■■Norwich 5/2
■■West Brom 3/1
■■Sheffield United 10/3
■■Burnley 7/2
■■Middlesbrough 7/2 ■■Swansea 11/2 ■■Stoke 6/1 ■■Sunderland 6/1 ■■Hull City 7/1 ■■Blackburn 8/1 ■■Cardiff 8/1 ■■Coventry 8/1 ■■Luton 8/1 ■■QPR 8/1 ■■Millwall 9/1 ■■Wigan 9/1 ■■Birmingham 11/1 ■■Blackpool 11/1 ■■Bristol City 12/1 ■■Preston 12/1 ■■Reading 12/1 ■■Rotherham 16/1