In the Championship – New managers still to come

Last updated : 12 June 2006 By Tony Scholes
Graeme Souness - could be on his way to Palace
Down at Crystal Palace they are looking for a replacement for Iain Dowie, and the man tasked with putting a short list together is the former manager's brother Bob Dowie. Apparently the short list is going to be seven candidates long and it looks as though former Blackburn boss Graeme Souness could be on that list.

Chairman Simon Jordan has already said he would like to speak to Souness, he had to find something to talk about this week with the writ being yesterday's news, but he has started to clear the way for the new boss by sacking coach Neil McDonald. He's only been with Palace a year after somewhat surprisingly leaving Bolton to join them last summer.

Leaving Bolton might not be the brightest thing to do for a coach, Phil Brown left at the same time and he lasted only a few months at Derby. They've gone big time down at Pride Park now and new man Davies arrived by helicopter for his press conference after forcing Preston's hand and getting his release.

He said he needed a change, well he's got it, and this coming the day after he had completed two transfers. Jason Jarrett (Norwich) and Notts County's Kelvin Wilson both signed after completing loan spells with the Lilywhites.

It's going to be more a case of hanging on to players now with Tyrone Mears, Claude Davis and David Nugent all the subject of enquiries from the Premiership. They will need to get the new man in as soon as possible to sort it all out and the favourite right now is Joe Royle who left Ipswich last month.

Another manager in the departure lounge last week was former Burnley boss John Benson. It is 21 years since he left Turf Moor but he decided to leave the general manager's job at Birmingham because of the travelling from Macclesfield. A couple of days later he was back in the game, taking on a role in the Premiership with Wigan, the club he left in 2001 to join Steve Bruce at Birmingham.

It wasn't a bad week for Bruce down at St Andrew's, he was able to complete a £3 million deal for Cardiff striker Cameron Jerome, and it could rise to £4 million. That was a blow to their neighbours West Brom who were also keen but they have moved quickly and have had a substantially smaller offer accepted by Celtic for John Hartson. Whether the Welsh international decides to go to the Hawthorns remains to be seen.

Michael Chopra - could be on his way to Cardiff
Meanwhile Cardiff have moved to replace Jerome and are favourites to land Newcastle striker Michael Chopra. We all remember him at Burnley, he got four of the Watford goals in that 7-4 game three years ago whilst on loan.

He's out of contract and although Barnsley are keen to land him, he's had a loan spell with them too, Cardiff are very much favourites with a compensation figure of around £300,000 having been quoted.

Stephen McPhail at Barnsley must not be over impressed with their attempts to get him though. He has told the club he won't sign a new contract unless they show some ambition. I would have thought going out and getting yourself promoted was a good start but it is obviously not enough for McPhail.

The biggest transfer to go through was Andy Johnson's move from Palace to Everton. The striker is now regretting having stayed with Palace, believing it has cost him a place in the England squad.

He chose Everton ahead of Bolton and Wigan and the Merseyside club have all but raided the Championship again with a move for Wolves defender Joleon Lescott. He's passed his medical, the fee has been agreed, personal terms have been agreed, but Everton have now asked for more time. It's a strange situation with Wolves admitting to having no idea what's going on.

Looking at the other deals to go through we start with Kenny Lunt who praised Dario G on his departure from Crewe but didn't take his former manager's advice. A few clubs wanted him and Dario advised that Wolves would be his best option. Lunt though has opted for Sheffield Wednesday and completed his move this week.

Coventry brought in two players. They firstly signed Livingston defender David McNamee and on Friday of last week added Palace striker Wayne Andrews. Another striker completing a move to the Championship is Jamie Cureton who has left Swindon for Colchester. He had a successful loan spell at Layer Road last season and manager Phil Parkinson, who played with him at Reading, has made him his first summer capture.

Neil Danns - in demand and will leave Colchester
It looks only a matter of time before Colchester lose a player though, Neil Danns has told them he won't be staying and the former Blackburn midfielder has attracted interest from a number of clubs in our division. It seems a long time now since he opted for a loan at Blackpool rather than with the Clarets.

Southend are another of the promoted clubs to make a first signing, bringing in Yeovil goalkeeper Steve Collis as understudy to Darryl Flahavan, whilst young Arsenal goalkeeper Mark Howard has joined Cardiff.

Leeds are keen to sign Francis Jeffers who has been released by Charlton but it might be a case of selling a player before they can make a move. Maybe they will just need to sell a few season tickets, they announced the prices last week. The cheapest ticket is over £500 and it is £720 plus to sit on the side with no concessions. Heaven knows what they will be charging for match day tickets.

They never fail to surprise you and Blackwell said that Aaron Lennon had to take a pay cut to join Spurs last summer. What sort of wages are they paying there? One minute he tells us the current players are not earning much and then comes out with a comment like this. The fans are up in arms over the latest price increases, the attendances were down by large numbers last season, they could drop again with these prices.

There's no such problem at Norwich. They have a reserve list for season tickets and last week they were able to sell to those on the reserve list on a first come first served basis. The fans were queuing at Carrow Road from five in the morning.

The big takeover at Sunderland could be complete this week which would see an end to the far from popular chairman Bob Murray, replaced by the former hero with the disco pants Niall Quinn. The deal is worth £80 million, I wonder sometimes just how we can be expected to compete with these clubs.

Just a few snippets to end and firstly Wolves have done a bit of cost cutting and decided not to use Pro-Zone next season. Chief Exec Jez Moxey said it would save the club £100,000 so it looks like even the Hayward rich Wolves are having to cut their cloth.

The St Mary's Stadium
There's been some board room fun down on the south coast at Southampton, three directors lost their places on the board at an EGM. Is it time for the duck shooting chairman to start worrying about his future. The fans certainly hope so and they got a boost this week following the change of main sponsor at the club. Previous sponsors Friends Provident insisted on their name being included in the stadium name whereas new sponsors Flybe have said they would give the name back to the fans. It will now simply be known as St Mary's Stadium.

Hull City revealed their new home kit last week but to get a look at it you had to buy the club magazine for £4.99. Do clubs have no limits on how to rip off the fans? Maybe it will backfire and those who wouldn't chuck in the fiver for the mag won't bother buying the shirt.

Plymouth have asked the Football League to consider the fixtures of rugby club Plymouth Albion before decided on Argyle's fixtures. The two clubs don't want to play at home on the same day, they don't want to have to compete with each other for potential spectators.

Finally well done to the Ipswich fans who have blasted their own club for arranging a pre-season game against Franchise. Sheep Dip hasn't responded yet but surely he will listen to his own supporters and take the appropriate action. It's bad enough having to play them, clubs should not be volunteering.

By next week the World Cup will have started, it might just be quiet for a while in the Championship.