Buzzin Championship Football

One time Arsenal youngster Arturo Lupoli has joined Championship side Norwich City in a one-year loan deal from Fiorentina. The 21-year-old spent the majority of last season at Serie B side Treviso and despite not making an appearance for Fiorentina, is on the move again.

Arturo Lupoli does have experience at Championship level and this would have played its part in Norwich City manager Glenn Roeder making a move for the striker. He enjoyed a successful loan spell at Derby County during the 2006/2007 season when the Rams won promotion to the Premier League.

The players’ comments suggest that he is very happy to be moving back to England, speaking about the move he said that he was ‘hoping to contribute’ to a ‘great season for Norwich City’. One thing for sure is that if Arturo Lupoli fulfills some of his potential during his spell at Carrow Road, the Norwich fans are in for a treat. He is a very skilliful player with an eye for goal and I think he will shine – like he did for Derby – at Championship level.

Glenn Roeder seems to have an excellent relationship with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger as it is rumoured that the Frenchman recommended Lupoli to the Norwich boss. Considering everything he has achieved in football, there are certainly worse people to take advice off than Arsene Wenger!

Glenn Roeder – who has now made seven additions to his Norwich squad – is now looking to add a ‘more physical striker’ to partner either Arturo Lupoli or last season’s top goalscorer Jamie Cureton in attack. Whoever this player turns out to be, they will be joining Ryan Bertrand, Dejan Stefanovic, Elliot Omozusi, Sammy Clingan, David Bell, Wes Hoolahan and of course Arturo Lupoli as the new signings at Carrow Road.

The Norwich squad is certainly looking stronger in my opinion. The players they shipped out in the summer included Dion Dublin and Darren Huckerby, but they are slowly building a squad that may alter the Championship football odds somewhat.

Of course time will tell how well the new set of players gel together, but after three wins out of three in pre-season; it is so far so good for Glenn Roeder’s Norwich City revolution.

With the start of the Championship season less than three weeks away, there is much discussion as to who will be fighting for promotion this time around. As ever, you would be brave to bet on Championship football, given the unpredictability of the last couple of seasons. However, one team who are almost certain to be there or there abouts are Derby County.

That is my opinion anyway. It is never easy to bounce straight back to the Premier League, but the amount of signings Paul Jewell has made cannot go unnoticed. The have brought in Martin Albrechsten, Kris Commons, Rob Hulse, Nathan Ellington, Przemyslaw Kazmierczak, Jordan Stewart, Ruben Zadkovich, Paul Green, Liam Dickinson, Paul Connolly and Steve Davies. They also have former Reading midfielder John Oster on trial and are by far the busiest team in the Championship this summer.

Considering these players are being added to a squad which already contains players such as Giles Barnes, Robbie Savage, Gary Teale and Emanuel Villa – Paul Jewell is certainly putting together a strong set of players. The former Wigan boss has admitted that he wants at least two players fighting for each position. If this becomes a reality – like it is shaping up to be – the biggest challenge for Jewell will be keeping all of his players happy.

After the abysmal attempt at Premier League survival last time around, a good start to the season is crucial for Derby. They start with games against Doncaster, Bristol City, Southampton and Barnsley, meaning they will fancy their chances of topping the table come the end of August to ignite their promotion push.

So, who else will push Derby for promotion? Well, Reading and Birmingham will be fighting it out for an instant return. However, in my view, Birmingham are extremely unpredictable and Reading, having lost Dave Kitson and John Oster could struggle early on. A lot will depend on who they buy with the £5.5m they received for Kitson from Stoke.

Elsewhere, I think that Sheffield United will be strong. They finished the season excellently and will look to continue this at the beginning of this season under Ian Blackwell. Greg Halford and Sun Jihai have been brought in and I expect them to occupy a play-off spot.

Then, of course, there is the likes of Wolves, Watford, Bristol City and Crystal Palace that will be looking to go one better after just missing out last season. It is set to be another fascinating season that’s for sure. Bring on the 9th August.

Despite being expected to sign a new one-year deal with Championship side Cardiff City, Robbie Fowler has joined Blackburn to link up his former team-mate and new Rovers boss Paul Ince. The former Liverpool man is to join the Premier League side for their pre-season tour of Germany in the hope of earning a contract with the club.

Robbie Fowler had probably accepted that he wouldn’t get a chance to play at the highest level again and this is an opportunity he couldn’t turn down. At 33-years-old he is coming towards the end of his career and will be excited at the prospect of playing in the Premier League once again.

Cardiff City will be annoyed about the last-minute nature of this deal, but in all honesty, I am not sure they can be too disappointed. During last season, Robbie Fowler only played 13 times for the Bluebirds and hasn’t played since December because of a hip injury. He is probably a player that demands high wages as well, so Cardiff can also save financially.

In relation to this, Cardiff chairman Peter Ridsdale has admitted that Robbie Fowler’s departure ‘frees up budget for us to look for another striker’. If they can get a younger, hungrier and less injury prone front man, the loss of Fowler can actually work in favour of the Championship side.

The risk for the player himself is that he could end up without a club at all come August. He has not been offered a contract at Ewood Park and is expected to prove his fitness during pre-season. Should he fail to do this, Paul Ince may decide not to offer him a contract – meaning that Robbie Fowler will be a free agent. The ex-England striker is obviously prepared to take this risk.

As for Cardiff’s hopes in the coming season, I am unsure of what to expect from them. Before I bet on Championship football, I would like to see what movement there is in the transfer market as clubs like Cardiff City will have to add to their squad if they are to launch a promotion push. The departure of Robbie Fowler and the potential exit of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink – who scored nine goals for the club last season – highlights this even further.

The previous post said that Southampton stand to earn money from the transfer of Peter Crouch from Liverpool to Portsmouth, thanks to a clause in the players contract from when the Saints sold him to Liverpool.

However I don’t expect Chairman Rupert Lowe to be ecstatic, having earlier negotiated an early payment from Tottenham for the balance of the Gareth Bale fee. Bale joined Tottenham for an initial payment of £5million with another £5million subject to appearances. As Bale has spent most of the season injured he is hardly clocking up appearances.

So cash strapped Southampton have negotiated with Spurs for some form of early payment, rather than wait for Bale to fulfill his promise. Lowe has reported that he has accepted an early settlement, part of which is goalkeeper Tommy Forecast.

Southampton allegedly struck a similar deal with Arsenal last season for Theo Walcott, that deal reportedly cost the club £2.9million!

Lowe told the club’s official website, www.saintsfc.co.uk: “I am always reluctant to forego any future income but given our current financial situation, we must do all we can to go into the new season as robustly as possible.”

It seems that it is not only Portsmouth who will benefit from Peter Crouch’s potential move to Fratton Park as their fierce rivals Southampton would receive a significant percentage of the transfer fee that Portsmouth are set to pay Liverpool.

The England striker was sold to Liverpool from Southampton in July 2005 for £7m and it seems that a sell-on-clause was also part of this deal. Saints chairman Rupert Lowe has recently confirmed that this. With the fee for Crouch reportedly around £11m, Southampton could receive £500,000 as part of the deal.

This would be a great help to Southampton’s financial difficulties. They have been forced to sell or release a number of players and any income will be appreciated by the club. A look at Championship football odds will tell you that they aren’t expected to excel this season and there new manager - Jan Poortvliet – will be hoping that some of the £500,000 could be used to buy new players.

Despite the troubles Southampton have had recently, Jan Poortvliet has said that he is targeting a play-off spot after being impressed with his new players. So far, he has brought in midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin and goalkeeper Tommy Forecast.

Despite Jan Poortvliet’s optimism, I can see nothing but bad times ahead for Southampton and I’m referring to on-field matters. They have lost a number of key players including Darren Powel, Youseff Safri, Jermaine Wright and Idiakez. They have also forced Nathan Dyer to train alone after he turned down a new contact.

No matter how much money they receive from Peter Crouch’s transfer to Portsmouth, they still have a lot of work to do to build a squad capable of competing in the tough league that is the Championship.