Gab Sutton Column: Championship big hitters pulling their fingers out

EFL pundit Gab Sutton returns with his latest exclusive Odds Now column, where this week he analyses the recent improvement from the Championship’s pre-season frontrunners after slow starts.

One of the most exciting aspects of the Championship season, in the first three months, had been the unpredictability of the division.

Ante-post favourites like Ipswich, Southampton and Birmingham were languishing in the bottom half, while perceived relegation candidates like Charlton, PNE and Hull were thriving in and around the top six.

In November, however, it’s more a case of normal service being resumed.

Big boys back at their best

Southampton, under Tonda Eckert, are starting to look like the team people expected in pre-season, after he replaced Will Still in the hot seat.

In their four consecutive league wins under the German, Leo Scienza has looked unplayable with Finn Azaz bringing the flair, Tom Fellows providing the ammunition, Jander making impressive third-man runs, and Ryan Manning bringing quality from left-back.

Birmingham, meanwhile, are starting to show their class with 10 points accrued from the last five games for Chris Davies’ side, and three consecutive home wins with four goals scored in each of them.

Target man Marvin Ducksch’s return from injury, after signing in the summer, has sparked the best out of livewire Jay Stansfield, and the duo have forged an excellent understanding, like Paik Seung-Ho and Tommy Doyle in midfield.

Ipswich’s improvement has come for longer, with 20 points from the last 10 for Kieran McKenna’s side succeeding a start of seven points from the first six.

The Tractor Boys have been much better with Marcelino Nunez playing in the attacking midfield spot, just ahead of Jack Taylor and Azor Matusiwa, providing more linkage between midfield and attack than forwards like Sammie Szmodicz and Chuba Akpom have brought to the role, operating more like second strikers.

Town have started to find their fluency, and so it now seems highly probable that the top six, come the season’s end, will comprise the three late starters, plus runaway leaders Coventry, who look nailed on for top spot.

Normal service resumed?

There’s still space for an underdog or two to punch their way into the Play-Off spots: in-form Derby could be ones to watch, under a top Championship manager in John Eustace.

READ MORE: Punters Panel: Expert football betting tips ahead of the weekend

Underdogs like Charlton and Hull, on the other hand, will be glad to have banked roughly half the points they’ll need to stay up so early on, with both showing signs of a slide.

It’s been a strange start to the second-tier campaign by usual measures, but perhaps we are just seeing things start to regress to the mean.