The 2019/20 Championship season officially begins tonight, with Luton Town hosting Middlesbrough at Kenilworth Road.
It is the first of the usual 552 games to be played in England’s second tier this season.
And it seems to be being said more loudly every time August comes around, but the upcoming season really has the potential to be unforgettable.
Last season’s promotion challengers such as Leeds, Derby and West Brom have been joined by relegated Fulham, Huddersfield and Cardiff.
And with the likes of Swansea and Stoke considerably strengthening their sides over the summer, it promises to be an exciting season.
Below is what I think will be the scores on the doors at the end of the season:
It’s tough at the top
In most people’s predictions for this season, Scott Parker’s Fulham will be near the top of the tree.
Parker is, of course, inexperienced, having only taken the Fulham job after Claudio Ranieri’s sacking in February of this year.
And he also has a relegation on his CV, but in truth even the best manager would have had a tough task on their hands in keeping them up.
The Cottagers won three of their last five games of the season under Parker’s stewardship, recording an excellent home win over Everton before taking three points back to London from Bournemouth the following week.
They have had a quiet transfer window in terms of incomings, with only two players coming in.
Both Anthony Knockaert and Ivan Cavaleiro are on loans from Brighton and Wolves respectively, but the club hold a future fee option on Knockaert.
They have failed to strengthen a defence that conceded a league-high 81 goals last season, but it is more the players they have kept that has caught the eye.
Aleksandar Mitrovic committed his long-term future to the club in July, having top scored with 11 goals last season, and Ryan Sessegnon is still a Fulham player at the time of writing.
They have also retained the services of Scottish midfield duo Tom Cairney and Kevin McDonald, two key components of their promotion-winning season.
Another club that will be looking for automatic promotion is Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds.
The Whites are another side that have had a quiet window, choosing the same route as Fulham in signing strictly loan players.
Bielsa decided to sell star defender Pontus Jansson, which did cause some surprise amongst the footballing fraternity, although they are well equipped in the centre of defence with the signing of Ben White.
The returns of wingers Jack Harrison and Jack Clarke, as well as the signing of Helder Costa of Wolves, means the attack looks strong.
Leeds have also managed to keep hold of Kalvin Phillips despite reportedly heavy interest from Premier League clubs.
It will be interesting to see how Leeds adapt to the new 3-3-1-3 formation that Bielsa has trialled during pre-season, but results have been encouraging and expect any side managed by the Argentinian to be right up there.
The third side that should be pushing for the top two is West Brom.
The Baggies had a distrastrous second half of last season, sacking Darren Moore when the side was in fourth place before failing to appoint a permanent manager.
Jimmy Shan did a solid job when asked to take temporary charge, and did manage to guide them to a play off semi final.
That means that new manager Slaven Bilic has a base on which to build off.
West Brom have a history of preferring experience in the transfer market, but appear to have abandoned that policy this summer.
Semi Ajayi, Darnell Furlong and Romaine Sawyers – all aged 27 or under – have come through the doors at the Hawthorns.
Kenneth Zohore, the club’s second signing of the window, will look to fill the goalscoring void left by the departed Dwight Gayle and Jay Rodriguez.
They have also lost the experience of Gareth Barry, James Morrison and Craig Dawson.
But the core of West Brom’s squad is too strong to struggle you would imagine, and it’d be a surprise if they weren’t in automatic promotion contention.
Battling at the bottom
Barnsley are a side I’ve enjoyed watching in the past, under Lee Johnson, Paul Heckingbottom and now Daniel Stendel.
However, they have a habit of getting promoted to the Championship, or surviving in the league, and then selling their best players.
This time, Liam Lindsay and Ethan Pinnock have left, and there is reported interest in star striker Kieffer Moore.
Club captain Adam Davies has also left to join Stoke.
They have replaced all three players, although many of them are unproven in the English leagues.
If the likes of Mads Juel Andersen and Mike-Steven Bahre do make an impact, expect them to be right in the mix for staying up.
Their style of play is also positive and with an up and coming manager at the helm, there is plenty to be optimistic about, although you sense that everything needs to come together otherwise Stendel’s side could struggle.
Elsewhere, the off-field problems at Charlton are well known.
They released a statement shortly after winning the League One play off final that popular manager Lee Bowyer had left the club, before announcing days later that he had signed a new contract.
Protests continue against owner Roland Dutchatelet, and the club have lost the services of key centre half Patrick Bauer and Joe Aribo, the duo joining Preston North End and Rangers respectively.
Their squad on paper seems too small to cope with the season-long demands of the Championship, but there is still time to address that with a week left of the transfer window.
Bowyer has the managerial talent to keep them up, and the return of Jonny Williams is a big boost to their survival hopes, but it may be a challenge to get to that position.
Hull City sprung a managerial surprise of their own when they announced that Nigel Adkins was leaving the club at the end of his deal, which expired in the summer.
They appointed Doncaster’s Grant McCann before pre-season began, the 39-year-old having guided the Yorkshire side to sixth place and a play-off semi final, where they were defeated on penalties by Charlton.
Adkins did an exceptional job in guiding the Tigers to 13th place, and Hull are another club with off-the-field issues.
With Fraizer Campbell, who scored 12 league goals last season, released, there is yet more pressure on young starlet Jarrod Bowen to guide Hull to safety.
If McCann does a similar job to Adkins last season, Hull fans presumably would be absolutely delighted.
One side who struggled last season, but have made big strides in the transfer market, is Millwall.
Neil Harris stated at the end of last season that he wanted to make big changes to the squad, and ten senior players have come through the doors at the Den.
They have lost the services of the influential Lee Gregory to Stoke, but have strengthened in that area by bringing in Championship stalwart Matt Smith and the excellently-named Jon Dadi Bodvarsson from Reading.
I would not expect them to go down, but they did appear to have second-season syndrome last season after a solid first campaign back in the division, and lack depth in certain areas of a defence that shipped 64 goals last term.
Play off contenders
They open proceedings at Kenilworth Road and Jonathan Woodgate’s Middlesbrough will have their ambitions set on the top six.
It is Woodgate’s first season as a manager, but he spent time as a first team coach last season under Tony Pulis and wants to delve into an academy that has brought through the likes of Lee Cattermole, Ben Gibson and Marcus Tavernier in recent years.
Woodgate has also strengthened in the transfer market as well, as he looks to move away from the more direct style of play that Boro fans became accustomed to seeing under Pulis.
Marcus Browne arrives from West Ham, with Marc Bola leaving Blackpool to join the ranks at the Riverside.
The big question for Woodgate to answer is whether he can deal without the experience of Aden Flint, Stewart Downing and John Obi Mikel, all three having left the club.
But Boro’s squad is solid enough to challenge, and expect them to be pushing the top sides all the way.
Cardiff have gone under the radar somewhat this summer, this being their first season back in the Championship after relegation.
They have kept the nucleus of the squad that got them promoted in 2018, as well as their Premier League additions.
Aden Flint arrives from Middlesbrough and Will Vaulks joins after an impressive season at relegated Rotherham, although they have lost popular defender Bruno Ecuele Manga, who has returned to France.
Neil Warnock’s style may not be the most pleasing on the eye, but it is extremely effective, and if Cardiff can show similar form to what got them promoted in the first place, they will be another side that will be close to a Premier League return.
They fell at the final hurdle in last season’s play offs and Derby County have had a tumultuous summer.
Manager Frank Lampard left the club to join Chelsea, his replacement being 48-year-old Phillip Cocu.
His appointment could be seen as somewhat of a coup for the Rams, his last two managerial jobs having been at PSV and Fenerbache.
He only lasted four months at the latter, but won three Eredivisie titles ahead of the mighty Ajax in five seasons at the former.
They have only brought in Graeme Shinnie (free, Aberdeen) and Kieran Dowell (loan, Everton) so far, but have not significantly weakened and are also reportedly interested in Arsenal defender Krystian Bielik.
They may miss the influence of Chelsea duo Fikayo Tomori and Mason Mount, as well as the set piece mastery of Harry Wilson, but Derby are a side that are always there or thereabouts and with Cocu at the helm, their run of two consecutive play off appearances could continue.
Bristol City will need to add an extra layer of consistency to their game if they want to reach the top six.
They went on a 13 game unbeaten run last season but only won four of their final 13 games.
Lee Johnson knows how to get the best out of his side, and the £3.5m acquisition of Kasey Palmer, alongside the club-record signing of Tomas Kalas signals their intentions.
The impending sale of Adam Webster to Brighton for an eight-figure fee is a blow, but expect that money to be reinvested before the transfer window shuts next week.
The Robins have gained somewhat of a reputation of nearly men in the last few seasons, but is this season the one that will change that?
Swansea are a side that continually improved under the stewardship of Graham Potter last season.
They lost key players in both transfer windows but still managed a highly respectable 10th-placed finish.
Centre backs Cameron Carter-Vickers and Mike van der Hoorn were rated amongst the best ball playing defenders in the league, an illustration of the positive style of play that Potter had introduced.
Former England Under-19 manager Steve Cooper joins the club after Potter’s switch to Brighton, and inherits a strong squad.
Borja Baston, who the club paid their club-record fee for at the time in 2016, returns after numerous loan spells away from the Liberty Stadium.
They have also recruited highly-rated Watford centre back Ben Wilmot on loan to replace Carter-Vickers, a big indication that Cooper wants to stick with a progressive style of play that has brought the Swans so much success over recent times.
Stoke City had an extremely poor season compared to their lofty ambitions last season, finishing in 16th place.
Gary Rowett was sacked in January and replaced by Nathan Jones, who has made some sweeping changes via the transfer market for this season.
Out has gone the experience of Darren Fletcher, Charlie Adam and Erik Pieters, and in has come a host of younger players.
They have signed highly-rated centre back Liam Lindsay from Barnsley, former Manchester United playmaker Nick Powell from Wigan and Jordan Cousins from QPR.
Stoke have kept that mix of experience and youth with the additions of Lee Gregory and Stephen Ward as well.
If last season is assumed to be a blip, expect Stoke to be a real force this season under a manager that received rave reviews for his work at Luton.
Preston North End are another side that have been in and around the play off mix for the last couple of seasons.
They were one Derby defeat away from finishing the top six two seasons ago, finishing in seventh place.
Although they threatened a top six push last season, they eventually came home in 13th place after a poor end to the season.
Recruitment has been solid so far, with the signings of the experienced Patrick Bauer and fan favourite David Nugent complemented with the addition of winger Andre Green on loan.
They have lost Callum Robinson to Premier League Sheffield United, and how the last week of the window goes could potentially shape their season.
But the likes of Ben Pearson, Alan Browne and Ben Davies representing an excellent spine of the team, Preston will at least be in the top half if they can stay consistent throughout the 46 games.
Best of the rest
Blackburn Rovers are another side that have made big strides in the transfer market this time around after a difficult finish to their first season back in the Championship.
Tony Mowbray has brought back fan favourite Sam Gallagher in a £5million deal from Southampton, and goalkeeper Christian Walton joins on a loan-to-buy deal from Brighton.
Adam Armstrong has had an impressive pre-season up front, and the signings of Bradley Johnson and Stewart Downing will add valuable experience to a relatively young side, which will still field Bradley Dack.
Dack has had Premier League interest but none of that has materialised into the 25-year-old leaving Ewood Park.
Rovers’ main issue is a leaky defence, and despite being linked with the loan signing of Manchester City’s Tosin Adarabioyo, that may be what holds them back from the top six.
After the ultimate high of staying up in their first ever Premier League season, last term was the ultimate low for Huddersfield Town last season.
They finished bottom of the league on 16 points, and it may be difficult for manager Jan Siewert to pick up the squad and get them to the top echelons of the Championship immediately.
Town have been relatively quiet in the transfer market, although the added experience of Tommy Elphick is a positive and Isaac Mbenza will be looking to fulfil his undoubted potential having turned his season long loan from Montpellier into a permanent deal.
The losses of club captain Tommy Smith, Chris Lowe and Jonas Lossl may have a detrimental effect, although midfielder Aaron Mooy should have a big influence on where the Terriers finish and keeping hold of him this window will be key.
QPR made a shrewd move in replacing Steve McClaren with former Brentford and Rangers boss Mark Warburton.
Warburton has already approached both his old clubs for players and the signings of Yoann Barbet and Lee Wallace should strengthen a defence that at times looked a weak link for the Rs last season.
Midfield loan duo Luke Amos and Matt Smith, from Spurs and Man City respectively, could light up the Championship and Jordan Hugill is a known commodity at this level.
QPR may not be pushing for the play offs yet but they should make a marked improvement on last season’s 19th-placed finish.
Brentford are renowned for selling players on for big fees and signing players from across Europe who fill in seamlessly.
They lost star centre half Ezri Konza but have replaced him with ex-Leeds man Pontus Jansson, and Joel Valencia has come in from Polish side Piast Gliwice.
Mathias Jensen was signed by Celta Vigo on a five-year contract last summer, but has made the move to Griffin Park this term.
If Brentford can get the best out of him, he could be one of the signings of the season.
Thomas Frank got off to a slow start as Brentford manager last season after replacing Dean Smith, but improved as the season went on and there should be similar progress this term.
Overall predictions
Champions – Fulham
Promoted – Leeds
3 Middlesbrough (P/O winners)
4 Cardiff
5 West Brom
6 Stoke
7 Bristol City
8 Swansea
9 Preston
10 Derby
Relegated
22 Charlton
23 Millwall
24 Hull City
RS Sport 