Championship 2019-20: who will win the title? Best bets for the new season
Shrewd signings can see Scott Parker lead ambitious Fulham to the top
Frank Lampard was one game away from winning a promotion in his first season in football management and his efforts may inspire inexperienced Fulham gaffer Scott Parker, who is tasked with leading the Cottagers back to the Premier League.
The Sky Bet Championship is a frenetic, gruelling and unforgiving division and many clubs feel more comfortable with an old hand at the helm.
Leeds and Cardiff, the favourites and third favourites in this season's title betting, have gone down that route by sticking with Marcelo Bielsa and Neil Warnock.
But Fulham owner Shahid Khan opted for a different approach after being impressed by the work Parker did as caretaker-manager towards the end of last season.
Parker inherited a hopeless cause with Fulham ten points adrift of safety with ten games to go but he approached it in a positive manner and the players responded.
Fulham won three matches in a row in April and their revival earned Parker a two-year contract as their manager.
Parker would be the first to admit that he has lots to learn, but his instincts appear sound and he is getting excellent support from the owner.
There was always going to be fallout from relegation with a few high earners moving on, but Fulham kept a lot of the players they wanted to retain, including star striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, who was handed a new five-year deal.
They enhanced their goal potential by signing Wolves attacker Ivan Cavaleiro and Brighton winger Anthony Knockaert on season-long loans and still possess many of the players who won promotion via the playoffs in 2017-18.
The club's ambition is obvious and there appears to be a better strategy to their dealings than last summer, when they spent more than £100 million on players and got very little in return.
Overall, there is probably less depth to the division than a year ago because several clubs appear to have taken backward steps.
West Brom look weaker after the departures of Dwight Gayle and Jay Rodriguez and the same can be said of Derby, who can no longer rely on the contributions of loanees Mason Mount and Harry Wilson.
Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds are hungry for success
Of the teams defeated in the playoffs, Leeds stand out as the most hungry to make amends.
They played some excellent football last season and were unlucky to fall just short, but they have retained Bielsa and added further quality and depth to the squad.
Helder Costa, snapped up on a season-long loan from Wolves, is the most exciting new addition but is just part of a pool of exciting attackers featuring Jack Clarke, Pablo Hernandez, Jack Harrison, Kemar Roofe and Patrick Bamford.
Bielsa had to balance the books and sold Swedish centre-back Pontus Jansson to Brentford, but he has assembled an exciting group capable of challenging for the title.
Cardiff will play in a very different style to Leeds, using more long balls, but could also compete towards the top of the table.
Just over a year ago they finished second to Wolves, one of the best ever second-tier sides, and many of the players who won promotion are still with them.
However, there is a large gap to fill in midfield after the departures of Aron Gunnarsson and Victor Camarasa, and Warnock needs to find a solution or risk missing out on a top-two berth.
Nottingham Forest could be major players
The battle for playoff places will be as intense as ever and Nottingham Forest could be major players if their new manager Sabri Lamouchi gets the best out of a talented squad.
Since Greek shipping magnate Angelos Marinakis bought the club two years ago, there has been a lot of investment but high expectations have not been met and the football has been too cautious.
However, last season's points tally of 66 was 13 better than the season before and there is scope for further progress under Lamouchi, who took Ivory Coast to the 2014 World Cup and spent a year in the Rennes hotseat between November 2017 and December 2018.
Lamouchi is new to English football but seems to know what he wants and wasted no time telling Luke Steele, Michael Hefele, Liam Bridcutt and Daryl Murphy to find new clubs.
Crucially, he has inherited some strong offensive players including talented attacking midfielder Joao Carvalho, winger Joe Lolley and striker Lewis Grabban.
Getting the best out of them will be key but Forest are likely to play a more positive brand of football and it may help them bridge the gap to the top six.
Stoke can expect to do better in their first full season under Nathan Jones but their promotion odds look a shade too short.
Jones is a good manager who has had a full summer to mould the squad to his liking, but Stoke have a lot of improvement to make.
The Potters' miserable 2018-19 campaign featured just 11 league victories (the sixth-lowest total in the Championship) and 45 goals (the third-lowest).
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