Can Sheffield United, Fulham and West Brom bounce straight back?

After a Premier League season in which the vast majority of games were played behind closed doors, it’s understandable that supporters of relegated sides Sheffield United, Fulham and West Bromwich Albion are not exactly jumping for joy ahead of the new Championship season. It was clear that all three sides missed their home crowds last term, as the advantage of home support can sometimes be enough to turn results on their head.

But all things considered, the three teams simply weren’t good enough to survive. Sheffield United capitulated after a sensational 2019-20 season, Fulham failed to score enough goals to survive, and not even Sam Allardyce could save a floundering West Brom from the clutches of relegation. With a new season offering a fresh start, let’s have a look at each team’s chances of earning an automatic place back in the Premier League.

Sheffield United

It’s hard to know what to expect from Sheffield United. Their ninth-place Premier League finish two seasons ago represented real progress, but things all came crashing down in the 2021-22 campaign. Having been rooted to the bottom of the table for so much of the season, the Blades’ fate was sealed pretty early on, and now they face a real challenge to earn promotion back to the top flight at the first attempt.

Sheffield United have brought in promotion specialist Slaviša Jokanović to try and oversee a successful return to the Premier League, and the squad will undoubtedly benefit from his experience and knowhow. It’s a shame that Chris Wilder’s long tenure ended the way it did, but now is the start of a new era for the club, and they’ll certainly take some stopping under Jokanović.

Fulham

Tipped as the title favourites in the EFL Championship betting, Fulham have a squad that is more than capable of earning promotion once again. There is a danger that the Cottagers could become something of a yo-yo club, but with Scott Parker having left to manage Bournemouth, and a talented, more experienced coach in Marco Silva brought in to replace him, you’d expect Fulham to be better placed to cope with the pressures of the top flight should they win promotion for the third time in five seasons.

They haven’t been too active in the transfer window in comparison to last summer, instead choosing to keep much of last season’s squad intact. The one marquee signing is Harry Wilson from Liverpool, who joins with plenty of Championship experience in a bid to fire Fulham back towards the Premier League.

West Bromwich Albion

Having scraped an automatic promotion spot against the odds in the 2019-20 season, many expected West Brom to struggle in the Premier League, and their top-flight campaign was defined by inconsistency. Slaven Bilić was given short shrift as manager, with Allardyce brought in to try and save the sinking ship.

But even Allardyce, a coach who had never previously been relegated from the top tier of English football, could not get West Brom ticking, and in the end, they finished bottom of the Premier League table. They are too big a club to suffer a severe decline in form, and you’d expect them to be there or thereabouts when it comes to the promotion places. With former Barnsley coach Valérien Ismaël installed as their new boss, it’s the start of an exciting new chapter.