Stoke City

[boundngag]

Do you know what, John? This may sound incredibly stupid, but my shock team of the season would be QPR. All that money spent and they somehow got worse! What has gone on in that dressing room?!

The Stoke sort of scenario seems to be quite common. So you remember several seasons ago, Charlton were promoted, stayed up, then seen to be the model club. Since then they capitulated, plummeted to League two and now are improving again. I think a similar thing happened to Bolton, Ipswich, Derby and Leicester. Some teams get promoted, stay up a few seasons, then somehow screw it up, get relegated and don't return. The Championship appears to be so close and difficult to get out of. Imho, I think it's because the quality difference between the Championship and the Premier League isn't as great as people make out, so teams are shocked when they get relegated (like every relegated Premier League team has been this season). The Blue Square Premier League appears to have gone the same way, becoming a lot more competitive. It's a good job the Gills are on the up at the moment!