The Championship is notoriously impossible to predict. And, in true second tier fashion, the league’s star performers are hardly who we expected.
In a year where Leicester City lifted the Premier League title and a Cristiano Ronaldo-deprived Portugal nabbed the Euro 2016 title on French soil, it seems rather fitting that Huddersfield Town should top the Championship table after ten matchdays while Derby, Aston Villa and big spending Wolves languish from mid-table to the brink of the bottom three.
It’s only right, then, that the principal protagonists should deviate from the expected. The Championship’s star players so far this season are hardly who we expected.
Conor Hourihane
Has there been a better player in the second tier this season? Player of the Month in August, if Hourihane carries on in this vein he’ll be lifting the seasonal accolade come May. And who knows where Barnsley will be by then? Top ten? Top six? With Hourihane on form, it seems anything is possible for Paul Heckingbottom’s surprising high-fliers.
Scoring three and creating four in 10 Championship starts, the former Sunderland youngster is the heartbeat of Barnsley, a hub of creativity, reliability and playmaking elegance. Winning his first senior call up for the Republic of Ireland earlier this week is just reward for an outstanding season.
Yoan Gouffran
Despite arriving amid much hype from Bordeaux in that Francophile winter of 2013, Yoan Gouffran quickly became a symbol of Newcastle’s demise, drifting through games without as much of a shot, a dribble or, apparently, a care in the world.
This only serves to make the contrast between then and now even more startling. Somehow escaping the axe as Rafa Benitez’ revolutionised and revitalised his squad, Gouffran has seized his second chance in earnest with a series of stirring displays from the right. A stunning volley against Derby showed exactly what the 30-year-old is capable of. Now, a little consistency wouldn’t go amiss.
Tammy Abraham
One of the 38 players farmed out by Chelsea across the globe, Tammy Abraham at least has the added advantage of actually making a first-team appearance for the four-time Premier League champions.
Yet, few could still have predicted the immediate impact he would have on loan at Bristol City. If the Robins’ were concerned about the loss of star striker Jonathan Kodjia to Aston Villa, all fears have now been flushed away, Abraham’s remarkable movement and invaluable knack for anticipating loose balls have earned him 7 goals in 10 Championship appearances and the Player of the Month award to boot.
Aaron Mooy
Anyone who watched the diminutive 26-year-old slalom and shimmy his way past Ross Barkley, Jordan Henderson and Jack Wilshere in Australia’s unfortunate friendly defeat to England at the Stadium of Light in May knew it already. Aaron Mooy is a pleasure to watch.
The former Bolton youngster broke the all-time A-League record for assists last season and, while he might not match that remarkable tally of 20 in the Championship, Mooy is a major factor in Huddersfield’s startling early season burst to the top of the second tier. His long-range rocket edged a hard-thought Yorkshire derby against Leeds, meaning Mooy will never have to buy himself a pint of John Smith’s ever again in Huddersfield.
John Swift
Ok, so the Zinedine Zidane comparisons may be a little optimistic and, it must be said, light hearted, but John Swift is certainly the closest Reading have got to the enigmatic French genius. That may not be saying a lot, but the performances of the former Chelsea youngster are certainly hard to ignore.
After a decent season on loan at Brentford, Swift has upped his game again at the Madejski, his reliable distribution and impressive goal ratio underpinning Jaap Stam’s rise to the verge of the play-offs.
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