Championship August Team of the Month: Flint, Thomas, Swift

Ben Stewart
Mitrovic

The first month of Championship action has now been concluded and so it’s time to pick out our team of the month for August.

 

GK: Bradley Collins (Barnsley)
The highlight of his month was undoubtably his last-minute penalty save against Coventry to ensure that Barnsley held onto all three points and overall, the shot-stopper has had a solid month for the Tykes.

He made 16 saves throughout the month and Barnsley fans will be hoping that he’s able to keep this form up for the whole season.

 

DEF: Darnell Furlong (West Brom)
West Brom’s wing-backs are going to be an integral part of their system this season as they look to bomb forward and stretch the pitch.

His long throw-ins have caused havoc in the opposition box and he seems to be loving life under Valérien Ismaël at the moment.

 

DEF: Aden Flint (Cardiff)
The Cardiff centre-half currently finds himself as the joint-top goalscorer in the league with four goals to his name already.

The six-foot-six defender is a perfect fit in Mick McCarthy’s side, who are so deadly from dead ball situations and crosses coming into the box. He has always had an eye for goal though; in Bristol City’s promotion season from League One he scored an impressive 15 goals.

 

DEF: Rob Dickie (QPR)
Another prolific defender so far this season has been QPR’s Rob Dickie. As well as putting in a string of excellent performances at the back, he’s also had an eye for goal.

The goals he’s been scoring haven’t necessarily been typical centre-half goals either; his movement in and around the box is really good and he can certainly hit them from range.

 

DEF: Callum Styles (Barnsley)
Whether he’s playing as a left wing-back or in midfield, the future is immensely bright for the 21-year-old, who has had a terrific August.

He scored a beauty of a goal against Birmingham from outside the box and also grabbed an assist in their 2-2 draw with QPR.

 

MID: Ryan Giles (Cardiff)
Has there been a better crosser of a ball so far this season? I don’t think so.

His pin-point deliveries have allowed Aden Flint and Sean Morrison to rack up the goals so far this season as the winger has produced four assists. His delivery for the Kieffer Moore goal away at Blackpool was particularly impressive.

 

 

MID: John Swift (Reading)
Reading have certainly had their struggles so far this season – the Royals currently find themselves sat 21st in the table, having only won one match this season.

Despite this, Swift has had an excellent individual start to the season as he has scored three goals and picked up two assists. He also has the second most key passes in the league with 16 and so if everyone else in the Reading squad was playing at Swift’s level, they’d be nowhere near the bottom.

 

MID: Fabio Carvalho (Fulham)
Fulham have an abundance of Championship superstars in their team but perhaps one of their most brilliant performers so far has been the teenage sensation Fabio Carvalho.

The 19-year-old has scored four goals and picked up an assist so far this season and with Fulham’s excellent track record with bringing through youngsters, the future looks bright for Carvalho.

 

MID: Sorba Thomas (Huddersfield)
Huddersfield have perhaps been the surprise package of the season so far – not many people would have been backing them to be in the top six after their 5-0 loss to Fulham, but they have recovered well since and Sorba Thomas has been their standout performer.

In August, Thomas produced four assists as well as scoring a superb solo goal v Reading. His creative stats have been off the charts so far this season as he’s produced 21 key passes, more than any other player so far.

 

FOR: Callum Robinson (West Brom)
So far the Baggies have perfectly taken to Valérien Ismaël’s new style of play and Callum Robinson is more than benefitting from the new system.

In August, Robinson scored three goals as well as producing one assist. He was the man of the match in West Brom’s 3-2 win over Luton and has had an excellent start to the season.

 

FOR: Aleksandar Mitrovic (Fulham)
The Serbian striker looked a little bit rusty in Fulham’s season opener against Middlesbrough and some of us were foolish enough to question whether or not he’d be the same player in the Championship this time around.

Well, his six goal contributions in his last four matches have well and truly put any of those doubts to rest. Mitrovic scores goals in the Championship and he’s already looking like the obvious choice for the golden boot this season.

 

Goal of the month: Josh Tymon v Nottingham Forest
There have been some wonderful solo strikes that could have easily won this one but I’m a sucker for a team goal and they don’t come much better than Josh Tymon’s against Nottingham Forest.

Stoke built this one up from the back and cut through Forest like butter, a goal more than worthy of winning this month’s award.

 

 

Manager of the month: Valérien Ismael
There were quite a few worthy contenders for this one too, but I think everyone has been seriously impressed with how quickly Ishmael has been able to translate his new style of play to this West Brom side.

He’s transformed them from a side who lacked any identity in the Premier League last season into one of the most formidable outfits in the Championship.