Championship Spotlight: West Brom must learn from Birmingham mistake; Leeds sent ‘vultures’ warning

The Championship Spotlight is on West Brom following their morale-boosting takeover, while Premier League ‘vultures’ may steal Leeds United’s prized asset.

BAGGIES TAKEOVER BOOST
It was announced on Thursday that American businessman Shilen Patel had purchased a majority 87.8% share in West Brom to become the new controlling stakeholder of the Championship outfit.

This deal ends Guochuan Lai’s ill-fated stint – which began in 2016 – with the Baggies. His spell in charge was marred by unpaid loans and Premier League yo-yoing after their eight-year purple patch in the top flight ended at the climax of the owner’s second season.

West Brom are into their third successive season in the Championship but luckily for new stakeholder Patel, he inherits a club in a positive position in the table as Carlos Corberan’s side are on course to secure a spot in the play-offs.

American investors have gradually been gaining more control in English football and this has picked up over the past year in the Championship. Birmingham City and Huddersfield Town have both been bought by United States-based businesses and West Brom has now joined them.

Huddersfield’s Kevin Nagle has had his teething issues as the Yorkshire side attempt to avoid relegation (more on that later), while Shelby Companies Ltd – plus stakeholder Tom Brady – made a mess of things at Birmingham City when they didn’t need to.

Under former manager John Eustace, the Blues were on track for a shock play-off push until he was unceremoniously replaced by Wayne Rooney.

Blinded by the allure of having a big-name manager, Birmingham’s board binned off a boss who was well-equipped for the job for an inexperienced Rooney, whose disastrous brief stint in charge quickly ended their play-off hopes and turned them into relegation contenders. What a cock-up. 

West Brom’s Patel cannot fall into the same trap because – as Birmingham did with Eustace – he already has it good with Corberan. And he ruled out “overnight success” when delivering his opening mantra, so he – at least on the face of it – appears to be aware of that.

READ MORE: Premier League and Championship swap-shop? Luton and Ipswich our great hopes

LEEDS SENT GRAY ‘VULTURES’ WARNING
For much of this season, it has looked like West Brom would have to come up against Leeds United in the play-offs, but Daniel Farke has masterminded a sensational start to 2024 to make his side the new favourites for automatic promotion along with Leicester City.

Leeds are set for a frantic sprint towards May as they look to fend off competition from Ipswich Town and Southampton for second place. So Farke may be relieved that his side can focus all of their attention on the Championship promotion race following their midweek FA Cup exit at the hands of Chelsea.

Tipped to pull off a shock just days after Chelsea’s Carabao Cup final heartache, Leeds United looked to be taking Mauricio Pochetinno’s side to extra-time until Conor Gallagher netted a last-gasp winner to make it 3-2.

Each side was near full strength and the closeness of the cup tie should give Leeds confidence ahead of – what they hope will be – an immediate return to the Premier League.

And Leeds likely require promotion if they are to keep a hold of teenager Archie Gray, who produced another star-making performance in midweek.

Crysencio Summerville’s immense performances have stolen much of the headlines this term but Gray’s emergence as one of the brightest prospects in English football is arguably worthy of even more coverage.

Capable of playing in centre midfield and right-back, the 17-year-old is a human goldmine for boyhood club Leeds United and his performances have not gone unnoticed.

Liverpool and Man Utd are already being linked with him ahead of the summer and The Athletic’s David Ornstein says if promotion is not secured, ‘the vultures are expected to circle and some tough decisions will need to be made’.

Leeds United’s financial situation ‘means promotion back to the Premier League is vital and that would override the desire to sell Gray’.

So, it seems to be promotion or bust for Leeds when it comes to their chances of keeping their beloved academy product. No pressure, then.

READ MORE: Championship XI of the season includes Liverpool target and former Spurs flop

QPR, SHEFF WEDS DRAG RIVALS INTO RELEGATION FIGHT
Down at the bottom, the battle to avoid relegation from the Premier League is getting very juicy.

As F365’s resident Rotherham United supporter (for my sins), I accepted relegation months ago and with Leam Richardson’s side failing to provide any entertainment, the fun must be had through watching fellow strugglers sweat over the threat of dropping to League One.

For large portions of this season, QPR and Sheffield Wednesday were in a similar boat to Rotherham in that relegation felt an inevitability. But the two relegation candidates have benefited from their respective manager changes as their survival prospects have improved significantly since the arrivals of Marti Cifuentes and Danny Rohl.

Cifuentes’ QPR went as far as to move out of the relegation zone following last weekend’s 2-1 home victory over the bottom-placed Millers, while Wednesday have won two games in a row to remain in touch with their rivals above them.

Before QPR and Wednesday’s recent upturn in form, sides in the bottom half could live freely without the fear of relegation, but that is no longer the case.

Stoke City (who dropped into the bottom three last weekend) and Millwall are perhaps most in trouble, but Huddersfield, Birmingham, Swansea City and Blackburn Rovers are yet to reach 40 points and are no more than four points clear of the relegation zone.

So, to QPR and Sheffield Wednesday: Thank you for making the relegation picture interesting. Yours sincerely, the neutrals and this long-suffering Rotherham United supporter.