Ask Mick McCarthy to describe the Championship and the adjectives come tumbling out in his familiar Yorkshire delivery. ‘Fantastic, exciting, brutal, tough, uncompromising, relentless,’ say the Ipswich Town manager before pausing for breath.
‘The Premier League is supposed to be the blue riband event but some of it is as bland and beige as anything, teams sitting back and waiting to counter-attack.
‘In the Championship, pretty much every team has a go at it, so the games can be more entertaining. There was great football played last year, some of it from Fulham who mullered us twice.