Next up in our season preview, we look at four teams who've all changed manager in the past six months; QPR, Reading, Sheffield Wednesday and Stoke.
Queens Park Rangers
It looked as though last season might be a perilous one for QPR after they opened with four defeats on the trot, including a 7-1 hammering by West Bromwich Albion. Steve McClaren managed to stop the rot and stabilise the side’s form, but that proved to be only temporary and they parted company in April after a run of one win from 15. John Eustace took temporary charge, but former Brentford boss Mark Warburton has been appointed ahead of the new campaign.
Last season: 19th
Top scorer: Nahki Wells (9)
Dafabet promotion odds: 18/1
2019/20 fixtures: Craven Cottage 23/11/19, The Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium 21/03/20
Last five meetings:
Fulham (Cairney, Piazon) 2-2 QPR (Luongo, Wszołek) – 17/03/18
QPR (Washington) 1-2 Fulham (Robinson og, Johansen) – 29/09/17
QPR (Manning) 1-1 Fulham (Martin) – 21/01/17
Fulham (Ream) 1-2 QPR (Washington, Sylla) – 01/10/16
QPR (Chery) 1-3 Fulham (McCormack, Dembélé, Cairney) – 13/02/16
Reading
Reading’s victory over Fulham in the 2017 Play-Offs seems to have been their peak of recent times, as they have managed just a 20th place finish in each of the successive seasons. The club have parted with both Jaap Stam and Paul Clement since then, with Jose Gomes at the helm since last December. Goal difference alone was keeping the Royals outside of the relegation zone when the Portuguese took over, and he managed to secure six wins in the second half of the season – enough to keep their heads above water.
Last season: 20th
Top scorer: Yakou Meite (13)
Dafabet promotion odds: 20/1
2019/20 fixtures: Madejski Stadium 01/10/19, Craven Cottage 01/01/20
Last five meetings:
Fulham (Johansen) 1-0 Reading – 10/04/18
Reading (Kelly) 1-1 Fulham (Piazon) – 12/08/17
Reading (Kermorgant pen) 1-0 Fulham – 16/05/17
Fulham (Cairney) 1-1 Reading (Obita) – 13/05/17
Reading (Beerens) 1-0 Fulham – 24/01/17
Sheffield Wednesday
After going separate ways with manager Jos Luhukay, the Owls eventually installed Steve Bruce to steer the ship, a man who has a very successful record of getting out of the Championship. After he officially took charge at the start of February they went on an 11 match unbeaten run, and losing just three matches thereafter.
Last season: 12th
Top scorer: Steven Fletcher (11)
Dafabet promotion odds: 6/1
2019/20 fixtures: Hillsborough 21/09/19, Craven Cottage 25/04/20
Last five meetings:
Sheffield Wednesday 0-1 Fulham (Mitrović) – 07/04/18
Fulham 0-1 Sheffield Wednesday (Fletcher) – 19/08/17
Sheffield Wednesday (Winnall) 1-2 Fulham (Kebano 2) – 07/05/17
Fulham (Malone) 1-1 Sheffield Wednesday (Forestieri) – 19/11/16
Sheffield Wednesday (Bannan, Nuhiu) 2-1 Fulham (Dembélé) – 09/01/16
Stoke City
Stoke learnt how tough the Championship can be, as the early season favourites fell short of expectation. Gary Rowett was appointed having just led Derby County to the Play-Offs, but he was relieved of his duties in January. Nathan Jones was the man brought in after the job he’d done at Luton Town, and he’ll be looking to be challenging at the right end of the table this time around.
Last season: 16th
Top scorer: Benik Afobe (9)
Dafabet promotion odds: 4/1
2019/20 fixtures: bet365 Stadium 19/10/19, Craven Cottage 29/12/19
Last five meetings:
Fulham 0-1 Stoke (Crouch) – 22/09/15
Stoke (Odemwingie, Arnautovic, Assaidi, Walters) 4-1 Fulham (Richardson) – 03/05/14
Fulham (Bent) 1-0 Stoke – 05/10/13
Fulham (Berbatov) 1-0 Stoke – 23/02/13
Stoke (Adam) 1-0 Fulham – 24/11/12