Champisonship promotion race: A guide to the eight clubs slugging it out for the £3bn Premier League reward
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Bournemouth – 83 points
Whatever happens in the next three games, this is already Bournemouth's greatest ever season. In only their second season since promotion from League One (and just their fifth season in the second tier), the Cherries are unlikely leaders of the chasing pack.
With an unassuming three-sided ground, an attractive but adaptable style of football and a manager in possession of Robert Redford's million-dollar smile, it's hard not to feel head-over-heels with the romantic elements in Bournemouth's meteoric rise. Manager Eddie Howe saved the club from relegation to the Football League in his first season and now has them on the cusp of the billionaire boys club.
Alas, these days few football clubs can enjoy such success without a sugar daddy behind the scenes and Bournemouth are no different. Russian owner Maxim Demin has had to provide millions in loans to cover Bournemouth's widening losses (2014 figures have not yet been released), but the club has so far stayed on the right side of the Football League's financial fair play rules.
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Norwich – 82 points
Unlike the club above them, Norwich are more than familiar with the Premier League. And unlike Cardiff and Fulham who came down with them to the Championship last season, they've been pretty serious about getting out as quickly as they can.
Alex Scott, the 33-year-old Scot brought to the club after impressing north of the border with Hamilton Academical, has reinvigorated the squad following a mid-season stutter. Since Scott's arrival the Canaries have won a staggering 74 per cent of their games.
Despite relegation, Norwich remain in a healthy financial position. The club is free of debt and wisely negotiated relegation causes into players' contracts to avoid being burdened with Premier League-sized contracts in the Championship.
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Watford – 82 points
Just one goal behind Norwich sit Watford. After losing three managers in less than three months at the beginning of the season, Watford have found stability and success with Slavisa Jokanovic who can boast of the highest win percentage in the club's history.
The Hornets are owned by the Pozzo family – headed by Giampaolo Pozzo who also owns Udinese in Italy and Granada in Spain. The Pozzos have invested heavily to renovate Vicarage Road and have made large European scouting networks available to its managers, helping to both steadily grow matchday revenue and reduce the wage bill.
In Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo, Watford have the joint second highest scorers in the league, while Matej Vydra – with 14 goals – is always a threat lurking in reserve. In a testament to the trio's prowess, Watford are the second-highest scorers in the league despite the fact nine other teams have created more chances and six others have taken more shots.
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Middlesbrough – 81 points
For Middlesbrough, promotion is perhaps more of an urgent issue than many of their competitors. The Teeside club racked up heavy losses of £20m last season, and this season's accounts are unlikely to look much healthier after a £6m transfer net spend this season.
Boro have had their time in the top spot, but have also lost crucial meetings with Bournemouth and Watford which could ultimately prove terminal in this tightest of title races. Reversing that trend at Norwich on Friday night is crucial.
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Derby – 75 points
After suffering heartbreak in last season's play-off final, Steve McClaren's Derby side has recovered well to keep themselves in the hunt but automatic promotion now looks a longshot.
As anyone who has made the trip to the iPro stadium – Derby's Canadian owners know how to drive advertising revenue. Even substitute announcements are sponsored. So it's no surprise that the club recorded a £5m rise in revenue to £20.2m.
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Ipswich – 74 points
Mick McCarthy's reputation as Championship-promotion oracle could blossom even further if he can keep the Tractor Boys in the coveted sixth place and guide them through the play-offs. Ipswich's place among the contenders is arguably the most remarkable considering their small revenues and paltry transfer spend. McCarthy has hardly spent a dime in comparison to some of his rivals, and has actually made the club money thanks to the sale of Aaron Cresswell to West Ham.
Ipswich's run in is not the easiest, but with top scorer and player of the league nominee Daryl Murphy leading the line, Freddie Sears in scoring form, highly-rated Tyrone Mings in defence and the nous of McCarthy from the sidelines, three wins are more than achievable.
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Brentford – 71 points
Brentford are tantalisingly close to their first taste of top-flight football since World War II after surpassing all expectations in their first season in the second tier for 21 years.
Managed by Mark Warburton, Brentford's squad is a melting pot of eveloping players on loan from the Premier League such as Spurs' Alex Pritchard and Arsenal's Jon Toral, lower league graduates like Andre Gray and Moses Odubajo and seasoned veterans such as Jonathan Douglas. The well-balanced formula has worked well for the ex-city trader turned football manager, yet a disagreement with owner Matthew Benham on philosophy means he is unlikely to be in the dugout next season even if the Bees can secure a play-off place from their three – relatively accommodating – final fixtures.
Benham, who made his fortune from betting firm Smartodds, has pumped over £40m of his own cash into the club and is planning to move the club into a new 20,000 seater stadium. Promotion to the Premier League would both relieve some of the personal financial burden and help pay the costs of the ambitious West London devlopment.
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Wolves – 71 points
Former Millwall manager Kenny Jackett has completely reversed the downhill trajectory Wolves found themselves on following relegation from the Premier League in 2012. After dropping two tiers in two seasons, Jackett has brought back the smiles to Molineux that could get even wider should the club to do the reverse by sealing a successive promotion via the playoffs – but they will need to rapidly rediscover their form after two defeats in their last two outings.
The club's accounts took a hit during their short stint in League One, but thanks to a relatively large average attendance of 20,860 the damages were limited to just £1.7m. Another season of consolidation in the Championship would be no disaster.