Predicting the outcomes of football matches is a precarious business – as difficult as trying to work out where your team will finish in eight months time.
But our columnists love a challenge, so here we go – their thoughts ahead of the new Championship season...
Paddy Davitt
Group football editor
Norwich will finish: 9th – No longer a transition phase.
Key player: Grant Hanley – defensive rock.
Championship winners: West Brom
Play-offs: Derby County, Nott'm Forest, Middlesbrough, Brentford
Michael Bailey
NCFC writer
Norwich will finish: 9th – but my heart is desperate to up that a couple
Key player: Jordan Rhodes – Year two, Farke needs goals
Championship winners: Middlesbrough – The Pulis effect
Play-offs: Nottingham Forest, Derby, Stoke and a wildcard
David Freezer
NCFC writer
Norwich will finish: 10th – Closer to the play-off mix, hopefully.
Key player: Jordan Rhodes – City clearly need a regular goal-scorer.
Championship winners: Stoke City, with Derby runners-up
Play-offs: Middlesbrough, Forest, West Brom, Bristol City
Chris Lakey
Head of sport
Norwich will finish: 11th – Squad is a bit better than last season, but not enough to get clear of that mid-table area.
Key player: Jordan Rhodes – City needs goals, he needs service.
Championship winners: Stoke
Play-offs: Forest, Leeds, Middlesbrough, West Brom
Iwan Roberts
Columnist
Norwich will finish: 8th – I think we will see signs of progress
Key player: Jordan Rhodes – they need goals and he can get them
Championship winners: Stoke
Play-offs: Derby, Middlesbrough, Nottingham Forest, West Brom
Melissa Rudd
Columnist
Norwich will finish: 13th – expect us to be stronger at home but the loss of Maddison to hit hard
Key player: Jordan Rhodes – City were crying out for a goal scoring striker last season and there's even more pressure to deliver in Maddison's absence. Has done it before in this league, just need to hope he can recapture that kind of form
Championship winners: Middlesbrough (Stoke to finish 2nd)
Play-offs: Derby, Sheffield Utd, Nottingham Forest, West Brom
Ian Clarke
Columnist
Norwich will finish: 6th – City will learn the lessons from last season.
Key player: Grant Hanley - Captain fantastic
Championship winners: Stoke
Play-offs: West Brom, Derby, Forest, Norwich
David Hannant
Columnist
Norwich will finish: 6th – Squad looks more balanced, though it will be by the very skin of our teeth.
Key player: Onel Hernandez – could become a real livewire.
Championship winners: Stoke City.
Play-offs: West Brom, Middlesbrough, Derby County, Norwich City.
Championship reports from around the country have their sayRobin Sainty
Columnist
Norwich will finish: 6th. –I think the league will be tough but I think our squad is deeper this season as long as we don't get as many injuries to key players as last year.
Key player: Onel Hernandez. Hugely impressive in preseason and an old fashioned winger who always looks to attack his full-back. Could be a great supply line to Rhodes and Pukki.
Championship winners: Swansea
Play-offs: Derby, Norwich, Stoke, Forest
Spud Thornhill
Columnist
Norwich will finish: 8th – Much better season than last year but may just miss out on the play-offs.
Key man: Emi Buendia. Can he be the star man for us like Ruben Neves was for Wolves last season?
Champions: Stoke City
Play-off winners: Nottingham Forest
Jon Punt
Fan Zoner
Norwich will finish: 7th – This is heart ruling head, but I trust in the management team that they'll find a way to score the goals we require to compete.
Key player: Onel Hernandez – finding the consistency to ally to his strength and speed might just be part of the magic formula required.
Championship winners: Middlebrough
Play-offs: Nottingham Forest, Stoke, Swansea, Sheffield Wednesday.
Lee Payne
Fan Zoner
Norwich will finish: 9th - better quality squad will impress and flirt with the play-offs but just come up short.
Key player: Jordan Rhodes – Everyone agreed Norwich needed more goals – he's the man brought in to score them.
Championship winners: West Bromwich Albion.
Play-offs: Nottingham Forest, Derby County, Swansea City, Middlesbrough.
Jack Reeve
Fan Zoner
Norwich will finish: 8th – City look a lot more balanced coming out of this transfer window but after losing James Maddison and Angus Gunn it will be hard to reach the top six. Improvement, but not enough to reach the play-offs in a tough league.
Key player: Grant Hanley – Has been made captain and rightly so, he was a huge part of solidifying the defensive unit last year and will once again be crucial for Farke if the Canaries are to make improvement.
Championship winners: Derby – Have signed well and under Lampard it could be exactly what they needed to finally get to where they want to be.
Play-offs: Swansea, Stoke, Nottingham Forest, Middlesbrough
Matthew Howman
Fan Zoner
Norwich will finish: 8th – Recruitment over the summer has yielded a fair number of new faces but not enough quality to get us over this line for a top-six finish.
Key player: Tim Krul – Angus Gunn had an exceptional year and grew into the role as City's number one. Krul has a tough act to follow and will be a key player if Norwich want to challenge the top six runners.
Championship winners: Swansea. An outside bet but never back the favourites in the Championship.
Play-offs: Stoke, West Brom, Middlesbrough, Derby
Mark Heath
Group Head of Sport
Norwich will finish: 10th - I fancy City to flirt with the play-offs, but just fall short
Key player: Jordan Rhodes - Great signing, make him the focus and he'll rip it up. Provided he stays fit!
Championship winners: Derby
Runners-up: Stoke
Play-offs: Boro, West Brom, Leeds, Forest
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