Seeking to turn the tide, Sunderland have a new manager and an influx of players, Portsmouth can revive old glories, while Barnsley should compete

Title challengers

After successive shattering relegations Sunderland must not only halt an alarming slide but navigate an instant return to the Championship. The buck now stops with Jack Ross, the 42-year-old former St Mirren manager tasked with reviving a club looking for respite. He must succeed where most recently Simon Grayson and Chris Coleman have tried and failed, in turn breathing life back into what has proved a hollow stadium of plight.

A new owner, a new manager and 10 new players but it remains to be seen whether Ross can usher in a new era. Will he be able to harness the expectations of a fan base starved of seeing their team win football matches? Across the past three disastrous seasons they won a miserly 18 league matches (out of 122) and only 13 on home soil. Wholesale changes were a necessity in all departments, and at least since Stewart Donald completed his £40m takeover in May there has been a hazy glimmer of optimism and considerably more transparency.John O’Shea and Darron Gibson have departed but offloading the high-earners Papy Djilobodji, Lamine Koné, Lee Cattermole and Didier Ndong has so far proved troublesome. At least Jack Rodwell is finally off the wage bill after being paid £70,000 a week to play a handful of Checkatrade Trophy games.

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Their summer arrivals, mostly a flurry of free transfers, paint a picture of how times have changed on Wearside, with a £200,000 deal for Peterborough’s captain and centre-half Jack Baldwin their main outlay. And in Jon McLaughlin, they may finally have found a reliable No 1 after a series of comical errors by Robbin Ruiter, Jason Steele and Lee Camp last season. Despite Joel Asoro joining Swansea, the exciting youngsters Bali Mumba – aged 16 – and Josh Maja remain.

Portsmouth fell just short of the play-offs in spring – consolidating in eighth on their first season back in the third tier – but they can fare even better this time around. Kenny Jackett was confounded in his attempts to land the Cheltenham striker Mo Eisa by Bristol City but won the race to sign the highly-rated Derry City winger Ronan Curtis, while Lee Brown from Bristol Rovers is a sensible addition at left-back.

Elsewhere Charlton Athletic, where Lee Bowyer remains in caretaker charge, have the means to go close while Daniel Stendel, another left-field appointment at relegated Barnsley, has a healthy squad, which he has vowed will play attacking football.

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Play-off contenders

Karl Robinson, Steve Evans and Chris Powell have had time to get their feet under the table after being appointed mid-season at Oxford United, Peterborough United and Southend United respectively – and there are more reasons to be cheerful. Oxford have made a number of eye-catching signings, adding Premier League pedigree in the shape of loanees including Everton’s Luke Garbutt, while the forward Jamie Mackie is perhaps the pick of the bunch.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest It’s been another busy off-season for Peterborough United. Photograph: Nigel Cole/ProSports/Rex/Shutterstock

Another summer of changes has kept the Posh director of football, Barry Fry, busy, with 15 arrivals and 17 departures, the most high-profile of which was Jack Marriott to Derby County for in excess of £3m. The outspoken chairman, Darragh MacAnthony, has high hopes for Siriki Dembélé, who arrives from Grimsby Town at a club revered for bringing on young talent. Meanwhile, the talented winger Marcus Maddison is primed to move on before 9 August.

Elsewhere, a neat blend of youth and experience served Coventry City well last season as they went up via the play-offs and there is no reason the feelgood factor cannot live on a little longer. The career of Tom Bayliss, an England Under-19 midfielder, is going in only one direction while Reise Allassani, an intriguing signing from Dulwich Hamlet, will be determined to shine after being released by Crystal Palace in 2016. Mark Robins’s side are still raw in places andendured a poor pre-season, capped by losing the livewire striker Marc McNulty to Reading. Joey Barton, who has signed his former Manchester City club-mate Ched Evans on loan, has taken the Fleetwood Town job with lofty ambitions, while a canny Burton Albion will compete after last season’s relegation.

Relegation candidates

Walsall lost their pint-sized playmaker Erhun Oztumer to Bolton Wanderers and, unless the new faces Zeli Ismail and Andy Cook, a non-league poacher, can fill that attacking void, it is difficult to envisage anything but a season of struggle for Dean Keates’s side. The promoted pair of Accrington Stanley and Wycombe Wanderers will have again to eke out miracles from finite resources and their wafer-thin squads – but it did not limit them last season. AFC Wimbledon have lost last season’s top-scorer Lyle Taylor to Charlton, while the defender Darius Charles has joined Wycombe, so their hopes rest on several new faces, including one-time ceiling fitter Mitch Pinnock, from Dover, and the experienced striker James Hanson. Shrewsbury Town have been ravaged for their finest pieces – namely manager Paul Hurst, Abu Ogogo and Junior Brown, the last two joining Coventry – but John Askey seems a smart appointment as Hurst’s replacement. Gillingham and Rochdale look short of quality and who knows whether Jekyll or Hyde will turn up at Blackpool?

Facebook Twitter Pinterest New Shrewsbury manager John Askey looks a shrewd appointment but faces a tough task. Photograph: James Williamson - AMA/Getty Images

Four players to watch

Liam Lindsay (Barnsley)

Oakwell has been a fertile breeding ground for young defenders – John Stones, Alfie Mawson, Mason Holgate, James Bree – the list goes on. And in Lindsay, a 22-year-old Scot, they have another standout defensive performer. He signed from Partick Thistle last summer and will be key if Barnsley are to bounce back.

Sherwin Seedorf (Bradford City)

His surname has raised expectations but the nephew of the former Ajax and Milan midfielder Clarence has a chance to carve out his own reputation after arriving on loan at the Bantams. The 20-year-old winger, formerly of Feyenoord, joined Wolves in 2017 after impressing on trial having been spotted playing for the Nike Academy. A direct runner blessed with electric pace, he has the tools to shine.

Jorge Grant (Luton Town)

Nathan Jones failed with a cheeky attempt to sign the 23-year-old on a permanent deal – so settled on getting the Nottingham Forest winger on loan for the season. Grant impressed on loan at League Two Notts County last season, scoring 19 goals, and it would be a surprise if his rapid progress stalled now. He can count himself unlucky to have not been rewarded with a shot at Forest this term.

Liam Boyce (Burton Albion)

The Northern Ireland striker will be determined to make up for lost time after sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament injury five weeks into his previous pre-season. A £500,000 club-record signing from Ross County last summer, he returned to score in wins against Derby and Sunderland in April but will be desperate to deliver the goalscoring form (55 goals across three seasons) that earned him a move south of the border.