AI names the worst thing about each of the 24 EFL Championship clubs | OneFootball

AI chatbot ChatGPT has named the worst thing about each EFL Championship club

The Championship is one of the most competitive leagues in world football, and with so many great things about all the teams that come in and out of the division, there have to be, naturally, some bad things too.

Each year, 24 teams grace the English second tier with their presence, with six clubs ultimately relegated from the Premier League and three teams promoted from League One coming into the division, with six new teams reshuffling the pack each year.

This season, Ipswich Town, Leicester City, and Southampton all dropped in from the top flight after suffering relegation, whilst Birmingham City, Charlton Athletic, and Wrexham all earned promotion from League One to secure a place in the second tier this season.

The Championship is never boring, with there always being something, good or bad, going on at least one of the 24 clubs in the division.

This season, both Sheffield Wednesday and Leicester face point deductions, with the former having already been deducted 12 points after entering administration, whilst Hull City have been hit with a transfer embargo until January 2027.

Meanwhile, Coventry City have emerged as early favourites for the Championship title, as their rise from League Two to the Premier League looks an almost certain inevitability.

There are numerous feel-good factor teams, and others on the opposite side of the spectrum in the division at the moment, so Football League World has asked AI chatbot ChatGPT for its take on the worst thing about each of the 24 current EFL Championship clubs.

Birmingham City

ChatGPT said: Chronic financial instability: huge debt, opaque ownership, and reliance on parent companies

Birmingham amassed a staggering 111 points in League One last season, breaking the EFL points record in the process under the majority ownership of Tom Wagner.

The Blues look to be a more stable club in financial terms as of late, and harness real ambition of Premier League football in the coming years with huge investments into the squad and infrastructure. The opaque ownership is now seemingly a thing of the past.

Blackburn Rovers

ChatGPT said: Dysfunctional board/ownership: poor communication, lack of long-term coherent strategy

The Venky's have long been a controversial ownership of Blackburn, with a perceived lack of investment into the club leaving the Lancashire outfit lingering around the depths of the Championship for much of the last decade.

Valerian Ismael is tasked with keeping the club afloat this season, and as long as the current ownership stays the same, ambitions of Premier League football will always be a difficult reach.

Bristol City

ChatGPT said: Inconsistency: often seen as underachieving, lacking ambition to push beyond mid-table

Bristol City finished in the play-offs for the first time in 17 years last season under Liam Manning, but would ultimately lose out in the semi-finals to Sheffield United.

Now under Gerhard Struber, the Robins are looking to repeat that process once more and stand every chance of achieving that goal come the end of the season, thanks to a positive start to the new campaign.

Charlton Athletic

ChatGPT said: Limited resources: as a smaller London club, they struggle to compete financially with bigger clubs

Former Stoke City, Southampton, and Luton Town boss Nathan Jones is working wonders at one of the more historically smaller London clubs, which has been forced to work on a tighter budget in the shadow of their London rivals. Should they continue to overachieve in relation to their budget, a miracle could be on the cards for Charlton Athletic.

Coventry City

ChatGPT said: Off-Pitch Instability / Ownership & Stadium Issues

Coventry have been on the rise for several years now, playing League Two football as recently as 2018. They almost secured promotion to the Premier League in 2023 under Mark Robins, narrowly losing on penalties in the play-off final to Luton Town.

Now, they have emerged as early favourites for the Championship title, and having been reunited with ownership of their stadium for the first time in 25 years, thanks to owner Doug King in August, the feel-good factor around the club is at an all-time high, with seemingly nothing standing in their way of Premier League football next season if they continue at this rate.

Derby County

ChatGPT said: Financial baggage: lingering financial issues from past toeholds make long-term planning difficult

Derby entered administration as recently as September 2021, with the club falling into League One at the end of that campaign, where they would spend a couple of years rebuilding to return to the second tier in 2024.

Under the ownership of David Clowes, the Rams invested heavily in their squad this summer with the arrivals of the likes of Patrick Agyemang and Max Johnston, with their financial woes seemingly behind them. Under John Eustace, the club now holds real ambitions of a top six finish this season.

Hull City

ChatGPT said: Lack of identity/ambition: seen by some as lacking a clear long-term footballing vision

Under the ownership of Turkish businessman Acun Ilicali, Hull have had a turbulent past couple of seasons, having finished just narrowly off the play-off places in the 2023/24 season. The Tigers then followed that up by just narrowly avoiding relegation last season.

Hull were placed under a transfer embargo until January 2027 this summer with concerns over the club's finances, but manager Sergej Jakirovic has the club in a positive position.

Ipswich Town

ChatGPT said: Overreliance on young talent: sometimes criticised for not investing sufficiently in experienced players

Ipswich have the sixth-oldest squad in the Championship this season, and have invested in young talent over the past couple of seasons to address that issue, with the additions of Jaden Philogene, Jacob Greaves, and Sindre Walle Egeli, to name a few.

This summer, manager Kieran McKenna has invested in more experience, with signings such as Darnell Furlong, Cedric Kipre, and Ashley Young adding the experience that he hopes will help to fire them to an immediate promotion back to the Premier League.

Leicester City

ChatGPT said: Falling from grace: as a former Premier League club, the drop feels more dramatic, and expectations weigh heavily

Matching the heights of the 2015/16 season for Leicester was always going to be difficult, so having suffered a second relegation in three years will have Foxes fans feeling a million miles away from where they used to be.

The club didn't spend a fee on a permanent signing this summer, and has struggled to find the form expected of them this season.

Middlesbrough

ChatGPT said: Stagnation: long periods without genuine promotion pushes, feeling “stuck” in the Championship

Middlesbrough are in their ninth consecutive season in the Championship, and have finished in the top ten in seven of the last eight seasons, but have failed to go beyond a play-off semi-final in that time.

With Rob Edwards having left them for Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League, the club were still sitting in a positive position in the promotion race.