West Brom and Luton Town must feel same pain - Coventry City and Derby County are laughing | OneFootball

The Championship's two leading marksmen will be giving their old sides a sense of transfer regret

Throughout the opening 15 games of the Championship season, there have been plenty of major talking points when it comes to collective or individual performances.

That, of course, is no different to any other season of second-tier action in England, with the Championship well-known for the drama and unpredictability which is provided throughout the course of a 46-game campaign.

Unsurprisingly, there are plenty of sides who are in positions - both good and bad - which not many, if any, supporters saw coming when the season commenced on Friday, August 8th.

Plenty of twists and turns due to dips in performances for sides or key performers at both ends of the pitch are still set to transpire as we edge ever closer towards what is so often dubbed as a 'season-defining' Christmas period where the table takes even more shape, albeit it wouldn't be a huge shock if inconsistencies meant the division remained wide-open until May.

However, one club who will hope they aren't in for such a drastic change in predicament is Coventry City, who are riding the crest of a wave in Frank Lampard's first full season at the CBS Arena.

The Sky Blues have dominated headlines under the former England midfielder, blowing nearly all before them as they top the table whilst scoring goals for fun.

As well as making all 23 other sides envious at present, they, alongside Derby County, will provide extra envy for the duo of West Bromwich Albion and Luton Town, with Brandon Thomas-Asante and Carlton Morris currently in inspired form for the two Midlands sides.

Thomas-Asante is currently the man leading the Championship's individual scoring charts, having found the back of the net seven times in as many appearances for the Sky Blues.

This is, of course, a major upsurge in form for the 26-year-old, when it looked as though the aforementioned Baggies were perhaps the initial winners of an initial £2.25m transfer agreement with their West Midlands rivals in August 2024, despite the fact the Milton Keynes-born forward also made it into double-figures during his final campaign at The Hawthorns.

Indeed, after scoring 11 times as Albion reached the play-offs in 2023/24, the Ghanaian reached the post-season lottery last term at the CBS Arena, yet was only able to accumulate four goals and three assists for City in his opening 36 league games for the club.

However, in a system which allows Lampard's side to dominate possession and control proceedings in so many ways, which is helped by the electrifying pace and nous of Thomas-Asante alongside Haji Wright, Ephron Mason-Clark and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto, the Sky Blues have hit a staggering total of 40 goals in 15 games, of which the former Salford City man has scored 10.

At present, it would be no surprise if Thomas-Asante and his strike partner, Wright, surpassed, or at least, came close to hitting 20 goals due to the flurry of chances which City create each week, making the aforementioned transfer fee parted with by Lampard's predecessor, Mark Robins, feel like a major masterstroke, whilst Albion have struggled for goals of late under Ryan Mason, albeit Aune Heggebo did finally get off the mark against Oxford United.

Luton Town will have similar feelings after Carlton Morris' Derby County switch

Luton find themselves a division below Derby at present, leaving enough Hatters supporters to feel enough regret, given how close they were - in points - away from the Rams at the end of last season.

Therefore, it would have stung to have seen their former talisman link-up with John Eustace at Pride Park on a three-year contract in June.

After a disappointing final year at Kenilworth Road, the 29-year-old's experience and clinical nature has been a key weapon in a recent resurgence up the Championship for the East Midlands side, who got off to a rather sluggish start in Eustace's first full season as boss in DE24.

Indeed, supporters have pinned most of the reasons behind a five-game winning streak between the previous and current international break down to Morris, who has showcased his top-level ball-playing and aerial ability through five goals in four games, which included a hat-trick against Sheffield United.

A tremendous run of form has seen him leapfrog the aforementioned Wright into joint-first on the scoring charts, undoubtedly making him one of the signings of the summer, only leaving Luton fans to question what could have occurred in the opening weeks of the League One campaign had Morris stayed in Bedfordshire, with Jack Wilshere in the thick of an impressive start after he replaced Matt Bloomfield last month.