Sunderland to learn lesson from Prem trio after winning richest game in football
And that would have been of particular interest to Sunderland owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus as he watched on from Wembley's Royal Box as Eliezer Mayenda and substitute Tommy Watson both scored goals in the last 14 minutes to send his club back to the big time.
The bankers at Macquarie, the Australian finance company that has been lending money to Sheffield United secured against future revenues, must have been rubbing their hands in anticipation for most of the afternoon when Tyrese Campbell fired the Blades into a first-half lead their dominance warranted.
But while the self-styled richest game in football will ultimately be measured in pound notes by the men in suits, for the northern hordes that traipsed down the M1 this was all about the glory. The raucous Roker roar that greeted both of Sunderland's goals and the final whistle might have been heard all the way back on Wearside.
Sunderland will be playing Newcastle next season. And Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City. At the opposite end of the stadium, 30,000 Blades wouldn't have appreciated the irony of how both of their Wembley and play-off curses had been extended by a club nicknamed the Black Cats.
Last month marked the 100th anniversary of United's last victory at the home of English football when they lifted the FA Cup. This was the 10th time they have found themselves in the end-of-season lottery that decides a third promotion place - and they are yet to win one.
The Yorkshire club finished 14 points clear of Sunderland in the Championship table. They thrashed Bristol City 6-0 in the semi-finals, while the Wearsiders needed Dan Ballard's injury-time goal in extra-time to get past Coventry. When Campbell lifted United into a 16th-minute lead with a lovely finish from Gustavo Hamer's pass, it appeared that this final was running true to form.
The Blades' striker is the son of Kevin Campbell, the former Arsenal striker who passed away at the age of just 54 almost a year ago. His dad would have loved the lad's finish. But when Harrison Burrows' volley was ruled out for offside after a VAR check, Blades boss Chris Wilder might have feared there would be a twist in the tale.
So it proved, with Mayenda equalising in the 76th minute and Watson winning the game in injury-time. Both finishes wouldn't have been out of place in the Premier League. Defender Luke O'Nien had needed oxygen to ease the pain when he dislocated his shoulder in only the second minute.
The sight of him rushing down the touchline to celebrate with his arm heavily strapped, was an image that captured Sunderland's spirit. Not one single player in Regis Le Bris' starting team has ever played in the top-flight.
And when the dust on this achievement has settled, the Frenchman will realise that days like this have invariably come at a cost. Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton were promoted on a wave of optimism last season. They all go into the final game of the season with relegation confirmed and a grand total of 12 wins between them.
When Southampton drew with Manchester City to ensure that the record for the lowest points total in Premier League history would remain with Derby County, their fans celebrated with as much joy as when they beat Leeds in the play-off final this time last year.
Nottingham Forest, Brighton and Bournemouth are held up as examples of clubs who have turned punching above their weight into an art form. Yet Forest were docked four points for financial misdeeds last season, Brighton have enjoyed owner loans of almost £400million that have now been ruled illegal and Bournemouth have spent more than £260million on transfers.
Maybe Monsieur Louis-Dreyfus might think about reviving the Bank of England tag attached to Sunderland when they became big spenders almost 80 years ago. One thing for certain is their fans will enjoy the ride.
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Add in the fact that Boro's other two top players in Hayden Hackney and Rav van den Berg could also be sold all of a sudden things are looking pretty bleak. 15 - Portsmouth Portsmouth stayed up with games to spare last year and I'm expecting a year of consolidation this term under the impressive John Mousinho. Adrian Segecic is an intriguing signing, while John Swift is still a quality operator at this level. They feel light in attack, though, and it's imperative that Josh Murphy and Colby Bishop stay fit if Pompey are to stay clear of trouble. They will be buoyed by how they finished last season, though, and boast one of the EFL's top young managers, so I'm backing more progress for Pompey. 14 - Bristol City Liam Manning took Bristol City to the play-offs last season but I can't see Gerard Struber replicating that feat this season. Style-wise, going from Manning's controlled approach to Struber's heavy metal football is quite the leap. But with the Championship's fascination of keeping possession for possessions' sake dying out, Struber's philosophy should translate well. For me, the biggest question mark yet again is around the goals. Anis Mehmeti top scored last year with 12, followed by Nakhi Wells on 10 and Scott Twine on five. That's a big drop and Wells is no longer around. Is Emil Riis the answer? The jury is out on that for me personally but he has hit double figures in two of his five seasons in the Championship for PNE - including last year - and should be a good fit for what Struber wants to do. A drop-off from last year feels inevitable, though. 13 - West Brom West Brom are probably the hardest team to place for me in this. Much of that is down to their new head coach, Ryan Mason. The former Tottenham man has never been the main man before and while he inherits a decent squad on paper, this is largely the same group which fell away from the play-off picture after Carlos Corberan departed on Christmas Eve (good tidings and all that). Firepower is something they do have with Josh Maja and Daryl Dike now joined by summer signing Aune Heggebo. Sometimes it's alright to hold your hands up and say, in all honesty, I haven't a clue. And that's very much the case with me and West Brom here. 12 - QPR A mid table finish might be boring, but I think QPR will be anything but this season. After all, they have Illias Chair, Karamoko Dembele and Kwame Poku in their ranks after landing the latter from Peterborough United on a free transfer. Will that translate into a top-six finish? Maybe; there's certainly lots to like about their squad and Julien Stephan is an intriguing choice to replace Marti Cifuentes. Keeping goals out was the issue last season, rather than scoring them, but Amadou Mbengue is a shrewd pick-up, as is bringing in Steve Bould - formerly of Arsenal - as head of defensive coaching. Could QPR trouble the top-six? Anyone from this point in should be in the picture and I'd have them higher if I was higher personally on their No 9 options. 11 - Derby County I almost tipped Derby to finish a couple of places higher than this and I quietly fancy John Eustace will make them a bit of a force after coming in and having a huge impact last season. Eustace is a top coach and Derby have added well: Carlton Morris, Patrick Agyemang and Rhian Brewster will spearhead a new-look attack alongside the returning Andi Weimann and David Ozoh is also back for another loan spell. Derby have strengthened in key areas, suffered no big losses and have a coach who outperformed his parts at both Birmingham and Blackburn. The Rams will go well indeed. 10 - Swansea City Swansea have done some quality business. But I'm not sold on them having the depth to push for a top-six finish. Picking up Cameron Burgess on a free transfer from Ipswich is one of the most eye-catching deals of the summer and Ethan Galbraith just oozes class. But they still feel a quality striker short of being bonafide play-off contenders. I like Alan Sheehan, though, and I think Swansea are a good bet for a top-10 finish. Higher than that? Maybe next year. 9 - Norwich City Norwich were one of the Championship's biggest disappointments last year under the uninspiring Johannes Hoff Thorup. Enter Liam Manning, who defied the odds to steer Bristol City into the play-offs last season. I'm a big fan of Manning and Norwich have been ambitious in the transfer market with 11 new signings. Most are unknown quantities at this level but some, such as Papa Amadou Diallo and Mathias Kvistgaarden, are eye-catching additions. If they can hit the ground running in Norfolk, then expect Norwich to push higher than ninth - even if they lose the impressive Josh Sargeant. At the bare minimum, though, the appointment of Manning and Norwich's attempt to overhaul a squad which massively fell short of expectations last year are signs that the Canaries are back on the right track. 8 - Leicester City Plenty fancy Leicester for an instant return to the Premier League, but I don't think it will be as cut and dried as that. Marti Cifuentes is fine as a Championship operator. But the division is strong this year and I'm not sure that fine cuts it. The same goes for Leicester's squad; there have been no major additions to the group that dropped out of the top-flight last year and they look light on quality No 9 options. A possible points deduction would leave Cifuentes and Co with a mountain to climb from the off. When you also factor in financial concerns, fan unrest and the likelihood of key players such as Mads Hermansen and Bilal El Khannouss moving on, it gets harder to tip Leicester for that top-six finish. My gut says they miss out. 7 - Watford 12 months on from being suitably worried about Watford to tip them for the drop, I've done a complete 180 and am labelling them as my dark horses this year. They've got a player I rate as one of the division's very best in Giorgi Chakvetadze and there's serious quality around him, too, in the form of Imran Louza and Kwadwo Baah. Furthermore, Watford's summer business on paper looks exciting even if the likes of Nestory Irankunda and Luca Kjerrumgaard are Championship newbies. The same can be said for the Hornets' new head coach, Paulo Pezzolano. And while that means there's maybe an element of risk backing Watford to finish this high, there's lots to like about them this year. And after being proved massively wrong by them last year, I'm all in on Watford this year. 6 - Birmingham City Birmingham have one thing on their mind this season: promotion back to the Premier League. And while that may seem bold for a team who have just come up from League One, they look nailed on for a top-six finish. If we're being blunt, Birmingham's squad was far too good for the third-tier last year. Add in the likes of Tommy Doyle, Kyogo Furuhashi, Demarai Gray and Eiran Cashin amongst others to that group and you've got a squad which is up there with the best in this division. Do I think Blues go up automatically? No. But they should be shoo-ins for the top-six unless something goes drastically wrong. 5 - Millwall Without being biased (honestly) I think this is the year Millwall finally crack the top-six after some near misses in recent years. 4-4-2 is sexy again down at The Den and Mihailo Ivanovic and Josh Coburn (signed permanently for a club-record fee after a positive loan spell) have the scope to add the goals Millwall have been sorely lacking in recent years. In the former, it feels like the Lions have a genuine golden boot contender IF they can keep him beyond 1 September. The signing of Alfie Doughty is a major coup and his quality can keep Millwall's front two well fed, while in Alex Neil the Lions' boast one of the Championship's most consistent coaches. What does this all add up to? I'm saying a fifth place finish. 4 - Sheffield United We'll start on Sheffield United with this: I really like Ruben Selles and Hull's decision to sack him will be another decision from their eccentric owner that doesn't age well. The Blades already have a strong squad, albeit one which struggled to get over the line when it mattered at the business end of last season. They have quality all over the pitch and in Michael Cooper and Gus Hamer, they have two of the division's best players in their respective positions. Anel Ahmedhodzic would have been pooled similarly and his departure to Feyenoord is a significant blow. But Sheffield United have too much quality to not be in the mix for a top-two finish - even if I'm tipping them to fall short again. 3 - Coventry City Coventry made the top-six last term and while I think they will miss out on going one better, I reckon Frank Lampard and Co will get another crack at the play-offs this time around. They've added to what is already a quality squad and will be all the better for their failed play-off campaign last season. Goals are no concern with only the two promoted sides and Norwich bettering Coventry's tally of 64 strikes last term and in Carl Rushworth they have a quality operator in between their own sticks. Yes, Lampard had the benefit of inheriting a squad with quality all over the pitch when replacing Mark Robins last season but players like Jack Rudoni have flourished under him. And there should be more to come from Coventry, Rudoni and their manager this season. 2 - Southampton Southampton have way too much firepower to not be in the promotion mix and in Will Still, they have one of the most promising young coaches in football. Does that translate to promotion? Yeah, basically. I don't really see any other outcome: the Saints' squad is absolutely stacked and they will overpower plenty of teams in their bid to make an instant return to the Premier League led by Still, whose CV is impressive and varied enough to outweigh the caveat of him being an unknown quantity in the Championship. Sometimes football is simple. The best players, in this case those of Southampton, will win lots of matches and subsequently promotion. 1 - Ipswich Town They blitzed their way to successive promotions two years ago and Ipswich should be all the stronger for last season's unsuccessful crack at attempting to stay in the Premier League. The fact that Kieran McKenna's stock remains largely intact following relegation should tell you everything you need to know about the Ipswich Town manager and the swashbuckling style that took them to promotion two years ago should translate well with how the division is shaping up this year. Liam Delap may be gone but Ipswich have more options in attack than a Swiss Army knife: Jack Clarke and Jaden Philogene have torn up the Championship before, as has Sammie Szmodics. Omari Hutchinson is also still around at the time of writing, and that's before you even factor in the likes of Chiedozie Ogbene, George Hirst and Conor Chaplin. The most important thing about Ipswich is that they don't feel like damaged goods after succumbing to relegation last term. They will start the season as red-hot favourites for the title and it's not hard to see why. Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
