Don't you think that it's the beauty of the English championship?
Because since the top two teams last season would have been promoted to the English premier league, added with the play off winner, the following season no team can be seen as favourite until the first ten to fifteen games has been played, that is when we can be sure of the real title contender, and that is what happening in the English championship right now, because westham that seems like the strongest team now, may not be the favourite if they are inconsistent in getting their winning, but if they can keep up to this level of performance during the course of the season, they will definitely be up there fighting for the league title.
The loss of several of the best players to the first flight entirely re survents the power charts at the beginning of each season. Evaluating the competibility before the entry in the course of the week ten is sheer conjecture since the points garnered are still floating around without any definite direction.
Only the team that will be able to sustain the best performance throughout the calendar year will be able to claim the title. With a strong squad and on paper, West Ham has all the chances to make it through to the second division of English football but weekly physical strength will dictate whether they will make it or not.