EFL Championship Tips: Back 11/4 opening weekend double | OneFootball

Noise is defined as a sound, especially one that is loud or unpleasant or that causes disturbance.

Silencing the noise is especially crucial for football punters at this time of year. It's very easy to rate a team too highly on the basis of summer signings without actual hard evidence on the pitch to support it. Remember when West Ham won the transfer window last year? Yeah, that went well for those taking a positive pre-season take on them.

Wrexham are a club that embrace noise - it's certainly helped them to become who they are and played a part in their success story. Yet, I think we should be treading very carefully about their prospects in the Championship this season following back-to-back promotions. They are making signings - lots of signings - without really trimming down their promotion winning squad.

Josh Windass, Ryan Hardie, Danny Ward, Lewis O'Brien, Liberato Cacace, Conor Coady and Kieffer Moore are all Championship-ready signings on paper but fitting them all in whilst keeping others happy is going to be a huge task for Phil Parkinson, who isn't exactly proven at this level either.

Parkinson has yet to show he is able to adapt his methods when taking on the more technical challenge of the Championship.

From 141 games managed, he has a win ratio of just 18 per cent in the second tier.

That compared to 44% in League One and 42% in League Two is a worry for the Welsh club.

He'll be desperate to improve that record but having the added distraction of some intense squad management decisions is hardly going to help. It may take a bit of time for the newly promoted team to settle into a rhythm with so many new faces added and a trip to Southampton on the opening day could be a bit of a reality check for their prospects. Home banker.

Stephan to get to work fast at QPR

QPR will have hoped to stumble upon their own version of Regis Le Bris with the appointment of former Rennes and Strasbourg manager Julien Stephan.

Le Bris, like Stephan in spells at Rennes and Strasbourg, had a brilliant first season with L'Orient and then things unravelled quickly. Based on Stephan's record in France, a fast start and an upsurge in results could be on the cards at Loftus Road.

In both his jobs at Rennes and Strasbourg, his reign has began with lots of excitement and hope before taking a bit of a turn over the longer-term due to the demands he puts on his playing squad. In his first 10 games across two spells with Rennes and his stint at Strasbourg, from 30 games in the sample size he won 15 of those matches, losing just eight. In that period his teams averaged 1.87 goals per game and conceded just 1.03.

A home fixture with Preston at Loftus Road looks a fantastic opportunity for Stephan to showcase his ability to get a team playing with intent and get results quickly.

Paul Heckingbottom's team won just one of their last 15 Championship games last season where they almost sleepwalked into relegation. Odds-against prices for a home win look a nice shade of opening weekend value as doubling QPR up with Southampton looks a nice play.