Championship - 2023/24

On paper I'd go for Leeds. Norwich though I think have the most momentum going into it.

 

That man again Rhys Evitt-Healey scored a very important goal, though sadly for Huddersfield it looks more likely to drag Brum down with them than to haul themselves out of the drop zone. Looks like a straight shoot-out between Brum and Plymouth for the final relegation spot, although Wednesday and Blackburn not out of it with their poor goal difference

 

Leicester haven't won the league... yet.

 

Basically must-win for Brum as they'll need Plymouth to lose by 5 if they draw, and with Norwich to come, though admittedly if Hull lose (and more than likely if Hull-Ipswich is a draw), they'll be OK for the play-offs before the final day

 

Shame about Huddersfield as I always enjoy going there

 

Ipswich 1-0 up, a result which would put them within 2 points of the Premier League and would basically end the play-off race, would be a bit of a damp squib if neither of those battles go down to the final day

 

If Ipswich win this they’re up, of course their manager won’t take anyone for granted, but if they haven’t done the job against a Coventry side already out of the play-off race, then I really can’t see them slipping up at home to a Huddersfield side all but mathematically relegated.

I won’t be sorry to see Hull miss out, on the whole they haven’t been a very likeable club for me, and I prefer to see clubs succeed through good management and team building rather than splashing out on a few good players.

 

Hull would still need a miracle if the score stays like this - despite their bad result today I can’t see WBA losing at home to Preston.

But it could make things easier for Wednesday with Hull going for a win at Plymouth, unless WBA coast to an early 2-0 or 3-0 lead.

 

If Hull lose, Norwich won’t need anything next week so will be preparing for POs so Brum will get what they need. Huddersfield’s only chance will be if Ipswich win tonight and at Cov midweek so are already promoted by next weekend but even then I’d back Brum to get a better result vs Norwich.

 

Rotherham haven't needed anything for weeks and Birmingham still couldn't beat them, and they couldn't beat a Huddersfield team who are now all but down, them winning a game is far from a given!

 

A draw at Huddersfield was a great result for them. They might be down now but were playing for their lives today, tough game. I’d be amazed if Brum don’t win at home to Norwich. Doubt Hudd can win away at Ipswich. Can Plymouth who are on a bad run beat Hull ?

 

It's the clean sheets that has kept us in this division because it sure ain't the strikers !

 

They’re down, their GD is 15 worse than Plymouth’s and they’ve scored 10 fewer goals.

Too many draws has been a contributing factor - they haven’t lost many for a relegated side, but few teams stay up having conceded 75 so they can’t really complain. Last time they went down it took them 11 years including a trip to the 4th tier, despite going down by just a point. Are they well equipped this time for a quick return? (I don’t know what their finances are like but Huddersfield fans aren’t happy about the way their club has been run for a while.)

 

Comms saying that a point suits both teams...as if Hull can rely on Preston! Ipswich too now have little room for manoevre

 

Sorry meant Plymouth.

 

Sets up a fantastic final day though, all the big prizes all still to play for

 

Assuming the Huddersfield game is a formality though, they only need a point at Coventry - and even that might not be needed if Leeds (4 points from their last 5 games) don’t beat Southampton, who might be keen to stop the rot and not go into the play-offs with 4 straight defeats.

 

You'd rather go into that game with a cushion though! Coventry will be tired, but they are very capable, and this is the Championship, you can't take them for granted!

 

It's a valid question, the chances of us going down would still have been very small, but we were not on a good run at all. We probably would have continued to wangle a few points here and there, but I don't think we would have drawn to Leeds and Ipswich and it's very possible we could have continued winless up until now with the tricky fixtures, so we could have still been in the dogfight!

 

People talk about strikers reaching the magic 20 mark, in the league, the three of them this season have only just reached that together! Our midfield (and sometimes defenders!) hammering the ball in from long range when all else has failed has been a huge help, though I am not sure that is a sustainable in the long run

 

Incidentally, we have scored the 10th most while conceding the 10th least in the league, and we find ourselves 14th, work that one out! Think the comms today said we've been involved in the most 0-0 draws in the division, annoyingly we stat-padded against QPR, Rotherham and Preston when just one goal in many other games would have made a difference

 

We certainly wouldn’t be third from bottom, but relegation would have been a slight possibility. Using the realistic worst case scenario, I had us to be just about safe now with 50 points and a comfortably superior GD to Birmingham, having lost all the games to Leeds, West Brom, Ipswich, Southampton and Hull by two goals on average, drawing at Brum and only scoring one goal between Coventry and Sunderland, but I didn’t add on the point (and +1 goal difference, not that that would’ve mattered) Brum would’ve got. Still that shows it would have taken a pretty catastrophic run of results to put us in danger, comparable to if not worse than the one that got Lewington sacked, and I don’t think VI would have got us on such a run (and I rated RL on the whole).

 

?

 

Distorting the norm ?
28 matches in which we have scored either 0 or 1
against 3 matches in which we have scored 14 goals

 

Right, OK: not a term I had ever heard before.