Championship Predictions > May 4th - 8th

[StevieDay1983]

[StevieDay1983]

The final lot of matches in the Championship for this season are coming up this week. The big focus on this final round will be on the relegation battle. @waynecoyne, how are you feeling ahead of it? Fancy your chances to beat Derby? Judging by what I've seen I think most of the league is backing you to do it. Keen to hear from @Neubs, @canaries91, @skyblues88, @yossa6133, @Kenton Schweppes, and any other fans of the clubs involved here about how they think their team will do this week but also how they feel the season has gone overall. 

[ALEXXXXXXXX]

Luton Town

They are the twelfth in the table of the Tournament. They are in form, which have been unbeaten for four matches. But they do not play well as host, with 36% winning percentage in home game this season.

 

Rotherham United

They rank the twenty-second in the table. If they do not struggle hard, they are likely to degrade. They are in poor state, which have been winless for four matches. They play poorly as traveller, getting 6W-3D-12L in away games this season.

 

Verdict:

Rotherham United are full of ambitions. There is no doubt that they will try their best in the rest of this season. Luton Town are free of stress at present. So it is predicted that Rotherham United are going to win in upcoming game.

 

Luton Town VS Rotherham United

1x2 Pick: 2

[waynecoyne]

hi @StevieDay1983

i watched wednesday v forest on saturday and it was a gutless performance with a lack of technical ability also. The team selection and formation was pretty clueless also.

Harris played on the left and his first touch was poor. Every time Green got the ball he gave it away. Rhodes did not start and Patterson was played as a wing back ffs. I subsequently found out that the salaries have not been paid for the last 2 months . Rotherham need a win from their last 2 matches to relegate us, lets see if they can manage that . If they don't win tonight, i can't see us winning at Derby.

Edited May 4, 2021 by waynecoyne

[StevieDay1983]

Yeah, I watched the game as well, Wayne, and it was disappointing. I share your disbelief at Paterson being played as a wing back. I remember Neil Warnock tried something similar in the Premier League where he aimed long balls up to him in a way to knock on for our front man but it didn't work then. Jordan Rhodes seems like a man re-discovering his best form so why they kept him on the bench I'll never know. I think Darren Moore being struck by covid was the worst thing that could have happened to you. I still think you could get something against Derby but this whole payment delay issue is mind-boggling. Why is he doing it now at such a key part of the season?! You have my sympathy anyway. I hope you survive.

[waynecoyne]

Cheers @StevieDay1983and it goes on Rotherham played well but couldn't finish. The bloke is a complete idiot. You'ld think with what is at stake , not least to his pocket he would have made this happen. 

[StevieDay1983]

53 minutes ago, waynecoyne said:

Cheers @StevieDay1983and it goes on Rotherham played well but couldn't finish. The bloke is a complete idiot. You'ld think with what is at stake , not least to his pocket he would have made this happen. 

On a different note, we've been linked with Josh Windass. I've always liked him as a player but obviously you'll have a more informed opinion of him. How has he been for you?

[waynecoyne]

2 hours ago, StevieDay1983 said:

On a different note, we've been linked with Josh Windass. I've always liked him as a player but obviously you'll have a more informed opinion of him. How has he been for you?

I think he's decent. He's not a target man (which is how we used him last saturday), but decent skill and an eye for goal, not the quickest but effective.

[StevieDay1983]

1 hour ago, waynecoyne said:

I think he's decent. He's not a target man (which is how we used him last saturday), but decent skill and an eye for goal, not the quickest but effective.

OK, that sounds good. I think he's being lined up as a potential successor to Wilson and Williams in the AM role or maybe out wide. Reckon he could play those roles?

[waynecoyne]

16 hours ago, StevieDay1983 said:

OK, that sounds good. I think he's being lined up as a potential successor to Wilson and Williams in the AM role or maybe out wide. Reckon he could play those roles?

He obviously doesn't have the same sort of quality as harry wilson and doesn't tend to be on free kicks for us but probably best playing behind kieffer moore in a support role.

He can play wide but is not going to get by his man through pace more trickery.

[StevieDay1983]

2 hours ago, waynecoyne said:

He obviously doesn't have the same sort of quality as harry wilson and doesn't tend to be on free kicks for us but probably best playing behind kieffer moore in a support role.

He can play wide but is not going to get by his man through pace more trickery.

Interesting stuff. Don't get me wrong, I'd love for us to sign Wilson again but he's not worth the £10m being touted. He's shown during his time with us, and by all accounts Bournemouth and Derby fans felt the same, that he lacks the consistency needed. He's still at the higher echelons of being a Championship player but he'll be a passenger for 4-5 games before turning in a star performance but will then go quiet for 4-5 games again. I think our fans prefer players that might not be as naturally talented but give their all every game and have some involvement every game.

[skyblues88]

On 5/3/2021 at 1:03 PM, StevieDay1983 said:

Keen to hear from @Neubs, @canaries91, @skyblues88, @yossa6133, @Kenton Schweppes, and any other fans of the clubs involved here about how they think their team will do this week but also how they feel the season has gone overall. 

@StevieDay1983 

This season was a success with our main aim being just to avoid relegation. It was an even better achievement considering we had the 2^nd lowest budget in the league, playing home games in Birmingham, little match fitness at the start of the season compared to other teams with League One finishing in March but the Championship continuing during the summer, and also long-term injuries to the spine of our title winning side. A crucial 7 days in April ensured our survival with 3 wins in the space of a week and ensured we avoided a nervy final few games of the season! Hopefully more of the same next season and our young squad will have gained a lot of experience from a full season in the Championship. We’ve been told our budget will slightly increase and will be roughly a 4^th bottom budget, so hopefully we can find some hidden gems again. Hopefully we can sign Leo Ostigard and Matty James permanently (both out of contract) as they have been key players in the 2^nd half of the season. The best thing to happen this season was in March when a deal was struck for us to return to Coventry next season 

 

In terms of this weekend, it will be nice to get a win in our final “home” game at St Andrews. It’s been a good home to us over the 2 years and we have got a good record there. We go into this weekend with injuries to key men Leo Ostigard, Liam Kelly & Matty Godden. Millwall have just had a tricky spell recently after a really impressive second half of the season. They will be a very different side to the covid hit Millwall team we beat early in January so expecting a tough test this weekend. Very hard to predict a result, no pressure in terms of relegation will hopefully make it an open game. 

[StevieDay1983]

9 hours ago, skyblues88 said:

@StevieDay1983 

This season was a success with our main aim being just to avoid relegation. It was an even better achievement considering we had the 2^nd lowest budget in the league, playing home games in Birmingham, little match fitness at the start of the season compared to other teams with League One finishing in March but the Championship continuing during the summer, and also long-term injuries to the spine of our title winning side. A crucial 7 days in April ensured our survival with 3 wins in the space of a week and ensured we avoided a nervy final few games of the season! Hopefully more of the same next season and our young squad will have gained a lot of experience from a full season in the Championship. We’ve been told our budget will slightly increase and will be roughly a 4^th bottom budget, so hopefully we can find some hidden gems again. Hopefully we can sign Leo Ostigard and Matty James permanently (both out of contract) as they have been key players in the 2^nd half of the season. The best thing to happen this season was in March when a deal was struck for us to return to Coventry next season 

 

In terms of this weekend, it will be nice to get a win in our final “home” game at St Andrews. It’s been a good home to us over the 2 years and we have got a good record there. We go into this weekend with injuries to key men Leo Ostigard, Liam Kelly & Matty Godden. Millwall have just had a tricky spell recently after a really impressive second half of the season. They will be a very different side to the covid hit Millwall team we beat early in January so expecting a tough test this weekend. Very hard to predict a result, no pressure in terms of relegation will hopefully make it an open game. 

Yes, you guys have done very well to stay up and it's a good platform to build on. Next season will be tougher. I do feel the three teams coming down won't be as strong as the three going up but I do think the three coming up from League One could well be stronger than the three going down. I've been impressed with you both times we've played you. You beating us 1-0 flattered because you could've won by more and even our 3-1 win over you in the return fixture didn't fairly reflect what was a more balanced game. Be interesting to see what summer business you do.

[StevieDay1983]

Cardiff vs Rotherham

The final round of Championship matches are here and my focus for the last time this season is on my own Cardiff side as they host relegation-threatened Rotherham in a 12:30pm BST kick-off at the Cardiff City Stadium. We may not have anything to play for except pride but I fully expect that as a Barnsley boy Mick McCarthy will want to see both Rotherham and Sheffield Wednesday go down... even though arguably the rest of the Football League want Derby to suffer relegation! 

Cardiff might have had a disappointing end to a campaign that briefly flirted with the idea of play-off contention but we can't forget the state the squad was in when McCarthy came in back on 22nd January. We were a club that was under severe threat of being dragged into a relegation dogfight after the awful management of Neil Harris this season. The Bluebirds went on a storming run when big Mick first came and have managed to keep results solid enough to stay in 8th place heading into this final batch of league games. We may well still be suffering an injury crisis but we're unbeaten in 5 league games including back-to-back wins in impressive fashion.

Rotherham are in a fight for their lives and their 0-0 draw with Luton in midweek means their fate is now out of their hands. The Millers are in 22nd position and in order to stay up they need to win and hope that either Derby and Sheffield Wednesday draw or Sheffield Wednesday win. Anything but a victory here will see Paul Warne's side heading back down to League One. The team is without a win in 6 league games now but their defeats are only coming by the odd goal and they're still grinding out draws which shows how hard they're battling. The story of their end to the season has been missed chances and they could well rue them.

Head-to-head reading isn't pretty for Rotherham coming into this one. They've only beaten Cardiff once in the last 11 meetings. It's also now 4 matches unbeaten for Cardiff in this fixture having won the past 3. I remember back in August, 2003 when we first earned promotion to the Championship and we earned a hard-fought 0-0 draw away to Rotherham. I thought "wow, we're getting results against the big teams at this level now". How things have changed. Unfortunately, I can see us getting something here and I think we'll see Rotherham relegated.

Cardiff Draw No Bet @ 1.87 with Boylesports

BTTS @ 1.74 with SportNation

[allthethings]

Bristol City are currently 5.09 home to Brentford, who go into the playoff as the top seed no matter what. One wonders why anyone would put a farthing on the Bees.

[sajtion]

is anyone expecting any upsets today? it's hard to read into managers and players thoughts today. i guess clubs that have secured play offs may not feature all the first team players or i could be wrong and managers wants to play them, risking injuries but keeping them fresh and focused.

[StevieDay1983]

On 5/8/2021 at 9:26 AM, sajtion said:

is anyone expecting any upsets today? it's hard to read into managers and players thoughts today. i guess clubs that have secured play offs may not feature all the first team players or i could be wrong and managers wants to play them, risking injuries but keeping them fresh and focused.

Nothing out of the ordinary on the final day really. Maybe Coventry scoring 6 against Millwall but I wasn't surprised to see @skyblues88 team get the win. Wycombe beating Middlesbrough 3-0 was probably the only shock result but, again, Wycombe have been playing well enough to get such a result this season.

[skyblues88]

On 5/10/2021 at 9:17 AM, StevieDay1983 said:

Nothing out of the ordinary on the final day really. Maybe Coventry scoring 6 against Millwall but I wasn't surprised to see @skyblues88 team get the win. Wycombe beating Middlesbrough 3-0 was probably the only shock result but, again, Wycombe have been playing well enough to get such a result this season.

Definitely a shock us scoring 6 goals in a Championship game! I said in the prediction I hope it would be an open game but didn't expect that!  Out of possession Millwall were really poor and we looked dangerous going forward. That Wycombe result could be crucial, if Derby get deducted points Wycombe could stay up. Maybe another twist is still to come.