The Championship Thread 2020/21

No fight, no desire and managed by a bloke who can't string a sentence together its no shock they are going down

If I were Derby I'd get Rooney in the taxi at HT and get someone in who can fire them up at least

Rooney?.... jesus christ

365 can pay me out now

Easy money

2-0

365 can pay up as far as I'm concerned its a done deal

£600 back at the moment, gotta try and get more on ffs

3-0

Absolutely pitiful relegation this, probably the worst I've ever seen and our drop to the 3rd tier recently was bad, but this from Derby is something else

Watford all but promoted tonight (not a shock)

Bournemouth to finish 3rd to essentially confirm the financial advantage relegated clubs have

I've no wish to see any side relegated this season but Derby is in big trouble.

Looking likely

Cant see where their goal is coming from never mind win

Its never a good sign when a team with nothing to play for is beating you for sheer effort

Rotherham 1 up

Derby are fixed to go down as well as them going down on the pitch

Boro have turned up with a rag of a team and putting zero effort in... not on at all that its disgraceful

1-1 Rotherham down to 10

1-2 Boro

Sheff Weds 4 points behind Derby with 3 to play now though

Could be Derby Sheff Weds showdown on the final day?

Derby must be sweating on every Rotherham game now which is quite satisfying in itself

But despite having fight they just don't have the quality Rotherham, it might need Sheff Weds to overtake them which is possible as Derby probably wont win another game this season

Derby winning HT

Rotherham losing, Sheff Weds drawing

It would be funny if it came down to the final game Derby Sheff Weds in a winner take all game

Brum level

And Derby still can't get anything against nothing to play for sides

They are doing it on purpose but I ain't complaining

Sheff Weds goal and its 2 points with 2 to play, Derby are as good as gone if that's the case

Boro 2-1 up

Its a fecking pity Derby are being saved by the others ffs

Birmingham now winning

Derby are fecking terrirble it has to be said, if only Rotherham or Sheff Weds could muster up 2 wins ffs

Derby are **** and deserve to go down.

Possibly staying up on a technicality, bigmo

Shameful really and if Rooney is still there next season they're dropping into league 1 for sure, possibly league 2 if relegated this season

It seems as if it means survival for  Derby means they will have to beat Sheff Wed on the last day of the season.

Derby to get relegated then Rooney to be given the Spurs job.
You heard it here first

Wouldn't surprise me

Woodgate a massive failure at Boro is then parachuted into the Bournemouth job with more money a much better squad ffs

No matter how many times they fail miserably they get given another job a few months later anyway

Football needs something done to it ffs

I have laid Brentford @ home to Rotherham. Rotherham were unlucky at Barnsley and Brentford might rest a few players to prepare for the play offs. The problem for Rotherham are the games are piling up.

Ref young fashionable managers - they are getting thrown in the deep end at times without serving an apprenticeship. Woody @ Boro was given the job after being a number 2 for just 1 year. He inherited quite a few problems from Gary Monk and Tony Pulis i.e told to take a big chunk off the wage bill and bring in around £6m of net cash. Hence 3 senior players were sold (Braithwaite (now Barcelona) Flint (Cardiff) Randolph (West Ham), 2 loan Premiership players returned (Hugill and Besic) and 2 senior players released (Downing and Obi Mikel). They were replaced by 3 lowly priced Div 1 players, a free transfer and a few young players from the Youth team.

Derby did well with Frank Lampard, which may have clouded their judgement on Rooney. Rooney was thrown in again without any real experience. The owner at Derby seems to be desperately marketing Derby as a big club (to sell them on to an overseas billionaire) when they are really only top half Championship. He had to buy the stadium for £80m! to balance the books in 2018/19 without which they would not have finished top 6. I guess they look at Leicester and think we can do that.

Good analysis, analyst

Sounds fatal for Derby

They are on the verge apparently, not just administration but bust

Morris has also done a runner, what a piece of s*it he turned out to be eh Derby fans

"uncle mel"

Brentford Rotherham tonight

Brentford aren't known for their effort when nothing to really play for, playoffs sewn up and autos gone so 2nd string side tonight ?

Rotherham win or draw and Derby no longer have it their own hands

1-0 Brentford

43 points might well be enough

A few years ago Peterborough were relegated with 55 I think

You have to feel as the game goes on Rotherham will feel the effects of the fixture list catch-up. All credit to their energy levels and positive play so far.

They've had to play 11 games in 4 weeks or something ?

1-0 FT

Entirely in Derby's hands now

They've dodged about 5 Russian bullets to get in their own hands though, and I still don't think they will win either the last 2, maybe a draw and loss so 44 points

Depends where the draw comes from as Sheff Weds can still run em down with 2 wins

I think its looking less likely now though as Rotherham and Sheff Weds are just as bad as fecking Derby

Sheff Weds getting the point they need to take it to a decider, possibly winning the game

And our penalty Grabbans missed that on purpose, the standard of penalties nowadays are a disgrace really

I don't care what anyone says I don't condone that even though its my team its disgusting sporting integrity, no morals modern day footballers they should be sacked for it

0-0 FT

Derby need a point to relegate Sheff Weds and Swansea have made 6 changes, another scummy play from Swansea now to go with us putting in our "effort"

Rotherham losing

Would be funny if Derby lost and it goes down to the final day with Sheff Weds

0-1 Derby

Derby safe officially if results stay the same

1-1 Derby really are doing it on purpose here

There's just no way you can fail to pick up a single point against this lot they've played in the past month

Every team with nothing to play for its quite something

2-1 Swansea

Derby are down

Sheff Weds will beat them next week anyway so their down

Come on Rotherham, put them out their misery ffs

Rotherham equalize

A Rotherham winner or a win in midweek with the game in hand will finish them

Derby have had to be absolutely beyond rubbish to go down though

6 losses in a row and it will 7, 1 win in their last 17 games, possibly down on goal difference...

Its a going to be a fun weekend next week

Even if Rotherham don't win in midweek A Derby loss to Sheff Weds relegates them

Rooney on his way to Spurs

I wouldn't be surprised, after losing 8 in 9 an picking up 1 point in the last 10 to relegate Derby on goal difference

He deserves the Man City job for that stat..

A funny one tomorrow because I kinda don't want Rotherham winning in a sense Sheff Weds will virtually be down due to their vastly inferior goal difference to Rotherhams

Kinda want Sheff Weds being right in the mix up on Saturday as they'll try harder to win, and Derby ain't beating anyone that puts any kind of effort in, A draw in the Luton Rotherham game will mean a Sheff Weds win puts Derby in the bottom 3 anyway and wont be relying on Rotherhams game V Cardiff

I've now got a £900 green on Derby's relegation and I wanna make it a round grand green before Saturday, its going to be quite entertaining come 12 noon Saturday, get up nice and early for it

0-0 half time with Luton and Rotherham .......

A draw here and Sheff Weds will be scrapping like hell Saturday

Rotherham win and Derby no longer have it in their hands at all so its one of them really

0-0 FT

Derby hanging on by the mere fact 90% of the league have done them favours past 2 months

They are in last chance saloon and defeat relegates them officially on Saturday, this is going to be something to behold on Saturday, Pride Park is going to be packed outside the ground with Sheff Weds and Derby fans

Its almost a winner take all scenario its incredible

I've got 2 different ways they can go down

Draw and Rotherham win down on GD and Sheff Weds win down full stop no matter what

Apparently Derby and Sheff Weds fans are turning up to the game so it could kick off outside the ground, might have to have nip up there and sit near the bennies

My green is now £994 so near enough a grand happy with that

This is should be a mildly amusing Saturday lunch time...

Sheff Wednesday will be three up at half time.
Rooney will then lace up his boots and bang in his fourth in the 85th minute for a 4-3 lead to Derby.

He'll then sub himself for a well earned break only for Sheff Weds to score twice in time added on

Be good if that happened but I can now see Sheff Weds waiting to see what happens in the Rotherham game before committing, speaking to some Sheff Weds supporters they say their better players will be off, although can't think of many good players they have? Windass, Bannan are the only two that I would have at Forest to be honest, the rest are average plodders

If Rotherham score early I can't see Sheff Weds main players wanting to put much effort in esp with them likely leaving for elsewhere

It all comes down to Saturday for the bottom four in the Championship.

Going into the final day of the season none of the teams in the second tier will start the day with an 'R' next to their name, even if Wycombe's chances of avoiding going down are pretty far-fetched.

BBC Sport takes a look at the picture at the bottom of the Championship as England's all-time record goalscorer Wayne Rooney looks to avoid relegation in his first season in management when his Derby side take on Sheffield Wednesday in a game that will see at least one of the sides relegated to League One.

21st - Derby County (43 points)
How has it come to this? For Derby, beaten in the Championship play-off final as recently as 2019, poor results on the pitch have been matched by total uncertainty behind the scenes.

In the weeks before the season started the Rams saw charges relating to a breach of English Football League spending rules, which could have led to a points deduction, dismissed.

Owner Mel Morris, who has invested in the region of £200m since taking over in 2015, has spent the campaign trying to sell the club. He agreed a sale to Derventio Holdings in November but, after a period of inactivity on the purchase, called the deal off in March.

A wretched start to the season saw Dutch boss Philip Cocu sacked in November to be replaced, after a period in caretaker charge, by Manchester United and England record-scorer Rooney.

The Rams won five of his first seven games in permanent charge through January and February - though, damagingly, both of their losses in that time were to relegation rivals Rotherham - and on 23 February they beat Huddersfield to move eight points clear of the bottom three.

However, since then they have won just one of their 14 games and go into Saturday's must-not-lose clash with the Owls on the back of six successive defeats.

A takeover by No Limit Sports Limited, owned by Spanish businessman Erik Alonso, was agreed in April but is yet to be formally completed.

What do they need to do to stay up? First and foremost, they must avoid defeat. Regardless of anything else, if Derby lose on Saturday they will be relegated to the third tier for the first time since 1986.

A first win since 2 April will keep them up regardless of Rotherham's result at Cardiff, while a draw will only be enough if the Millers fail to win in South Wales.

22nd - Rotherham United (41 points)
How has it come to this? Unlike Derby, it is no real surprise to see the Millers battling for survival at this stage of the season.

In the past four seasons prior to 2020-21 the Millers have been relegated to the Championship twice and bounced back up at the first time of asking both times.

They have generally had stability behind the scenes this campaign, although two separate coronavirus outbreaks meant they were forced to play four games, with three against relegation rivals, in nine days in April.

Ultimately, Rotherham find themselves in the relegation zone because they have been on the wrong end of tight games on far too many occasions. Paul Warne's men have lost 26 times in the league this season with an EFL-high 19 of them being by just a single goal.

With 43 goals they are easily the highest scorers of the four strugglers but they go into Saturday's must-win game at Cardiff without a victory in their past seven matches.

What do they need to do to stay up? A win and Derby failing to do the same will see the Millers start a new season in the same division they ended the last one for the first time since 2016.

23rd - Sheffield Wednesday (40 points)
How has it come to this? Much like Derby's struggles, Wednesday's on-pitch problems have been matched by chaos away from the field.

The Owls started the season with a 12-point deduction, later reduced to six after a successful appeal against the severity of the punishment, for breaching EFL spending regulations.

They moved off the bottom of the table with a 0-0 draw with Millwall on 7 November but boss Garry Monk was then sacked two days later by owner Dejphon Chansiri and replaced by veteran Tony Pulis.

The Welshman's spell in charge amounted to a single win from 10 matches before he was also sacked on 28 December with the Owls in 23rd position, three points adrift of safety.

Their form initially picked up under caretaker Neil Thompson and they moved out of the relegation zone and to a season-high 20th place with a 1-0 home win over struggling Derby on 1 January.

They moved out of the bottom three again with a 2-0 win over lowly Wycombe on 9 February but then lost the following four matches before Darren Moore became their third manager of the season.

He lost his first three matches and then missed a couple of games after testing positive for Covid-19 before having to step away for an extended period after contracting pneumonia.

The Owls have been on the edge for weeks now and had Derby won either of their past two games they would already be down.

What do they need to do to stay up? Win. Anything other than a win will see the Hillsborough side relegated back down to League One for the time since 2012.

Should Rotherham also win then Wednesday will go down regardless of whether they record a victory at Pride Park.

24th - Wycombe Wanderers (40 points)
How has it come to this? Wycombe's first ever season at this level of English football was always going to be a slog and so it has proved to be.

The Chairboys came up via the play-offs having qualified for the top six in League One on a points-per-game basis after the third tier season was curtailed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

It looked like being a record-breaking season for the wrong reasons when they lost their first seven matches.

Credit must go to boss Gareth Ainsworth and his players for recovering to even be competitive in a league where their budget is dwarfed by most of their opponents. Of the four strugglers, they are the ones in the best form right now, with five wins from their past 10 matches.

However, they have spent just one week outside the relegation zone all season and, realistically, their chances of avoiding a return to the third tier on Saturday are virtually non-existent.

Ainsworth accepted that they were down last Saturday after their impressive 1-0 win over Bournemouth and admitted the fact they were going to end the season just one or two points short of safety was "beyond his wildest dreams".

What do they need to stay up? A miracle.

Wycombe will need to beat Middlesbrough by 12 goals, hope that Sheffield Wednesday beat Derby by a single-goal margin and that Rotherham fail to win in Cardiff.

Sheff Weds points deduction is quite weird, a 6 point deduction will mean nothing if they lose because Derby would overturn the slight goal difference disadvantage with just a 1 goal win and thus finished above them anyway, but at the same time they can stay up on GD with a win

Its not often you see that scenario play out and for this reason alone Derby should be targeting a win so they don't have "technicality" ringing in their ears

Cheers for that as well goose

Sheff Wed take the lead against Derby in the 4th minute of added time

Derby equalize, but they're still going down

And another, they're staying up

Wednesday keeper took an envelope

The Rooney hair dryer treatment has worked

2-2 , they're back down again

Roonpig on the brink.

Oh my goodness, Sheff Wed regain the lead, 2-3

2-3

worsterer than on the brink the noo

aLL EYES ON cARDIFF

All eyes on Cardiff

Remarkable, Cardiff score to go 1-1 with Rotherham followed by a Derby equaliser against Sheff Wed 3-3

This is fecking wild

Enjoying this Derby fans?

Come on Rotherham

I've had my chance to green up and didn't take it sadly

Hopefully another twist

Rotherham finished

Come on Sheff Weds

Sheff Weds have no choice they need to pile forward leave no one back, 4-3 or 3-4 got to be

You should have greened up at half time

Yep but always do this with these bets, and they always go south every time

GOAL!!!

Wisla plock have just equalised against Podbeskidzie

6 minutes injury time

Come on Sheff Weds just one more

You bas*ard scand I only saw the GOAL!!! bit first

Wasn't it Albert Einstein who described insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result

That should be illegal to do that scand

He did but I still do it

You bas*ard scand I only saw the GOAL!!! bit first

mike dean reffing this game?

Yes

Time's Up

Rooney For England

it's over, Derby survive

no Steel city derby next season

They had to go through the ringer to survive, and I should have greened up but didn't so that's that I guess

Well done Derby but they go down next season if that set up stays

Derby must have been down 3 separate times as well?

Only just seen Cardiff scored on 88 thought it was 75 the way that finished

Derby 5 minutes from relegation ffs

Waghorn: "These are the moment we live for as footballers"







Snatching a 3-3 draw at home to the bottom side (ended up being) and staying up on technicalitys and incompetence of others... don't be celebrating to much lads ffs

Bournemouth v Brentford and Barnsley v Swansea in the playoff 2 legs

Barnsley have a great chance of reaching Wembley

Another club in free fall late in the season were Bristol City lost their last 5 games and no win in last 10

It can be hard to stop rots like Bristol City and Derby

Very true Sontaran re Bristol City. I did point out a few months ago how bad we were when somehow in the top half of the table. Winning the first 4 matches proved to be massive over the course of the season. Hopefully the big clear out starts now

You and Derby both going through the same thing I reckon, sonofdunc

Esp Derby who will have new owners, a very different looking squad and set up no doubt

If they don't its league 1 for them and this was just a stay of execution, you can't carry on like Derby and survive

I think you'll be fine sonofdunc, get rid of the rubbish tat and rebuild quickly you're well off financially

https://twitter.com/jackhasler23/status/1391032992957612040

The absolute state of that bare in mind they were playing in a playoff final 2 years ago....

A Brentford Swansea final

Brentford wont get a better chance than this

Fair play to Barnsley they did well this season, they let this one slip Swansea are very workmanlike it has to be said

You are right SS, we wont get a better chance. Yesterday's win against Bournemouth was the most emotional time I have ever had watching Brentford.
The game had everything, Brentford's shambolic defending in the 3rd minute putting us 2 goals behind, a disputed penalty, a sending off and then a fantastic team effort to get us over the line.
I cant take much more of this, please Brentford just get it done.

I'm actually calm when watching Forest in big games (We don't get any but I'm still calm ) because I know we're not winning them

Good luck in the final, clacton, hope you do it this time

Your boys are about there, clacton

Well played Brentford

Swansea never looked like winning it from the first minute