Unfortunately we need to find a way to climb above two more teams as well. Not sure who those two teams could realistically be.
Hull and Posh are the obvious two to get above but there’s plenty of twists and turns to negotiate. I wouldn’t write Derby off just yet - they’re not a bad side. Different situation to Bolton’s when they went down. Juniors in the team for a while.
Hull will most likely be strengthening in January, with new owners about to take over, so that could take them away from us. Peterborough maybe, but they seem to have a bit more fight about them than we have, and can get the odd result. I'd write Derby off in terms of staying up. Whether they finish bottom is another matter.
Oh I dunno. I think this will knock the fight out of em. I imagine every agent - including Wayne Rooney’s - will now be focusing on getting their players with new clubs for next year.
Bit rude. it wasn't based on figures, it was the fact that they were dire and played us off the park.
Hull currently irrelevant to us, we have to claw past two teams not in the relegation zone, currently Peterborough and Cardiff.
I actually would like to see Derby strengthen significantly in New Year, take the suspended 3 points and still stay up. Might seem an odd thing to say, but it would hopefully open the eyes up that the current punishments don’t reflect the crime (IMO).
Maybe not a bad side, but they need to earn 71 points on the pitch to get over the 50 point line normally required as the benchmark for staying up. That's a play off season. That's not gonna happen. They have won 3 games so far.
The annoying thing is though, assuming they do go down, their big fan base will stick with them and they’ll be straight back up next season. No punishment at all really. I’d send them down to the Derbyshire Combination, if there is such a league, and let them climb back from there.
While there's a chance, there's plenty of clubs who think they're "Championship Clubs" languishing in league one, and rarely do more than two get up at a time. Sunderland, Wednesday, Portsmouth, Ipswich, Bolton... none in the top 6. If Derby and Cardiff go down it'll be a stronger league than the Championship!
Will it tho? In name and history only. I'd say Plymouth and Rotherham are currently more capable and sustainably ambitious than any of them. Couldn't bring myself to include Wigan.
My post was a but tongue in cheek referring to "massive" clubs who should be in the Premier League. But there will certainly be a shift in club finances for many of those struggling. I can't see Derby getting a buyer any time soon.
